Maggie Combs - UnsuperMommy: Release Expectations, Embrace Imperfection, and Connect to Gods Superpower

Endorsements

Its time for moms to step away from the self-help books, the comparison traps, and the lies that flood our minds and hearts. When we begin intertwining the gospel into parenting, it is life-changing for everyone involved. Unsupermommy shows just that, and its a must-read for all new moms navigating the road to motherhood. The pages of this book are overflowing with grace and the abundant love that Jesus offers! Maggie offers honest advice and Gods truth as you start on this incredible journey of being a parent. Drink an extra cup of coffee today, tired Mama. You do not want to miss this!

KARA-KAE JAMES, founder and executive director of Thrive Moms

Perfectionism crushes and suffocates. Unsupermommy is more than laser-honest confessions of a young mothers angst. Its an invitation to breathe and thrive. These pages are packed with wisdom and counsel that will set you free. Learn to breathe the gospel hope for motherhood.

JOANNE THOMPSON, author of Table Life: Savoring the Hospitality of Jesus in Your Home, speaker at Family Life Marriage Conferences

After battling infertility for three years, we were blessed to birth our sweet son. I knew the newborn stage would be an adjustment, but no one could have prepared me for the most challenging and debilitating fifteen months of my life to follow. From waking close to every thirty minutes for over thirteen months straight, to feeding challenges, to anxiety, to deprivation on every level, I often found myself on the floor, rocking myself and asking, God why? What did we do wrong? Why was it so hard just for me, while others were flourishing? How was this connected to your plan, Jesus?Unsupermommy answers the questions I so deeply wrestled with then and still do today. Maggie Combs shares her whole heart and brings you back to the truth on every single page. She helps us remember that we arent self-sufficient and shouldnt want to be, that we have a Father who first loves us intensely and is using this season to grow an irreplaceable reliance on a fountain that never stops giving. Momma, if you have questioned the Lord in this season of motherhood, please pick up this book and be encouraged, challenged, and blessed.

GINA ZEIDLER, blogger, educator, coach, and lifestyle photographer

What mother doesnt want to be the best mother she possibly can? Im not a mother, but Ive watched this up close for almost thirty years now as my sweet wife has poured her life into our five children, so I can honestly say it is an amazing thing to see the sacrificial love of a mother. But along with the joys of motherhood, Maggie Combs honestly identifies one of the dangers that accompanies this great joy: the temptation to be the perfect, super mommy who falls into the comparison trap that leaves her deflated and battling despair over everything that falls short of the perfect ideal she had in mind. My hope is that God will use Combs honest insights to rescue mothers from the pitfalls and free them to experience more of the joys of motherhood, to the glory of God!

BRAD BIGNEY, senior pastor, Grace Fellowship Evangelical Free Church in Florence, Kentucky, and author of Gospel Treason: Betraying the Gospel with Hidden Idols

BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC

Racine, Wisconsin, USA

BroadStreetPublishing.com

UNSUPERMOMMY: Release Expectations, Embrace Imperfection, and Connect to Gods Superpower

Copyright 2017 Maggie Combs

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5411-9 (hardcover)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5412-6 (e-book)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

All Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2000, 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Stock or custom editions of BroadStreet Publishing titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, ministry, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail .

Cover design by Chris Garborg at www.garborgdesign.com

Typesetting by Katherine Lloyd at www.theDESKonline.com

Printed in China

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To my husband, Wes, who always believed this was Gods plan for me.

H ave you ever met a supermommy? Her baby sleeps soundly, nurses happily, and meets every milestone ahead of schedule. She tosses her perfectly wavy hair over her shoulder as she tidies her already sparkling house with nontoxic, organic soaps while her sweet cherub plays quietly with a wooden teether on a knit blanket on the floor. Naptime is just long enough for her favorite hobby and a spunky exercise routine. Her doting husband arrives home in time to kiss her cheek and pinch her baby-weight-free behind before playing with the baby while she creates a healthy and delicious dinner.

If were honest, we all want some of that supermommy life. Unfortunately, its a fantasy. Its time to be transparent about our real lives and give up on measuring up to supermommy standards. Trust me, embracing an imperfect life as an unsupermommy serving a super-powerful God is joyful freedom.

This book wont instruct you how to do motherhood perfectly. I wont tell you how to raise your child, but I will push you to let God change your heart. Youll discover how the gospel offers redeemed imperfection and more of God even if youre failing by the worlds standards. If youre pregnant, your heart is full of lovely desires for how your motherhood will look and the kind of home your child will experience, but if youre already a mom, you probably know the brutal truth: motherhood often feels like failure upon failure.

The world around us is filled with bloated expectations for moms. Even though logically you probably know that no one can live up to those standards, its nearly impossible not to internalize them. These standards arent all bad on their own. Its the assumption beneath the standardsthat we can control our circumstancesthats fatal to our joy.

But there is hope! You may not have the ability to succeed at the expectations piling up at your feet, but Gods strength is mighty in your weakness. He has more than enough power to connect to when you discover that you just arent strong enough. Ultimately Gods goal is not to enable supermommies, but to develop us into women whose humble hearts earnestly love and desire more of him.

Im a fairly new mom myself. I had my first baby five years ago. Then I had two more, for a total of three boys in just shy of three years. Only God could orchestrate such chaos. With the first two boys, I experienced not infertility but delay in getting pregnant. We knew we didnt get pregnant easily. We were wrong. My second son was only five months old when I took a pregnancy test on a whim after some morning queasiness. I needed to put my mind at ease. So much for that!

Ive had three newborn baby experiences in quick succession. Im not reminiscing fondly from ten years down the road; instead, Im soldiering through the endless loads of laundry, a constantly messy kitchen, showerless days, and sleepless nights right along with you. I dont have this all figured out. God is teaching me his truth as I write. Im not a perfect mom, and Im not an expert, but I have to speak this word: Dear Mommy, dont live in shame for being pushed beyond your limits. You can break free from unnecessary expectations and embrace imperfections covered by Gods superpower.