Mama Made The Difference: Life Lessons My Mother Taught Me
Partly based on the conventional wisdom that our mothers are our first teachers and partly based on the fact that Jakes' mother actually was a teacher, he frames this book from the perspective of life schooling by mothers in three vital areas: lessons on life, love, and longevity. Jakes has built a strong following among women with his signature empathy for the challenges women face socially and spiritually. He makes note of the changes in the role of mothers in American culture, evolving from idealized images of June Cleaver to the reality of working mothers and unmarried teen mothers, all still charged with teaching their children. Jakes focuses primarily on lessons he learned from his mother, recalling his own upbringing--resisting curfew, learning inspirational poetry, caring for his father, who suffered from kidney disease--and his mother's emphasis on believing in God and in himself. He also includes wisdom passed along by mothers of friends and colleagues, including essays by his wife on her mother and Bernice King on Coretta Scott King. Jakes ends each chapter with a mother's secret prayer and "homework for the heart," questions aimed at strengthening faith and making spiritual connections with mothers' life lessons. Jakes' admirers, and all readers interested in inspirational books, will enjoy this latest in a string of books celebrating women.Vanessa BushCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.