I am so thrilled to be able to review this book! I came across the details on this book and immediately wrote in to request for an opportunity to review it. So here is my review of this inspiring book from Mary Bailey entitled: "JESUS MY SON: Mary's Journal of Jesus' Early Life".
Author: Mary Bailey
Publisher: AuthorHouse (February 4, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-1449064938
Hardcover: 208 pages
Description from the product page:
"Greetings! Welcome to the journal of Mary, Jesus' Mother.
Enjoy this inspirational journal as Jesus' early life unfolds through the eyes of His mother. Mary's story offers a fresh perspective to a very old story. From her view, we are provided possible answers to questions often asked of Jesus' early life. Can you imagine nurturing a baby, experiencing all the firsts of a toddler, teaching a young boy, tolerating a teenager, and enjoying the experiences of a young man, while always anticipating a promised kingdom?
Mary's life was very similiar to a mother's life today. We care for our children while always striving to provide something better for them. Very little is known of these early years, but Mary must have celebrated milestones just as all mothers today. Jesus had a first tooth, a first word, a first step, a first day of school, siblings, graduations, and other milestones like our children today. The only witness to all these events was Mary. Through Mary's story we learn of Jesus' relationship with his brothers, sisters and cousins, including John the Baptist and Matthew. "
Would you just look at the picture above? It's personally autographed on the book by the author herself prior to her sending it to me. What a nice touch and inspiring message she wrote! Now back to the book...
Have you ever thought of what goes on in Mary's mind when she found out she's carrying God's child? The fears, doubts, worries and challenges she had in overcoming all the obstacles in her life? Personally, I felt the same thing when I found out I am carrying a child. Now double, triple, quadruple those emotions when Mary finds out she is carrying not just any particular child, but God's child?!
I can relate to this book since they are personal thoughts penned down by a mother and how she accepts and overcome all the challenges and blessings in her life. I mean, as a mother myself, I do have my own worries and doubts on how am I going to bring up my child in this challenging world, how can I instill the good and positive attitudes and behaviour in my child's life and how I can train my child up to be a God fearing and God loving child, so on and so forth.
Of course, I definitely cannot compare to how it feels like to be in Mary's shoes (since she is carrying God's child!) but I do believe and trust every human being in this world is a child of God and that we as a parent are being entrusted to care and bring up the child in the best positive ways we could.
I enjoyed reading the "Jesus in Born in Bethlehem and the Sepherds' Visit" chapter as I felt like I'm in the actual place itself! I totally ache for Mary's suffering and her discomfort when she gave birth at the stable full of dirty and smelly animals.
A favorite part in the book which I love is in the "Jesus Runs a Race" chapter, how he gave up winning the race and gained a friend instead. I'd love for my child to be able to do that someday, to not worry or be pressured into winning every race or competitions in life and to instead focus on the positive outcomes of it.
I am also touched by the prayer at the end of each chapters where Mary normally thanked God for the miracles and blessings being bestowed on her and her family and she also prayed for wisdom to go through the difficulties she is facing.
I am a bit sad when I came to the end of the book, it has been a wonderful journey to be able to have a glimpse on what goes on in Mary's life and Jesus's earlier life in more details.
I find it REALLY hard to put the book down! I just can't stop reading it as it's too exciting and wonderful to read through from the beginning until the end of the book! OK, granted, I am a big fan of books written in journal or diary as it feels as though I am the one who is going through everything that happens in the book!
Also, I can't help but notice that the author is currently working on the second and third books in this series of three. (FYI: Jesus My Son: Mary's Journal of Jesus' Ministry should be released later this year.) I hope I can have the opportunity to review these books as well (*hint *hint!)
What I can say about this book in summary?
If you are a parent yourself (or have friends who are or about to be a parent), do get a copy of this book. It'll open up your eyes and mind into the earlier life of Jesus and how wonderful it is to be a part of it!
- You can purchase the Jesus My Son: Mary's Journal of Jesus' Early Life
book from Amazon
, AuthorHouse website, Barnes and Noble and many more.
- And if you are searching for a unique Mother’s Day gift, join Mary Bailey and number of partners on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, for the launch of Jesus My Son: Mary's Journal of Jesus' Early Life. Purchase a hardcopy at Amazon.com from seller MRBent and receive a 35% discount. Get immediate access to $100’s worth of valuable free bonus gifts. Register to win some beautiful prizes including a framed print of Mary’s Heart, the painting on the cover of my book, valued at $99.00. What gift could be more special than a journal written by God’s chosen mother about the everyday activities of the son she shared with our Father? Any mother will enjoy listening to Mary’s heart as she pours out her emotions in her journal entries. View all the Bonus gifts you can receive and the prizes you can win just by ordering one book!
I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a copy of the book by the author in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"
