More Than a Mom: How Prioritizing Your Wellness Helps You (and Your Family Thrive)

By Kari Kampakis

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to defend your motherhood or your role as a mother? Or perhaps you’ve thought to yourself, there’s got to be more to life than changing diapers, doing endless laundry, and washing dishes that seem to get dirty just as soon as they are cleaned?

As a mom of five, I’ve encountered thoughts and interactions such as these and more over my last twelve years of motherhood. After every single experience, without fail, I get that crushing feeling – I am more than this. I am more than a mom.

It’s crushing because it’s conflicting. I love being a mom, but motherhood is hard work. And whoever said you can return to work outside the home, that life will get easier, or you’ll have an abundance of free time once the kids go to school either is not a parent or has no clue what they’re talking about. Because the truth is, motherhood may let up a little in the physical sense of no longer having to manually feed a child or wipe their tush, but the mental, emotional, and spiritual toil increases with each child’s age and season. 

Kari Kampakis, author, blogger, national speaker, and mother of four daughters, knows a thing or two about motherhood and a mom’s role, value, and purpose. In fact, Kari’s book, Love Her Well, was the book that taught me so much about raising daughters who love Jesus while also opening my eyes to the reality of how much my children need me as a mom, influence, resource, and more as they get older. I highly recommend reading Love Her Well if you have tween or teenage daughters. The wisdom in this book has stuck with me like a song I just can’t get out of my head.

Clearly, that book spoke to me which is why I jumped at the chance to pre-read Kari Kampakis’ newest book, More Than a Mom: How Prioritizing Your Wellness Helps You (and Your Family Thrive).

Moms are natural caregivers but what happens when moms forget to give to themselves? 

In More Than a Mom, Kari reminds moms that they are first human beings with minds, bodies, souls, and God-given purposes before they are moms. It doesn’t matter what season of life you are in, it is easy for our time, energy, worth, and identity to get wrapped up in our motherhood. Kari recognizes this and encourages moms of all ages, stages, and walks of life to empower their children by modeling what it looks like to care for one’s soul. Very much like the announcements you hear abroad aircrafts, it is vital to fasten your own air mask before helping those beside you. Failure to do so could be fatal. 

It’s important for me to emphasize that More Than a Mom is NOT a self-help/self-love book. While this book focuses on the self, it doesn’t elevate the self by inflating it with societal ideals or cultural trends. Rather, Kari adopts a mentality [I refer to through my ministry] of total body wellness for spiritual wholeness. Prioritizing a healthy lifestyle (in the mind, body, and spirit) while actively following Jesus will demonstrate to your children how to cultivate positivity as you pursue a life of purpose and intention. 

Each of the ten chapters are dedicated to helping the reader develop attainable life habits that will strengthen the reader both as a person designed with unique gifts, talents, interests, roles, and qualities and as a mother placed in such a time as this to raise the next generation of image bearers. 

These life habits are relevant and relatable for all types of moms (biological, adoptive, grandparent, etc.) and address the following:

• Worth
• Rest
• Friendships
• Stress and anxiety
• Joy
• Negativity
• Body image
• Capability 
• Purpose 
• Hope

More Than a Mom utilizes scripture for spiritual guidance, real-life stories from other moms for relational support and accountability, and reflection questions at the end of each chapter for personal contemplation or group discussion. Additionally, More Than a Mom offers practical tips and ideas for all seasons of mothering that are easy-to-digest and apply, very much like something you’d see or read on a blog. 

I found the content in More Than a Mom to be honest, freeing, and inspiring. The purpose and capability chapters were especially beneficial for me in my current season of life however there is a lot of soul food to nibble on and savor throughout this book. 

As well, I would like to praise the author’s age and current position as a mom of teens who is entering the “second act of life.” I appreciate wisdom that comes with experience whether that be life lived, trials endured, or lessons learned. As the reader and someone who is a few years behind the author’s life season, I valued her perspective but also cherished her insight for its relatability for all stages and ages of motherhood.

More Than a Mom is a powerful resource that will help moms model to their children what a healthy adult looks and acts like. Moms will be challenged to seek God’s best while surrendering to God’s blueprint for total body (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual) wellness.

More Than a Mom doesn’t release until April 5^th, but if you pre-order your copy now you can receive downloadable FREEBIES including a More Than a Mom cell phone lock screen, devotionals, and printables!

*I received this book from FrontGate Media in exchange for promotion and my honest review