"Expecting with Hope" (Teske Drake)

TITLE: Expecting with Hope: Claiming Joy When Expecting a Baby After Loss
AUTHOR: Teske Drake
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2014, (240 pages).

It takes one to know one. Just the other day, I came across this quote of the day: "The first to help you up are the ones who know how it feels to fall down." This essence is expressed well in this book about hoping once again after a miscarriage, a fertility challenge, stillbirth, infant loss, or a devastating birth defect. Whatever it is, losing a child is a deeply painful experience. The author is a mother who had lost three babies, two to miscarriages and one soon after birth. Each journey through the pain of loss is different but they all plumb the deep emotions of grief. Through her pain, she reaches out to other mothers also going through trials and suffering. Through her ministry, she encourages others with her testimony and her faith. Through her writings, she brings us pages of hope and how one can keep getting up each time one falls. "Expecting with Hope" is written specifically for mothers to be who are fearful about their pregnancies. Her key conviction is that one can be hopeful even when the clouds of despair seem big and overwhelming.

With deep honesty and understanding, Drake, who holds a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State University, speaks more from her own experience of pain and loss, rather than her area of expertise. It is hard to find any scholarly references simply because it is a book wrapped with personal experiences and her ministry with others.  In each chapter, Drake declares upfront the specific kind of hope we have in God. She describes either her own loss or her struggling mother, and invites us into the hard areas of fear and uncertainty. She ends with a "pregnancy prayer" to help bring the thoughts and the feelings together in God. It is common to read huge chunks of Scripture being used to accompany the process of hope.

As President of Mommies with Hope, Drake is filling a specific need, mothers who are fighting fear and struggling to stay hopeful. If you are a mother, this book will bring about much comfort. If you know of a mother having fears about miscarriages or the potential death of her child, this book teaches us not to be too quick to speak or to judge, but to be slow to speak, quick to listen, and always being ready to offer a word of encouragement. So that mothers will encounter more and more moments of "expecting with hope." Thanks Drake for your valuable role in this ministry.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book is provided to me courtesy of Kregel Publications in exchange for an honest review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.