Giving Thanks and Letting Go

Wow! I sure can relate to Danielle Bean! We are almost empty nesters and while I look back at the years with all the kids at home and I really do miss those days... I am looking forward to more time with my husband, play dates with our grandbabies and family dinners when the kids come to visit. Reading Giving Thanks and Letting Go is helping me to embrace our new season of life.

Thank you Netgalley for a chance to read and review this book. I thought it was just wonderful.

How fitting is it that while reading Giving Thanks and Letting Go I was repeatedly interrupted by a protracted argument between kids about a board game, another kid's plea for help, and more commotion than I can even recall?

Danielle Bean has a gift for incorporating mundane details of life in an engaging way that draws the reader not only into the story but seamlessly leads to the deeper lesson she unveils with a deft and gentle hand - or word, as the case may be.

Here, through personal stories, she shares the wisdom she's gained through decades of experience of being a wife and mother and the challenges of entering a new phase of her vocation, different but no less challenging than the previous one.

My children are younger than most of the author's, but as my oldest moves through the teenage years, I'm beginning to glimpse some of the "letting go" that is just around the corner. This book provides the hope and encouragement for the challenges and transitions ahead.

As soon as I turned the first page, I was completely hooked by Danielle Bean’s writing. I was hoping for a good read in “Giving Thanks and Letting Go”, but I was unprepared for the way it would resonate with where I am in my own family journey. Her words were encouraging, poignant and soul-filling. She write how she wanted to, “underscore these things in my own heart, and I want to share them with you.”, and that is exactly what she does. The laughter and tears mingled as I read through stories of she and husband, Dan, raising their family.
I would highly recommend this book, especially to those who are close to becoming or have recently become empty nesters. Buy it, sit down somewhere comfortable with a glass of your favorite beverage, and enjoy! I’d also recommend that you have a box of tissue close by as you’ll most likely need it. I am not just glad that I read it, but I am so grateful that it taught me more about what it means in “Giving Thanks and Letting Go”.

Danielle Bean is a mother of eight and only half of her kids live under her roof at this point in her life. Her nest is emptying for sure and she writes about it in a conversational and down to earth style that I love very much. Her words are from the heart and she speaks them into our hearts. She is like a best friend rather than a preachy, holier than thou, know it all person. It was as if she was in my kitchen having coffee with me and we were musing about our changing families.

Every season of mothering has its own beauty and Bean helps us find that beauty in our everyday lives by writing about love, sacrifice, and grace. I enjoyed it very much.

As an almost empty nester myself, I was drawn to the idea that Giving Thanks and Letting Go by Danielle Bean would give me a Christian perspective on how to face this impending adjustment. Despite the synopsis on the back of the book, however, this book is as much about navigating the waters of current motherhood and reflecting on past transitions as it is about handling the prospect of an empty nest.

Once I let go of my pre-conceived notions about its content, I found Giving Thanks and Letting Go to be a beautiful tribute to motherhood in all of its stages. Ms. Bean’s writing reveals the heart and soul of a mother whose hopes and dreams for children exceed those she has for herself. Her struggle with coming to terms with her “new normal” as one after another of her children are launched into young adulthood was at times poignant, joyful, and humorous, and at all times relatable. Especially wistful was her reflection on taking the youngest of her eight children to register for sports for a final season. Having been an active “sports mom” for well over a decade, I, too, felt the tug of yearning when my youngest aged out of Little League.

Sometimes a book gives you, not what you are looking for, but what you need to hear. Giving Thanks and Letting Go did that for me. Not only did it remind me of the innumerable joys associated with my children’s milestones, it allowed me to reflect on my own journey as a mother, giving me hope that I can face tomorrow’s empty nest as gracefully as its author.

Note: I received an ARC of Giving Thanks and Letting Go from NetGalley and Ave Maria Press. The above is my honest review.

Danielle Bean's latest work, "Letting Go," is a gem - one that I know.i will revisit many times as my kids head into their teen years and beyond.

I devoured this book over the course of two days, reading intermittently when I had a moment it - the brevity of the chapters worked well for this. As I read, I wanted to highlight almost every sentence. We're still a good 5 years from launching our oldest into the world, but reading this book NOW has given me a lot to think about in terms of shoring up our marriage, appreciating the ordinary, and remembering that these kids are God's, not ours. One of the most encouraging things Danielle shares is that each season of motherhood is different - not a bad different, just...different - and that there is joy, sorrow, and much to treasure in each season.

Also, get some tissues. I've shed tears of sadness, joy, and gratitude and I was unprepared for the waterworks. Friends don't let friends read this book without tissues.

**I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**

It was an absolute pleasure to read about Danielle's love, hope, struggles and transformation of herself throughout each of her 8 children's lives. It is a journey which has not finished yet, but Danielle's reflective pause in the middle of all of this is beautiful.

Danielle writes her book as if she is standing with you amongst the gifts (and trials) of motherhood. She inspires you to believe that each stage is a trial and encourages you to keep going no matter how tough the situation, but to believe that God is right there with you.

This book should really be on every mother's bookshelf! Her reflections are not comedy, like some books, but are a stark reminder of the many sacrifices we women ( I won't include men as it might be completely different for a father, but it may be worth a read to get some ideas and discussion going) go through to lift our little ones the best we can before their soar into the big wide world.