We read books to find ways to fill the gaps we have in our hearts and minds and souls.
We look for
stories by those
who have
journeyed down life’s road ahead of us.
Why?
Because we
can catch a glimpse of ourselves
in other
people’s stories,
and by
their example and their words,
they offer
us answers, guidance, and inspiration.
With that
in mind, I’m pleased to recommend Jessica Cherie Errico’s memoir, The Mother Gap: A Daughter’s Search for Connection, the story of her longing for a close
relationship with her alcoholic mother.
“When a
daughter feels disconnected from her mother, her heart hurts. There is an empty
spot, a gap, where love should be. Her heart cries out, ‘Mom, I need you! . . .
Aren’t I good enough?’”
Perhaps
you know Jessica’s pain, you know what it’s like to feel a disconnect with your
mother—or father. Or maybe you know others who suffer such pain. Reverend Roland Coffee writes that The Mother Gap “. . . should help anyone struggling
with memories of the lack of parental
love.”
Jessica says, “Because of God’s forgiveness in my life, I have learned to extend
forgiveness to those who’ve hurt me.”
She saw
how bitterness consumed her mother and says, “I realized I didn’t want that for
my life. . . . I had been accumulating her pain in my heart and . . . I needed
to be free of that, so God showed me how to be willing to forgive her.
“I wanted
to share that with others because many women have conflicts with their moms or
other close relatives. We’re all in the process of learning how to forgive and
let go.”
One reviewer of Jessica’s memoir said that her “moving transparent story . . . awakened
buried pain” of her childhood relationship with her own parents and helped her
to see them in a new light. “My heightened forgiveness of both of them has
freed me to shine my light for Jesus much brighter now. This was an excellent
healing balm for me.”
Another reviewer wrote: “Jessica’s story about her troubled relationship with her mother is written openly and honestly. It can help anyone suffering with . . . a handicapped relationship. . . . Jessica does not skip over the difficulties or the pain, but openly confesses that it is by the power of God that such a turn-about and personal growth can be experienced.”
Another reviewer wrote: “Thank you, Jessica, for opening my eyes to my own mom’s
experience. In reading this beautiful testimony of love and forgiveness, I was
helped to resolve the residual pain in my own heart!”
As Joe Rigney writes, "Stories are powerful. Stories are soul food. . . . and they can help us in soul care.
“Stories can help us gain perspective, to step outside of our own lives in order to reflect on reality. Stories can point us to The Story, so that we can find ourselves in God’s narrative when we’re lost and adrift.
“Stories can direct us to the truth, helping
us to remember and to connect with God and with each other.
“And stories can direct us to action, to remind
us of God’s call upon us, so that we might walk in the light as he is in the
light” (Joe Rigney, “Weep, But Also Rejoice”).
I
encourage you to read and share The Mother Gap: A Daughter’s Search for Connection. Within its pages you’ll find rich blessings for yourself and your
family members—because all of us have gaps, those empty spots where love should
be.
Jessica’s
words and heart
have
blessed us already so much today,
but
here’s more!
Here are
a couple of bonuses for you:
Click on Forgiveness Heals Relationships to watch her interview with Lisa Buldo.
Click on Forgiveness
and Connection: The Search, to watch Jessica’s interview with Dr. Sheila
Sapp.
Come back
next week for Jessica’s special message
for those
writing their own memoirs.
Jessica
Errico is an artist and author. She’s published four books, several articles,
and writes a bi-monthly column for the Religion Section of her local newspaper.
Visit her website, Jessica Cherie Errico: Author/Artist, as well as her blog of the same name.
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