An honest and lyrical coming-of-age memoir of growing up in South Africa at the height of apartheid, and an invitation to recognize and refuse to repeat the sins of our fathers-from the bestselling author of Never Unfriended
Born White in the heart of Zululand during the racial apartheid, Lisa-Jo Baker longed to write a new future for her children-a longing that set her on a journey to understand where she fit into a story of violence and faith, history and race. Before marriage and motherhood, she came to the United States to study to become a human rights advocate. When she naïvely walked right into America's own turbulent racial landscape, Baker experienced the kind of painful awakening that is both individual and universal, personal and social. Yet years would go by before she traced this American trauma back to her own South African past.
Baker was a teenager when her mother died of cancer, leaving her with her father. Though they shared a language of faith and justice, she often feared him, unaware that his fierce temper had deep roots in a family's and a nation's pain. Decades later, old wounds reopened when she found herself spiraling into a terrifying version of her father, screaming herself hoarse at her son. Only then did Baker realize that to go forward-to refuse to repeat the sins of our fathers-we must first go back.
With a story that stretches from South Africa's outback to Washington, D.C., It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping is a courageous look at inherited hurts and prejudices, and a hope-filled example for all who feel lost in life or worried that they're too off course to make the necessary corrections. Baker's story shows that it's never too late to be free.
The best-selling author of Never Unfriended opens up about midlife and what it feels like to have outgrown those teenage jeans, but finally grown into the shape of our souls.
Do you ever wonder how you woke up one day with all the responsibilities of a grown-up who secretly enjoys going to Costco, can no longer recognize the tween celebrities on the magazines at checkout, but is still surprised when a Starbucks Barista calls you 'ma'am'--because your inside self is frozen in time from about twenty years ago?
So does Lisa-Jo Baker. Welcome to the middle!
In these intimate reflections on midlife, Lisa-Jo Baker invites women to get a good look at their middles and gives permission to embrace them--beyond what the media, the mirror, the magazines, or our teenagers say. Through gutsy, beautiful storytelling, she admits out loud what most women are thinking about marriage, parenting, failure, and how badly we all want to buy those matching Magnolia Market mugs. Her delicious stories come from not being afraid of who she is (Your Age is Not a Dirty Word). Because she has finally grown comfortable in her own skin (The Scale is Not the Boss of You). She's not asking you to seize the day, just to make sure you actually see it; for all its wildly ordinary glory (Sobbing in my Minivan Over Honor Roll). Because Lisa-Jo knows that the middle might be the best part of the love story of life, muffin top included.
Most people who talk about motherhood start out by telling you how much they always wanted to be a mom.
Not Lisa-Jo Baker. She was eighteen and growing up in South Africa when her mom died, and she swore she would never have kids. But then she fell in love with an American boy with cowboy-green eyes, married him, and now, a decade and two continents later, they have three. This is the unlikely story of how she got there.
Along the way, she has discovered three key things about motherhood. One, motherhood is hard. Two, motherhood is glorious. Three, motherhood is very hard. And while she wouldn't trade it, she would throw out all the parenting advice that made her feel like she was somehow failing this test of womanhood. Because all the what to expect books in the world can never truly prepare you for the sheer exhilaration, joy, and terrifying love that accompanies motherhood.
This audio book is a reminder that being a mom isn't about succeeding at some parenting checklist- it's about what motherhood prepares us for while we're busy preparing for it; how a new identity brings new meaning for our future and new appreciation of our past; and how there is wonder to be found in the daily merry-go-round of dishes, laundry, and tiny humans.
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