Life Creative by Wendy Speake & Kelli Stuart | book review
“A celebration of motherhood, creativity, and the faith that binds them.”
Life Creative: Inspiration for Today’s Renaissance Mom by Wendy Speake & Kelli Stuart
About this book: (from the publisher) What was God thinking when He created you creative and then gave you children?
Creative moms often feel as though they must lay their passions down. But God had something special in mind for the creative woman during this intense season of mothering.
In this Pinterest age of handcrafted children’s parties, Instagram photos of beautifully decorated homes, and blogs filled with poetry and prose, it is clear that we are in the midst of a brand new artistic renaissance. Not one born in Italian cathedrals or Harlem jazz clubs, but rather in kitchens, nurseries, and living rooms around the world. Mothers, working in the cracks and crevices of each hectic day, are adorning the world with their gifts, and they’re showing all of us the beauty of this Life Creative.
In this book, you’ll learn:
—Why the world needs your art
—How this Life Creative begins at home
—When art can turn a profit
—Your part in this modern-day Renaissance
Life Creative paints the stories of moms, just like you, who are fitting their inspired lives into the everyday, ordinary places of motherhood. Women like home decorator Melissa Michaels and jewelry designer Lisa Leonard, author Angie Smith, recording artist Ellie Holcomb, and many more.
Learn more and purchase a copy.
About the authors: Wendy Speake is a trained actress and heartfelt teacher. She ministers to women’s hearts through storytelling and 
life applications, utilizing drama, comedy, poetry and the study of God’s Word. During her career in Hollywood, Speake found herself longing to tell stories that edify and encourage women. She is the author of “Triggers: Exchanging Parents’ Angry Reactions for Gentle Biblical Responses” (BRU Press, 2015). Speake is a wife and homeschooling mother of three boys.
Kelli Stuart is a writer and a storyteller at heart. She has written for several websites including The Huffington Post, 5 Minutes for Mom, The MOB Society, (in)courage and Compassion International. She is the author of three books, including “Like a River from Its Course” (Kregel Publications, 2016) and a noted speaker. Stuart her husband live in Florida with their four children.
Find out more about Wendy and Kelli at http://www.lifecreative.me.
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Genre: Non-fiction/Christian Life/Parenting/Moms
Reminds me of: Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle
[Tweet “Godly encouragement for #creative #moms. @KelliStuart @Wendy_Speake @Litfuse”]
Reflection: When I was a new mom, my deepest challenge was the precarious balance of living in between practicing my art and mothering my children. It presented a constant tension. The former came first and was very much a part of me; giving it up altogether seemed neither right nor feasible because it fed my soul in ways that nothing else could. (We learned that the hard way. When I let too much time transpire without appropriate creative expression, my good humor would suffer…and so would my family.) The latter was a season of life I very much desired, one I had coveted long before it was granted me, and my unbounded love for my precious children was unlike any I’d every known. I wanted both these things very much, and yet finding a way to bring them into coexistence often seemed, in those early days, a feat beyond my reach.
I wish, how I wish, I’d had this lovely book of encouragement back then.
If I had…I think I would have accepted more quickly that it was okay to be a creative and a mom, both. That just because I became the latter didn’t mean I was no longer the former. That I could lay down my art for a season and not be so afraid I would never pick it up again. I would give myself more grace, having a better understanding that God had made me this way — both ways — and it was all for good.
The words discovered in these pages gave me pure encouragement. They are beautiful in their wisdom and perspective. In the same way that my spirit breathed more freely when I read the uplifting, inspiring words of Madeleine L’Engle in Walking on Water (a book that did help to sustain me through many of the aforementioned tension-fraught years), Life Creative now offers today’s mom a gift of immeasurable value — inspiration, understanding, and an invitation to grab hold of courage. To live out her God-given creativity so that she might make a world of difference in her children’s lives — and beyond.
Thanks to Litfuse Publicity and Kregel Publications for providing me a copy free of charge. All opinions are mine.
After words: Whether you are a mom or not, how does creativity fit into your work-life balance?
Giveaway: Join Wendy, Kelli, and other moms in celebrating the beauty of being a creative mom by entering to win the Called to Be Creative Giveaway (details below) and by attending their author chat party on October 27!
One grand prize winner will receive:
- One copy of Life Creative
- The Gracelaced Personalizable Mom’s Wreath
- A handmade leather journal
- A Starbucks gift card
Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on 10/27. The winner will be announced at the Life Creative Facebook party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Wendy, Kelli, and other creative moms, as well as for a chance to win other prizes!
