First Line Fridays: Confident Moms, Confident Daughters

Happy Friday!

First Line Fridays is hosted by Hoarding Books and participants share the first line from a nearby book.

Today I'm sharing the first lines from Confident Moms, Confident Daughters: Helping Your Daughter Live Free From Insecurity and Love How She Looks by Maria Furlough:

"I'll never forget the first time I saw what a confident woman looked like."

If you're interested in this book, check out my review here.

What are you reading this weekend?

Have a great weekend! Happy reading!


About the Book:

What we say to our daughters lasts a moment. What we show our daughters lasts a lifetime.

No matter how much we try to tell our daughters that they are beautiful and lovable as they are, words are not enough. And if we're honest, we don't always set the best example. How can we build up confident girls if we struggle to be confident ourselves?

With deep compassion, Maria Furlough delves into the root causes of our insecurity, offers biblical guidance for seeing ourselves as God sees us, and shows how to model our newfound confidence to our impressionable daughters. Speaking as a daughter, a youth leader, and a mother, Furlough shares her own struggles and triumphs, as well as expert advice from a pediatrician, a nutritionist, a Christian counselor, and more.

Book Review: Confident Moms, Confident Daughters by Maria Furlough

About the Book:

What we say to our daughters lasts a moment. What we show our daughters lasts a lifetime.

No matter how much we try to tell our daughters that they are beautiful and lovable as they are, words are not enough. And if we're honest, we don't always set the best example. How can we build up confident girls if we struggle to be confident ourselves?

With deep compassion, Maria Furlough delves into the root causes of our insecurity, offers biblical guidance for seeing ourselves as God sees us, and shows how to model our newfound confidence to our impressionable daughters. Speaking as a daughter, a youth leader, and a mother, Furlough shares her own struggles and triumphs, as well as expert advice from a pediatrician, a nutritionist, a Christian counselor, and more.


My Thoughts:

In Confident Moms, Confident Daughters, author Maria Furlough aims to encourage and equip moms who desire to help their daughters live free from insecurity in an image-obsessed culture.

The author balanced well the ideas of “true beauty” and physical beauty. She emphasized “true beauty” as most important, but validated the feminine desire for physical beauty. She gave practical tips to help a mom feel confident about her physical characteristics. She encourages a woman to focus on what she loves about her body and play to those strengths by purchasing clothes that fit well or trying a new makeup style. In short, use and enjoy what works for you. She is not saying to dress provocatively. Rather, she’s encouraging women to be clothed with “strength and dignity” (a phrase by her daughter on page 138) and that includes dressing in clothes that make one feel strong and confident. Being confident yourself is a crucial step to helping your daughter be confident in her body.

My main takeaways from Confident Moms, Confident Daughters were: 1.) Don’t speak negatively about your body or your daughter’s body. 2.) Don’t vent or dump your issues on your daughter. Talk to the husband, friends, or family, but don’t make your daughter carry your burdens or issues. 3.) Reflective listening. 4.) Honest communication and connection creates an inroad for you to be able to speak truth to your daughter about this crucial issue.

I recommend Confident Moms, Confident Daughters by Maria Furlough to any mom. I will keep this book and reread it in the future. The discussion questions to talk with your daughter about are more appropriate for tween and teen girls. My daughters are much younger and I don’t think they would completely understand or process the questions deeply. Still, the information in the book is valuable as I can start applying the recommended practices when they are young.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.

August Reads and Expected September Reading

My August 2019 Reads:

Today I'm sharing a bit about what I've been reading and what I hope to read. In August, I finished:

1. Play to Their Strengths by Analyn and Brandon Miller. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Read my review.


2. With This Pledge by Tamera Alexander. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Read my review.


3. The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Read my review.


4. Protecting Your Child From Predators by Beth Robinson and Latayne C. Scott - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Read my review.


5. Shame Off You by Denise Pass. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Read my review.


6. Where Dandelions Bloom by Tara Johnson.. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Read my review.


7. The Rescue by Tanya Eavenson. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Review to come soon.


8. Confident Moms, Confident Daughters by Maria Furlough. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Review to come soon.

My favorite book this month was...... The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels! Check out my review here. I'm pretty sure it will end up in my top ten favorite reads for 2019!

Expected September 2019 Reads:

In September, I expect to read:

1. One Final Breath by Lynn H. Blackburn - A new-to-me author!

2. Shadows of Ladenbrook Manor by Melanie Dobson - This is my local book club's selection for September.

3. One More River to Cross by Jane Kirkpatrick - I've heard how great Jane Kirkpatrick's books are, and I'm looking forward to reading one for myself.

4. Woe Is I by Patricia T O'Connor - Yeah, still working on this one....

5. Midnight on the River Grey by Abigail Wilson. - I have both of Abigail Wilson's books sitting on my TBR stack, but I think I'll start with her newest release.

6. The Devotional Poetry of Donne, Herbert, and Milton by Leland Ryken. - I started this last month. It's a short book, but it's a slow read as I never make it through more than two or three poems per day.

7. Tate by Susan May Warren. - I've fallen behind on the Susie May's Montana Marshall's series and I need to catch up ASAP from all the good buzz I hear about it.

8. How to Survive a Shipwreck by Jonathan Martin. - Currently reading!

 What will you read this month?