The God Box: An Unexpected Gift of Love and Lessons from the Heart

I was recently honored to receive an advance copy of Mary Lou Quinlan’s book, The God Box:  Sharing My Mother’s Gift of Faith, Love and Letting Go for review.  If you’re a reader of Real Simple, you may know the book I’m talking about since Quinlan wrote about it in that magazine.

The God Box is a story of a daughter (Quinlan) who discovers, after the death of her mother, multiple containers of her mother’s handwritten notes stashed away in a closet.  These “God Boxes” hold hundreds of brief notes (petitions) to God written by Quinlan’s mother over the last twenty years of her life.  What is emotionally powerful about these notes is the unexpected gift of faith, love and hope from a mother to a daughter.  Each note written to God reflects a mother’s worries, prayers, hopes and wishes as they unfolded over the years–worries over health, expenses, her daughter’s career choices, her daughter’s perceptible struggle with infertility, and more, down to the details.

The notes, sometimes scrawled on scraps of paper or business cards, allowed Quinlan’s mother the opportunity to listen and deeply care for others–to take on their worries as her own–and free her heart of what might have otherwise become an insurmountable burden of worry.  For Quinlan, her mother’s notes have become a precious opportunity to catch a glimpse of every hope her mother had for her over the past twenty years.

Whether you believe in God or not, The God Box is a beautiful read that promises to inspire the soul.  If you are a natural born worrier, find yourself absorbing others’ problems, or find yourself grappling with the meaning of your life–or how to put your own life into perspective–this book is definitely worth reading.  The book’s pages are filled with rich photos of many of Quinlan’s mother’s notes, and the book is an easy, quick read.

If you’re looking for a special “little” Mother’s Day gift that will deliver joy well after it’s read (even looking at the book sitting beside my bed makes me smile)–for your own mother, a new mother in your life, a best friend or for yourself–this is it.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, describes The God Box as “A beautiful story of love, faith and family.  It reads from beginning to end, like an intimate and familiar prayer.”  Quinlan’s book, The God Box: Sharing My Mother’s Gift of Faith, Love and Letting Go, is officially released April 17, 2012.

To learn more about The God Box, you can check out The God Box Project or Learn more on Facebook.

You can grab a copy of The God Box here:

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Disclaimer: NEKMoms.com received a copy of Quinlan’s Book for review.  This review reflects the honest opinion of the writer and reflects her own views.  To review the NEKMoms.com disclosure policy, click here.