For years, Marcie Stokman was managing a household of nine and hardly had time to pick up a book.
That is, until a conversation with her daughter, Beth, who expressed the same sense of loneliness that Marcie felt as a mother after having a child of her own.
MARCIE STOKMAN
Founder, Well-Read Mom
And she said, isn't their a place after college where women get together and talk about the real questions in life. So I heard that cry of loneliness in her voice, that longing for meaning, a place where she could continue to grow intellectually and as a human being.
Now, Marcie's reading initiative for moms, “Well-Read Mom” is ten years old, and has created reading groups in 50 states and eight other countries dedicated to hosting stimulating discussions on literature and life. The project has brought together more than 3,000 women to remind them that there is a deeper element to being a mother than only raising a child.
MARCIE STOKMAN
Founder, Well-Read Mom
Mothers love their families so much and they love their children, and everything can become about the kids, and yet we forget that there's a connection between motherhood and our own growth.
Stokman's own book, titled “Well-Read Mom,” shares why it is important for women today to invest time in reading literature, which she says is a way to grow in empathy and closer to God.
MARCIE STOKMAN
Founder, Well-Read Mom
Part of praying is the capacity of an inner life, and an inner life comes through reading God's word, attending Mass, but along with that, great and worthy books, novels, stories, help us see life as it's played out.
Well-Read Mom is now entering its eleventh year of helping mothers take care of their homes and hearts by bringing them face to face with life's biggest questions.
JM
