Helpful Helpmeet: A Wife’s Prayer Plan To Serve From Abundance, by Demetria Bilbrew
My review: ★★★
This is a book of daily exercises that help you maintain balance and positive energy.
If you’re as puzzled as I was about the title, know that a “helpmeet” is basically an assistant. Let’s address the instant reaction some people (like me) will have to the stated focus of this book. I’m going to admit, I would have preferred a bit more balanced messaging than “serving your husband.” But aside from the title and a couple of very brief mentions, this book does not actually focus on spousal servitude. Instead, it’s about personal balance, maintaining focus on the values that matter to you, and maintaining your relationship with your husband. For that matter, most of the content is just fine for an unmarried woman, or a husband could pick up this book and substitute the word “wife” while he’s reading it, and get just as much value out of it.
This book is workbook that takes you through a 40-day series of reflections. Whether you pray avidly every day, or would rather think of the activities in this book as meditations or exercises, it’s a very approachable and practical set of daily activities. For each day it has a theme (e.g. forgiveness, courage) and several prompts to think about, with spaces to write down your thoughts. It could probably be done in about 10 minutes per day, or more if you really want to take your time considering each prompt carefully.
I’m going to admit that this style of book is not for me; I don’t have a daily prayer routine or take time out of each day to think and reflect on my values. That said, if you are trying to improve the balance in your life, and you ARE inclined to partake in some short daily thought exercises to get it, I expect this is a great book for you.
