Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep
Tish Harrison Warren
Overwhelmed single moms and dads will identify with Warren’s struggle to pray after multiple losses in her life. She found the words she needed in Compline, an ancient prayer that lifts our human vulnerability up to God. Single parents work, watch, and weep alone, standing guard over their defenseless children, often without much support. Warren offers a way back into prayerful conversation with the God who neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Everything Sad Is Untrue: (a true story)
Daniel Nayeri
Nayeri relates his experience in a sixth-grade classroom in Oklahoma after fleeing Iran when his mom becomes a Christian. His father stays behind, his absence as formidable as his presence had been. The agonizing long-distance phone calls between father and son will be familiar to parents and children in the wake of divorce. Part memoir, part fiction, all masterful storytelling, this book attests to the enduring hope Daniel finds in his mother’s faith.
The Mockingbird Devotional: Good News for Today (and Every Day)
Edited by Ethan Richardson and Sean Norris
Single parents generally have little bandwidth for reading dense theology, but this 365-day devotional offers ample theological bang for the harried single parent’s quiet-time buck. Exploring key biblical doctrines through Scripture, plus story, music, and movie references, multiple contributors proclaim the gospel with clear-eyed realism about our brokenness, our need for a Savior, and the grace we have in Jesus.
The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
Brennan Manning
For weary single parents who feel they never have enough time, energy, money, or patience, Manning shows that Jesus’ love for broken humanity depends not on what we do or fail to do but on who Jesus is. No matter how far we are falling short, Jesus loves us because he loves us, and oh, how he loves us.
Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story
Bono
Raised by his father after his mother’s sudden death, U2 frontman Bono narrates the audiobook version of his memoir with the humor, pathos, and style of a consummate performer. This one’s mainly for fun (something single parents don’t get much of), but Bono shares honestly about lingering grief for his mother and complicated attempts to connect with his father who won’t discuss her death.
