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IVP Bible Study Experience
Moms at the Well: Meeting God Through the Mothers of Scripture―A 7-Week Bible Study with Video Access
Motherhood is hard. Really hard.
Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-MacLean know this personally. As moms who have spent decades working with and encouraging other moms, they know the struggles real moms face in our real world. Their survey of more than seven hundred moms revealed that moms experience worry, anger, comparison, escapism, a desire for control, and even heartbreak while raising children. And moms long to connect with God in the midst of it all, but even that can feel like a challenge.
That's why we need a well. For centuries, women met daily at neighborhood wells to draw water for their families, meeting a very significant physical need. But these wells were also gathering spaces, providing much-needed community and relationships.
This seven-week Bible study offers a modern-day "well" for mothers—a gathering place to encourage one another, take an honest look at the challenges we face as moms, and experience the God who invites us into a process of spiritual transformation. When you purchase this Bible study, you'll also get access to videos and discussions questions to use on your own or with your group.
Meet with moms, meet with God, and find much-needed refreshment at the well.
Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-MacLean know this personally. As moms who have spent decades working with and encouraging other moms, they know the struggles real moms face in our real world. Their survey of more than seven hundred moms revealed that moms experience worry, anger, comparison, escapism, a desire for control, and even heartbreak while raising children. And moms long to connect with God in the midst of it all, but even that can feel like a challenge.
That's why we need a well. For centuries, women met daily at neighborhood wells to draw water for their families, meeting a very significant physical need. But these wells were also gathering spaces, providing much-needed community and relationships.
This seven-week Bible study offers a modern-day "well" for mothers—a gathering place to encourage one another, take an honest look at the challenges we face as moms, and experience the God who invites us into a process of spiritual transformation. When you purchase this Bible study, you'll also get access to videos and discussions questions to use on your own or with your group.
Meet with moms, meet with God, and find much-needed refreshment at the well.
176 pages, Paperback
Published April 30, 2024
18 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Kathy Tuan-MacLean
3 books1 followerKathy Tuan-MacLean (PhD, Northwestern) is the National Faculty Ministry Director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, where she invites and resources faculty to follow Jesus together. Since joining InterVarsity in 1990, she has led numerous students and faculty in Bible study, spiritual formation, and leadership development. She is also a spiritual director who has led marriage ministry and women's retreats.
Despite her doctorate in Human Development, she repeatedly "came to the end of herself" during what she calls her "14 year dark night of the soul" aka raising young children. . . and found Jesus waiting for her there. "Moms at the Well" is the fruit of that long journey.
Despite her doctorate in Human Development, she repeatedly "came to the end of herself" during what she calls her "14 year dark night of the soul" aka raising young children. . . and found Jesus waiting for her there. "Moms at the Well" is the fruit of that long journey.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 14, 2024
This was by far one of the most impactful Bible studies I have done. I don’t normally put a Bible study type of book in my goodreads but I literally want all the moms who will see this to pick this up and start it! It is deeply theological, extremely practical, extremely gentle and kind, and has made me love Jesus and love being a mom more than when I started it.
April 30, 2024
Summary: A seven week Bible study experience addressing the struggles moms face in parenting, looking at women in scripture and how God encountered them.
Being a mom isn’t easy. Sometimes it is working hard and feeling unappreciated. It’s worry over every sniffle and fever, over every time the kids are out of sight. It’s all the ways moms evade or numb the pain of inadequacy and failure. It’s comparisons with other moms. It’s the anger that wells up and explodes over the children. It’s the struggle with control and the gnawing sense that at the end of the day, whatever control one has is illusory and the attempts to make it work are counterproductive. It’s heartbreak.
Before developing these studies, Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-Maclean surveyed over 700 moms from those in their 20’s to those in their 60’s. And the struggles named above were the ones that surfaced over and over in their survey results. Then they looked at women in scripture who faced these issues.
Hagar with feeling unseen.
Jairus (and his daughter Talitha) and the woman with the flow of blood, and worry.
The Samaritan woman and running from pain.
Leah and Rachel, and comparison
Herodias and anger (I don’t ever think I’ve taken a close look at Herodias before!).
Mary, the mother of Jesus, and control.
Hagar (again) and hearbreak.
The guide they wrote is designed to be a seven week of shared study and discussion, five personal studies, and a family sabbath exercise. The flow of each study includes:
A group check-in.
A short introductory reading
A video accessed through a QR code in the study, in which Kathy and Tara discuss their passage and their own experiences with the particular struggle (about ten minutes).
A study of the relevant passage with room in the guide for notes.
A “Holy Spirit Check-in” with a prompt for quiet reflection.
A “breath prayer” connected to the theme that can be used through the week.
A leader benediction.
Each of the daily personal studies return to the passage going deeper with one particular aspect.
Tara and Kathy don’t come off as the “together moms” but are real about the ways these struggles were their struggles, sharing real stories from their lives, like the poem Kathy’s daughter wrote about Kathy’s anger shared with the whole third grade class or Tara being described by her children as having “dictator syndrome.” They keep it real, naming the ways struggles manifest, ask insightful questions, and pointing to hope in scripture and prayer.
The book is printed on quality paper with great typography and artistic photographs at the beginning of each chapter. There is plenty of room to jot down notes and reflections, making this each mom’s meeting place with God at the well (by the way, did you know that God’s first encounter with Hagar at the well was God’s first encounter in scripture with anyone at a well?).
I’ve already given this guide to a young mom I know. I was delighted to do so because I knew it would encourage and not add a heap of guilt in the life of a mom who is actually a great mom. I believe there are many moms under the weight of the same struggles Tara and Kathy found in their survey, who will be relieved to discover they are not alone and that God is with them and loves them as moms.
And a word for dads. Don’t let the title put you off. Many of us wrestle with similar issues (perhaps a companion might be written?). But sharing this with your wife may well help you understand life a bit more from her perspective, and what she struggles with as well as prompt you to explore how some of these struggles manifest in your own life.
This study may truly be a gift shared by two to a roomful of women going through it together. It’s great for whatever stage of being a mother one is in. Above all, this stands apart as not one more book of parenting advice but as an invitation to spiritual transformation occurring in five steps:
1. God meets us where we are.
2. God welcomes us into honest conversation.
3. God calls us to trust and obey.
4. God transforms us and sets us free.
5. God invites us to be agents of shalom.
Its the kind of refreshment one finds at a deep well with clean, cold water.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Being a mom isn’t easy. Sometimes it is working hard and feeling unappreciated. It’s worry over every sniffle and fever, over every time the kids are out of sight. It’s all the ways moms evade or numb the pain of inadequacy and failure. It’s comparisons with other moms. It’s the anger that wells up and explodes over the children. It’s the struggle with control and the gnawing sense that at the end of the day, whatever control one has is illusory and the attempts to make it work are counterproductive. It’s heartbreak.
Before developing these studies, Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-Maclean surveyed over 700 moms from those in their 20’s to those in their 60’s. And the struggles named above were the ones that surfaced over and over in their survey results. Then they looked at women in scripture who faced these issues.
Hagar with feeling unseen.
Jairus (and his daughter Talitha) and the woman with the flow of blood, and worry.
The Samaritan woman and running from pain.
Leah and Rachel, and comparison
Herodias and anger (I don’t ever think I’ve taken a close look at Herodias before!).
Mary, the mother of Jesus, and control.
Hagar (again) and hearbreak.
The guide they wrote is designed to be a seven week of shared study and discussion, five personal studies, and a family sabbath exercise. The flow of each study includes:
A group check-in.
A short introductory reading
A video accessed through a QR code in the study, in which Kathy and Tara discuss their passage and their own experiences with the particular struggle (about ten minutes).
A study of the relevant passage with room in the guide for notes.
A “Holy Spirit Check-in” with a prompt for quiet reflection.
A “breath prayer” connected to the theme that can be used through the week.
A leader benediction.
Each of the daily personal studies return to the passage going deeper with one particular aspect.
Tara and Kathy don’t come off as the “together moms” but are real about the ways these struggles were their struggles, sharing real stories from their lives, like the poem Kathy’s daughter wrote about Kathy’s anger shared with the whole third grade class or Tara being described by her children as having “dictator syndrome.” They keep it real, naming the ways struggles manifest, ask insightful questions, and pointing to hope in scripture and prayer.
The book is printed on quality paper with great typography and artistic photographs at the beginning of each chapter. There is plenty of room to jot down notes and reflections, making this each mom’s meeting place with God at the well (by the way, did you know that God’s first encounter with Hagar at the well was God’s first encounter in scripture with anyone at a well?).
I’ve already given this guide to a young mom I know. I was delighted to do so because I knew it would encourage and not add a heap of guilt in the life of a mom who is actually a great mom. I believe there are many moms under the weight of the same struggles Tara and Kathy found in their survey, who will be relieved to discover they are not alone and that God is with them and loves them as moms.
And a word for dads. Don’t let the title put you off. Many of us wrestle with similar issues (perhaps a companion might be written?). But sharing this with your wife may well help you understand life a bit more from her perspective, and what she struggles with as well as prompt you to explore how some of these struggles manifest in your own life.
This study may truly be a gift shared by two to a roomful of women going through it together. It’s great for whatever stage of being a mother one is in. Above all, this stands apart as not one more book of parenting advice but as an invitation to spiritual transformation occurring in five steps:
1. God meets us where we are.
2. God welcomes us into honest conversation.
3. God calls us to trust and obey.
4. God transforms us and sets us free.
5. God invites us to be agents of shalom.
Its the kind of refreshment one finds at a deep well with clean, cold water.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
March 27, 2024
I really enjoyed this Bible study. The days were manageable and realistic with real life. The in depth study of each woman or women really increased my Bible knowledge and understanding of the passages I studied. And these women wrote the study like they’re talking directly to us. I only had one complaint.
I don’t see the comparison between Leah and Rachel with Elizabeth and Mary (and in a week of not comparing yourself to other moms). Their stories are so vastly different. Leah is also constantly talked down on, but after her fourth son (Judah) was born, she decided to praise God and not her husband. Her heart changed. This Bible study doesn’t talk about that, and I think it should. All moms need grace, and when I think of a woman in the Bible who eventually learned grace, I think of Leah. She’s a great example for all of us.
The authors offer charts for us to fill in occasionally, and I love it. It looks organized, and it makes the information easy to understand. I also didn’t feel like I was doing any busy work. This study was definitely written for moms—and we don’t have much time to waste on filler information.
I also enjoy the fifth day of each week. Peace is sewn into the very fabric of the lesson for the week. Connecting the lesson with shalom is a cool way to teach about these women in the Bible.
It me of my favorite parts of this study was the Family Sabbath section at the end of each week. Incorporating my husband and kids into what I’ve learned will help each of us on some way. I’d buy a devotional just filled with these family sabbaths.
I absolutely recommend this Bible study. We spend too much time looking at what other moms are doing instead of looking inside ourselves. I needed so many of the reminders this study taught.
I received this ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
I don’t see the comparison between Leah and Rachel with Elizabeth and Mary (and in a week of not comparing yourself to other moms). Their stories are so vastly different. Leah is also constantly talked down on, but after her fourth son (Judah) was born, she decided to praise God and not her husband. Her heart changed. This Bible study doesn’t talk about that, and I think it should. All moms need grace, and when I think of a woman in the Bible who eventually learned grace, I think of Leah. She’s a great example for all of us.
The authors offer charts for us to fill in occasionally, and I love it. It looks organized, and it makes the information easy to understand. I also didn’t feel like I was doing any busy work. This study was definitely written for moms—and we don’t have much time to waste on filler information.
I also enjoy the fifth day of each week. Peace is sewn into the very fabric of the lesson for the week. Connecting the lesson with shalom is a cool way to teach about these women in the Bible.
It me of my favorite parts of this study was the Family Sabbath section at the end of each week. Incorporating my husband and kids into what I’ve learned will help each of us on some way. I’d buy a devotional just filled with these family sabbaths.
I absolutely recommend this Bible study. We spend too much time looking at what other moms are doing instead of looking inside ourselves. I needed so many of the reminders this study taught.
I received this ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
April 30, 2024
Oh! I love this book! This is the most _REAL_ Bible Study book about motherhood. If you can imagine a gritty compassionate Bible study that cuts right to the painful stuff we're dealing with as moms, this is it. This book is not just a book- it has QR codes with each chapter that link to videos where you grow to deeply love these two moms who wrote this book. These two moms don't pretend to have it all together and yet, they've actually come someplace on their journey and they share wisdom from that place. Watch the videos! They're worth so much more than the price of the book!
The book is organized to support a group or pair of women going through the book together. Their chapters address the topics that came up from their research survey of hundreds of moms from a variety of backgrounds and really hard life experiences- including the death of a child. These are the big topics (and chapter titles) they came up with from the research of what moms actually go through: 1. When We Feel Unseen, 2. When We're Worried, 3. When We're Running From Pain, 4. When We're Caught in a Comparison Trap, 5. When We're Angry, 6. When We're Grasping for Control, and 7. When Our Hearts Are Breaking. Yikes! What a list!! This is a Bible Study book that nurtures me to be fully authentically me-flawed and fully loved.
The organizing structure within the chapters supports a group meeting on a regular basis, then engaging with the material throughout the week individually. It even closes each chapter with a helpful way to bring what you've learned to the family. I'm doing this book with a group of moms and I can see how I will be revisiting this book again and again and reap new spiritual growth which each new visit.
The book is organized to support a group or pair of women going through the book together. Their chapters address the topics that came up from their research survey of hundreds of moms from a variety of backgrounds and really hard life experiences- including the death of a child. These are the big topics (and chapter titles) they came up with from the research of what moms actually go through: 1. When We Feel Unseen, 2. When We're Worried, 3. When We're Running From Pain, 4. When We're Caught in a Comparison Trap, 5. When We're Angry, 6. When We're Grasping for Control, and 7. When Our Hearts Are Breaking. Yikes! What a list!! This is a Bible Study book that nurtures me to be fully authentically me-flawed and fully loved.
The organizing structure within the chapters supports a group meeting on a regular basis, then engaging with the material throughout the week individually. It even closes each chapter with a helpful way to bring what you've learned to the family. I'm doing this book with a group of moms and I can see how I will be revisiting this book again and again and reap new spiritual growth which each new visit.
April 23, 2024
We all need long, refreshing drinks of water - and this Bible study supplies it. Kathy and Tara invite mothers (and others) to come however they find themselves, in all the mess and joy of life, and encounter God anew in scripture by following mothers in the Bible.
This study isn’t merely about gaining information, it also encourages readers to engage with scripture through prayer, reflection, and community. Real experiences of mothers today are woven throughout the thoughtful readings of Bible passages along with discussion questions. Acknowledging the limited time most mothers have for Bible studies, the authors provide appropriate exercises to reflect and find that refreshment.
Even though I'm not a mother, I found this study inviting and challenging as it encouraged me to see the God who sees me. I already have a list of mothers with whom I will be sharing this - professors, social workers, and stay-at-home moms.
This study isn’t merely about gaining information, it also encourages readers to engage with scripture through prayer, reflection, and community. Real experiences of mothers today are woven throughout the thoughtful readings of Bible passages along with discussion questions. Acknowledging the limited time most mothers have for Bible studies, the authors provide appropriate exercises to reflect and find that refreshment.
Even though I'm not a mother, I found this study inviting and challenging as it encouraged me to see the God who sees me. I already have a list of mothers with whom I will be sharing this - professors, social workers, and stay-at-home moms.
April 28, 2024
The experience I had with this Moms at the Well really helped me feel seen as a mom. Oftentimes, Bible studies - especially those written for women - leave me feel wanting. I know there is so much God wants for me to get out of His Word but I have trouble entering in. This study, however, invites and welcomes while digging deep. It asks hard questions and gets to the meat of topics like control, anger, comparison, and worry. (Since, you know, those _might_ come up for me every now and again...) It's a book about spiritual transformation that starts with God meeting us where we are in a very real way - even in the ugly and the messy.
The study is set up to do alone or with a group. I highly recommend grabbing some other moms and doing it together. It's appropriate for moms of any age kids and just SO GOOD!
The study is set up to do alone or with a group. I highly recommend grabbing some other moms and doing it together. It's appropriate for moms of any age kids and just SO GOOD!
January 19, 2024
This Bible study is excellent with rich insights and thought-provoking questions. I did not love that the author named the woman at the well, though I understand the convenience it may provide in a discussion. I also am wary of the statement saying a whole town began following Jesus when many translations I read state “many” in the town. Still, the Bible study covers topics common to motherhood, so I felt very seen as a mother myself while reading this. I also appreciated the family Sabbath ideas. I recommend this study to any small group of moms.
Thank you to NetGalley and InterVarsity Press for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and InterVarsity Press for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
February 28, 2024
Motherhood is hard. Sure, there are beautiful moments— but there are also countless tears, struggles, and obstacles for women to face as we mother our children. This book is a gift to mothers as we journey. Moms at the Well invites readers to journey together through seven stories of different women from the Bible. The chapters are broken up into six sections each week, designed with guided questions for reflection either in an individual or a group Bible-study setting.
Moms at the Well invites us to enter into the Biblical stories, reflecting on “When we feel unseen, When we feel worried, When we’re running from pain…” and more.
I highly recommend this book if you are a mom!
Moms at the Well invites us to enter into the Biblical stories, reflecting on “When we feel unseen, When we feel worried, When we’re running from pain…” and more.
I highly recommend this book if you are a mom!
July 24, 2024
This is an excellent Bible study for moms. It’s authentic, practical, encouraging, and engaging. I really enjoyed the Scripture study and saw new things in each passage. It’s so rare to find a devotional/Bible study for moms that is so Biblically and theologically deep while also being very accessible to the realities of motherhood. It also sets a new standard for how to talk about the challenges of motherhood without shame or comparison. It’s so well done, and I would highly recommend this book!
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May 2, 2024Moms at the Well connects the emotions of being a mother - that so many of us share - with scripture in a well-written and organized bible study format. It is that thought-provoking and spiritual journey that gives mothers peace knowing they are not alone. Whether you read this book with a bible study group or on your own, you are bound to find it compelling and comforting. I am getting Moms at the Well for my friends and family.
June 7, 2024
OK, it's my book, but Tara and I feel so happy with what God gave us as we worked on this book together. Our hope and dream is that God would help moms out there know they are loved, seen and heard. We want to see a movement of moms meeting together at life-giving wells - helping one another receive Living Water! Join us in what God's doing among mothers!
We have a leader's guide, playlists, and other resources at our website: https://www.welcomejesuswelcome.com/. See you at the well!
We have a leader's guide, playlists, and other resources at our website: https://www.welcomejesuswelcome.com/. See you at the well!
May 1, 2024
This book combines ancient spiritual practices with down-to-earth current experiences. It will challenge you, encourage you, and show the next step on your journey toward “a little more shalom”. And I love how they identify the five phases of each story as each originating with the movement of God in a person’s life. It’s not all on us.
November 15, 2025
Great Bible study to go through with a group or on your own if needed. Our group discussions brought the lessons to life and helped us to make deeper connections. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews