A Closer Look at Christian Author, Mother and Grandmother Kathi Macias

Christian Author, Kathi Macias, has written a beautifully designed devotional entitled, Mothers of the Bible Speak to Mothers of Today. The following is an interview I conducted with her recently in which we discuss her experience as a mother and how she came about the idea for this book.

Tell us a little bit about your background and your family.

I wasn’t raised in a Christian home and didn’t come to know the Lord until 1974, when I was 26, which radically changed everything about my life. I am married to my junior/senior high school sweetheart, Al. Our kids are all grown and married, and we have a “baker’s dozen” of the cutest grandkids on the planet (two of whom are now serving proudly in the U.S. Navy, and another one who is married and has a toddler named Isaiah, making me a great grandma!).

What has God been teaching you lately?

In a nutshell? How much I still don’t know—and how desperately I need Him. The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I realize what a BIG God we serve! Remembering who it is that holds my hand keeps me putting one foot in the front of the other, regardless of what the day brings my way.

How did you get involved in writing?

I’ve never wanted to do anything else. I’ve had a love affair with words since I was a preschooler. I told my then boyfriend (now husband) when we were walking home from junior high one day that I was going to be a writer when I grew up. He always reminds me that I’m one of the few people he knows who actually followed through on a childhood dream. Of course, I studied journalism and creative writing in high school and college and started writing for magazines and newspapers and church newsletters long before I tackled a book-sized project. My first two books (one novel and one women’s devotional) were published in 1988. The devotional, A Moment A Day, went on to be a bestseller for Regal Books.

Where did you get the idea for “Mothers of the Bible Speak to Mothers of Today?”

I was talking with my former agent, brainstorming about readers’ needs and my strengths/abilities to meet them through writing. The scripture about the older women teaching the younger women seemed to echo in my heart—not just teaching from me, but from “women of old,” biblical women/mothers who had experienced many of the same issues that mothers today face with their own children. I wanted mothers of today to realize that the Bible is relevant to their everyday lives. Though times and cultures have changed, human nature and the components of healthy/non-healthy relationships have not.

With which Bible mother do you identify the most and why?

This may sound strange, but Eve seems to stand out in my mind as the woman who had the toughest assignment imaginable—becoming a mother without having had a role model. Now I had a mother, of course, but when I had my first baby at 18, I felt totally ignorant and terrified. I’ve often thought it’s a wonder that poor little guy survived his first year of life! I suppose we learned together.

What advice would you give to young moms of today?

Never let the enemy convince you that you’re a failure, that you can’t do or be what God has called you to. He has entrusted you with those little ones, and He will enable you to do a good job raising them—if you will just trust Him. Part of that trust is reading His Word and learning from the examples of mothers who walked before you.

Are there any tips you would like to share from your own experiences of being a mom?

I always thought I was too strict—probably a knee-jerk reaction to my fear that I wasn’t a good mom. I also thought I failed at nearly every juncture of my “mom journey.” And yet, today, my children all proclaim that I’m the “greatest mom in the world.” Now only God could effect such a miracle! So again, my tip? Trust Him…no matter what. He loves your children even more than you do.

Are there some specific lessons you hope readers will learn and apply to their lives after reading your book?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I hope and pray they will see themselves in the stories of the mothers of the Bible—and also see God’s faithfulness in those biblical mothers’ lives in such a way that they (today’s mothers) will realize that He will do the same for them and their children.


Interview conducted by: Kelly Kiggins-Lund http://kellykigginslund.blogspot.com Please take a moment to check out this blog! Kelly's blog features several author interviews as well as news about upcoming releases of both christian fiction and non-fiction.