“In Stepping on Cheerios, Betsy Singleton Snyder describes her daily struggles of having four babies in diapers and dealing with a health scare at the same time. Her humorous and inspiring spiritual journey is one of healing and finding grace amid the daily turmoil. I recommend this lovely book to mothers and fathers.” — Ginger Beebe, former first lady of Arkansas
“Warm. Funny. Charming. Insightful. Compassionate. Grace-filled. A book for new mom, grandmoms, anyone and everyone raising kids.” —Bishop Janice Riggle Huie
“Where was this wit and grace when I was a young mother? I would have kept Betsy Singleton Snyder’s book on my nightstand, ready to remind myself that I am a person, a child of God, and a work in progress. Snyder writes with an uncanny combination of objectivity and tender intimacy when she talks about how our own messy faith in Jesus and in our families can be closely related.” —Diana Brown Holbert, MM, MDiv, DMin
“I can easily recommend this book as the thoughtfully clever rumblings of a mind committed to ministry, to motherhood, to being a loving and supportive wife all at the same time. And it is just good fun to read. So have at it, sisters, and may a brother or two join in the fun, too!” —John C. Holbert, Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics Emeritus, Perkins School of Theology
“When Betsy contacted me to see if I would do an advance review of her book Stepping on Cheerios, I thought, I don’t have time for this. After all, I too am a pastor, and though I am raising only one boy and not four like she is, I do have two churches, which is like having fraternal twins who are all ages simultaneously. But I have such deep respect for Betsy, I said yes anyway. Then I got my copy, which came when year-end reports are due and new committees are meeting and semester report cards are being released. . . . but I picked it up, and suddenly I had all the time in the world to read it. Funny how your priorities can be so quickly rearranged by a breathtaking book. I say breathtaking because that is how her writing feels: frantic at times, as if you need to gasp for air, and peaceful at times, as if you are listening to your child’s sleep-breathing. In fact, she writes like parenthood is lived. At times her writing is fast-paced, almost chaotic, jumping from moment to moment as if there is not enough time to say all she needs to say, and then suddenly it slows and takes notice of all the beautiful details going on in our blessed and baffling lives. And like parenthood, she seems to exist in the past, the present, and the future all at the same time. In the midst of it all, Jesus is inhabiting. He walks across Legos, sits down at the wrong table, bangs a timpani of joy, all in the name of knowing us and loving us more than we could possibly imagine. That Betsy glimpses this and then articulates it so well and so real is a great gift to us all. It is worth reordering our day to swim in her story for a while, and in doing so, we will swim with ourselves and with Jesus.” —Rev. Dr. Michelle J. Morris, pastor and contributor to the CEB Women’s Bible
“This book should be by the bedside of every mother with small children to be read and reread daily as a devotional to keep connected and ‘find God in the chaos and clutter of life.’ Betsy Singleton Snyder humorously reminds every mother ‘you never get it all done,’ ‘take sorta kinda breaks,’ ‘stop more,’ ‘be just you and nothing else,’ ‘locate and hallow the sacred family portals,’ ‘have family movie night as a spiritual practice,’ ‘bad stuff stinks but it demands notice,’ and ‘move through the earth.’ A must-read for parents of small children. —The Rev. Joanna Seibert, MD, deacon, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Little Rock, AR, author of Taste and See: Experiences of God’s Goodness Through Stories, Poems, and Food as seen by a Mother and Daughter