“With Death by Minivan, Heather Renshaw captures the joys, challenges, and blessings that come with being a mother in the modern world. Her style is relatable. Her humor is infectious. And her love of the Church, the saints, and the Virgin Mary, most evident. I highly recommend this book for all women looking to be affirmed that ‘it’s all going to be okay’ with the guidance of the Most Holy Trinity.”
— Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon
“Death by Minivan is the mom memoir to end all mom memoirs. No one else needs to write one. Heather Renshaw has done it, and I’m so grateful for it! She’s captured what ‘mom life’ is like (and what we moms can do to become holier) with beautiful honesty, hysterical insights, and the most comforting, relatable tone I’ve seen in a ‘mom book’ in ages. I’ll be reading this book every year, passing it out to my friends (new and veteran moms alike), and you should grab a copy, too. Buckle up in her minivan’s backseat, and enjoy the ride.”
— Katie Prejean McGrady, International Catholic speaker and author of Room 24: Adventures of a New Evangelist and Follow: Your Lifelong Adventure with Jesus
“Heather Renshaw gives today’s Pinterest-inspired, carefully cropped image of the family a run for its money in her humorous and disarming look at family, faith … and more family in Death by Minivan. She speaks to all of us who have ever sat in pickup lines, coordinated Mass attire on the run, or watched a pot of water not want to boil when trying to get dinner on the table. Heather shares the adventures and challenges of raising a family with joyful, Christ-filled grace in a way that offers hope in this busy season of raising kids.”
— Maria Morera Johnson, Author of My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous Women Who Showed Me How to Live and Super Girls and Halos: My Companions on the Quest for Truth, Justice, and Heroic Virtue
“Heather Renshaw writes with humor and candor to remind us that we’re not alone, and we can do this. This book will be a breath of fresh air for any mom who’s ever felt like she’s failing at her most important job.”
— Jennifer Fulwiler, radio host and author of One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both
“Life’s path is full of twists, turns, bumps, and blessings. Left to navigate alone, we may break rules, hit gridlock, or even lose our way. Thankfully, Death by Minivan reminds us that we never travel alone. With humor, honesty, and spirit, Heather Renshaw employs personal insights and timeless truths to help us harvest the fruits of the Holy Spirit, our companion and GPS along our path to God. Insightful and fun for individuals and even better for group study, this book should be required ‘driver training’ for busy moms navigating family life.”
— Lisa M. Hendey, Founder of CatholicMom.com and author of The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul
“Whether you’re the mom of one tiny human or a gaggle of kids, Death by Minivan will make you laugh, possibly cry, and breathe a big sigh of relief that you’re not the only mom out there who seesaws between feeling an intense, visceral love for your children and the very real fear that motherhood will be the end of you—or perhaps your children. Sharing how she’s slowly learning to ripen the fruits of the Holy Spirit, Renshaw has written a book that reassures moms they are not alone, while also revealing the grace that can be found in the midst of cold cups of coffee, rogue Legos, what she coins sibling ‘bickerpaloozas,’ and the calm and the chaos that come with motherhood. Brimming with humor, humility, wisdom from the saints, real-life anecdotes, and biblical encouragement, Death by Minivan is like an espresso shot of encouragement for moms everywhere.”
— Kate Wicker, speaker and author of Getting Past Perfect: How to find Joy and Grace in the Messiness of Motherhood and Weightless: Making Peace with Your Body
“As tenderhearted as it is humorous, Death by Minivan will manage to give you a good swift kick in the pants, while also encouraging and uplifting you. Well written and worth every word, this book will yield great benefits for the time invested in reading it. Heather speaks to the heart of every mother who struggles to try harder and be better, and she leads us to a place of peace and genuine happiness. Trade hardness of heart and chaotic inner conversations for the quiet calm of healing and wholeness found by cultivating the fruits of the Holy Spirit.”
— Elizabeth Foss, founder and chief content director of Take Up & Read
“Death by Minivan is a raucous joy ride that somehow manages to also be a holy pilgrimage. Heather Renshaw maps a course through life that relies on faith and laughter with the Holy Spirit as your guide. It’s breathtaking in places and hilarious in others. Grab your favorite car snacks and settle in for the journey. Death by Minivan proves that while motherhood may drive you crazy, it just might be your road to holiness.”
— Rebecca Frech, author of Can We Be Friends and Teaching in Your Tiara: A Homeschooling Book for the Rest of Us, and managing editor for The Catholic Conspiracy website
“Heather Renshaw’s book is a beautiful reminder that God is with us every step of the way. Even when life seems crazy and exhausting, he is there pouring out grace and peace. When we look at the frenzy as an opportunity to grow (instead of a chance to cry or whimper!), we will be filled with the virtue God so generously gives. Thank you, Heather, for this fun and sweet reminder that we are not alone and that God wants to pour out every good thing to those who seek him!”
— Rachel Balducci, cohost of The Gist on CatholicTV and author of Raising Boys Is a Full-Contact Sport and Make My Life Simple: Bringing Peace to Heart and Home
“Do you invite Jesus into your chaos? Into the everyday ups and downs of your wild family living, minivan and all? Heather Renshaw does; and luckily, she also invites us along for the ride. Her humor and joy are infectious. Hop on board and you’ll find yourself laughing, crying, and commiserating along the way. Heather’s gift for storytelling and for seeing the bigger picture will surely bless anyone who reads this book!”
— Danielle Bean, manager at CatholicMom.com
“Death by Minivan is a very witty and practical book written by a mom from a mom’s perspective; yet it’s not just for moms—it’s for all of us who have ever felt trapped driving our ‘minivans’ in this highway called life. This amazing book will help you discover the wisdom of finding God in everything, even in daily routine, through surrender to and acceptance of the movement of the Holy Spirit. So stop for a minute and enjoy a very relatable and deeply spiritual book. You just might drive through life with a different perspective.”
— Father Goyo Hidalgo, priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and associate pastor at Saint Rose of Lima, Simi Valley, California
Death by Minivan
Heather Anderson Renshaw
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Except where noted, the Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible — Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition), copyright © 1965, 1966, 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.
Copyright © 2018 by Heather Anderson Renshaw. Published