Confessions of a Proverbs 32 Woman: An Interview with Comedian Kerri Pomarolli
Hollywood comedian and writer for the Hallmark Channel Kerri Pomarolli understands what it’s like to feel like you have to have it all together. In her book, Confessions of a Proverbs 32 Woman, she flips the script on this idea of perfection, bravely giving readers a peek into her own messy life with the ups, the downs, and so much humor!
Diving into the overwhelming struggles of modern women, Kerri hopes that through her book, and the companion devotional, She Rises Late and Her Kids Make Her Breakfast, women will find that they have something more to hold on to: self-awareness and God-awareness.
Talk about the book. Who is it for and what do you hope readers take away from it?
I think it’s for all the women out there that read Christian books about farm-to-table, Pinterest women with matching Tupperware and perfect hair, and those who feel unworthy to be valued in today's society. Basically I have tagged myself #HotMessForJesus because I really relate more with those types of women, and I didn't see a lot of books out there. I'm a single mom and I really feel like there needed to be a book that no matter what life stage you’re in, you can really laugh your head off and feel God's grace and that God loves you in the middle of your hot mess.
Who is the Proverbs 32 woman?
Basically she's the woman that when she reads in Proverbs 31, “she gathers her food from afar,” and that means Uber eats or takeout. The Proverbs 32 woman eats Nutella in the shower. The Proverbs 32 women is basically every woman out there that feels she can't measure up to Proverbs 31, but we keep trying and we want to feel loved and accepted right where we are.
How does being born a "Type AAA" and having to fight perfectionism in yourself shape your message?
I feel there's a lot of women out there that are running on type AAA speed 24/7 and it's not healthy. And if we don't call it out in ourselves, we're never going to get the rest we need. The book is written almost like a letter to a good friend. I started writing letters, at the beginning of the book, to the Proverbs 31 woman and saying, “Hey, I wish we could have coffee cause you're stressing me out.” And so the book is written to the reader as if it was an intimate coffee conversation or as if they took a peek into my diary. Perfectionism is one of my biggest downfalls—trying to do it all and be perfect and never measuring up and then feeling bad and then starting over.
I live in the most perfectionism culture you could imagine: Hollywood. I mean we just airbrush everyone. Even Betty White. We're not allowed to have a wrinkle on our forehead. I talk about how we need to harness those powers [of social media] for good, not evil, how it really ruins relationships. I write a lot about relationships and loneliness and things that all women are dealing with and we don't take the time to admit it because we don't want to appear imperfect.
What would you say to someone who feels like she doesn't have enough time to devote to God?
If you have enough time to go to the bathroom, if you have enough time to go on Facebook, [you have enough time for God]. Why don't you take a 24-hour sampling of how much time you devote to television, media and your phone? Really, do it. Take a stop watch for 24 hours or a week, and don't sensor yourself, and tell me how much time you have to devote to the recipes you're pinning that you're never going to make.
I mean, I'm gonna watch the food Network I work for an hour and a half. I'm not going to cook a darn thing, but I'm going to watch Giada De Laurentiis make an Italian dinner. We can find a time to organize our drawers. I'm going to organize my Bible verses, I'm not going to read them. It's so ridiculous, and then I'm like, “Oh Lord, I love you. I trust you. Good night.”
What does it mean to have a warrior posture?
I write a little bit of stories about sicknesses. If that was a lot of health challenges. My mother's a three-time breast cancer survivor, and my daughter was born with a very, very, very, very serious illness that the world would have said were incurable. And I share her testimony all around the world. She's 9, and if you saw her now, you would not know that she had all these sicknesses.
When you hit warrior posture, it's like, “Devil, you have messed with the wrong mom. You don't know who you're dealing with. I know the Word and I am a weapon of mass destruction. You better watch it cause now I'm going to go pray for every baby in the hospital. You've made me mad and we have to know that we are at war.” I think most Christians today do not understand that we are at war. We're at war for our children. We are at war for our relationships. The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, and every day I put on the armor of God with my kids. Every day I try to put on the armor and, and I teach them about Satan. I teach them. Why are you having those nightmares? Why is it happening? Because Satan's trying to mess with you. What do you do? And then my little one would be like, “Get off me, devil get off me.” And I'm like, that's warrior posture to me.
