Family: Warrior moms

standupagainstabuseThe little girl cowered in the corner of the restaurant. I peered over the booth.

Something wasn’t right. 

That’s when I saw the peeled long stick at her mother’s side. The girl moved, and like lightening, it shot out from the mother’s side and caught her legs.

Her tiny little legs.

She was no more than four years old. Her legs were marked up and down with red marks.

My heart hammered. Everyone in the fast food restaurant was quiet, watching.

“See,” the mother said. “Look at what you did. You made everyone stare at us.” [Read more...]

Family: When Mother’s Day Isn’t Happy

heart

Mother’s Day is approaching.

Your children will send a card, maybe take you out to dinner, or serve breakfast in bed.

You treasure being a mom. You’re not perfect, but you love your babies, even if that baby is 6 foot tall.

But Mother’s Day is bittersweet because of your own relationship with your mother.

It’s complicated and there are no Hallmark cards that describe how you really feel. [Read more...]

Family: My Mother’s Hands

If you came over from Encouragement for Today, welcome!

Because of our past, often the story that is shared is about the mom I used to have.

I loved writing My Mother’s Hands because those hands have become precious to me.

They are the “rest of the story”.

They are symbolic of what God can do.

I love my mother’s hands, her heart, and who she is. Who she has become. [Read more...]

Faith: Thank you, mom, for a new legacy

momshower

I’m the mom she forgave.

She left it on my Facebook wall as a comment.

The status update was a link to The Unburdened Heart, and several friends had commented that they were reading it, or sharing their thoughts on their journey of forgiving.

As I read my mom’s comment, I had to respond. [Read more...]

The Unburdened Heart study week #6 – Forgiveness unlocks my prison doors

crossLet’s take this last week a little deeper.

1.  When you experience a role reversal, you are free to hear His voice (page 122-123).

Mary Magdalene was once tormented, but her encounter with Christ released her to hear His words saying she was worthy, that her life mattered, that she was a friend to Him. What words have you not been hearing as you’ve held on to unforgiveness?

2. When you experience a role reversal, you are free to have a future (pages 124-125). [Read more...]

The Unburdened Heart study week #6 – Forgiveness unlocks my prison doors

Krateõ forgiveness creates a role reversal.

stephanieshott

In Chapter Seven, I introduce Stephanie. Many of those who shared their stories in The Unburdened Heart: Finding the Freedom of Forgiveness are friends. Stephanie is no exception. I can’t wait for you to meet her today.

She’s Stephanie Shott, speaker, author, mom, wife, and mentor to moms across the nation through The M.O.M. Initiative and also a partner with me in mentoring moms through Moms Together.

This is her story.

It was 1962. Abortion wasn’t legal but it was still dangerously available in back alleys and dim rooms where women risked their lives to end the life within. [Read more...]