Ministry of Motherhood

Psalms 127:3 Children are a gift from the LORD;they are a reward from him. (New Living Translation)

I remember as a young girl months before the first frost touched the ground, advertisers would begin enticing little children with messages about the latest doll, gadget or game. One of my favorites of all time was the Easy Bake Oven. I could hear it calling my name.

Eagerly announcing Christmas’ arrival my sister and I ran to the tree to open our gifts and lo and behold there it was a brand new hot off the press Easy Bake Oven. Elated, I hurried off to play with my new toy.

Several weeks passed and my mother was cleaning my room. On the corner at the back of the closet sat my Easy Bake Oven. It hadn’t been touched in over a month; it was now a member of the “Land of Forgotten Toys”.

Scripture reminds us Children are a gift from God. But unlike my Easy Bake Oven they shouldn’t be pushed aside and ignored, neither can they be returned or exchanged. Yet all too often, as we are consumed by the issues of life, our children become an afterthought.

Sometimes we view them as disturbances or annoyances; a burden rather than a blessing. But the Bible is clear about what our views should be. They are referred to as a treasure a gift, a blessed heritage from god.

Don’t send your children to the “Land of Lost Toys”. Think about the words you use to describe your children to others. If you’ve forgotten what treasures they are readjust your thinking and start seeing your precious gifts as god does.

Meet Cheryl Lacey Donovan

Cheryl Donovan is a native Houstonian who is walking in her destiny as she ministers the word of God all over the country. Her captivating messages are delivered in a no nonsense transparent dialogue with her audiences.

Cheryl believes in the Psalms 11:25 which says, She who refreshes others will herself be refreshed; therefore, she tries to be transparent as she speaks and writes about her valley to mountain experiences.

Cheryl resides in Houston with her husband of 16 years. She has two grown sons and a step-daughter who has a son of her own.

To learn more about Cheryl or to have her speak at your next event visit http://www.cheryllaceydonovan.com

About the Book

In a time when teen pregnancy is on the rise once more and single mothers are being blamed for all of societies problems, Cheryl Lacey Donovan presents a view of single motherhood that tears down all the excuses for why single mother’s can’t succeed.

Cheryl Donovan shares her valuable insight into the spiritual and biblical principles associated with being a good mother.

A former single mother herself, Cheryl shows readers that through the abundance of God’s grace and love along with determination and perseverance, children don’t have to become statistics.

Cheryl identifies key biblical principles and displays practical life lessons that can help to establish solid foundations upon which to rear happy, well rounded, productive children.

Cheryl provides insight the will assist the reader to look inside themselves for change. It will help them identify the strongholds of poverty, lack of education, and abusive relationships and help them tear them down with the help of the creator.

Cheryl’s powerful testimony about her journey from teen pregnancy, domestic violence, and single parenting, to award winning author, educator, and inspirational speaker is sure to empower, enlighten, and inspire mothers everywhere.
Product Details
Ministry of Motherhood
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Peace In The Storm Publishing (May 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0979022231
ISBN-13: 978-0979022234
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches

Marilynn Griffith stops by Mom Unplugged today to provide a peek into her world of motherhood and family. She’s the author of eight novels, mother to seven children, wife to a deacon and proof of God’s enduring mercy.  You can catch Marilynn sharing her family adventures all week on the Mom’s the Word Blog Tour.

Life in the Key of Cheese

With going back to work, planning a women’s conference and keeping up with seven kids, time and money are at a minimum. Today I took a break and was pretty much traumatized by dryer lint overload and the huge pack of meat my husband got on sale.  Alas, when you have a big family, bulk cooking has to happen or you quickly go broke(r). Anyway, I had in my mind what I was going to do with our beefy gentleman: tater tot casserole, stroganoff, beans and rice and tacos. As I searched frantically for cheese to go with one of the proposed dishes, my daughter made an enlightening observation:

1. My emotional state is directly proportional to the amount of cheese in our refrigerator. Sad, but true. I have five sons you know. I have to keep repeating that lest you think I’m crazy. You could put cheese on their shoes and they’d eat it. I slip in beans, pumpkin, spinach, corn…all under the velvety guise of cheese. And yet, there’s a point when, like Mr. Meaty, enough is enough (usually after reading one of Tom Davis’ posts about AIDS orphans in Africa).

“Mom,” said daughter says often when I get like this. “Everything is going to be okay. Step away from the dairy products! They create mucous, remember? They can do without it.”

Can I tell you that I love that girl? She drives me nuts sometimes, but she’s getting pretty funny, like someone who would be my friend if she wasn’t my kid. Between episodes of making me want to strangle her, she cracks me up. Not to mention that she wasn’t too embarrassed to feature me in her top people on MySpace (when she was allowed to have one). Her friends found it quite strange, but hey…they also like cheese too and rides home.

I’ve made another observation about myself:

2. I’m addicted to social networking sites. Yes, me who scoffed at Myspace as a stupid site for teenagers who spent all their waking hours saying “Hi! How r u?” realized the other day that I have accounts on Sparkpeople (health sites don’t count, right?), Myspace (gotta keep eyes on the kid), Shoutlife (nice Christian folks), Facebook (writer friends?), Twitter (Tweet, tweet, hey!)  and other sites that I can’t even remember right now. People I’ve never met send me emails asking to be my friend on pages I forgot I even made. I zone out and ignore said emails until teen daughter gives me grief and then laughs saying, “That’s why I only add people who I know in real life. Didn’t you make that rule?”

Duh… Parenting can be so humiliating. It’s still nice to keep in contact with my brother who is always changing cell numbers, my good friend who moved away and of course, READERS who always seem to send a nice note on the days when I receive my royalty statements and consider climbing the roof (or buying more cheese). One day I might just ditch them all, but until then I’ll be at a social networking site near you screaming “ADD ME!!!!”

3. I’m a pet person. Sort of. True enough, I’ve never called it “my dog” yet. It’s still “theirs.” I only scoop poop on dog walks and no kennel cleaning or dog washing. Whenever i break down and take the dog for a walk because no one else is home, all the other dog owners in the neighborhood gave me that look and nod as if to say,”You’re a goner.” I’m not though. Really. At least not yet.

As one of my favorite characters from Mom’s the Word, Fallon Gray would say, “Everything gets broken, but trust God. He knows. He really does.” And she’s right. So often, God has to fix things, to fix me. Join me as I go to Him today and ask that He wipe away all the mess I’ve been dabbing at the cracks of my soul with and fill me with Himself. He’ll do it. He really will.

About the Book

When her tall, dark, delicious husband joins their three kids in calling her “Mom,” Karol Simons has an identity crisis. Sure she loves the pint-size trio, but what’s happened to her dreams of writing a novel? Determined to have it all, she turns to her neighbor for help.

Dyanne Thornton is thrilled to stand in as Mom for three weeks so Karol can write. Bursting with baby fever, the career-woman trades her glamorous clothes and four-inch heels for the playground and potty training. She hopes to convince her reluctant husband they should start a family of their own, right away.

Everyone’s in for some big surprises…

Order your copy of Mom’s the Word from Amazon.com .

Follow the blog tour at http://bit.ly/MomsTheWord .

Visit Marilynn online at http://marilynngriffith.com/.

Join Marilynn’s social network at http://www.sistahfaith.ning.com.

I have another great guest blogger post. This time it is from Rochelle Valasek. Enjoy!

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Mothers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, and walks of life. But there are two things we mothers have in common. We live in the same world filled with chaos and we all were woven from the same Creator. This is something we should all be grateful for. Not only can we all relate on different levels of pandemonium and help each other out, but we all can form a relationship on the same foundation of Jesus Christ.

Without my Heavenly Father, friends and my family, I have no clue where I’d be – probably in an asylum for the insane, I guess. Today, society puts so many demands on a mother. Having so many expectations from the world’s view of a mother sometimes blurs the real picture of what a mother actually should be striving to do. This is why we end up being frazzled moms. Let’s fact it, just trying to keep the Cheerios from drying on the table, the children chasing the family pet around the house and keeping the laundry from taking over the upstairs is enough to put anyone in a tizzy.

I took thirty of my life’s stories, pondering moments, favorite scriptures and lessons, and shared them with you in my devotional called Frazzled Moms Devotions to Go. Some of the devotions may let you see a side of motherhood you have not yet visited and some may have you shaking your head in agreement. The devotions are meant for you to realize that you are not alone. I also wanted to share with you some of my prayers and a few helpful activities that I lovingly call spirit builders.

Remember, we all fall down the same. The difference between Believers and the nonbelievers is how we get back up.

Rochelle resides in North Carolina with her high school sweetheart-hubby, Tony, and two beautiful boys. She is a writer, Christian motivational speaker, entrepr;/eneur, humorist, and teacher, but most importantly, a mother. You can find out more about Frazzled Moms Devotions to Go at: httpwww.frazzledmomsdevotional.webs.com