Married Mom, Solo Parent by Carol Anne Coroy REVIEW

For married women who feel like single parents.

 

Bookstore shelves are full of parenting resources for moms who are newly divorced or widowed. But where do moms turn if they feel like a single parent--but they’re not? Whether he is away on business, deployed in the military, or obsessing over a computer game, dad may not be available for a variety of reasons. Moms who parent in this situation still need help and don’t necessarily relate to the advice given in divorce recovery or single parenting resources.

 

Married Mom, Solo Parent is a common-sense, down-to-earth look at the struggles wives and mothers face when their husband is not actively involved in family life. Writing from her own experience as a married single mom, Carla Anne Coroy will help wives and mothers sort through their questions, such as: Can I do this alone? How do I raise kids to honor their father? How do I give my children a healthy perspective of marriage if they never see one in action? With practical suggestions, anecdotes, and biblical teaching, this book will encourage moms to see their position as a high calling, to find healing for their worries and frustrations, and to tap into God’s strength for help in facing the daily challenge of being a married mom, solo parent.

I really enjoyed Carla Coroy’s book. I feel she has hit the nail on the head with this one. There are plenty of single parent, widowed parents etc… books. But not one book for those parents who are married and feel like they are parenting on their own; this is the first of its kind that I know of. Being a Christian, I was and am very happy that it is Christian based with Biblical and Scriptural guidelines.

This book is great for those who have a spouse that works full time (which is the majority lol) or more; especially in this economy. I know I have personally felt like a single mother at times because my husband does work full time and tries to get as much overtime as possible to make the dollar stretch longer. And when he comes home he is tired and sore from being up so early and being on his feet all day, etc…

For those parents who are stay-at-home mothers or fathers, we are waiting for our spouse to come home every night to help out with the kids and house. For that relief, help, partnership. So when our spouse comes in the door, we’re thinking ‘thank God! Help is here!’ But our spouse is wanting downtime as well so we continue to work as the single parent.

I can only imagine how much harder it is for those parents who have a spouse but they are off working on boats, ships, flying planes, driving trucks or fighting in other countries.   

I feel that this book would help tremendously especially for those parent who deal with their spouse being gone for long periods of time.

This isn't going to necessarily end your feelings of feeling like your a single parent, but it will give you the patience, strength and understanding you probably didn't have before. 

But I also think that it would be great for both parents to read this book, another line of communication, I think. I enjoyed her book, it was easy to read and understand.

I would recommend this book to any and all parents who have ever felt like a single parent; so initially, all parents out there, this is an excellent read…And make sure to have a highlighter lol…

Carla Anne Coroy runs the Married Single Mom blog at www.carlaannecoroy.blogspot.com. She speaks regularly and serves as a staff writer for an online Christian women’s magazine Mentoring Moments for Christian Women. Carla Anne lives in Canada with her husband and four homeschooled children. For more information, visit www.carlaanne.com.

  

If you would like to buy the book, go to Amazon

Mirror Ball by Matt Redman

Passion is more than a song or a feeling. It’s a story of guts and glory, perseverance and purpose. For anyone who follows Jesus, passion is a way of life. But how do we live out this grand calling? In Mirror Ball, worship leader and song writer Matt Redman reminds us it’s never too late to live a big life. We are wide-eyed worshipers, stunned by a glorious God and living life with high expectations of all we can become in Him. When the wonder of God really takes hold on the inside, a life of worship explodes out in every possible direction.  This book Mirror Ball is a call to get a great big view of Jesus and then live as boldly and brightly as we can for His honor.

You may never be the same…

For me, the book was mainly about the first chapter, The Passion of the Christian. Where Matt Redman introduces the mirror ball. He tells his excitement and worry about the mirror ball. He and his worship leader friend are at this big arena getting prepared for this worship get together and his friend Louie has this grand idea for a mirror ball to drop down during the height of the worship. When the moment comes and the mirror ball drops, Matt sees this dinky mirror ball like you see at kid dances and starts to worry. He thinks people are going to see that and start to laugh instead of worship. Then the lights hit the mirror ball and the entire arena lights up.

For me, this books message was simply to shine all around for the glory of God. We at times feel that all God has given us is a dinky little mirror ball and we want to laugh. But if we keep our faith in Him and do as He commands us, that dinky little mirror ball will shine like no other.

Like Matt Redman says on page 25; So often we equate passion with volume and energy, and surely that can play an important part. But when it comes to true passion, ultimately those things are just the tip of the iceberg-the part most on display. However, God looks beneath the surface, searching our hearts.

Our heart may seem or feel like a dinky small mirror ball, but if we have a personal relationship with Christ, living as He says to in His Word, our hearts will light up, our chest won’t feel so heavy, etc. This dinky mirror ball can be used in so many different ways in our life and that is why it got to me so.

I fully recommend this read and what it can do for you and your mirror ball, whatever it may be. You will enjoy this book to the fullest. It did have slow parts in it for me but I was willing to overlook the slow areas for what I got from the book.

Matt Redman is a worship leader, songwriter, and author of several books, including The Unquenchable Worshiper. Among his many well-known songs are “Blessed Be Your Name,” “You Never Let Go,” “The Heart of Worship,” and the more recently co-written “Our God.” Matt and his wife, Beth, have five children and live on the south coast of England.

           

                                                       I received a copy of this book for review from B&B Media Group

       Thank you for Audra for allowing me to be part of this blog tour, I enjoyed this book very much!

The River of Forgetting by Jane Rowan REVIEW

People don’t make up things like that for fun. That’s what Jane’s therapist tells her when Jane reports fragmentary memories from her childhood that hints at sexual abuse. A busy, successful scientist, Jane at first fights the implications, but as flashbacks assail her, she must tackle the tough questions of her childhood, with no easy answers. With help from a gifted, unconventional therapist as well as writing, movement, and drawing, Jane taps into her own aliveness and comes to terms with both her parents’ love and their betrayal. This powerful, deeply personal memoir invites the reader behind the closed doors of the therapist’s office and into the author’s journal and her very body. Jane’s voice is honest, at time is breaktakingly so. Her uncanny ability to describe emotions from the inside will give charity and courage to others on the journey from trauma and healing.

When I first started reading this book I didn’t know if I wanted or could continue with it because it hits a bit close to home. But thankfully it wasn’t the father it was another family member. But against my own judgment I continued and finished reading it. And I must say; I am glad I did. This true story is obviously full of heartbreaking memories and stories and encounters with her father and mother as well as her memories of her sister Suzie she never gets to see because she was sent away because she had Down syndrome. I couldn’t imagine not ever seeing one of my sisters. We are all very close and very close with our parents. That’s another thing; I couldn’t fathom my mother ever covering for my dad. On one hand I understand if a mother is behaving a certain way because the father is the source of income, keeping food on the table and bills paid, roof over your kids head and clothes on their back. So it is a tough spot to be in. But even then, there are organizations that help. It’s a parents/guardians job to keep that child(s) safe from everything.  So even though the mother or father thinks he or she is doing their job as the parent by keeping a home for the kids by allowing their child(s) to stay in that environment, maybe that parent should sit the child(s) down and talk with them and see where their minds are at.

What Jane Rowan and other people like her have gone through is horrific and I feel for them. Man or woman, whoever has gone through sexual abuse need not feel bad, ashamed, embarrassed, at fault in anyway, or anything else for that matter. This book is not a “how to heal from sexual abuse” but it may give you the insight and strength you need to move on and get help and get the person(s) who did it to you or to that person you know that it happened to. You won’t feel so alone after reading this.

                                                                         I highly recommend this book, I couldn’t put it down.

                                                                     I received this book from Pump Up Your Book for review.

Author Biography: Jane Rowan is a New England poet and writer. After teaching science and three decades in a private college, she retired for pursue the creative life. She is the author of numerous articles and the self-help booklet Caring for the Child Within- A Manual for Grownups, available throughout her website www.janerowan.com