MOMSTORIES: INSTANT INSPIRATION FOR MOTHERS Vickie LoPiccolo Jennett Reflection Questions by Paula Hagen Paper, $9.95 80 pages, 5½" × 8½" ISBN 0-89390-445-7 View Table of Contents View Excerpt Quantity:

Here are simple, practical, upbeat stories from everyday life that will help young mothers develop their spirituality. This latest release in the MOMS (Ministry of Mothers Sharing) series embodies the point of MOMS: sharing. Whether dealing with the everyday stresses that leave them feeling frazzled or the unexpected blessings that fill their lives with delight, mothers need to share their stories. MOMStories, with space for reflection notes and discussion questions at the end of each story, gently helps the process of sharing. A lectionary index is included for those wishing to tie the stories into the lectionary readings.

About the Authors

Paula Hagen has worked in family therapy, parish family ministry and retreat direction. A member of the Benedictine community, she developed the Ministry of Mothers Sharing (MOMS) for an Arizona church and currently promotes her ministry nationwide through workshops and lectures.

Vickie LoPiccolo Jennett is a professional writer who is active in a variety of church ministries. She is a graduate of Iowa State University, with degrees in journalism and industrial relations. A member of the first MOMS group, she also created the MOMS Prayer Companion and co-authored with Paula Hagen and Patricia Hoyt MOMS: Facilitator’s Guide.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Waste not your energy on being judgmental
Come straight home!
Patience: An elusive virtue
Sounds of comfort and joy
What better gift?
God trusts parents
Three blessings
What’s out there?
God can work miracles
Accepting little ones as they are
This was for real
Mending fences
Taking the heat
Charity is more than a can of peas
Healthy fears
Rise and shine
Just enough
Listening to the word
What do you give for Lent?
Temptations
Take up your cross
Loving confrontation
Listening to dreams
Obedience
Honor and glory to God
Walking with Christ
Believe it
Telling our stories
Feels so good
Generations of love
Reverence
No advice, best advice
Balloons to heaven
The Holy Spirit: A matter of perspective
Harmony: Worth more than money
A cup of self-esteem
Waddling with the ducks
Help!
Music to my ears
Charity and love
You can do it, Mommy!
Achieve and receive
My turn
Discernment versus decision
Conquering hunger, a dollar at a time
Plodding along
Family gifts
Finding the way back
Spiritual self
Moving: Please, Lord, not another box!
Toward tolerance
Saying grace
Postpartum identity crisis
Family meals: Sacred times
Sentimental moment: Grace-filled awareness
Thank you mom
Follow the way of love
Birthing
Hide and seek
A good wife
Nurturing and loving

Appendix A: MOMSharing — Using MOMStories in Group Settings

Suggested Format for Ongoing Groups
Group Rules for Ongoing Groups

Index of Themes

Index of Weekly Scripture Readings: Cycle A

Following is the preface from MOMSTORIES: Instant Inspiration for Mothers. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1998, Resource Publications, Inc.

Preface and Acknowledgments

We are mothers. We wake up each morning (well, at least most mornings) thanking God for the challenges of a new day, not really knowing what the day may present. We nurture our families and attempt to do likewise with our own inner spirits. We reach out in our communities—doing everything from planting trees in the town’s new park to organizing carnivals to heading up corporate board meetings to planning Advent prayer gatherings.

We staff the health room at our child’s school, lead scouting troops, and drive for field trips. We are foster mothers, adoptive mothers, biological mothers, step-mothers, grandmothers, den mothers, substitute mothers, godmothers, and mothers-to-be. We are women who in some way or another create room in our hearts for the next generation. We are busy, spirit-filled women who want our families to reflect our zest for life.

MOMStories is an opportunity to share the thoughts, feelings, experiences, and energy that fuel our lives. It is through sharing that we gain renewed perspectives and the inspiration to move through situations that might otherwise drain our energy. MOMStories provides us with an opportunity to glimpse the Holy Spirit working in others’ lives. It’s simple, it’s practical and, most of all, it’s from the heart of one mother to another. You may have heard the phrase, “Sharing doubles our joy and divides our sorrow.” Well, it’s true! We also know that a mother’s wisdom results from reflection on the reality of our lives and grace-filled events that challenge us along the way.

Although the MOMStories included here come largely from women who have been part of the national Ministry of Mothers Sharing (MOMS), they could come from the hearts of women anywhere across the globe. The stories reflect our need to deal with the everyday stresses that leave us feeling frazzled. They also express our desire to recognize and share the unexpected blessings that fill our lives with delight. We exist to support and affirm one another in the many roles that make up our lives. Our “stories” have merit, value, and wisdom that go far beyond our own lives or community groups to inspire and delight other women who share the role of motherhood and who care about the spiritual inheritance we pass on to the next generation.

Many moms are seeking the mutual support of coffee klatches and family gatherings that used to be more common. A priceless comfort comes from knowing someone is listening, that someone cares, that someone understands and, perhaps, has even shared our experiences. We may even broaden our perspective upon hearing another mother’s story. As the work of the Holy Spirit is revealed in our stories, God’s grace, power, and strength are at work. These are the elements that make up MOMStories. We share the desire to see and feel God working in our daily lives. Sharing that “ordinary holiness” and grace is the soul of MOMStories.

A note to MOMS groups: Be sure to see the appendix for how to use MOMStories in your ongoing MOMS program.

With Gratitude

Thanks to all the women who contributed to MOMStories. Your comments in classes, workshops, MOMS groups and newsletters are the basis for these inspiring glimpses at God’s presence in our lives. Your e-mail messages, faxes, and letters are encouraging and inspiring. Thanks especially to these women for their wit, wisdom, support, and stories:

Jan Petroni-Brown
Joyce Chastain
Eunice Mello Cheshire
Betty Clewell
Valerie H. Conzett
Merri Lea DeWit
Sue Douglas
Lorrie Merideth Erusha
Linda Hanson
Carol A. Hartman
Jennifer Henderson
Tricia Hoyt
Jane Klemens
Kathie LoPiccolo
Mary McBride
Marlene Meyer
Ruby Peters
Caitlin Gonzales Reynolds
Pamela Powell Schildgen
Mary V. Sieredzinski
Joyce Smith
Rebecca Stevenson
Linda Stroyne

Thanks also to the MOMS leaders who have listened and heard Christ’s life relived in these women’s stories. A special debt of gratitude goes out to the bishops, pastors, and religious leaders of all denominations who have called forth lay leadership because they have heard and seen the grace of the ministry of motherhood. Our hearts and homes are renewed thanks to the gifts of the Holy Spirit who inspires these stories.

You are invited to continue telling and sending your MOMStories to viclj@worldnet.att.net or faxing them to (602) 895-2214.