Today I’d like to welcome author and speaker, Jill Savage. Jill’s recent book Real Moms…Real Jesus, just released, and I wanted to ask her about her real mom moments..

Jill, tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.
Mark and I have been married 25 years and we have five children. Anne is 24 and married to our wonderful son-in-love, Matt. Evan is 21 and married to our beautiful daughter-in-love, Julie. Erica is 18 and a college student at Heartland Community College. Kolya is 15 and in the 8th grade. We adopted Kolya at the age of 9 from Russia---the God story about his adoption is included in the Real Moms…Real Jesus book. And Austin is 12 and in the 7th grade.

Tell us about your newest book Real Moms...Real Jesus?
Real Moms…Real Jesus is a book designed to help moms understand that when Jesus lived on this earth he was fully God, yet fully man. We don’t often think about the fact that he was a human being and he lived the full human experience: pain, hunger, fatigue, frustration, betrayal, disappointment. He experienced it all!

There’s one verse in the Bible about Jesus that simply says “large crowds followed him everywhere he went.” Well, isn’t that the life of a mom? Large crowds follow her to the bathroom. They follow her to the kitchen. To the grocery store. She’s in high demand! And when Jesus lived on this earth, He was in high demand, too.

Why did you want to write this book?
Most of us long for a friend who understands. Yes, we need girlfriends who understand what our life is like. But we also need to understand that we have a friend who understands in Jesus. Too many of us think of God as being distant and unable to relate to our daily struggles. But nothing could be further from the truth! He understands and he wants us to build our friendship with Him. He wants to not only be our Savior, but also our Friend.

What do you hope your readers will gain from this book?
I hope that readers will gain a new perspective about their relationship with Jesus. I also hope to weave God’s truth into the daily life of a mom.

What unique elements will the reader find in Real Moms…Real Jesus?
Each chapter looks at some character trait in Jesus’ life that can help us in our life as a mom. In between the chapters are interactive vignettes that provide brief, refreshing glimpses into our real, messy, busy lives.

There are also questions at the end of the chapter for further consideration and suggested Bible reading in the book of Matthew. If the reader chooses to pursue the suggested reading, she will have read the book of Matthew completely by the end of the book!

There is also a leader’s guide in the back of the book so it can be used in a group setting.

This is a Hearts at Home book. What is Hearts at Home?
Hearts at Home is an organization that encourages, educates, and equips women in the profession of motherhood. Hearts at Home encourages moms through annual conferences, our extensive website (www.hearts-at-home.org), a free bi-weekly electronic newsletter, a radio program, and an entire line of books designed to meet the needs of moms all over the world!


Any closing thoughts?
I am very excited about this book! I believe that if a mom can strengthen her relationship with Jesus Christ, she will feel more equipped to be the mom she wants to be. I’m also offering an online book discussion on my blog beginning Tuesday, April 7. If you’d like to join us, you can subscribe to my blog at www.jillsavage.org.

I’d love to hear a reader’s thoughts after they read the book, too! You can connect to me through my blog at www.jillsavage.org.

Thanks, Jill, for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your real mom, real Jesus moments with us.

You can purchase your own copy of Real Moms…Real Jesus by clicking here.

And be sure to check out Hearts at Home, their conferences for moms, and all their online resources here.

Moving in Carol's desk - Part 1

Well, Carol's desk is now in my dining room/pc room. The brother-in-law and Jarrod moved it in on Sunday. The BIL also took apart the old desk and the dinette bench that has been here forever. My brother built it in years ago. It was wide, deep and a handy storage place for blankets and extra pillows. We put some cushions on it and used it for seating, sleeping (it was big enough and I slept on it for about six months one year) and as a place to sit while using the computer. My grandmother always called it "the coffin" because she said it reminded her of one. :)

Tearing out the bench left a huge area of the hardwood floor unvarnished. It also exposed the places on the wall that were not papered. So it looks like my lovely, beige and ivy paper will have to go. The wallpaper store doesn't have anymore as it was a clearance roll. Sniff, sniff. . .

So today we got the desk together. Can't put anything on it yet since it will take some rearranging of the computer to get everything put in place. Also, the desk still has to be moved to put up the new wallpaper. Rushed up to the wallpaper store today and managed to get three rolls of a nice, gray, blue stripe. Difficult to explain but I'll post pictures later.

The cats are thrilled with the new piece of furniture. It's not in as great shape as I'd hoped, but it's still serviceable and has lots of nooks and crannies for all my stuff. Am looking forward to finally getting things organized and not having to reach over a dozen boxes to reach my computer or printer. I'll have to teach myself to sit a different way but change is good for the brain. I hope.

Part two tomorrow - the wallpaper.