The Vision of a Mother's Heart is the story of Isabel Greene, an ordinary ten-year-old girl from an ordinary southern family that is living off the land in the 1920s. They are hardworking, God-honoring, fun-loving people who are considered poor by some but think of themselves as quite happy. Isabel's Mama teaches her the joys of cooking, sewing, doing laundry, and taking care of children, while always turning each chore into a time of singing and laughter and striving to instruct her children in the truth by planting seeds of faith in their hearts. When tragedy strikes, life drastically changes for the Greene family. Although the family attempts to press on, they are faced with further calamity when a fire ravages their home. Despite their escape, they are left with difficult questions: Where is God in tragedy and suffering? Why does He allow people to face hardships when all they want to do is honor Him? What if their worst fear-separation from one another-is realized? Can the Greene family trust God when everything around them is falling apart? The Vision of a Mother's Heart was inspired by the author's grandmother, Isabel. Her mother's life, love, and instruction sewed seeds of faith in the hearts of her children that now have been passed to the next generation. The story weaves a heartwarming tale that will leave you thinking about the long-term impact of your everyday decisions.

A mother of three, Jean Fleming reveals what it means to be a godly mother and offers encouragement to mothers of all ages and backgrounds. She helps mothers distinguish their role and God's role in raising children, shows how to take a spiritual inventory of a child's life and pray for that child, and teaches how to be thankful for a child's strengths and weaknesses.

Discover how understanding God’s purpose and design can empower you to be the mother you long to be. No calling is greater, nobler, or more fulfilling than that motherhood. Every day, as we nurture our children, mothers influence eternal destiny as no one else can. Tragically, today’s culture minimizes the vital importance of a mother’s role. In The Mission of Motherhood, Sally Clarkson helps you rediscover the joy and fulfillment to be found in the strategic role to which God in all his wisdom has called you, for a purpose far greater than you can ever imagine.

Traces Morrison's theory of African American mothering as it is articulated in her novels, essays, speeches, and interviews. Mothering is a central issue for feminist theory, and motherhood is also a persistent presence in the work of Toni Morrison. Examining Morrison's novels, essays, speeches, and interviews, Andrea O'Reilly illustrates how Morrison builds upon black women's experiences of and perspectives on motherhood to develop a view of black motherhood that is, in terms of both maternal identity and role, radically different from motherhood as practiced and prescribed in the dominant culture. Motherhood, in Morrison's view, is fundamentally and profoundly an act of resistance, essential and integral to black women's fight against racism (and sexism) and their ability to achieve well-being for themselves and their culture. The power of motherhood and the empowerment of mothering are what make possible the better world we seek for ourselves and for our children. This, argues O'Reilly, is Morrison's maternal theory—a politics of the heart. "As an advocate of 'a politics of the heart,' O'Reilly has an acute insight into discerning any threat to the preservation and continuation of traditional African American womanhood and values ... Above all, Toni Morrison and Motherhood, based on Andrea O'Reilly's methodical research on Morrison's works as well as feminist critical resources, proffers a useful basis for understanding Toni Morrison's works. It certainly contributes to exploring in detail Morrison's rich and complex works notable from the perspectives of nurturing and sustaining African American maternal tradition." — African American Review "O'Reilly boldly reconfigures hegemonic western notions of motherhood while maintaining dialogues across cultural differences." — Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering "Andrea O'Reilly examines Morrison's complex presentations of, and theories about, motherhood with admirable rigor and a refusal to simplify, and the result is one of the most penetrating and insightful studies of Morrison yet to appear, a book that will prove invaluable to any scholar, teacher, or reader of Morrison." — South Atlantic Review "...it serves as a sort of annotated bibliography of nearly all the major theoretical work on motherhood and on Morrison as an author ... anyone conducting serious study of either Toni Morrison or motherhood, not to mention the combination, should read [this book] ... O'Reilly's exhaustive research, her facility with theories of Anglo-American and Black feminism, and her penetrating analyses of Morrison's works result in a highly useful scholarly read." — Literary Mama "By tracing both the metaphor and literal practice of mothering in Morrison's literary world, O'Reilly conveys Morrison's vision of motherhood as an act of resistance." — American Literature "Motherhood is critically important as a recurring theme in Toni Morrison's oeuvre and within black feminist and feminist scholarship. An in-depth analysis of this central concern is necessary in order to explore the complex disjunction between Morrison's interviews, which praise black mothering, and the fiction, which presents mothers in various destructive and self-destructive modes. Kudos to Andrea O'Reilly for illuminating Morrison's 'maternal standpoint' and helping readers and critics understand this difficult terrain. Toni Morrison and Motherhood is also valuable as a resource that addresses and synthesizes a huge body of secondary literature." — Nancy Gerber, author of Portrait of the Mother-Artist: Class and Creativity in Contemporary American Fiction "In addition to presenting a penetrating and original reading of Toni Morrison, O'Reilly integrates the evolving scholarship on motherhood in dominant and minority cultures in a review that is both a composite of commonalities and a clear representation of differences." — Elizabeth Bourque Johnson, University of Minnesota Andrea O'Reilly is Associate Professor in the School of Women's Studies at York University and President of the Association for Research on Mothering. She is the author and editor of several books on mothering, including (with Sharon Abbey) Mothers and Daughters: Connection, Empowerment, and Transformation and Mothers and Sons: Feminism, Masculinity, and the Struggle to Raise Our Sons.

Marsha Aizumi shares her compelling story of parenting a young woman who came out as a lesbian, then transitioned to male. Two Spirits, One Heart chronicles Marsha's personal journey from fear, uncertainty, and sadness to eventual unconditional love, acceptance, and support of her child who struggled to reconcile his gender identity. Told with honesty and warmth, this book is a must-read for parents and loved ones of LGBTQ+ individuals everywhere. In the past decade. Marsha has traveled the world sharing her journey and joy of parenting her trans son to diverse places such as religious groups, colleges and LGBTQ+ and PFLAG organizations. "Two Spirits, One Heart is honest and impactful, and I am immensely grateful to both Marsha and Aiden for sharing their personal journey with everyone. As Executive Director of PFLAG National—an organization focused on the journey of parents and families of LGBTQ+ people—I’m moved by Marsha's passion to make this world a better place for all people, and by her unwavering love for her trans child.” —Brian K. Bond, Executive Director. PFLAG National “Marsha and Aiden have written a must-read book that has helped generate conversations around inclusion and the importance of support and allyship in the LGBTQ+ space. We would highly recommend providing copies for employees, especially for those active within Employee Resource Groups, as we have received endless positive feedback.” —Emma Hamm & Joseph Pawlicki, Co-Heads of Out+Ally ERG at Subaru of America, Inc.

Ursula Hegi returns with a luminous epic of a bicultural family filled with passion and aspirations, tragedy, and redemption. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Stefan Blau, whom readers will remember from Stones from the River, flees Burgdorf, a small town in Germany, and comes to America in search of the vision he has dreamed of every night. The novel closes nearly a century later with Stefan's granddaughter, Emma, and the legacy of his dream: the Wasserburg, a once-grand apartment house filled with the hidden truths of its inhabitants both past and present. The Vision of Emma Blau illustrates a fascinating picture of immigrants in America, including their dreams and disappointments, the challenges of assimilation, the frailty of language and its transcendence, the love that bonds generations and the cultural wedges that drive them apart.