Our stories reveal the essence of who we are. They are how we know others and how we become known to them. Stories lace us to each other and to God.
Here at Life Stories you will find true accounts of people just like you who are learning to overcome the damaging effects of past wounds through the healing love of God. These stories illuminate the beautiful moments when God comes to visit, when we see him at work in our lives at the point of our greatest need. I call these ordinary miracles because most of the time they are visible only to us.
Visit often, like you would the cozy kitchen of a good friend. Pour yourself a comforting beverage and take a few moments to hear a story. If you listen hard enough, it might sound a lot like your own.
If you would like to be notified of when new stories are posted to my blog, please send me a message.
Lord Byron“But words are things
And a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought,
Produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.”
Letters from Mom: A Loving Reach Into the Silence that Separates Us, is a collection of first-person love letters from moms to their adult children who have severed all relationship with them. Letters from Mom gives voice to women who have been silenced by the shame and loss of estrangement. Every letter is a single page torn from the book of her untold story that speaks beautiful, loving truth on behalf of the thousands of families who are enduring this suffering.
Letters from Mom also includes stories, devotions, and compassionate counsel for women to help them work through the painful emotions that accompany estrangement.
Letters from Mom is available in paperback and ebook.
Lisa Baldwin’s memoir, She’s Still in There: Healing the Wounded Child Within – A Memoir, chronicles the trauma she suffered in the home of her mentally ill mother and how these young experiences melded with the wounds inflicted by her family’s legalistic church.
These conditions injured the soft core of Lisa’s developing identity, and it would take a lifetime of turbulent lessons to overcome their damaging consequences.
She’s Still In There is an authentic and deeply spiritual narrative that reveals it’s never too late for a merciful God to heal and restore the young, wounded places in our souls.
She’s Still In There is available in paperback and ebook.
In courageous fashion, the author gives her readers an intimate look at her spiritual pitfalls and triumphs as she plummets down to the dark caverns of despair, then rises into the battle for creative freedom. Not only does the author bare her own revelations as she relates these life stories, but she brings us along on her rocky pathway with the honest voice of one who has known the struggle against herself in her quest for love and self-acceptance. A riveting, heart-rending memoir.
~Gini Grossenbacher, M.Ed., multiple indie award-winning author of Madam of My Heart and Madam in Silk, Editor, Lecturer, JGKS Press Publisher, and Director of Elk Grove Writers and Artists
Many memoirs tell difficult and heart-wrenching personal stories, but this one is different. This is a well-written and eloquent story of a woman who had a difficult childhood and an even more difficult mother, and who rejected God because he didn’t seem to be there for her or understand what she was going through. What became of the beautiful, innocent, joyful child she had once been? “You must try harder if you want to be loved” was the message inscribed on her heart and soul, a goal she could never achieve no matter how hard she tried. This is a story of searching for true love and getting to know the One who is true love, a powerful journey to wholeness.
~Susy Flory, NYT bestselling author or coauthor of 16 books and director of the West Coast Christian Writers Conference
There were so many moments where I found my own story on the page, or could connect the experiences of those close to me with the events of Lisa’s life. Her story still echoes in my thoughts many weeks after finishing the book, a true measure of its powerful message. God lifted a broken girl into his arms and transformed her into a woman of joy. Her journey to wholeness lights the path for anyone who still carries the weight of unhealed childhood injuries.
~ Pastor Shirley Arroyo, M.A.
Lisa’s poignant and hopeful story will be a welcome invitation to anyone with spiritual hunger seeking to find freedom and release from past broken relationships. Her vulnerability is a gift, and I am so grateful she is willing to share it with the world!
~ Lori Carlson, MAMFT, Spiritual Director
Lisa’s story captured my little girl’s heart and my teenage “wanting to be loved and seen” desires by speaking the questions and longings they carry. Unexamined and unowned, our stories can hold us back from living our lives fully. But when we learn to embrace them, they can powerfully deepen our connection to ourselves, others, and the One who invites us into His larger story.
~ Linda Carlos, Licensed Therapist
I believe that everyone’s life contains an original and soul-inspiring story just waiting to be told.
In 2016 I left an award-winning career as a grant writer to launch my “encore career” and pursue my life’s passion to write from my heart. I captured my story and published my memoir in 2021.
My fervor for story is fueled by true accounts of everyday miracles and their power to transform even our most painful memories into moments of grace and healing. Stories of ordinary people take on extraordinary meaning when offered as a pathway for connection with others who have traveled a similar journey.
My writing reflects how God reaches into people’s lives to renew and restore them to wholehearted living. I also write and present devotions and other Christian-inspired works for my local faith community.
Perhaps your life contains one of these extraordinary stories, a unique experience or a powerful moment that brought God’s hope and healing into your life.
Maybe you have wanted to share this experience but weren’t sure how to capture it in words. If so, visit my Life Stories blog and learn how I may be able to share your story here, on my web page. I look forward to hearing from you!
When I’m not studying and writing you can most often find me cooking up cozy meals in my kitchen or hiking a remote trail through the beautiful mountains of Northern California. A mother of two adult children and two delightful grandchildren, I live in Elk Grove, California with Greg, my husband of 30 years.
The goal of Mothers Day is the expression of love and gratitude for the person who gave us life. So why is this day so anxiety producing? Why do we feel so conflicted about it?
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When we suffer rejection from those we love, we enter an intimate connection with Jesus who suffered the most painful rejection of all. We are able to draw close to him and receive his merciful, healing presence into the depths of our pain and loss.
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Meet Tiffany, one of the moms who contributed a letter to her estranged daughter for the book Letters from Mom: A Loving Reach Into the Silence That Separates Us. In this post, Tiffany shares a brief glimpse into her powerful […]
Read ArticleOr you can email me directly at lisabaldwinwriter@gmail.com
