Mary DeMuth Offers Wisdom and Hope for Parents ofGrown-Ups!

 

Mary DeMuth starts out on our website on the "About" page with . .."I want you to know this about me: I love Jesus. And really that’s the most important thing about me. It’s not writing or speaking or praying or mommying or any other -ing you can find. I flat out love Him. Why? Because He’s amazing. And He has utterly, truly, completely re-storied me."

I have three adult children, and I’ve been married to Patrick for 29 years now. I count those relationships as the most important people in my life.

In the mid 2000s, we helped plant a church in Southern France–a difficult, but amazing experience. There, we encountered a lot of heartache at the hands of fellow Christians.

In my spare (ha!) time, I love to cook, garden, decorate and design. I enjoy running, and have completed three sprint triathlons (and survived!) along with a half marathon. I’m passionate about the underdog, the oppressed, and those who don’t have a voice. I’m particularly upset about celebrity Christianity and ministries that spiritually abuse others.

I’ve been writing for 30 years–half of them in obscurity. I have mentored many writers during that time, and continue to do so through the Rockwall Christian Writers Group and some of my instructional books. Since then I’ve written over 40 books, translated into five languages. You can see a listing of all my books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, CBD, Lifeway and Parable.

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Mary DeMuth's new book, Love, Pray, Listen will release September, 2022. You will definitely want this book if you have adult children. It contains wisdom and hope for parents of grown-ups. As a parent, your role changes drastically after your kids grow up. You fear heartache and strained relationships when your children choose difficult--even seemingly wrong--paths. Love, Pray, Listen is the gracious, practical resource you need for navigating the rocky terrain of parenting grown-ups. In this book, mom and author Mary DeMuth answers questions like:

· What do I do when my kids make choices that don't align with my values?
· How do I keep communication lines open with my grown children?
· When do I speak, and when do I listen?
· Is it possible to hold on to my joy when parenting is so hard?
· How do I avoid the temptation of meddling in my kids' lives?

Love, Pray, Listen offers a robust theology for long-term parenting gleaned from the discipleship model Jesus exemplified, one that carefully and thoughtfully applies his way of expressing love.

This is your invitation for spiritual growth and a path toward fulfilling relationships with your adult children.As a parent, your role changes drastically after your kids grow up. You fear heartache and strained relationships when your children choose difficult--even seemingly wrong--paths.

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I currently live in North Texas, serve in my local church alongside my husband, and I’ve had the privilege of speaking around the world in places like Johannesburg, Monaco, Geneva, Munich, Port-au-Prince, Nice and Florence. Although my past story is difficult, my current story leaks adventure.

I’m a storyteller at heart, see. And you may not know this about me, but I write novels, too. You can get my first published novel free right now on Amazon. Just click the image to get it. Watching the Tree Limbs is the story of God’s redemptive hand in sexual abuse. It’s a page-turner, but it also helps you understand the heart and mind of a sexual abuse victim.

This site reflects my heart, my goals, my ambitions. Not only have I been re-stored and restoried, but I long to see the same for you. You no longer have to live haunted. I believe your new story starts today. Carl Bard wrote, “Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.”

Visit at: https://www.marydemuth.com/

Listen

By Jeffrey Blount

I was a freshman in college, working diligently at my first attempt to craft a novel.  I was having difficulty finding my voice as a writer as well as the voices of my characters.  My English professor, being quite proud of my efforts, set up a phone call for me with a friend of hers who was a published author.  I held my pen at the ready, hoping that I’d be able to write fast enough to capture all of the knowledge he would be handing over.  Nervously, I laid out my literary issues.  He responded by saying,  

“Listen”

One word and then nothing, in the resulting silence, he let me begin to come to grips with the message. Little did I know, this one word would be the most important piece of literary advice I would ever receive.  It was extraordinarily important to the success of my recent release The Emancipation of Evan Walls.

As a son of the South, I am familiar with many of its songs.  One particular song was the language of the people in the community in which I was raised.  I was setting the story in a small, rural town in the late 60s and early 70s.  I wanted to reflect that time in the voices of my characters.  So, I remembered my lesson. If you want to know what conversations in a bar sound like, the author told me when the phone conversation resumed, you go in, buy a beer, sit down and listen. Don’t talk to anyone.  Just listen.  And not just to the words.  Hear the joy and the pain.  Hear the comfort and the doubts.  Words are more than just sounds.  

In my case, I couldn’t go in and just listen.  Many of the voices I treasured had passed on.  Many had simply changed with the times.  So, I looked inward.  I sat and remembered situations from my childhood and soon the voices returned, and I heard them.  Many people call what I wrote dialect.  Some thought I shouldn’t use it, because in the present it might play into stereotypes of African Americans.  But according some linguists, it isn’t a dialect but a separate language.  It was my language.  My heritage and I wanted to represent it.  So, I heard my great-grandmother tell her stories and felt the emotions tied to her voice.  I heard my great aunt say, “Chile, please!” when someone made her laugh so hard she had to beg for mercy.  I wrote outwardly from those voices, creating my story from them. And I am proud to say that I listened well.  The language, or music of my youth as I like to call it, rang true to readers and added so much to the story. Author, Christina Kovac wrote, “…the dialogue is superb.”  Author Viga Boland wrote that I was a master at “…revealing characters and their motivations primarily through dialogue.”

These days, I give the gift of “listen” whenever I am asked for writing advice.  But not only do you need to listen to the world around you, you really have to hear yourself.  Writing isn’t just about crafting, it’s about the opening up of our souls and reflecting upon it.  Listening to it and then finding the courage to put that on paper.

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Jeffrey Blount is the award-winning author of three novels — Almost Snow White, winner of the 2013 USA Best Book Awards, Hating Heidi Foster, winner of the 2013 Readers Favorite Book Award for young adult literature and his recent release, The Emancipation of Evan Walls. He is also an Emmy award-winning television director and a 2016 inductee to the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame.  During a 34-year career at NBC News, Jeffrey directed a decade of Meet The Press, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, The Chris Matthews Show and major special events. Jeffrey is an accomplished public speaker, commenting on issues of race, social justice and writing. He was a contributor for HuffPost and has been published in The Washington Post, The Grio.com and other publications.  He is also an award-winning documentary scriptwriter for films and interactives that are now on display in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.  the Newseum,  America I AM: The African American Imprint at the National Constitution Center, The Museum at Bethel Woods, at the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, and others.  These projects have won Cine Golden Eagle Awards,  Muse Awards and a Thea Award. Born and raised in Smithfield, Virginia, he now lives in Washington, DC. Social Media Links: Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JEBlount Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jblountauthor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffreyeblount/?hl=en Website: https://jeffreyblount.com/