Michelle Moore - A Mothers Grace: Healing the World One Woman at a Time

Praise for A Mothers Grace

A Mothers Grace is filled with stories about the strength and resilience of women. Maternal energy sustains life and our planet. Michelle Moore has done an amazing job of showcasing that the givers of life are also the ultimate protectors of life. Michelles book touched me deeply.

Candice Rosen, author of Forget Dieting! Its All About Data-Driven Fueling

Women historically have not been able to have their stories of sacrifice and determination adequately portrayed. A Mothers Grace offers a poignant account that identifies the urgency of telling the stories of women who have given from the heart. Women can change the world, and A Mothers Grace shows us how.

Anandhi Narasimhan, MD, child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist; asylum evaluator, Physicians for Human Rights

Michelle Moore describes her own physical and emotional challengesand her resilience. Working through multiple traumas, she became stronger and found ways to offer other women what she herself neededphysical, emotional, and spiritual support. She invited twelve wounded and healing women to each write a chapter here about their journeys, and to help her create a foundation to help others, modeling for them how to pay good forward. Specific guidelines are included that encourage women to learn self-reflection, define their own particular talents, create a plan to reach out to help other women and children, and even to begin their own philanthropic ventures if they choose. She urges readers to help heal the world making it kinder and safer for others. The book is a gem.

Karen J. Clayton, sociologist, social worker, author of Demystifying Hospice: Inside the Stories of Patients and Caregivers

With A Mothers Grace, Michelle Moore touches the hearts and minds of all women who have struggled through hardship, grief, and loss. Her story resonates with my own, as I lived through every parents worst nightmarelosing a child and three bouts with lung cancer. We are not just survivors. We are a phoenix, not unlike the mythological bird that rises from the ashes to empowerment. Michelles inspirational story illustrates our ability to morph adversity into purposewith passion. Kudos to Ms. Moore for being a role model for all women hoping to heal from insufferable wounds.

Joan E. Childs, LCSW, psychotherapist and inspirational speaker; author of I Hate the Man I Love

Unless one experiences hardship, grave illness of a child, or even looking squarely into the face of ones own death, one misses the opportunity to empathize with others who also experience devastating need, loss of a beloved, or the annihilation of the home and village that had been the ancestral home before a tornado. Through acquaintances with strong, inspirational women, Moore found personal healing through faith, love, service, and friendship to others by sharing and writing about their experiences. By writing this poignant book, volunteering with disaster clean-up, and founding Mothers Grace, a nonprofit that now assists mothers and their children in the midst of tragic life events, this dynamic Power Woman was able to face her adversity, become resilient by grace, and raise her soul to a higher place.

Dr. P. D. Sargent, author of Power Women: Lessons from the Ancient World

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available through the Library of Congress

2020 Michelle Moore

ISBN-13: 978-07573-2366-9 (Paperback)

ISBN-10: 07573-2366-9 (Paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-07573-2367-6 (ePub)

ISBN-10: 07573-2367-7 (ePub)

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

HCI, its logos, and marks are trademarks of Health Communications, Inc.

Publisher: Health Communications, Inc.

1700 NW 2nd Avenue

Boca Raton, FL 33432-1653

Cover design by Larissa Hise Henoch

Interior design and formatting by Lawna Patterson Oldfield

To Jackson, Brooks, and Griffin, my beautiful boys and daily inspiration. And to my mother, Kathleen Schwen, the heart and soul of this book.

I have often thought that motherhood is the most under-celebrated profession. It took me fifty-five years to fully appreciate that Ive accomplished something quite profound: mothering and nurturing three human beings. They are fine young men, who are already making a positive difference in this world through their achievements, kindness, and compassion. It isnt always easy, as any mother knows. We all experience our fair share of disappointments, setbacks, illnesses, fights and there have been plenty of days when I thought I had failed. I persevered, though, because there was no choice. I am their mom; my love for them is immeasurable. This is my job, and there is no quitting, changing profession, or retiring. I cannot imagine anything more rewarding or any time that I have experienced more true grace.

In The Bucket List, Morgan Freemans character Carter Chambers said, You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you.

I hope that Ive provided my boys with admirable standards for their own measurements. Just as Ive strived to be a positive role model for my kids, I have been lucky to find an amazing role model of my own, someone who continues to show me how to be resilient through adversity by grace.

The way Michelle Moore has overcome circumstances in her own life to affirm and support other women is beyond inspiring. She is a force! If I imagined myself trying to cope with all of the obstacles she has faced, I would be paralyzed, but Michelle has not only survived an onslaught of challenges; she has thrived. I am so fortunate to call her my friend, in spite of her slippery tendency to inhabit a Type-AAA personality. I suppose thats how she gets so much done every dayat work, at home, and within the organization Mothers Grace, where I am honored to serve on the board of directors. Through my position there, I see Michelle constantly setting such a positive can-do tone with her attitude, which always seems to inspire our growing numbers of supporters and volunteers.

Not only am I proud to be Michelles friend, I am especially honored to present her newest project, A Mothers Grace: Healing the World, One Woman at a Time.

This book is full of strong, inspirational women. Youll be moved to tears by this collection of mothers, which includes a nun in India working to overcome poverty and homelessness; a mom whos changing the face of childhood cancer; a military mom who started TAPS, a grief support system for military families; and several other remarkably inventive women. Every one of them is a living example of the power and potential of divine connections.

The women you will meet here, beginning with Michelle, will tug at your heart strings and trigger your mind, empowering you to do good things for others.

Michelle highlights the struggle and heartache that often accompanies motherhood and what mothers can accomplish when faced with overwhelming life circumstances. These moms are to be celebrated. They give us all hope that, through grace, we can endure and come through these trying times stronger and better equipped to offer struggling moms a lifeline. They offer inspiration and wisdom through their resilience and determination to help others.