Almighty God, whose hands hold all matters of life, give me grace of success in the work that I do. Help me to give it the careful  thought and the strict attention that will lead to success. Watch over me and govern my actions, that I may not mar its perfection. Show me how to give my best, and let me not despise the toil that is necessary to complete it. Make my life a successful one, in that every duty you give to me, I do it well. Give me the blessing of your help and guidance, and suffer me not to fail.

In Jesus' name.
Amen.
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My name is Sonya Smith I'm 39 years old.  I was born and raised in a very large family.  We live in Los Angeles, CA.  I grew up in a normal family that was partially dysfunctional.  My parents were divorced when I was 12 years old and my dad also divorced me and my 2 sisters.  This experience left me feeling abandoned, deeply wounded with roots of rejections and low self-esteem.  I came to the Walter Hoving Home very broken in May of 2006. I gained a personal relationship with Jesus.  I was healed in a lot of areas in my life.  I dealt with my low self-esteem and anger in this home.  I also forgave my dad for abandoning me.  Now that the season at Walter Hoving Home is over I'm connected with GEMSS Ministry and have a wonderful mentor, Belinda Rowe.  She encourages me to work on the roots of rejection and gives me spiritual advice to continue my growth in the LORD.  I'm blessed to be connected with GEMSS.

A NEW BEGINNING

First I just want to thank God for Belinda Rowe for God laying it upon her heart to be my mentor.  This book, “Motherless Daughters”, is an unbelievable book.  When you’re ready to start healing, this is a good book to read.  It has opened up my eyes and my heart to begin the healing of my mother’s death four years ago.  Before I read this book I was suppressing any thought I had of my mother and her death and tried to bury the pain.  I still get teary-eyed, but I can now freely talk about my mother.  I know now that I’m not alone because I have God with me.  I’m confident in the fact that He will keep me strong.

This book helped me to understand that I wasn’t singled out; there are many motherless daughters just like me.  Now I can have freedom in Christ.  I learned that I can’t keep blaming everything bad that happens to me on my mother’s death. I had been using her death as an excuse for my bad decisions, but the truth was that I was hurting and acted out due to suppressing the pain.  I also realized that I had to accept the good side as well as the bad side of my mother for me to fully mourn for her.  When I opened my heart, all the abuse I received came to me; I mourned, and then forgave her.  Then the Lord slowly started filling the void and hurt in my heart.
I now know that I don’t have to follow her mistakes and I can prosper for myself and live my life for myself.  I still miss her, but I will always miss her.  She was my mother, hero and Best Friend and I’m thankful for her being the best Mother she knew how to be and she gave it her all.
Thank you Jesus and Belinda Rowe
Love, Magui Benitez – May 5, 2007