FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2008
Contact: Kathleen Y'Barbo
(713) 377-0047; Email: Kathleen@booksandsuch.biz
HOLLYWOOD MAMA DRAMA
How Babies Have Replaced Bling as the Cool
Fashion Accessory and Why You Need to Know
What to Do if Your Friend Buys Into This
There's a baby boom in Tinsel Town, and many of its biggest stars are taking part. Already this month, singer Christina Aguilera and her husband welcomed a son, and Nicole Richie, girlfriend of rocker Benjie Madden, gave birth to a daughter. Others are mamas-in-waiting, proudly showing their expanding bellies and giving interviews on when their engagement may take place. Still others allow the media to guess who the father might be.
Popular magazines cover every moment of their pregnancies and likely would have sent reporters into the delivery room if allowed. Designer diaper bags have replaced designer purses as the cool new Hollywood accessory. Baby showers take precedence over wedding showers, and the wedding does not necessarily come before the birth.
It all looks so glamorous and exciting. Who wouldn't want a beautiful bundle of joy to lavish love and kisses on? And yet, sometimes that bundle arrives under circumstances that are not God's best. Take, for example, Jamie Lynn Spears. One moment she was a squeaky-clean teen television sensation and star of Nickelodeon's Zoey 101. The next, she's in the news not for her acting but for being a pregnant teenager. With one decision, her reputation is now in shreds and her television show is under the threat of cancellation. One decision; huge dilemma.
This week is Sanctity of Life week. And because of the Hollywood Mama Drama, it is also a perfect time to understand that mama drama doesn't only happen in Hollywood. Every year nearly 1 million teen girls find themselves pregnant, and unlike Hollywood stars who have the money and fame to carry them, these girls wonder what they should do. Many choose abortion, and because of this they not only sacrifice the life of their child, but this decision also brings heartache they must carry for the rest of their lives. Perhaps YOU can be the one who can make a difference.
Who was the first one Jamie Lynn Spears turned to when she found out she was pregnant? Not her mom. Not her sister. She turned to a friend. What if you were that friend?
As a teen what can YOU do when a pregnant friend comes to you for advice?
Remain calm and loving. Your friend most likely feels alone, frightened and extremely sensitive about her pregnancy. The most important thing you can offer is your continued friendship.
Show God's love and forgiveness. Your friend may have been looking for love by giving herself intimately to a guy. Now she might feel ashamed and unworthy of love at all. Point her to God, who loves her unconditionally.
Celebrate life. She may consider this baby a "mistake"--a barrier between her and "normal" life. Lovingly remind her that no matter how the baby was conceived, he or she is a gift from God.
Be available to share ... and to listen. Your friend has big decisions to make, and although you can't make those decisions for her, you can be available to help her consider her options. Share information you've discovered on fetal development and on the physical and emotional trauma of abortion. Most of all, be willing to listen to your friend's deepest concerns.
Find help. Your friend is most likely in need of more answers than you can give. Visit a local crisis pregnancy center with your friend, or call CareNet for help at 1-800-395-HELP. Encourage her to tell her parents and to seek the counsel of a pastor or youth pastor.
Partner with her to make better decisions in the future. My Life, Unscripted (Thomas Nelson) is a book for teen girls and encourages teens to script their lives instead of being caught up in the drama and emotions of the moment. Read it together. Talk about the importance of making good choices.
Give her a book to help her face her unique issues, such as Life Interrupted: The Scoop on Being a Young Mom (Zondervan).
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Of course teen pregnancy isn't the only drama young women face. If you or someone you know has made a positive decision as a teen, Tricia Goyer wants to hear about it.
***Video Contest for teens. Watch the video for the contest here!
Here's the scoop!
Attention TEENS! Want to win an iPod?
Yeah, me too! (Just kidding.) Tricia Goyer, author of the teen non-fiction book My Life, Unscripted (Thomas Nelson) is hosting a video trailer contest! My Life, Unscripted uses the metaphor of screen writing to challenge young women to "script" your lives, rather than be blown along by the next emotional drama or temptation! (Been there, done that!) You could be one of three lucky contestants to win an iPod!
All you have to do is make a short (or not-so-short) video trailer sharing concepts shared in the book: My Life, Unscripted ... such as: how you've overcome temptation, or survived peer-pressure, or dumped the Loser boyfriend, or restored a relationship with your parents, or found your strength in Christ!
Be creative ...interview your friends (or even better, make them wear dorky costumes) and add some cool music. Then just post it on GodTube (video must be approved by GodTube before it is broadcasted, which takes a few hours) or YouTube! You also must include three things in your video:
1) the book title: My Life, Unscripted
2) the author: Tricia Goyer
3) and these words: "Check it out!"
After you finish the video, email your name, age, video link, and your address to: bookmarketing@triciagoyer.com
The winning videos will be the top three with the most views as counted on GodTube or YouTube on March 31, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. This contest is open to young women ages 13-19. So go ahead, tell your friends, your teachers, your youth leaders ... and your parents friends to check it out!
***Videos with inappropriate content as decided by Tricia Goyer will be disqualified (G-rated please). For your best chance to win, only upload videos to either GodTube or YouTube. Choose one. We will not add totals from more than one site together.
Three winners will receive an iPod Nano 4G.
Tricia Goyer writes articles for national publications such as Focus on the Family and is a columnist for teen moms through MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International: (www.mops.org/teen)
For more information, go to: www.triciagoyer.com
Tricia has once again transported readers into the lives of characters living in another era. The third installment of her Spanish Civil War series is another emotionally rich story of people's lives being changed through the events they are caught up in. As with the previous two books this is not a war story but rather the story of people whose lives were forever changed by these battles that paved the way for the worldwide conflict that was to follow. What we know as WWII started well before the dates in our history books but because these prior battles were amongst the Spaniards themselves (or so some would like for us to believe) it was not worthy of recognition as an event in world history. This author populates her pages with wonderful historic details that many are not aware of even over half a century later. Ancient mythological treasure, people who are not what they seem and hearts forever changed join the rich details of this novel amongst the pages. Characters are faced with many lessons in the areas of Faith, Trust, Hope and Love that either changed their understanding immensely or built upon whatever small foundation they may have already acquired. Very much like real life, these people were daily faced with new questions of who to trust and how much to reveal to those they did. Every day these questions required a new perusal in light of new people involved and often required a change in the answers as well. Who will end up surviving the battles for a country's loyalties as well as for a treasure which could bolster either sides significant lack of resources for wartime? How can hearts and minds choose a side when both want to see the other destroyed? To what lengths will people go to appear to value either side as it suits their own selfish purpose? As Goyer's characters face these and numerous other questions of loyalty and goals they also come up against their own values, beliefs and level of greed - if any. Don't forget to pick up copies of A Valley of Betrayal (Book 1) and A Shadow of Treason (Book 2) before reading A Whisper of Freedom (Book 3) if you haven't already read the first two. The backstory and character development in thsi series flow through the books in such a way that the experience is much richer if you read them all in their proper order.
