Fill These Empty Arms
Why I Wrote Fill These Empty Arms:
In 2002 my daughter (Megan) and I were asked to accompany a ministry team to the Dayton Women's prison, here in Texas. The purpose? To minister to a group of ladies in a memorial service for the babies they had aborted years prior. I asked Patti (my best friend and awesome drama buddy) to accompany us. She and Megan did a gut-wrenching drama for the women that pretty much ripped my heart out. I played the keyboard and (with their help) led worship – not an easy task in a room with eighty women, all in tears.
I Will Never Look at Baby Dolls The Same…
Toward the end of the service, the women were asked to come forward and take one doll (made of handkerchiefs, by the way) for each child she had aborted. The woman in front of us took nine. This just about did my eighteen-year-old daughter in. She began to sob uncontrollably. In fact, ALL of the women were sobbing at this point. One by one they came forward, named their babies, then placed the dolls (symbolizing the babies) on the altar, releasing the guilt, pain and shame of what they'd done all those years before. Many of the women in this room were former prostitutes, now Christ-loving women, just like those who'd come to minister to them.
Leaving the Service…
When I left the service that day, I knew my life would never be the same. I rushed home and immediately began to write "Fill These Empty Arms" – a story about five women with empty arms. One struggles with infertility issues, one is a post-abortion survivor, one is an empty nest mom, one is a single mom with a teenage daughter and one is a teen girl who struggles with abandonment issues (and teen pregnancy).
About Those Books…
Jump ahead several years. Most of you know that I write romantic comedy (all quirky/funny stories) so "Fill These Empty Arms" never found a home. Until now. With the advent of kindle/nook, I felt God's tug on my heart to finally, finally, finally release this story.
Here's a blurb from my best writing buddy in the world (and critique partner), Kathleen Y'Barbo:
5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE this book! Buy one for yourself and another for someone with empty arms,
Touching on topics close to the hearts of women – infertility, abortion, and family relationships, among others – Thompson skillfully blends seemingly different lives to not only fill empty arms but also empty hearts. The characters in this novel are so real they leap off the page, and the burdens they bear will along with the solutions Thompson provides will stay with you long after the story is finished. I will never look at these topics the same again.
From ACFW member, Sharon Stock: Janice Thompson's Fill These Empty Arms should be read with a box of tissues handy. It will make you cry and it will make you laugh out loud. Janice has given her readers a gift in this story about an unwed mother, a woman struggling with the ghosts of a past abortion, and a young lady longing for the baby she fears she will never have. It was a joy to read.
This morning I received this facebook post from a reader named Gini: Just finished Fill These Empty Arms. LOOOOOVE!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!! Janice, you may have flipped up your style but you nailed it and my heart was so overwhelmed with the many emotions and the Spirit that poured from that book. I wish I could read it aloud to my sister (she's not a big reader) to make sure she read it. SO so SOOOO GOOD!!!!!!
Your turn!
Friends, you can find the book on kindle and nook. It's only .99. I wanted to list it for free, but couldn't figure out a way to do so. (That's okay. It's fine at .99.) If you know a woman who's struggled with infertility, please let her know about this book. If you know a woman who's fighting empty nest syndrome, please share with her, as well. If you know a single mom (particularly with a teenaged daughter), let her know there's hope for a good and lasting relationship with that daughter! If you know a teen girl who's pregnant (or struggling with issues of abandonment after the disappearance of a parent), this book will definitely minister. And if you–or someone you know–battles the ghosts of post-abortion syndrome, then please, please, please get a copy of this story. I truly believe God has asked me to release this story "for such a time as this" so that women who are hurting can be healed.
Thank You!
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. It's been a l-o-n-g time coming, as I said.
In 2002 my daughter (Megan) and I were asked to accompany a ministry team to the Dayton Women's prison, here in Texas. The purpose? To minister to a group of ladies in a memorial service for the babies they had aborted years prior. I asked Patti (my best friend and awesome drama buddy) to accompany us. She and Megan did a gut-wrenching drama for the women that pretty much ripped my heart out. I played the keyboard and (with their help) led worship – not an easy task in a room with eighty women, all in tears.
I Will Never Look at Baby Dolls The Same…
Toward the end of the service, the women were asked to come forward and take one doll (made of handkerchiefs, by the way) for each child she had aborted. The woman in front of us took nine. This just about did my eighteen-year-old daughter in. She began to sob uncontrollably. In fact, ALL of the women were sobbing at this point. One by one they came forward, named their babies, then placed the dolls (symbolizing the babies) on the altar, releasing the guilt, pain and shame of what they'd done all those years before. Many of the women in this room were former prostitutes, now Christ-loving women, just like those who'd come to minister to them.
Leaving the Service…
When I left the service that day, I knew my life would never be the same. I rushed home and immediately began to write "Fill These Empty Arms" – a story about five women with empty arms. One struggles with infertility issues, one is a post-abortion survivor, one is an empty nest mom, one is a single mom with a teenage daughter and one is a teen girl who struggles with abandonment issues (and teen pregnancy).
About Those Books…
Jump ahead several years. Most of you know that I write romantic comedy (all quirky/funny stories) so "Fill These Empty Arms" never found a home. Until now. With the advent of kindle/nook, I felt God's tug on my heart to finally, finally, finally release this story.
Here's a blurb from my best writing buddy in the world (and critique partner), Kathleen Y'Barbo:
5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE this book! Buy one for yourself and another for someone with empty arms,
Touching on topics close to the hearts of women – infertility, abortion, and family relationships, among others – Thompson skillfully blends seemingly different lives to not only fill empty arms but also empty hearts. The characters in this novel are so real they leap off the page, and the burdens they bear will along with the solutions Thompson provides will stay with you long after the story is finished. I will never look at these topics the same again.
From ACFW member, Sharon Stock: Janice Thompson's Fill These Empty Arms should be read with a box of tissues handy. It will make you cry and it will make you laugh out loud. Janice has given her readers a gift in this story about an unwed mother, a woman struggling with the ghosts of a past abortion, and a young lady longing for the baby she fears she will never have. It was a joy to read.
This morning I received this facebook post from a reader named Gini: Just finished Fill These Empty Arms. LOOOOOVE!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!! Janice, you may have flipped up your style but you nailed it and my heart was so overwhelmed with the many emotions and the Spirit that poured from that book. I wish I could read it aloud to my sister (she's not a big reader) to make sure she read it. SO so SOOOO GOOD!!!!!!
Your turn!
Friends, you can find the book on kindle and nook. It's only .99. I wanted to list it for free, but couldn't figure out a way to do so. (That's okay. It's fine at .99.) If you know a woman who's struggled with infertility, please let her know about this book. If you know a woman who's fighting empty nest syndrome, please share with her, as well. If you know a single mom (particularly with a teenaged daughter), let her know there's hope for a good and lasting relationship with that daughter! If you know a teen girl who's pregnant (or struggling with issues of abandonment after the disappearance of a parent), this book will definitely minister. And if you–or someone you know–battles the ghosts of post-abortion syndrome, then please, please, please get a copy of this story. I truly believe God has asked me to release this story "for such a time as this" so that women who are hurting can be healed.
Thank You!
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. It's been a l-o-n-g time coming, as I said.
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