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Award-winning writer Elaine Tomski had two specific motivations for creating her new gift book, "Pregnant and Praying" (Crosslink Publishing). When her daughter became pregnant with twins, Tomski began to write down prayers for her grand babies and she quickly realized it was turning into something useful for other expecting mothers.
"We celebrated the news that my daughter was growing, not one, but two babies in her womb, and I began praying," says Tomski. "As we researched prenatal development, I recalled the excitement, questions, and fears of my pregnancies many years before and remembered how helpful it was for me to talk to God. The doctors gave me medical answers but praying to God brought me calmness. I knew my daughter, along with other mothers, could find that same peace."
Utilizing information from TheBump.com along with her personal experiences as a volunteer at a pregnancy help center, Tomski wrote weekly prayers to coincide with a baby's prenatal development. "Pregnant and Praying" also includes scripture verses along with journal space for expectant mothers to express their own emotional and spiritual thoughts. Additionally, Tomski says she felt it was important to explain the stages of a baby's development from weeks four through 40 weeks.
"I wanted to provide mothers with a window into the life of their child by informing them of their baby's weekly progress," says Tomski. "I would be thrilled if this book serves as a catalyst for saving babies lives and preventing a lifetime of heartache for their mothers."
Tomski says serving as a volunteer for Birthright International, a non-profit organization that assists women with unplanned pregnancies, also gave her a unique perspective as she completed "Pregnant and Praying."
"I prayed daily for God to grant our volunteers the right words to say to women when they walked into those doors at the pregnancy center," says Tomski. "I asked God to soften their hearts so those babies could live and grow into the people God created them to be. Young women, sometimes young teens, anxiously awaited their pregnancy test results. I realized both a wanted and unwanted pregnancy causes people to cry out to God. I hope this book becomes a resource for those women to bring truth, hope, and calm to their unsettled hearts."
Elaine Tomski is an award-winning writer and author of the children's book "Behind My Bellybutton." She leads a mom's group at her church and has been a volunteer with pregnancy help centers for many years. She and her husband Jeff have two grown children and three grandchildren.
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