Meet Carla

One of the hardest things to do is to write about yourself. At first, I wrote this bio page in a more professional sounding, third person style. You can click here for a detailed professional bio or download my one-sheet to find information on my writing and speaking topics. But for now I would rather just be me and I hope you feel free to be you while you're here.

Like many women I never had a strong mother image. My mom was ill and at a very young age I became the mother in our home, caring for her and my siblings. Imagine a four-year-old with the authority and much of the responsibility of an adult. I started using the phrase because I said so when I was five. It worked great on my younger brother and sister. So for as long as I can recall I've been mothering someone, and think of myself as a professional mom.

My role as a mom turned official when I became pregnant at eighteen. "Having to marry" wasn't the greatest beginning, but God did a huge transformation. Tim and I have now been married for nearly thirty-three years. When our first child was two we became house parents in a group home for mentally challenged men. For three years I was mom to over twenty adult orphans with child-like minds. Later my husband became a pastor and a major part of our ministry included maintaining an open-door policy. We shared our home and lives with single moms, battered wives and their kids, college students, displaced families, children of all ages, mostly at-risk teens. To my surprise, I've became the spiritual mom to dozens of teens and young adults who call me Mom.

After years of being a mother to many, I longed for my own role model, an older woman, a mother image in my life. Then one day my four-year-old son asked a probing question.

Mommy, if God is Jesus Father in heaven and Joseph is his father on earth and Mary is his mother on earth, is the Holy Spirit his mother in heaven?

Now I wasn't about to start a theological discussion on the gender of God with my preschooler, but I knew he had stumbled onto something.

I sat him on my lap and said, I guess in a way, yes. The Father is at the head protecting the family. The Son obeys the Father and The Holy Spirit guides, counsels, and comforts, just like I do you.

Satisfied with the answer, my son ran off to play, leaving me to ponder his question. For the first time the mom-shaped hole in my heart felt filled. Since then I've discovered that if I make God, through the Holy Spirit, my all he will not only nurture me, he will also teach me how to raise my own children. Now I'm a grandmother and I can embrace my role as the spiritual mom to others because I've learned to be content with the Spirit as my role model.

Encouraging women, especially young mothers, to depend on God to fill the need for a mother is my passion. Its what fuels my speaking and writing. And I hope women of all ages find this website a place where they can feel nurtured, find counsel and comfort, and intercede for each other. My prayer is that you learn to rely on the Holy Spirit to become the role model you need in your life.

Click here for my professional bio ...