This book started out as an advice-and-answer column for the young adult women at church. I was amazed and humbled by their insights and questions about life. We decided to keep a dialogue going through e-mails they aptly named Mama Said, and I became their MamaInResidence.

Sections of a few of their letters and my responses are included in the book. In the months I didn’t receive questions, I wrote stories about my experiences as fillers.

In another discussion, a young lady commented that the Bible wasn’t relevant to today’s issues, only the old times, with no bearing on our lives. I hoped to debunk that notion with stories infused with scripture and a skosh of mother wit. It also occurred to me that these stories could help other Christians spark conversations about how God’s Word is working through their everyday experiences too in very real and practical ways they just hadn’t thought about yet.