Sunday, October 12, 2008

My God Box by Margaret Iuculano (Interview and Giveaway)


A special opening message from Margaret Iuculano:


I want to thank our blog host, Delia, for taking the time to read My God Box, a memoir about an abusive childhood, but more importantly on how a mustard seed of faith in God turned around the life of a child. I feel blessed that you are willing to share the book on your blog. You are helping to create awareness about a topic that desperately needs to be addressed and has reached epidemic proportions - 500,000 children in the Foster Care System within the US.


Our country is in a crisis with an overloaded Foster Care System and children falling through the cracks daily and being put into homes to provide safety only to be left neglected again. How can we expect these children to become productive adults growing up in this environment? How can we teach these children how to have faith in God and then themselves to correct the wrongs being committed in their lives? How can we help Foster Parents to recognize the difference they can make in a life of a child and the importance of their role? And most importantly, how can we teach to break the Cycle of Abuse so we can shrink the numbers of children going into foster care in the future?

There's a truth I came to realize that changed my life and can change the lives of others. Have Faith in God - put your troubles into his hands and allow him to use you for the purpose you were born for. Once I started to follow this truth in my life I came out of despair to complete happiness and peace. I recognized my ability to help others and the importance of viewing each other as Gods children, people who possess a lot of value and have a mission just like I do for God.

When I began to see that God had a mission for my life, I started to embrace my challenges and learn from them without looking back. I was able to rid myself of the victim mentality and succeed where I was told I never would.

My prayer is that you see the message in My God Box and that it will inspire you to learn to overcome a traumatic experience and more importantly help someone else. I pray that you will agree that all it takes is a mustard seed of faith to realize your God Given potential.

God Bless You,
Margaret Iuculano




What compelled you to write My God Box?

I feel I was blessed to have found God amid all the pain and misery I endured during my growing years. However, I also feel it’s time to give thanks and give back. I struggled for over two years with doubts and mixed feelings about setting my life in print, but whenever I took a step back, I was energized and encouraged by the awe-inspiring certainty that God wanted me to tell my story—for self-healing, but more importantly to open the minds and hearts of other suffering individuals to the mercy and goodness of God. God is hope. Without God there is no hope. Without hope there is no life

What are some of the stark realities surrounding Foster Care Programs?

The truth is that children are not ‘OK’ just because they have been removed from an abusive home and entrusted to a foster family. Although there are kind, nurturing people enrolled as foster parents, on the flip side there are individuals interested only in the monetary aspects of the program; individuals often just as, if not more dysfunctional, emotionally unstable and abusive than the child’s biological parents. This is one of the reasons why I wrote My God Box—to bring awareness to the plight of foster children—and to hopefully fix the shattered parts of a system in desperate need of repair.

How many kids in the U.S. are in foster care?

On any given day the statistics show over 500,000 children in the US in the foster care system. The number has reached an epidemic level which has burdened a system not built or equipped to handle the issues facing these children.
How long do they stay in foster care (on average)?

2.5 years is the average across the US - the federal government has asked the individual states to try and reach a permanency solution for these children within 9 months but unfortunately the system is not equipped to meet this goal.

What are your long range goals?

My goal is to promote awareness of childhood abuse by using My God Box as a vehicle to become and advocate for children’s rights. I want to inform and encourage others to join with me to make a difference in the life of an innocent vulnerable child who needs to be protected and defended from society’s evils. I am planning speaking engagements/seminars which will help motivate people to start thinking about making changes in their lives and in the lives of others.

A closing statement from Margaret:

Thank you for allowing me to share my book and God’s mission for my life with you. If you would like to learn more about me and my mission please visit - http://www.margaretlano.com/ and http://www.angelsforfosterkids.org/ and know that 100% of the book proceeds goes to Angels for Foster Children. Please feel free to contact me at anytime.

Thank you, Margaret.

I was really touched by Margaret's story and read it in one night. I couldn't put it down and it's very rare that a non-fiction book has my complete attention like that. And even though I'd love to keep my copy of this book I feel like this is definitely one that needs to be shared. So, if you'd like to win a copy of this book please leave a comment on this post. I'll draw a winner on 10/19/08.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would love to read this. Thank you for offering it!!!
Cassidy

frugallm said...

This sounds like a great book! I hope to win.

elkmeese at yahoo dot com

Keeling said...

Looks like an excellent read! Thanks for the chance to win!

SweetMeat Sunshine said...

I would love to read a book that can make me embrace life's challenges more than I already do! This would be an excellent book to pass on to my best friend, my mom, and loads of sweeties in my life.
Thanks for the giveaway!

rb said...

I like a chance to win this great book. Thanks.

Tina said...

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to win this! Thank you for letting us know about such a great book!

teanster@hotmail.com

Tina said...

I would love to read this! Thank you for the chance to win it:)

teanster@hotmail.com