Books: Did We Choose Our Parents Before We Were Born?

When Mother's Day rolls around, do you find yourself thinking that if you could choose any mom in the world, you would choose the one you have? That's exactly what authors Robert Schwartz and Rebecca Whitecotton think you did - before you were even born. And if you chose a mom who pushes all your emotional buttons, or even a mother who abandoned you, they think you chose her for a reason.

The idea that souls plan their family makeup and life challenges before birth is the theme of two recently-released books, Courageous Souls: Do We Plan Our Life Challenges Before Birth? by Robert Schwartz, and Child of Mine, Know This, a children's book by Rebecca Gittrich Whitecotton. Based on metaphysical theories of reincarnation and pre-life existence, the authors discuss the possibility that souls purposefully select families and life challenges that will give them the opportunities they need to grow and learn.

In Courageous Souls, Schwartz tells the stories of ten individuals who he says planned before birth to experience great challenges. Working with four mediums and channels, Schwartz discovers what they chose and why. He presents information that mediums obtain from pre-birth planning sessions in which souls discuss their hopes for their upcoming lifetimes. In so doing, he opens a window to the other side where souls, as eternal beings, design both their trials and their potential triumphs. According to Schwartz, seemingly purposeless suffering acquires meaning with the realization that it was planned.

One man, Schwartz says, chose to be born with homosexual tendencies to parents who were homophobic in order to experience and overcome the emotion of shame. In another example, Schwartz says that a woman agreed before birth to parent two handicapped children in order to assist them in following their own life plans.

Similar ideas are presented in a much different way in Child of Mine, Know This, a heartwarming children's book about the love that bonds parent and child throughout eternity. After acknowledging that children are wise and ancient souls who selected their families and their life plans, Whitecotton discusses the promises that souls make to each other before they are born: "Before this lifetime began, I made you a promise. I promised to be the best parent that I could be. I promised to teach you the ways of the world as I know it."

But, the book explains, the promises are not always easy to keep since we forget our spiritual existence and the promises we made once we are born. Whitecotton writes, "I made these promises knowing that many times I would forget what I promised and make choices that don't honor the true spirit in each of us." Child of Mine, Know This encourages both parents and children to find those heartfelt choices that honor the true nature of the people they are closest to.

For parents and children interested in exploring their family relationships and challenges further, Whitecotton offers a free downloadable meditation for older children and adults to explore their relationships with their loved ones, as well as a free downloadable preview copy of Child of Mine, Know This at www.brighttreasures.net.

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