The new issue of Christian Women Online is hot off the press. I think the covers just keep getting more and more amazing. Can you tell editor/publisher Darlene is an artist? I’m so blessed to be part of this wonderful publication.

I hope you’ll plan to bookmark this issue and amble your way through it when you have time. There are so many great articles, far too many to read all at once. In the cover story, Darlene interviews Australian worship singer, Darlene Zschech.

My Book Buzz column this month features Barbara Cameron, the Hollywood mom who managed the acting careers of her two famous children, Kirk Cameron (“Growing Pains”) and Candace Cameron Bure (“Full House.”)

I tried to tame my exclamation points and not gush during our interview — but here I can just let loose. Wow!!!! The Camerons are an incredible family! I feel like I really got to know Barbara through reading her book, A Full House of Growing Pains. I wish every mother of grown children could write a memoir like this. She doesn’t hold anything back. She tells you all the heartache and insight she gained from raising a family in Hollywood — and how she discovered the life-changing Message of the Gospel that totally, completely transformed her life.

You can read about how a friend first encouraged Barbara to take her cute All-American kids to visit an agent and how this led to TV commercials, mini-series, movies, and the sit-coms that brought her children into everyone’s living room. It was a complete new world to me, and I loved having a front-row seat, smelling the homemade chocolate chip cookies that Barbara always brought to the set to share with everyone.

It’s hard for any mother to raise a family with good moral values, but Barbara did this while her family was being escorted to ritzy parties in limosines and flying around in private jets — and even being stalked by fans. Her two non-acting children never got jealous of their siblings, and the family stayed close all through the years of being in the constant eye of the media.

Now Candace is a beautiful mother of three and has become the newest columnist for Christian Women Online. This month in her Candid Candace column, she talks about how to keep your faith and also how to lose postpartum pounds — two topics I’m always interested in!

I found out that Kirk Cameron and his wife Chelsea have been married for 15 years and have six children. You can read his inspiring testimony in this Christianity Today article, The Rebirth of Kirk Cameron, and see how he went from being an atheist to totally committing his life to Christ. Kirk stays busy with his award-winning reality TV and radio show, The Way of the Master, and acting in the “Left Behind” movies.

Kirk and Chelsea also run a week-long retreat for seriously ill children, called Camp Firefly. They invite the entire family for an all-expense paid week at Callaway Gardens, which is in my home state. I had no idea about this camp, but what a blessing it is to these families. The camp has been in operation since 1989.

Barbara Cameron’s A Full House of Growing Pains is this month’s CWO Book Draw. You can click here to enter in the drawing. Darlene graciosly allowed the interview to continue to a Part 2, where Barbara Cameron answered my questions about her involvement with helping feed hungry children in Africa.

In a world where there are very few celebrity role models, it’s a rare blessing to discover a family who has used their worldly fame and success as a platform — all for the glory of God.