acing divorces at ages six and eighteen, Jen Abbas is well aware of the lifelong effects of divorce. With an ever-changing family structure, she struggled with a feeling of displacement for as long as she can remember. As an adult, she discovered that the effects of her parents' divorces affected her more each year, not less, as she became increasingly unsure of her desire, willingness and ability to marry. Despite entering a relationship with Jesus Christ at age 19, Jen spent most of her twenties establishing a sense of home for herself in her career.

After graduating from Drake University with a BA in Human Relations, Religion and Linguistics, she worked in Student Life at colleges in Texas and Wisconsin. As she mentored staff members, counseled students and presented programs on various life issues, Jen discovered her love for impacting lives for Christ. In 1995, Jen moved off campus to explore the business world, volunteering her newfound free time at Christian music festivals and events. In 1997, she moved to Iowa to work for a distributor of Christian products. After a short stint as Graphic Designer, she was promoted to Marketing & Promotions Manager. She returned to Wisconsin after reading Bob Briner's Roaring Lambs, where she took a job with an ad agency whose primary clients were the Green Bay Packers and Ducks Unlimited. In 1999, convinced that her passion and calling was to the Christian market, Jen accepted a job with Family Christian Stores, the nation's largest Christian retailer. From her initial hire as copywriter, Jen has been promoted to her current position of Copy & Content Chief. In this custom-created position, Jen writes features, reviews and other editorial descriptions of the products carried by the chain and interviews artists and authors for FamilyChristian.com.

In 2004, Jen will see the culmination of a lifelong dream when her first book is published.

The process began seven years ago when Jen first discovered an incredible gift: a journal between her parents that began with their courtship and lasted until the day of their divorce. For years she had struggled with the holes in her history only to find that the only historians weren't willing to talk. In their journal, she was able to learn not only that they did love each other once, but she also learned why. She read first hand accounts of their wedding, her birth and other significant events. As she typed the handwritten pages to create a more permanent record, she began to see patterns emerging. When she began adding her own thoughts as footnotes, a manuscript began to take shape.

Generation Ex: Adult Children of Divorce and the Healing of Our Pain, is the end result of these musings. No longer a family memoir, this personal but practical book guides other children of divorce through the reflective process of looking back to their parents' marriage and divorce so that they can heal childhood pain with an adult perspective. The second half of the book takes a hopeful, future-oriented approach as CODs learn to create new relationship models.

Jen lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan where she shares a condo with her Shih Tzu, Bailey Grace.