Becoming a foster parent is messy, exhausting, and sometimes overwhelming. But you aren't alone. Foster the Family is written by a foster parent, for foster parents, and offers relatable stories as well as hope and direction from God's Word when you desperately need it. When it comes to the hectic life of a foster parent, Jamie Finn gets it. A mother who shares her home with as many as six biological, adoptive, and foster children at any one time, Jamie is no stranger to the court dates, appointments with therapists, and daily frustration that come with multiple children, each with unique stories and needs. But she's also experienced firsthand the joy and rewards. In Foster the Family, Finn offers practical tips for foster parents navigating a broken system. Sharing everything from moments at the dinner table to the unexpected return of a child's biological family member, Foster the Family offers honest, empathetic insights through the lens of the gospel, including: It's okay to feel confused, heartbroken, and joyful at the same timeScripture offers truth and comfort about families in any formNo two children, cases, or challenges are the sameThe foster care system is challenging, but not impossible Being a foster parent can be the hardest and best call of your life. But there is hope.

    Madonna King has interviewed 200 14-year-old girls across the country, talked to successful school principals, psychologists, CEOs, police, guidance and neuroscientists to reveal the social, psychological and physical challenges every 14-year-old girl is facing today.-How much independence do they need?-What is the power of a friendship group?-How do you help build self-confidence?-Why the obsession with selfies, social media and FOMO? -How are parents unknowingly making life so much harder for them?Overwhelmingly, these young girls - on the brink of womanhood - struggle to tell their parents how they feel. That's why BEING 14 gives you the answers you are looking for. It's your daughter, talking to you. And her hope, beyond anything, is that you will listen.

    . . IN 300 WORDS OR LESSIt’s a daunting task. Even the most seasoned professionals find business school application essays to be among the hardest pieces they ever write. With a diverse pool of talented people applying to the nation’s top schools from the most successful companies and prestigious undergraduate programs in the world, a simple biography detailing accomplishments and goals isn’t enough. Applicants need clear and compelling arguments that grab admissions officers and absolutely refuse to let go.To help them write the essays that get them accepted into Harvard or any of the country’s other top programs, the staff of The Harbus---HBS’s student newspaper---have updated and revised their collection of sixty-five actual application essays as well as their detailed analysis of them so that applicants will be able to:* Avoid common pitfalls* Play to their strengths* Get their message acrossWherever they are applying, the advice and tested strategies in 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays give business professionals and undergraduates the insider’s knowledge to market themselves most effectively and truly own the process.

    After meeting their six-month-old son, Jin, at the airport—an incident made memorable when Susanne, so eager to meet her son, is chased down by security—Susanne and her husband learn lessons common to all parents, such as the lack of sleep and the worry and joy of loving a child. They also learn lessons particular to their own family: not just how another being can take over your life but how to let an entire culture in, how to discuss birth parents who gave up a child, and the tricky steps required to navigate race in America.In the end, her relationship with her son teaches Susanne to understand her own troubled childhood and to forgive and care for her own aging parents. Susanne comes to realize how, time and time again, all families have to learn to adopt one another.

    This is not just a biological mother's physical prep; it’s a trustworthy source of bottom-line, practical information as you navigate each new and exciting day.

    A challenging customer, in his view, goes from being someone who poses an obstacle to quality work to someone with eye-opening ideas and concepts. Approached as an exercise in listening and learning, these conversations can become long-term lessons. Ambi has worked with some of the most respected brands and names in the Indian corporate world, and each of those assignments were for him masterclasses in leadership development. In this book, Ambi recounts conversations with some of the most iconic business leaders, such as Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, S. Ramadorai, Karsanbhai Patel, M. Damodaran, Dr V. Kurien and many others. He soaked up these conversations, in his own words, 'like a sponge’. This book is an attempt to walk us through some of those dialogues – both the illuminating and the difficult aspects of them – to help us understand how they were learning sessions. For anyone looking at turbocharging their business and career, the ‘Sponge Process’ that emphasises listening is a radical new way of engaging with clients and customers.

    I know how well they worked for me in regaining my life, and now I want to share them with you.' Katie Piper. Start your Day with Katie is a page-a-day book of Katie Piper's most powerful inspirational thoughts, plus quotes and mantras that helped give her courage and hope after her rape and acid attack. With Katie's guiding messages, you can begin every day on the right track. Let these affirmations help you find happiness and inner strength. They are one of the tools that Katie Piper used to rebuild her life. Keep this book with you or by your bedside table to turn to any time you need a little help in finding peace or inspiration.

    It especially hurts when you are serving, giving, and loving, and no one seems to notice or even care.In creating The Invisible Woman, Nicole Johnson shows how much she understands the difficulty of living with great responsibility without receiving any recognition. Nicole puts us inside the mind and heart of Charlotte Fisher.And as we walk through Charlotte's story of feeling invisible, we experience the comedy and loneliness of her life. The invisibility that at first feels inflicted ultimately brings her real significance and meaning.Drawing her strength from the invisible builders of the great cathedrals, Charlotte realizes she is not invisible to God, and this simple truth changes everything for her. Faith is rekindled in her heart as she seeks to love her family in ways that only invisibility makes possible.

    I am a victim of murder. Through a series of events and by two shots of a gun, I was made a widow at the age of 28, with my youngest child just six weeks old. I am a victim of infidelity. I have felt unlovable. I have felt rejected. I have had days in my life when I wasn’t sure if I would ever take a breath again, let alone be able to raise my five children by myself. I have lived in fear. I have felt much heartache. I have felt truly broken to my core. I have carried some heavy burdens...not only of my own, but burdens put upon my shoulders by the death of my husband. I have felt alone. I have felt humiliated. I have been humbled to my knees. I have searched my soul to find my worth in this world, and in the life that was left for me. My world has been totally shattered. I have faced realities I never knew were possible, and found strength within myself to keep up the fight and live every day as if it was on purpose. I have been carried by Angels...both earthly beings and those unseen. I have found that being a “victim” doesn’t mean we have an excuse to stop living. Being a victim means finding a reason for seeking a higher road. I have picked up the pieces left and carried on. I am a mother. We are survivors. In one way or another, we are all victims. There are times in our lives when we are forced to question who we are at our core. When we are presented with a path...we can go this way or we can choose that way. For some, this moment comes when the one person whom we love the most decides we are not enough. This person leave us—at a most vulnerable moment—alone to search within ourselves for who we really are. We are left trying to find who it is that was left behind. Sometimes the person we love dies. Sometimes it is merely an internal battle we are facing...all alone inside our minds. Whatever the situation and wherever you have been...you have been hurt. You have felt alone. You have been abandoned, either by your parents, your lover, your friends, complete strangers, or even yourself. We have all been at that crossroad where all we have left is ourselves. Sometimes these moments of lows have brought you to your knees and caused you to reflect and ponder your relationship with God...and other times they have made you question if He is even there, or if He knows you are alone. Whatever that moment has been for you, it is personal and real. It has defined and refined who you are, who you think you were, and who you want to become. This is my story...the defining moments that have truly brought me to my knees, the times when I’ve questioned to my core my very existence, and the experiences I’ve had that have shown me who I really am and who my Heavenly Father still needs me to become. The night of my husband’s death was my darkest hour, but also the very moment when I saw firsthand that my Heavenly Father sent Angels on errands for me. He carried me. It was the hour when all my fears and all the pain of this world collided together and He was there...putting back together all the pieces, one step at a time.

    Twelve-year-old Donny is a real-life cross between Huckleberry Finn and Holden Caulfield. Donny is doing his best to navigate the world he shares with his cruel and neglectful mother, his mother's abusive boyfriends, churchgoers who want to save Donny's soul, and a best friend who wants Donny to go to work for a dangerous local thug doing petty theft and dealing drugs. Donny does everything he can to take care of himself and his younger brothers, but with each new development, the present becomes more fraught with peril--and the future more uncertain. "Heartrending and humorous. In scene after vivid scene, Dempsey presents his inspiring true story with accomplished style. Dempsey's discipline as a writer lends the real-life tale the feel of a fictional page-turner." Kirkus Reviews "This memoir is for everyone who has ever known someone abandoned, someone unloved, someone with barriers that seem impenetrable. With wit and delicacy, Dempsey exposes wounds that we would prefer to ignore, without ever pushing the reader away with any sense of melodrama. A truly unforgettable memoir." San Francisco Book Review--An estimated 700,000 children are victims of child maltreatment in the United States each year: 78% suffer neglect, 18% are physically abuse, 9% are sexually abused, 8% are psychologically maltreated, and an astonishing 78% suffer neglect. (Source: National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System) Don Dempsey experienced childhood abuse and neglect first hand, but went on to find business success and a fulfilling family life as an adult. "If you're lucky, you make it to adulthood in one piece," says Don. "But there's no guarantee the rest of your life is going to be any better. Abused kids are often plagued by fear and insecurity. They battle depression and have trouble with relationships. In the worst cases, abused children perpetuate the cycle." But Don is living proof that you can overcome a childhood of abuse and neglect. "You start by letting go of as much of the guilt (yes, abused kids feel guilty) and as many of the bad memories as possible. At the same time, you hold on to the things that helped you survive. For me, it was the belief that you can make life better by working at it and earning it. It helps to have a sense of humor, too." Some of Don's experiences will make you cringe, but you'll want to keep reading because of Don's natural storytelling ability and sense of humor. And in the end, you'll appreciate hearing Don's inspiring story.

    Chris Spealler is 5’5" and 140 pounds. Such daunting facts would make most declare defeat before trying. Chris didn’t buy the odds, though. Instead, he forged his own modern-day David-and-Goliath story. Speal is Chris’s account of struggle and perseverance, despite being "too small." What others did with ease, he seemed to do with sheer grit and will. And his actions put him among CrossFit’s elite. His is not a story of a gifted athlete whose natural talent granted him acclaim, but rather of one man who refused to back down and inspired an entire community in the process.

    Kenneth E. Hagin offers comfort and help from the Word of God concerning issues related to marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Rev. Hagin also brings clarity and understanding to the common miscon

    Authors and co-hosts of the popular comedy podcast One Bad Mother, Biz Ellis and Theresa Thorn, know firsthand that raising kids is tough. They also know that, most likely, parents are winning more than they’re failing. This book reminds parents that it’s okay to have a low bar. Celebrate what did happen, not what didn’t, including gems such as:  Did you get up this morning? Great! You’re doing an awesome job!Your kid fell asleep? Even if it was just for two hours, that’s amazing. Good job!Has your kid eaten? That’s probably your doing, so yeah, you’re a winner!  The perfect gift for the growing family, You Are Doing a Great Job! is the much-needed reminder to screw all expectations and advice. It belongs on the shelf next to Go the Fu*k to Sleep and Let’s Panic About Babies. Or better yet, tear out the pages and hang them up.

    That's what adoptive mom Heather Avis learned, and that's the invitation of this book.As the mother of three adopted children - two with Down syndrome - Heather Avis has learned that it's truly the lucky few who get to live a life like hers, who actually recognize that God's plans are best, even when they seem so radically different from the plans we have for ourselves.When Heather started her journey into parenthood she never thought it would look like this, never planned to have three adopted children, and certainly never imagined that two of them would have Down syndrome. But like most things God does, once she stepped into the craziness and confusion that comes with the unknown and the unplanned, she realized that they were indeed among the lucky few.Discover in this book what 70,000+ followers of Heather's hit Instagram account @macymakesmyday already know: the power of faith and family can help us stay strong in the toughest times. This book will also be especially touching to those with adopted family members or children with Down syndrome in their lives.

    What she got was Alex, a seemingly happy and charming child suffering from Reactive Attachment Disorder, a problem often found in the children of schizophrenic parents. This is her shocking true story.