People are the best and worst thing about the human life.Jen Hatmaker knows this all too well, and so she reveals how to practice kindness, grace, truthfulness, vision, and love to ourselves and those around us. By doing this, For the Love leads our generation to reimagine Jesus' grace as a way of life, and it does it in a funny yet profound manner that Christian readers will love. Along the way, Hatmaker shows readers how to reclaim their prophetic voices and become Good News again to a hurting, polarized world.

    But there are also aspects of life that truly allow us to be joyful and fulfilled. For popular podcaster and bestselling author Annie F. Downs, fun is close to the top of that list. Few would argue that having fun doesn't enrich our lives, but so much gets in the way of prioritizing it. Tough days, busyness, and feelings that are hard to talk about keep us from the fun that's out there waiting to be found.With That Sounds Fun, Annie offers an irresistible invitation to understand the meaning of fun, to embrace it and chase it, and to figure out what, exactly, sounds fun to you--then do it! Exploring some research and sharing some thoughts behind why fun matters, she shows you how to find, experience, and multiply your fun. With her signature storytelling style and whimsical vulnerability, Annie is the friend we all need to guide us back to staying true to ourselves and finding the fun we need.

    Love enables us to bless others as we reach past our own concerns. Love provides opportunities to heal, to hope, and to have faith - even when dreams have to wait and the challenges of life weigh us down.When we are filled with love, we can make a profound difference in our own lives, in our homes and circles of influence, and in the world in which we live. Love makes it possible for us to do what we came to do.

    Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual “stumbling blocks” for boys and men, and any expression of a girl’s sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls—resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder—and trapped them in a cycle of shame. This is the sex education Linda Kay Klein grew up with. Fearing being marked a Jezebel, Klein broke up with her high school boyfriend because she thought God told her to, and took pregnancy tests though she was a virgin, terrified that any sexual activity would be punished with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. When the youth pastor of her church was convicted of sexual enticement of a twelve-year-old girl, Klein began to question the purity-based sexual ethic. She contacted young women she knew, asking if they were coping with the same shame-induced issues she was. These intimate conversations developed into a twelve-year quest that took her across the country and into the lives of women raised in similar religious communities—a journey that facilitated her own healing and led her to churches that are seeking a new way to reconcile sexuality and spirituality. Sexual shame is by no means confined to evangelical culture; Pure is a powerful wake-up call about our society’s subjugation of women.

     Stacey explores the common areas that women with Hashi's struggle: like perfectionism and self-rejection -- and common past experiences -- like abuse or injury. Stacey inspires women to look at their lives, and Hashimoto's differently, and to use this diagnosis as an opportunity for inner healing, greater happiness, and loving themselves.

    Brinely received his Ph.D. in family studies from Brigham Young University.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  He is an author or co-author of six books on marriage and family, including Between Husband and Wife: Gospel Perspectives on Marital Intimacy.  He is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University.  He and his wife, Geri Rosine Brinley, are the parents of six children and a foster daughter.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  The family resides in Provo, Utah.  <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Daniel K. Judd received an M.S. degree in family science and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Brigham Young University.  He is an associate professor and department chair of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University.  He and his wife, Kaye Seegmiller Judd, are the parents of four children and live in Orem, Utah.   Contributors to this Volume Elder Bruce C. Hafen, Douglas E. Brinley, Daniel K. Judd, Marlene Williams, Kent Brooks, Terrance Olsen, Brent A. Barlow, Kenneth Matheson, Charles. B. Beckert, Rory Reid, Sherrie Mills Johnson, Guy Dorius, and John Livingstone.

    Although Riess begins with great plans for success (“Really, how hard could that be?” she asks blithely at the start of her saint-making year), she finds to her growing humiliation that she is failing—not just at some of the practices, but at every single one. What emerges is a funny yet vulnerable story of the quest for spiritual perfection and the reality of spiritual failure, which turns out to be a valuable practice in and of itself.

    But what if we understood faith crisis as part of the natural cycle of spiritual growth; a breaking open to make room for new life and new faith? Join Thomas McConkie in a soul-expanding exploration, where the latest research in developmental psychology meets the Mormon doctrine of eternal progression.

    Now comes her highly anticipated first book featuring her signature combination of honesty, humor, and direct, no-nonsense advice.Each chapter of Girl, Wash Your Face begins with a specific lie Hollis once believed that left her feeling overwhelmed, unworthy, or ready to give up. As a working mother, a former foster parent, and a woman who has dealt with insecurities about her body and relationships, she speaks with the insight and kindness of a BFF, helping women unpack the limiting mind-sets that destroy their self-confidence and keep them from moving forward.From her temporary obsession with marrying Matt Damon to a daydream involving hypnotic iguanas to her son's request that she buy a necklace to "be like the other moms," Hollis holds nothing back. With unflinching faith and tenacity, Hollis spurs other women to live with passion and hustle and to awaken their slumbering goals.

    Millet provides hope for families with wayward children by focusing on the scriptural and prophetic promises to those who have received the blessings of the gospel covenant. Wandering children and the trail of attendant sorrows are no respecter of persons. These make their way into the families of the rich and poor, active, and less active, functional and dysfunctional. This book faces head-on the reality that sometimes things simply don't turn out as we had planned. Robert Millet uncovers the doctrinal basis for hope when a loved one forsakes the faith. He offers real peace here and sustaining faith in the future. Paperback Published: March 2005

    After a highly publicized and controversial exit from Mormonism, Lamborn intertwines the story of his awakening with psychological aspects of religious belief.

    And that's why in Shameless, Pastor Nadia sets out to reclaim the conversation for a new generation. In the spirit of Martin Luther, Bolz-Weber calls for a reformation of the way believers understand and express their sexuality. To make her case, Bolz-Weber draws on experiences from her own life as well as her parishoners', then puts them side by side with biblical narrative and theology to explore what the church has taught and about sex, and the harm that has often come as a result. Along the way, Bolz-Weber reexamines patriarchy, gender, and sexual orientation with candor but also with hope--because, as she writes, "I believe that the Gospel can heal the pain that even the church has caused."

    God never intended for us to act like "little girls," says Jan Silvious. His goal is for each of us to live as "big girls"-mature Christian women-who are capable of enjoying the richness of life He has planned.In Big Girls Don't Whine, Jan helps women:Move beyond the past and on to healthy relationships, Choose to be proactive rather than let life just "happen,"Discover their full potential,And become everything He made them to be.So how can we tell if we're living life as an immature 'little girl" or a confident "big girl?"A little girl…Is insecureBecomes the victim of circumstancesSays "I can't"ManipulatesA big girl…Is secureRests in God's sovereigntySays, "I can"CommunicatesIn Big Girls Don't Whine, Jan Silvious calls us to be real women in a real world, free to experience a life of full of potential and vision. This book is the how-to manual for making it happen.

    Top and Bruce A. Chadwick have done. Based on a major, ten-year study they conducted with more than 5,000 LDS teens and an additional 1,000 young adults, they have honed in on ten parenting principles that surfaced again and again in the happiest families. This book shares those principles in such chapters as "Build a Household of Faith," "Dare to Discipline," and "Praise More Than You Criticize." Real-life examples and practical counsel make this an indispensable parenting resource.