Wayne Muller's luminous new book gently guides us to the place where we are already perfect, already blessed with the wisdom we need to live a life of meaning, purpose and grace.He starts, as do so many spiritual teachers, with simple questions: Who am I? What do I love? How shall I live, knowing I will die? What is my gift to the family of the earth? He then takes us deeper, exploring each question through transformative true stories. We meet men and women--Wayne's neighbors, friends, patients--who have discovered love, courage, and kindness even in the midst of sorrow and loss. And through them we glimpse that relentless spark of spiritual magic that burns within each of us.Woven throughout are contemplations, daily practices, poems, and teachings from the great wisdom teachings. Page by page, we become more awake to the joy and mystery of this precious human life, and to the unique gifts every one of us has to offer the world.

     Forced to leave home as soon as he finished high school, Bailey McCreedy’s focus has been on earning enough money to survive. All he needs is a roof over his head and to keep his small mobile lending library running. Books are Bailey’s escape, and he loves to share the joy of reading with those who don’t have access to them. Tom Brooks’s upbringing is very different to Bailey’s, with a loving family, a good education, and a high-flying job—that is, until things came crashing down. Tom opens a coffee shop, struggling to build his business and reluctant to accept help, operating under the misguided belief that he must pay penance for his sins. Watching Bailey work with the street kids opens Tom’s eyes to the reality that accepting help is not a sign of weakness, and that he is so much more than his past mistakes. But as Bailey falls for Tom, with his charming manner, obvious care for others, and group of successful friends, Bailey’s own sense of self-worth threatens to tear them apart. In the face of intensifying challenges, he’s reluctant to confide in Tom, afraid he’s not good enough. A bright future will require Bailey to heed his own advice—people aren’t defined by their failures or inability to live up to the expectations of others. It’s time for Tom to pay it forward, and Bailey needs to accept the help and love that Tom offers.

    This book is for you. Based on his viral blog post and addressing concerns from “my baby won’t poop” to “my boy likes girl toys” to “everything costs too much,” David Vienna‘s wise and funny parenting advice will amuse and inform—and remind you that (almost) nothing is worth freaking out about.-Includes advice from actual experts!-Great new dad gift that’ll keep him calm, cool, and collected-Paperback; 5.5 x 7.75 inches; 112 pagesEditorial Reviews“Step 1: Buy this book. Step 2: There is no second step.”—Farah Miller, editor Huffington Post Parents“If Vienna’s CTFD had been available four years ago, the money I could have saved on antacid and Grecian Formula would easily fund my daughter’s first year of college.”—Dave Engledow, author of World’s Best Father

    Hey Natalie Jean is a terrific read for anyone who wants to make her life more beautiful.” – Gretchen Rubin                          The blog Hey Natalie Jean has won a cult following with writer Natalie Holbrook’s honest, inspiring, and often witty posts on topics like marriage, babies, nesting, and style. Natalie’s first book, Hey Natalie Jean is one part manifesto and three parts ideas, projects, and advice. Beautifully illustrated and whimsically designed, the book offers twenty-five essays and how-tos that serve as a guide to life: making date-night magic in the middle of the mundane, successfully exploring the city with a three-year-old, and creating a satisfying daily routine that still leaves room for little adventures and lots of magic.                                                         Natalie’s optimism, creativity, keen eye, and zeal for life are palpable, and she encourages others to make their lives beautiful with ease. This heartfelt, personal collection of essays and photographs shows Natalie’s ability to identify and describe life’s lovely incidentals in the everyday routine of errands, play dates, and naps. Inspiring, moving, and whip-smart, Hey Natalie Jean is an honest look at the hard work and courage that go into creating a beautiful life.

    In his newest release, Why We Eat Our Own, author and pastor Michael Cheshire boldly explores some unsavory questions. Why does the world often do a better job of forgiving their fallen than the Church? When did the Church become cannibalistic? Is the decline in Christianity due to the world or have we just become horrible to each other and the world noted it?

    Influenced by his own experience as a child of divorce, the host of the TLC series Shalom in the Home gets to the heart of family dynamics and individual personalities to help families build deeper, more loving relationships. His insights and encouragements help you cope with all the most common domestic issues: relationships, parenting, in-laws, neighbors and more. aI'm here to inspire people to be good people first, a good couple second, and good parents third, a says Shmuley. He illustrates how families can strengthen their bonds with unforgettable stories of families in crisis who undergo intensive counseling to improve their relationships and bring peace, or ashalom, a to their homes.

    For all of them, try as they might to escape it, the past remains a constant presence. From the run-down despair of Robert's dying inner London parish to the yearnings for love and physical contact of the city's social outcasts - and from the money-driven hubris of Manhattan's financial elite to the home-spun wisdom of rural New England - The Other Side of Loss is a modern-day parable of loss and redemption, of despair and triumph, of human weakness and the life-affirming salvation of human strength in all its meanings. 'Any novel that weaves a high-tension narrative out of two priests, prostitution, and a lottery ticket has to keep you turning the pages.' Gyles Brandreth 'Zounds! Not since Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein has a more colourful story come from a more surprising source. Tom Vaughan is a very imaginative soul.' George Butler, film producer, The Endurance, Roving Mars, Tiger Tiger

    They want to have a part in the bigger scheme of things, to have real friends, and to make the world their children will inherit a better place.In this witty, encouraging book, Tracey Bianchi guides moms on a journey toward celebrating and discovering the underlying rhythm of their lives and how that rhythm pulls them into vibrant relationships. Through stories of her own life as a mom and the experiences of others, she shows moms how to gracefully engage the people who cross their paths rather than viewing others as tasks on a list. She also offers a way to find balance in this busy exercise called motherhood.

    . . short poems so as to draw us into the doubleness and fluency of feelings."—The New York Times Book ReviewQuietly marked by elegy and memory, National Book Award winner Jean Valentine's thirteenth book is empowered by her signature clear music and compassion. Valentine leads us chronologically from childhood drawings and wartime memories to the present, where she addresses aging and the loss of loved ones. These poems of tender grace reflect on the small histories few ever fully see.Shirt in HeavenCome upon a snapshotof secret you, smiling like FDR, leaning on your crutches—come upon letters I thought I'd burned—I suppose you've got a place with lots of stairs.I'm at the end of something, you're at the beginning . . . —dearest, they told me a surgeon sat downin the hospital morgue, next to your body, & cried.He yelled at the aide to get out.His two sons had been your students.—me too, little-knowing—Jean Valentine is the current State Poet of New York and author of twelve books of poetry, including Door in the Mountain, which won the National Book Award. She has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and Columbia University, and lives in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of New York City.

    But as she was working on her book for the boys’ parents, Rosalind realized that teenage boys themselves are in desperate need of guidance. They need a book, The Guide, that speaks directly to them (in a boy-friendly format and in their language) about the problems they face every day: How do you get out of the friendzone (where girls refuse to take you seriously)? What’s the right way to react when getting made fun of? How do you talk to your parents so that they’ll actually listen? With the help of hundreds of middle and high school aged boys, Rosalind has identified and answered the most pressing questions teenage boys have. The result is an invaluable e-book guide that no teenage boy should be without.

    A Beginner’s Guide to the Chakras takes you through each of the seven major chakras in turn, describing their individual qualities and their importance in your life. To aid you in the learning process, there are set exercises for you to follow and self-awareness questions to answer. You will find guided meditations to support you on your journey. There are also chapters on dealing with pain, along with working with the chakras using crystal healing and aromatherapy.

    But one thing's for sure: After fifteen years of being a Hollywood stuntman, Laddy's back to run for mayor of his hometown of Gasoline, Texas. His opponent is incumbent Edwin Win-Win Winslow. Win-Win is the quintessential Texas good ol' boy. A former star lineman at Texas A&M, Win-Win now owns Texas Rolling Stock, an upscale SUV dealership that sells internal combustion monsters like gas was still 25¢ a gallon. Which in Gasoline it still is. The town has its own oil field and refinery. And the Municipal Field is what the election is all about. Laddy vows to keep it. Win-Win wants to sell it to Big Oil, which is getting nervous about the idea of anybody in the country still having access to affordable fuel. Win-Win promises that every homeowner in town will get a windfall payment that will make the sale a good deal. Laddy cautions that Big Oil is way too slippery to trust. Who will win? Will the Winslow dynasty be extended another generation? Will Laddy ever find out who his daddy is? Will he marry his first love, now a famous movie star? Or will he chuck everything to take up with Win-Wins long lost daughter, Hayley? Finding out is a gusher of fun.

    Her parents explain that he went to the hospital for a while. "A while" turns out to be eight years in a plastic bubble, where he dies of a rare autoimmune disease at age seventeen. "The Empty Room" is DeVita-Raeburn's unflinching, often haunting recollection of life with Ted, woven into a larger exploration of the enormous -- and often unacknowledged -- impact of a sister's or brother's death on remaining siblings.With an inspired blend of life experience, journalistic acumen, and research training, DeVita-Raeburn draws on interviews of more than two hundred survivors to render a powerful portrait of the range of conditions and emotions, from withdrawal to guilt to rage, that attend such loss. Finding little in professional literature, she realizes that those who suffer are the experts. And in the end, it is DeVita-Raeburn and her experts who present a larger, more complex understanding of the sibling bond, the lifelong impact of the severing of that bond, and the tools needed to heal and move forward."The Empty Room" is a fascinating literary hybrid in which Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn seamlessly fuses deeply affecting remembrance with a pragmatic, lucidly written exploration of the healing journey.

     As a loving mother to whom the unthinkable happened, McGregor knows the horrible shock that wrings a parent dry, triggers denial, blame, anger, and shame. With empathy and understanding, as well as tools, the latest research, and insight from more than 9,000 parents of estranged adult children, McGregor helps parents of estranged adults plan ahead, prepare for emotional triggers, and prevail over setbacks and pain. You can be happy again. In a calm yet authoritative voice, and with exercises derived from her work as a life coach and her own recovery, McGregor helps mothers who did their best to come to terms with their estranged adult child's choices, and regain their health and happiness. To fathers of estranged adult children—this book can help you, too. "Ninety-three percent of the parents who answer my survey at RejectedParents.Net are mothers," says Sheri McGregor. "That's why the title is directed at them. But many of the book's examples are from couples and highlight the experiences of fathers and their reactions. The principles presented are relevant to fathers, and the strategies for coping can be used by anyone." In this encouraging and comprehensive book, McGregor fully covers the phenomenon of estranged adult children from families who never expected a son or daughter to cut ties and walk away. Nine in-depth chapters provide dozens of inspiring examples from among the thousands of parents of estranged adult children. Gain understanding and practical help from a mother who knows the pain of this devastating loss with all its uncertainty and heartache. Hope can remain, but you don't have to stay stalled, forever waiting. You can move past the disbelief and distress. Take charge. Reclaim yourself and your life—only maybe even better. Recommendations: The book is a must read for parents of estranged adult children and mental health professionals working with these families. Sheri McGregor’s work is a breath of fresh air offering a new perspective and providing support, encouragement, resources, and compassion to good parents who have found themselves in an unimaginable situation. ---Maritza Parks, LMHC, Inspired Journeys Counseling While Mothers are mentioned on the cover, dads, this is for you too! Done with the Crying is for any (and all) family member who wants to heal and move forward. This wonderful book will help you see how you can hold your chin up high, dry your eyes, and get on with your life. ---Joi Sigers, Self Help Dailly.com Done With the Crying also provides much time for reflection, for taking time to think about ones life and to read the stories of other women who are going through a similar situation. The book is easy to read, and provides much support and insight in a gentle and understanding way. ---Hennie Weiss, M.A., Metapsychology Online Reviews This is my best resource to assist families whose adult children have rejected them. In my role as a family life educator, I work with those affected by a loved one’s mental illness, and the sad phenomenon of estrangement is rampant. I’ve searched for resources and education, but there is precious little available to help rejected parents move forward. It did not take me many pages in to see the value for my work, and I often recommend this compassionately written book to parents and families who are in so much pain. ---Mara J. Briere, MA CFLE, President and Founder, Grow a Strong Family, Inc.

    And if your son or daughter is sugar sensitive, misbehavior and moodiness can be aggravated by missed or late meals and junk foods.Now, bestselling author Kathleen DesMaisons offers you a workable solution for getting back your child by changing his diet—without creating a sense of deprivation, without setting unrealistic goals, and without turning sugar into “forbidden fruit.” This book offers:• A step-by-step program, backed by years of research, for gradually improving the food your child eats—you and your whole family will benefit!• Tips for navigating the sugar-laden world of birthday parties, holidays, and school cafeterias• Ways to incorporate healthy snacking and regular mealtimes into your child’s day, including suggestions for meals and snacks, plus recipesLittle Sugar Addicts isn’t about strange foods, dramatic lifestyle changes, or complicated menus—just support, guidance, and real-life suggestions from other parents that work. It will help you make the connection between the addictive qualities of sugar and negative behavior and offer a healthy solution you and your whole family can live with.