No valley is as vast as grief, no journey as personal and life changing. Compassionate and wise guides Raymond Mitsch and Lynn Brookside shine a light on the road through grief. They can help you endure the anguish and uncertainty; understand the cycles of grief; sort through the emotions of anger, guilt, fear, and depression; and face the God who allowed you to lose the one you love. A series of thoughtful daily devotions, Grieving the Loss of Someone You Love shares wisdom, insight, and comfort that will help you through and beyond your grief.

    He remained close to this inspiring and controversial woman until her death in 1980. His book, an intellectual and psychological portrait, confronts candidly the central puzzles of her life: the sophisticated Greenwich Village novelist and reporter who converted to Catholicism; the single mother who raised her child in a most unorthodox "family"; her struggles with sexuality, loneliness, and pride; her devout religious conservatism coupled with radical politics. This intense portrait is based on many years of conversation and correspondence, as well as tape-recorded interviews.

    Sure, she was in her regular place along the stage-right aisle at Grace Community Church, halfway back...parked near a few others in wheelchairs. And the worship music had been glorious...hymns Joni could sing along with...which she did. Enthusiastically and without consulting the hymnal. All the verses. Normal so far. The part that wasn't typical was that the pastor/teacher of Grace Church, Dr. John MacArthur, was away. A pinch hitter was filling in. And although he was giving it his best, it wasn't...uh...well, it just wasn't John MacArthur. Joni tried to focus on what was being preached, but her mind began to hopelessly slide. Perhaps the past few days had been a little more hectic than usual. Maybe she and her ministry team had stayed out a little longer than they should have at dinner the night before. Or maybe the volunteers who had come that morning to get Joni up, bathed and dressed had come a little too early. Whatever the reason, Joni fought drowsiness. Caught in a truly awkward situation and not wanting to make a scene, Joni began to pray. It would be a worthy exercise to pass the time. This is something she of-ten did at night when she'd waken with nowhere to go and no wakeful person on duty to help her. Joni knew that the week ahead was going to be a busy one, including some air travel. That's something I can pray about, she mused. And so she did. Next, Joni decided to look around...carefully, of course, so as not to be accused of not paying attention, looking for folks seated in the congregation. 'Lord, is there someone I should pray for?' she whispered almost loud enough to be detected by those close by. She scanned the people sitting in front of her and spotted the back of a man's head a few rows closer to the front of the church. 'Okay, Lord, ' Joni prayed, 'Please bless that man up there with the straight black hair. Thank You for him, protect him and, if You will, please prosper him for Your glory.' She prayed for his family, his work, his friends and interests. Oddly, she found it easy to pray for this man she didn't know... which made her wonder, Lord, why have you put him so strongly on my heart? I can't even see his face... don't know his name. This was the first time Joni would be thanking her Heavenly Father for Ken Tada. It surely wouldn't be the last. And since 1982, when Joni and Ken were married, Ken Tada has been a colleague and full partner in Joni's life and ministry. He also prays for Joni.

    In his next book, Jim takes the reader along into the wide open spaces of exploring and experiencing God beyond religion. Jim writes, "It is no secret that God can be lost beneath the waving banner of religion. Divine Nobodies is my story of how this happened to me. Sometimes you have to disentangle God from religion, even Christ from Christianity, to find the truth. With the help of some unsuspecting nobodies, I uncovered a new starting line with God. As I've put one foot in front of another, I've experienced God in ways that are deeply transforming."Each chapter revolves around a central question related to knowing God on fresh terms: Is God a belief system? Is the Bible a landing strip or launching pad? Can what we're feeling inside be God? Are we too religiously minded to be any earthly good?Brian McLaren wrote, "I am tempted to say that Jim Palmer could well be the next Don Miller, but what they have in common, along with an honest spirituality and extraordinary skill as storytellers, is a unique voice."The Library Reviews said of him, "Jim Palmer's casual, yet compelling writing style cuts through the religious rhetoric and gets to the real issues…readers will love this author! His sense of humor is alternately mixed with shocking sentences and poignant moments. Laced throughout is a refreshing honesty that ties his ideas together with a ribbon of reality…each turn of the page strips away a little more of the contrived mystery of Christianity until the simplicity and sincerity of it stands in realistic splendor."More and more people seek a deeper spirituality beyond status-quo religion. Others are left empty and weary from a shallow and narrow pop-Christianity. Palmer says that God's kingdom of love, peace, and freedom can be a present reality in any person's life. He proclaims that God is indeed in the process of birthing something deep and wide among unlikely people in unconventional ways, which is changing the world...one "nobody" at a time.

    I sewed three blouses before noontime."As an Amish wife and mother of six, Lena Yoder has plenty of ways to fill her time."I helped with the afternoon milking, baked two different kinds of cakes, made two pizzas, and got everybody ready to take supper to school for the teachers."But amid the endless tasks to complete and challenges to overcome, Lena's simple joy and deep faith are ever present in these brief, first-person accounts."I am thoroughly enjoying these days at home...Our family is filled with love...I could never list everything I am thankful for."These unassuming glimpses of Amish life will touch your heart and inspire you to seek the simple things—a loving family, a good day's work, and a grateful heart.

    KENNEDY, VINCE LOMBARDI , DOROTHY DAY, FULTON SHEEN, AND ANDY WARHOL HAVE IN COMMON? They’re all Catholics who have shaped America. In this page-a-day history, 365 inspiring stories celebrate the historic contributions of American men and women shaped by their Catholic faith. From famous figures to lesser-known saints and sinners, The American Catholic Almanac tells the fascinating, funny, uplifting, and unlikely tales of Catholics’ influence on American history, culture, and politics. Spanning the scope of the Revolutionary War to Notre Dame football, this unique collection of stories highlights the transformative role of the Catholic Church in American public life over the last 400 years.Did you know…• The first immigrant to arrive in America via Ellis Island was a 15-year-old Irish Catholic girl?• Al Capone’s tombstone reads “MY JESUS MERCY”?• Andrew Jackson credited America’s victory in the Battle of New Orleans to the prayers of the Virgin Mary and the Ursuline Sisters?• Five Franciscans died in sixteenth-century Georgia defending the Church’s teachings on marriage?• Jack Kerouac died wanting to be known as a Catholic and not only as a beat poet?• Catholic missionaries lived in Virginia 36 years before the English settled Jamestown?

    A gifted writer and teacher, Lamott (Crooked Little Heart) is a single mother and ex-alcoholic with a pleasingly warped social circle and a remarkably tolerant religion to lean on. She responds to the changes, exhaustion, and love Sam brings with aplomb or outright insanity. The book rocks from hilarious to unbearably poignant when Sam's burgeoning life is played out against a very close friend's illness. No saccharine paean to becoming a parent, this touches on the rage and befuddlement that dog sweeter emotions during this sea change in one's life.

    I want a baby but not in that crazy, desperate way where I cringe whenever I see someone else with one, or I think nasty, evil thoughts about people who are pregnant, but a child of my own would complete my life and make my husband extremely happy.Jay-Jay Feeney has been married to Dom Harvey since 2004. She always imagined they'd get married, have children, grow old. But so far, things haven't worked out quite as she expected. A high-profile job, an unpredictable family life, and medical procedures and emergencies have kept her on her toes. Here is Jay-Jay's story, told with a mix of brutal honesty and humor, in which she charts the highs and lows of life lived both in the public gaze and in the shadow of infertility.

    Help, Thanks, Wow ...in 30 minutes is the concise guide to quickly understanding the three simple prayers outlined in Anne Lamott's best-selling book, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. Understand the thought-provoking ideas behind Help, Thanks, Wow:* Learn what it means to pray, and the life-opening power of prayer, independent of your faith or lack thereof.* Inspirational stories convey Lamott's personal insight and exploration of faith.* Discover how the three essential prayers help us endure difficult times and continue to move ahead. In Help, Thanks, Wow, best-selling author Anne Lamott demystifies prayer, declaring that there are no rules--a higher power can be called anything, and people can believe in any religion they'd like (or none at all) and still pray.Prayer can take countless forms, but Lamott believes that it all boils down to three essential prayers: Help, Thanks, and Wow. Help is an admission of powerlessness and a plea for assistance; Thanks is a cry of gratitude; and Wow is the experience of awe.A thought-provoking spirituality guide for people of all faiths and creeds, Help, Thanks, Wow examines the importance of the three prayers vital to enduring hardship and experiencing a transformative sense of gratitude and wonder in the world.Help, Thanks, Wow ...in 30 minutesDesigned for those whose desire to enrich their faith exceeds the time they have available, Help, Thanks, Wow ...in 30 minutes enable readers to rapidly understand the essential ideas behind critically acclaimed books. With a condensed format and chapter-by-chapter synopsis that highlights key insights, this summary helps readers easily devote time to growing their faith.

    But through the transformative power of grace, he discovered the God who loved and accepted unconditionally, freeing him to ask the hard questions and delve into one of Christianity's greatest taboos: doubt. In Faith, Doubt, and Other Lines I've Crossed, Jay voices the questions that Christians are thinking but won't ask as he chronicles his doubt about God, the Bible, heaven and hell, church, society, relationships, grace, and love. In the process he encourages all of us to welcome "the other", to read the Bible differently but better, to draw together in community, and to seek an unknown God of limitless grace. Brutally honest but full of grace, Jay invites everyone to cross the line, to dig deeper, and to discover a faith that is beyond belief.

    During the supernatural encounter, God explained the meaning of life, revealed the mysterious truths behind the writings of the Bible, unveiled the secrets of the afterlife and, most importantly, dramatically altered the spiritual course of one young man's life. This odd, irreverent spiritual memoir chronicles Josh's journey with blunt comic undertones, undercutting the lofty gravitas typically associated with the "heaven tourism" genre (including best-sellers like Heaven is for Real, To Heaven and Back and Proof of Heaven). While making no claims regarding "proof" of God, heaven or any particular theological truth, this true story is an entertaining and thought-provoking journey into the psychology of religion and the existence of God.

    In this book, she recounts something of what she learned and experienced while carrying on this work. It will be of interest and encouragement to those working in similar circumstances.

    Women have been demonstrating resiliency and resolve since forever. They have incredibly strong shoulders to bear loss, hope, grief, and vision. She laughs at the days to come is how the ancient wisdom writings put it.But somehow women have gotten the message that pain and failure mean they must be doing things wrong, that they messed up the rules or tricks for a seamless life. As it turns out, every last woman faces confusion and loss, missteps and catastrophic malfunctions, no matter how much she is doing "right." Struggle doesn't mean they're weak; it means they're alive.Jen Hatmaker, beloved author, Big Sister Emeritus, and Chief BFF, offers another round of hilarious tales, frank honesty, and hope for the woman who has forgotten her moxie. Whether discussing the grapple with change ("Everyone, be into this thing I'm into! Except when I'm not. Then everyone be cool.") or the time she drove to the wrong city for a fourth-grade field trip ("Why are we in San Antonio?"), Jen parlays her own triumphs and tragedies into a sigh of relief for all normal, fierce women everywhere who, like her, sometimes hide in the car eating crackers but also want to get back up and get back out, to live undaunted "in the moment" no matter what the moments hold.

    Omm Sety’s EGYPT contains never-before-seen episodes from her life, and important, previously unknown details of Egyptian history. “Omm Sety was a controversial character... an example of a soul so consumed with a purpose that it focused the arc of her life - not in one incarnation only, but in at least two. She knew things she could not have known without some extraordinary extension of consciousness."– Stephen A. Schwartz, Director of Research, Rhine Research Center, Durham, North Carolina and author of Opening to the Infinite "With access to Omm Sety's secrets, diaries and riveting private conversations, the authors navigate this explosive material with elegance, sincerity, and sympathy. Readers may have trouble putting this book down once they start it."– John Anthony West, author of The Serpent in the Sky

    He explains Matthew's challenge to let go of the conventional wisdom that comes with contemporary American culture. Each of seven talks brings us closer to the heart of the Sermon. Rohr contrasts conventional wisdom with the wisdom of Christ and draws the listener into the Kingdom of God, the end of the world and the experience of enlightenment. He explains that each generation lives in end times, that the Kingdom is for those willing to let go of all cultural idolatry (past and present) and that those who live in reality travel a path of life which unfolds into freedom. This series is a powerful call to follow Jesus Christ in the commandments of the New Testament. Talk 1: Awakening the Heart: Recognizing Cultural Idolatry Talk 2: Voices of the World: Social Institutions Talk 3: Table Fellowship: Alfalfa Sprouts and Gravy Talk 4: Matthew's Gospel: Charter for a New World Order Talk 5: Transformation: Jumping Off the Tower Talk 6: The Sermon and Conventional Wisdom Talk 7: Love and Power, Power and Love