Showing results by narrator "Nan McNamara" in All Categories

Claudia Morgan is overwhelmed. She's a single parent trying the best that she can, but her four-year-old son, Henry, is a handful - for her and for his preschool. When Claudia hears about a school with an atypical teaching style near her Chicagoland home, she has to visit. The Hawthorne School is beautiful and has everything she dreams of for Henry: time to play outside, music, and art. But when Henry brings home stories of ceremonies in the woods and odd rules, Claudia's instincts tell her that something isn't quite right.

Stepparenting with Grace offers a soothing salve and a holy nudge of daily encouragement for anyone navigating the unique dynamics of a blended family. These devotions provide companionship, encouragement, understanding, and biblical insights from a veteran stepmom. This trusted resource will help you gain strength, wisdom, and comfort as you navigate the rocky terrain of creating a blended family.

In The Power of a Praying® Grandparent, best-selling author and speaker Stormie Omartian offers powerful suggestions to help you do just that as you pray for your grandchildren to be healthy, protected, smart, kind, wise, godly, and obedient so that they do not stray into enemy territory. Pray for yourself to be a powerful praying grandma or grandpa who understands what your grandchildren are facing in this world today.

Like many of us, Christine Sine had spent many years with an image of God who was "a very serious, workaholic type of God". And even when her theology told her this was not true, she struggled to live into this new way of thinking. What she needed was a childlike spirituality. In this audiobook, Christine Sine, online host of the Godspace community, invites us to pay attention to childlike characteristics that have the power to reshape us.

Ever feel like it's easier to believe we'll meet God in the afterlife than it is to feel God at work in this life, with its chores and schedules and messes and unrealized dreams? The truth is, God is at work every day of our lives, but because this work is quieter than we expect, we so often dismiss it as coincidence or chance. What if we could clearly understand those divine whispers? What if listening to them is the beginning of living out our truest story and purpose? In Trust the Whisper, Kathy Izard shares compelling true stories that help you connect the "God Dots" in your life.

In western post-Christian society, humans are thought of less like precious image bearers and more like commodities. The canary in the coal mine of this ideological shift is often women and children, which manifests itself in the seemingly built-in disdain towards motherhood and children for their lack of production of economically valuable goods. However, the risk of this utilitarian approach to human life is not just outside the church, but within those spaces as well.

There Was An Old Woman by Hallie Ephron is a compelling novel of psychological suspense in which a young woman becomes entangled in a terrifying web of deception and madness involving an elderly neighbor.

Who was among the last at the cross and the first at the empty tomb? Mary Magdalene. Her role in Jesus's ministry as told in all four Gospels was pivotal in many ways. Yet her story is often overlooked, confused, or scandalized by the church. In The Mary We Forgot, award-winning church historian and theologian Jennifer Powell McNutt unpacks Scripture and church history to reveal the real Mary Magdalene as a model of discipleship for all Christians today—women and men alike.

Teaching kindergarten in Thailand wasn’t the job Dian Seidel had in mind when, at age sixty and craving adventure, she convinced her husband that they should try working abroad. But coping with rambunctious children, sweltering heat, and COVID-19 turned out to be the challenge she needed. Struggling to understand Thai culture, their school, and their marriage, could she learn Thailand’s essential lesson: mai pen rai, don’t worry, keep cool? Part travel memoir and part second act story, Kindergarten at 60 is a retirement tale like none other.

Goldie Hayes took risks, sacrificed love, and kept secrets to rise to the top in Hollywood. In an instant, it all comes crashing down. She's at the center of a Tinseltown scandal, with her career in free fall. Her only choice is to hide until things blow over. Luckily for her, Irish Hills is the perfect place to disappear.

American history has profoundly shaped, and been shaped by, Christianity. This engaging introduction provides a brisk and lively yet deeply researched survey of these intertwined forces from the colonial period to the present. Elesha Coffman tells the story of Christianity in the United States by focusing on thirteen key events over four centuries of history. The turning points are as varied as the movements they track, including a naval battle, a revival, a schism, a court case, an outpouring of the Spirit, an act of terrorism, the election of a bishop, and the election of a president.

Hope Venerable's life took a detour, then a left turn, and before she knew it her dream to own a restaurant hit a dead end. Raising kids, paying bills, and being a wife became her life. Add to that her husband putting his own schemes before her dreams made owning a restaurant about as likely as winning the lottery. A food-inspired life is Hope's joy, her gift, and she never stopped working to make at least a small part of her dreams come true. When her husband betrays her and tries to crush her ideas again, she knows she needs a change.

In the everyday battle of raising kids who love Jesus while living in a world that doesn't, God invites you to come to Him. No cleaning up, no pretenses, no fancy words-all you need is to tell Him what's truly on your heart and then ask for the wisdom, encouragement, and protection that only He can provide.

God is often at work through the ordinary: ordinary people, ordinary objects, ordinary grace. Through the ordinary, God communicates epiphanies, salvation, revelation, and reconciliation. It is through the mundane that we hear God's quiet voice.

Life is tiring, but it's hard to stop hustling! Heather Nelson invites us to explore God's grace to us, discover the holiness of rest, and practice restorative rest in our lives.

On the cusp of her fiftieth birthday, Libby Quinn's Pinterest-perfect life has turned into a disaster. When her husband leaves with all her money, Libby is left broke, alone, and unemployable. A surprise invitation from her aunt to enjoy a retreat at the family's old summer beach house could be the balm she needs.

The way of Christ is countercultural. It doesn't go with the flow, compromise on truth, or stay silent in the face of injustice—so neither can we. No matter how young or old we are, or how much or how little influence we think we have, God calls us to boldly engage our upside-down culture through the lens of his truth. With powerful examples from Scripture and stories from teens today and through the centuries, Sara Barratt equips teens to live with a biblical worldview, approach today's hot-button issues with godly wisdom, and influence their generation for the glory of God.

While we can’t see the brain, it sends signals to us and those around us. Just as the colors of a traffic light send drivers a signal to go, slow down, or stop, our brains signal to our emotions and affect our behavior toward others. In Signals, Cherilyn Orr introduces a common language and imagery to help everyone manage their emotions. Rooted in neuroscience and the Bible, this approach has been used around the world because its spans across all cultural contexts.

When life sends us trouble, we should pray. When we experience blessings, we should pray. When a friend or loved one is going through a difficult time, we should pray. We know this. Yet too often we don't know exactly what to say - so we say nothing.

On September 11, 2001, Ann Kansfield, a successful Wall Street broker who had spent years laying a path of achievements, stood on the doorstep of profound change. The city she loved was in turmoil, and a calling to help others was emerging from deep within her. Part memoir and part spiritual formation guide, Kansfield's Be the Brave One relays her stunning transformation from a "run-of-the-mill capitalist jerk" into a wife, mother, and pastor committed to feeding the poor at her church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.