If you had the chance to change your life for the better, would you? All it takes is a decision. Trapped by harmful habits, behaviors, and attitudes, we struggle to become the person God has created and called us to be. Saddleback Church teaching pastor Doug Fields says it’s never too late to get a fresh start. With personal stories and youthful writing, Doug challenges readers to recognize that they may say they want God in their lives, but they really don’t want to change. They are stuck. He says, "It’s not about trying harder, it’s about plugging into God’s transforming power and submitting your entire life to Christ. Age doesn’t matter; fresh starts are for everyone." Topics include: Dealing with pride Defining success Living with guilt Struggling with conflicts Finding true friendships Overcoming discouragement Facing rejection Attacking anger
There are 3 types of experiences with love. The first is the euphoric visual that boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy and girl date, fall in love and live happily ever after. While this happens for some, it does not occur for most. The second option is what most of us have experienced. We have loved with all our hearts and were either left hurt, or in despair wondering if we would or should ever love again. The latter group consists of those were fortunate enough to find love but once they found themselves in a relationship, they often experienced moments where their partner caused them to feel rejected, abandoned, or as if they didn't matter, could never get it right or were made to feel as if they weren't good enough. Unless you experienced the life behind door #1, you more than likely felt one of the latter two experiences in your relationships. This isn't how love is supposed to be. So, what keeps us from the first type of love experience?Many of us did not grow up in households where our parents taught us how to love. Love is something we all want, but many find difficult to acquire or achieve. Everyone wants to love and be loved, but not everyone knows how to go about giving and receiving the love we both want and need from our relationships. So, what causes us to start off happy but not remain happy? Why doesn't our partner understand us during times of conflict? What do we do when all we want to do is reconnect with the one who matters most? ...It was my last break up where God's grace met me on this journey of healing that pointed me into the direction of becoming a marriage and family therapist. With God's blessing I am now taking my research and experience to teach others about this love thang. Why? So, they can love like they've never been hurt. We are all capable of being loved and loving others. We just have to find the courage to do the work to get there. It won't happen overnight, but in order to experience the love again...you gotta let 'em see you naked.
When a young boy's beloved plum tree falls in a storm, he feels like he's lost both a friend and a connection to his old home. A young boy, recently arrived from Korea, finds a glorious plum tree in his new backyard. It reminds him of a tree his family had back home, and he names it "Plumee" for the deep purple plums on its branches. Whenever the boy is homesick, he knows he can take shelter in Plumee's tall branches. And when a storm brings the old tree down, he and his friends have all kinds of adventures on its branches, as it becomes a dragon, a treehouse, and a ship in their imaginations. But soon it's time to say goodbye when the remains of the tree are taken away. Before long, a new plum tree is planted, new blossoms bloom, and a new friendship takes root. A South Korean immigrant herself, Hope Lim brings her perspective on the struggle for child immigrants to feel at home to bear through spare, poetic text, perfectly matched by soft, lyrical illustrations by Korean artist Il Sung Na. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
It's never too late to start over. Change your life today and build a stronger relationship with God with Scripture and encouraging advice from #1 New York Times bestselling author Joel Osteen. In this one-of-a-kind guide, Joel Osteen provides practical insight and encouragement to help you stay connected to God so you can receive His strength and be empowered to accomplish all that He has for you. Here are eight keys to living your life in the fullness of God's blessings and favor: Be on the Lookout for God's Goodness Keep God First Place in Your Life Release Negative Experiences Think Yourself to Victory Protect Your Vision Use the Power of "I Am" Be Selective about What You Feed Yourself Deal with Anything That Prevents Your Best These insights will help you build new beginnings with God as you trust in His word and promises. In Fresh Start, you'll learn how to experience God's goodness and make Him a part of your everyday life.
A New York Times bestseller! A pioneering and timely study of how to navigate life's biggest transitions with meaning, purpose, and skill Bruce Feiler, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Secrets of Happy Families and Council of Dads, has long explored the stories that give our lives meaning. Galvanized by a personal crisis, he spent the last few years crisscrossing the country, collecting hundreds of life stories in all fifty states from Americans who’d been through major life changes—from losing jobs to losing loved ones; from changing careers to changing relationships; from getting sober to getting healthy to simply looking for a fresh start. He then spent a year coding these stories, identifying patterns and takeaways that can help all of us survive and thrive in times of change. What Feiler discovered was a world in which transitions are becoming more plentiful and mastering the skills to manage them is more urgent for all of us. The idea that we’ll have one job, one relationship, one source of happiness is hopelessly outdated. We all feel unnerved by this upheaval. We’re concerned that our lives are not what we expected, that we’ve veered off course, living life out of order. But we’re not alone. Life Is in the Transitions introduces the fresh, illuminating vision of the nonlinear life, in which each of us faces dozens of disruptors. One in ten of those becomes what Feiler calls a lifequake, a massive change that leads to a life transition. The average length of these transitions is five years. The upshot: We all spend half our lives in this unsettled state. You or someone you know is going through one now. The most exciting thing Feiler identified is a powerful new tool kit for navigating these pivotal times. Drawing on his extraordinary trove of insights, he lays out specific strategies each of us can use to reimagine and rebuild our lives, often stronger than before. From a master storyteller with an essential message, Life Is in the Transitions can move readers of any age to think deeply about times of change and how to transform them into periods of creativity and growth.
A Fresh Start is the first book in the Graceful Beginnings series, emphasizing that Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ and what that means to you as you live your life "in Christ" daily. Delve into your spiritual riches and experience the joyful kind of life our God has prepared for us all!
Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, experience the joy, blessings, and peace of a growing relationship with God with this companion study guide for Joel Osteen's Fresh Start. Choosing to live your life with God at the center is the most important choice you'll ever make--but what happens next? Whether you are a new Christian or a long-time believer, staying connected to God and learning more about His ways is essential to your spiritual growth. To help you put your faith into practice, bestselling author Joel Osteen presents an interactive companion to his book Fresh Start. Prepared for both individual and group use, this study guide is filled with practical tools for growing your relationship with God, learning to trust His promises for you, and spending time in His word.
Moving away from her oppressive parents in the hopes of taking charge of her own life, Beth takes a job as a school music teacher and initially resists her attraction to a tattooed mechanic who is the epitome of everything her conservative parents fear.
“SLY, EXHILARATING . . . HILARIOUS.” —People (Book of the Week) This is the story of five women . . . Meet Rachel Grossman. She’ll stop at nothing to protect her daughter, Aviva, even if it ends up costing her everything. Meet Jane Young. She’s disrupting a quiet life with her daughter, Ruby, to seek political office for the first time. Meet Ruby Young. She thinks her mom has a secret. She’s right. Meet Embeth Levin. She’s made a career of cleaning up her congressman husband’s messes. Meet Aviva Grossman. The Internet won’t let her or anyone else forget her past transgressions. This is the story of five women . . . . . . and the sex scandal that binds them together. From Gabrielle Zevin, the bestselling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, comes another story with unforgettable characters that is particularly suited to the times we live in now . . .
Three women learn what it means to come home--and to make peace with the family, love affairs, and memories they'd once left behind--in this stunning and perceptive debut novel. River Bend, Michigan, is the kind of small town most can't imagine leaving but three women couldn't wait to escape. When each must return--Linda Williams, never sure what she wants; her mother, Paula, always too sure; and Beth DeWitt, one of River Bend's only black daughters, now a mother of two who'd planned to raise her own children anywhere else--their paths collide under Beth's father's roof. As one town struggles to contain all of their love affairs and secrets, a local scandal forces Beth to confront her own devastating past. Uniting the voices of mothers and daughters, husbands, lovers, and fathers, this unforgettable debut novel offers both a compulsively readable family story and a riveting portrait of small-town America today. With wisdom, humor, and exceptional heart, The House of Deep Water explores motherhood, trauma, love, loss, and new beginnings found in that most unlikely place: home.
