Mirinda Kossoff took one flight in her father's Cessna Skyhawk as he piloted and navigated by landmarks that revealed themselves through openings in the trees below. A short three years later, he was dead at age fifty-six. Memory of that ride fueled Kossoff's desire to understand who her father was and the forces that shaped him. And by extension, how he shaped her life. Her need to know and to understand became a life-long pursuit. The Rope of Life: A Memoir is a daughter's story told with love and compassion. Readers will come away wiser about family bonds and the ways in which they can hurt or heal.
In 1958, a shy young man with few social skills sped along the Santa Ana freeway out of L.A. headed to the desert with his 'date' huddled in the passenger seat beside him. In his pockets, Harvey Glatman had a gun and a length of rope. Drunk on power, arousal, and rage, Harvey also had a plan. And beneath the desert stars, by the light of the moon, he carried out his ordeal of unimaginable cruelty, using his body, a camera and his rope... Months later, after one of his inhuman attacks went awry, Harvey's torture killings were described to a shocked and silent California courtroom. Michael Newton vividly recounts the horror of Glatman's murders and explains how his crimes weren't about killing, raping, and torturing at all...they were all about the rope.
Annie Wauneka devoted her life to helping her people. Inspired by the example of her father, Henry Chee Dodge, Annie immersed herself in tribal politics and became a leader in the battle against tuberculosis. With amazing skill and foresight, Annie melded traditional Navajo culture with the modern world, and brought about unprecedented improvements in the healthcare and education available to her people. As a Tribal Council delegate and chairperson of the Health and Welfare Committee, she changed many lives and motivated countless individuals.Although obstacles loomed in her path, Annie confronted them boldly. Her years of service earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to her by Lyndon B. Johnson. More precious, however, was her title of Our Legendary Mother in the hearts of the people of the Navajo Nation.2007 Arizona Book Award for Best Juvenile/Young Adult Nonfiction Book
Revised & Updated Edition! God is love. Crazy, relentless, all-powerful love. Have you ever wondered if we're missing it? It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe—the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor—loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss. Whether you've verbalized it yet or not, we all know something's wrong. Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts—it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same. Because when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything. Learn more about Crazy Love at www.crazylovebook.com.
In the tradition of Cheryl Strayed's Wild, the gritty, funny, achingly honest story of a young climber's struggle to become whole by testing herself on mountains and life. As a young teenager Jan Redford runs away from a cottage where her father has just put her down for the zillionth time and throws herself against a 100-foot cliff face. Somewhere in that shaky, outraged kid is a bedrock belief in her right to exist, which carries her to the top. In that brief flash of victory, she sets her sights on becoming a climber. Falling in love with climbing eventually leads to falling in love with the climbers in her tight-knit western Canadian climbing community. It also means that the people she loves regularly vanish in an instant, caught in an avalanche or by a split second of inattention. It almost crushes Jan when her boyfriend, the gifted climber Dan Guthrie, is killed. Instead of marrying Dan, she marries one of his best friends, a driven climber who was there for her when she was grieving and becomes the father of her two children. Not what either of them planned. End of the Rope is raw and real. Mountains challenge Jan, marriage almost annihilates her, and motherhood could have been the last straw...but it isn't. How she climbs out of the hole she digs for herself is as thrilling and inspiring as any of her climbs--and just as much an act of bravery.
For more than a hundred years, American cowboys have made their living through the skilled use of horse and rope. Whole libraries have been devoted to the horse, but no one, until now, has written a thorough study of the origins and evolution of ranch roping--which differs from arena roping as practiced by rodeo cowboys. Author/cowboy John Erickson studies ranch roping from every angle: its origins in the Old World; old-time loops and throws; the influence of modern team roping; and the endless debate between those cowboys who rope "hard and fast" and those who "dally." Mixing scholarship with his working--cowboy's knowledge of the subject, Erickson tells stories of cowboys who could not resist fitting their loops on "things that ort not to be roped," such as elk, deer, badgers, bears, and bobcats. He tells of jackrabbit roping contests, and of cowboys who roped mice, geese, hogs, wives, or a runaway milk wagon. Anyone who has ever "built a loop" or even thought about it will find this book hard to put down.
Holding the Rope gives an insightful look into the preparation, philosophy, and application of short term cross-cultural ministry. Archer addresses the issues with candor, humor, and most importantly, grace. He provides viable solutions to common problems, and encourages churches, pastors, and volunteers to adopt a biblical and practical approach for engaging in short term missions. "Holding the rope" is more than a catchphrase. It articulates an entire philosophy of ministry. Christian missions is too daunting an enterprise to attempt alone, but the synergy of combined efforts can accomplish untold advancement for the kingdom of God. This book is a tool for those serving the servants, a guide and celebration of those who hold the ropes.
