Ruined. Tortured. Broken. What could have been the perfect childhood, turned into a hell that the devil himself would shy away from. I was forced to deal with an evil that would make the darkest of souls cringe. Lily Noel was scarred but beautiful. She was perfectly flawed and everything that I needed. Attraction bordered on obsession. Passion bordered on ecstasy. Addiction bordered on insanity. Nothing could get in the way of our love. Nothing...
A daughter's narrative about life with and without her father, whose death plunges her into deep grief but gradually becomes her most compelling reason to hope. Like so many Christian women, Rebecca, her mother, and her two sisters love a man who does not walk beside them in faith. As his cancer returns after a year of remission, they face his last days. As the women in his life struggle to savor their final times together and let go, he finally reaches out to God, and tells them so. Her father's death opens the landscape of heaven and hope to her. She beautifully renders those visions as well as the underbelly of sorrow as she is finally forced to wake up to the world, to new hungers, and to a far more dangerous faith. Here is a spiritual coming of age manifesto that will take its place alongside Voskamp and Lamott as uplifting writing on loss, grief, and growing up, quick.
Everyone has a story to tell and scars that don't heal A young, idealistic teen leaves a small town and abusive father behind to join the Navy in a refreshingly down to earth memoir of one woman's journey of self-discovery. She embraces life with passion and courage, from training and partying with Navy SEALs to skydiving and joining the police force, but when tragic events while serving her country lead to years of nightmares, depression, and PTSD, she must learn to navigate life through the heartache and tears until the laughter and love return.
Roger Huntington has made his way to Berlin where he is on the hunt for a notorious serial killer who's eluded capture for years. With the help of some new friends, and the element of surprise on his side (for once), Roger just might be able to save the day before anything goes wrong. But that wouldn't be Roger's life now, would it? Turns out his new friends might not be who they say they are, the killer may be onto him, and the benefactor who brought him to Berlin could be hiding deadly secrets that will get everybody killed . . . unless Roger can figure out what the hell's going on before it's too late.
The growing disconnect between the instructions of Jesus and the actions of his followers has caused a rift. Instead of reaching out beyond our walls, we hold tight to traditions that seem outdated. Instead of exploring other faith perspectives, we shake a judgmental fist at a secular society. Instead of engaging culture in their questions about what our lives should be like, we talk as if God only cares about the next life. As a result, our witness has become as divisive as sin itself. This book is a call to restore the trust that we have lost in our relationships with each other and with God. Expounding on stories from the Bible, history, culture, and his own experiences, Fromholz explores the source of the disconnect and provides a blueprint for reconnection. A snowball fight between soldiers and students demonstrates that trust can overcome fear. The biblical story of Abraham and Sarai shows how restoring trust can restore faith in God. The author’s seventeen-year search for his father sends a powerful message: new trust brings a new future. Through authentic, honest, and challenging prose, Fromholz examines the power trust has in freedom, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Recognizing that we are part of this culture and life around us, Broken will inspire us to be who we were always created to be, connected and restored, so that we can find—and multiply—hope.
What do you do when you wake up and feel like you're not enough for your life? Or when you look out the kitchen window as dusk falls and wonder how do you live when life keeps breaking your heart? As Ann Voskamp writes, “great grief isn't meant to fit inside your body. It's why your heart breaks.” And each of us holds enough brokenness to overflow—to be given as the greatest story of our lives. In sixty vulnerably soulful stories, The Way of Abundance moves from self-weary brokenness to Christ-focused givenness. Drawing from the critically acclaimed, New York Times bestseller The Broken Way and Ann's online essays, this devotional dares us to embrace brokenness as a gift that moves us to givenness as a way to draw closer to the heart of God. Christ Himself broke like bread, giving Himself to us so we might have a lifelong communion with Him. Could it be that our brokenness is also a gift to the world? This gentle but exquisitely profound book does nothing less than take you on an intimate journey of the soul. As Ann writes, "The wound in His side proves that Jesus is always on the side of the suffering, the wounded, the busted, the broken." Discover how surrendering in unexpected ways is the first step toward receiving what you long for. Discover the good news that your beauty is not in your strength but in your fragility. Discover why your healing shines radiant through your wounds—and how only in brokenness will you ever be whole—and find the way to the abundance you were meant for.
This anthology is a compilation in celebration of women's voices. It is collection of stories intended to inspire, empower and enlighten. While this book is the work of the Diamond Writers (A Words Matter Co. Company), each writer is as unique and authentic as her distinctive work. The mindset influenced by popular culture, by way of social media is that "if you look good, your life is good!" As if pretty women don't have problems! This is a false equivalency and a dangerous narrative. We have become so comfortable adopting this school of thought that we aren't even honest about the challenges we face or the burdens we carry. We have mastered hiding our pain in a selfie, and only posting what makes us look good and happy, even when we're hurting. Through this project we hope to challenge this mindset and behavior by sharing our radically transparent and candid stories of failure, disappointment, heartbreak and betrayal. We want women to be reminded that regardless of how "attractive" someone's life seems, no one is exempt from hardship, failure or frustration. We're taking off the make-up, lashes and wigs and offering you the truest version of ourselves in hopes that you are challenged to make the same investments in beautifying the inner you as you do in enhancing your outer appearance. Don't be pretty and broken when you can be Pretty Complete!
Emma Cooper is determined to fulfill her mother's dying wish to scatter her ashes with Aiden Sheffield in Linx, Texas. Just one problem. Why Texas and who the hell is Aiden Sheffield? The only clue is a faded piece of her mother's stationary. Emma imagines Aiden is a former love of her mother's, but when she meets the beautiful, damaged stranger, she realizes her assumptions couldn't be more wrong. He's hot and young. And Emma is as confused as ever. Aiden Sheffield would rather go to hell than Linx. Who does Emma think she is disrupting his carefully built life? The last thing the Marine needs is to slice open the sealed wounds of his painful past. Yet, as he gets to know the lovely Emma, a woman who manages to smile even though she's lost everything, he changes his mind. He will not let her go to hell alone. But neither is prepared for the devastating evil waiting for them at the end of the road. It might just destroy them.
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I WILL NEVER HAVE A HUSBAND, BUT I HAVE THE BEST BROTHER IN THE WORLD. YOUR BREATH ON MY CHEEK -- ON MY SCAR -- FELT LIKE THE BREATH OF ALLAH. Nadira is spoiled goods. Scars from a beating she received for a crime that her older brother allegedly committed tell the world that she is worth less than nothing -- except to her little brother, Umar, who sees beauty in her scars and value in her. But Umar is gone -- perhaps kidnapped or maybe sold. All Nadira knows is that Umar has been taken into the desert to ride camels for rich sheiks. He could be lost to her forever. For Umar, Nadira will risk everything. So she disguises herself as a boy and searches out the men who took him. They are not hard to find, and soon she, too, is headed to the desert to be a camel jockey. Life in the desert is more brutal than Nadira imagined. All she has to protect her and the boys she meets are a bit of chai tea, some stories, and the hope that she has enough of both to keep going until she finds Umar. BROKEN MOON IS A SPELLBINDING, LYRICAL TALE THAT WILL CAPTURE READERS, HEARTS AND SOULS.
