Ella Davis woke up one morning knowing she is dying; she has not seen a doctor or been diagnosed with any terminal illness. She seems to have aged overnight and is shocked by her reflection. So on a whim flies to Spain, hoping to find the answers that will re-unite her with her family. She makes friends there; who don't treat her like a victim, and Memet who, in another life'¦'¦'¦ but Ella loves her husband Ken and won't compromise her marriage.Her family seek her out, and Ella must tell Ken she is dying; he takes it better than Ella ever imagined. Her daughter Mia speaks to Kyle, the son she had from her first marriage, but how? He's been dead for 19 years. Her younger son seems distracted and won't let Mia talk to her Mum alone.They in turn have their own secret and Ella is forced to return home to face the devastating reality
Every year in the United States alone one million women experience the heartache of miscarriage. These numbers are staggering, yet most of these families feel alone in their grief. Through the sharing of the author's own journey of miscarriage and motherhood, Angels in My Heart reaches out to grieving parents offering a hand to hold on the journey of healing. Each person's story is different, however there are feelings and experiences that are shared by all who have lost a baby. Why are people saying these hurtful things to me? Will I ever get off this emotional merry-go-round? When am I going to get over this? Based on conversations with other bereaved parents, Kathleen provides insight and practical support for common experiences.
A Story of Blessings on Our Journey to Have Children after the Heartache of Infertility, Miscarriage, and Late-term Pregnancy Loss; also a story about my spiritual journey along the way as well as details about our surrogacy agreement
On a sweltering Fourth of July, the suicide of fourteen-year-old Maureen Bower’s father shatters her security. She fears that eventually, everyone she loves will abandon her. With the words, “May I have this dance,” Frank Russo introduces himself to Maureen at a roller-skating rink. As he teaches her skate dancing, she falls deeply in love with him. Meanwhile, the country advances further into World War 2. They wait until they feel it is safe to marry only to return from their honeymoon to find Frank’s draft notice. He leaves for the Pacific and is gone for the next three years. When Frank’s best friend, Harvey, dies at Normandy, Maureen’s closest friend, June, walks out of her life too. Frank returns from the war physically and emotionally scarred, Maureen does her best to mend him until their first child’s birth hastens his recovery. They share rich experiences, develop close friendships, raise two daughters and eventually welcome the young women’s husbands into their lives. When their children move from Brooklyn, New York to suburban Connecticut, Frank and Maureen follow and become active volunteers at the Bristol Senior Center. On the night of Lieutenant William Calley’s conviction for the Mai Lai Massacre however, Frank is overcome with guilt. When he confesses his own wartime atrocities to Maureen, she struggles to understand the man she thought she knew. Through fifty-plus years of marriage, Frank becomes the center of Maureen’s world until his sudden death shatters her faith and rekindles her deep fear of abandonment. She can’t escape from the crushing loneliness. Friends, family and even ministers are helpless to lift her from her depression. Maureen finds tasks like driving a car, paying the bills, even cleaning the house overwhelming and her smallest joy feels like a betrayal to Frank. As she prepares to end her suffering, help comes from the unlikeliest of sources: Doris Cantrell. Following an abusive childhood, a troubled marriage and estrangement with her own daughter, Doris is as damaged as is Maureen. The mistreatment she inflicts on others evidences her contempt, yet underneath it all, Maureen senses a deep sadness. Doris refuses to sympathize with Maureen’s plight and persists in exposing her to different experiences and new ways of living. Maureen also refuses to accept that Doris’s past gave her the right to abuse people in the present or to neglect her bond with her daughter. Both women lack the strength or will to help anyone. Nevertheless, God has His own plan for these wounded angels. The inconsolable widow and the uncontrollable social misfit manage to support and help heal each other. They do this, not despite their brokenness, but because of it. Maureen and Doris become close friends. As Maureen heals, the widower, Larry Kowalski, reenters her life. Through their shared experiences of love and loss, they fall deeply in love. However, will her daughters understand her being with another man? In addition, can Maureen’s friendship with Doris survive her love for Larry?
In this "raucous, moving, and necessary" story by a Pulitzer Prize finalist (San Francisco Chronicle), the De La Cruzes, a family on the Mexican-American border, celebrate two of their most beloved relatives during a joyous and bittersweet weekend. "All we do, mija, is love. Love is the answer. Nothing stops it. Not borders. Not death." In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, affectionately called Big Angel, has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly one hundred, dies, transforming the weekend into a farewell doubleheader. Among the guests is Big Angel's half brother, known as Little Angel, who must reckon with the truth that although he shares a father with his siblings, he has not, as a half gringo, shared a life. Across two bittersweet days in their San Diego neighborhood, the revelers mingle among the palm trees and cacti, celebrating the lives of Big Angel and his mother, and recounting the many inspiring tales that have passed into family lore, the acts both ordinary and heroic that brought these citizens to a fraught and sublime country and allowed them to flourish in the land they have come to call home. Teeming with brilliance and humor, authentic at every turn, The House of Broken Angels is Luis Alberto Urrea at his best, and cements his reputation as a storyteller of the first rank. "Epic . . . Rambunctious . . . Highly entertaining." -- New York Times Book Review"Intimate and touching . . . the stuff of legend." -- San Francisco Chronicle"An immensely charming and moving tale." -- Boston GlobeNational Bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award finalistA New York Times Notable BookOne of the Best Books of the Year from National Public Radio, American Library Association, San Francisco Chronicle, BookPage, Newsday, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Literary Hub
In Down-to-Earth Angels you won’t read about super heroes flying to and fro; what you will discover is a fascinating collection of stories about many kinds of heroes and heroines from different walks of life, each reaching out to touch other’s lives in such a way that would inspire even the most hard-hearted curmudgeon. Best of all, you will share in the blessings these “earth angels” have been able to give to their worlds, leaving them a little better than they found them. The French poet Alphonse de Lamartine wrote: “To love for the sake of being loved is human, but to love for the sake of loving is angelic.” Every book has a story. This one is unique in that its pages dance from one story to another with colorful, entertaining, remarkable stories about true-life “earth angels” who touch ordinary people in extraordinary ways, with each story glorifying God. I guarantee you a good read!
Do you belong to the "silent community of the broken," hiding your pain under a veneer of busyness and perfection? Sheila Walsh, best-selling author, popular Women of Faith® speaker, and gifted recording artist, has a God-given passion for reaching out to women who are privately carrying around broken hearts. she knows what they are going through because she used to be one of them. Are you lonely but too ashamed to open up? Are you a victim of well-meaning friends who have told you to get over it? Have you tried to heal yourself, to tidy up your pain with a quick fix? Is there a voice inside you saying that you will never change, that you are not worthy of God's love, that you will always be stuck as you are right now? In The Heartache No One Sees, Sheila shows you why some people are able to access and maintain an absolute hope that cannot be shaken?while others lose it like the morning mist. You're invited to join her on a prayer-filled, God-seeking journey to understand how to live in this world, with all its potential for hurt, pain, and fear, and still experience a deep healing that you are able to hold on to, no matter what life throws at you.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts, Gabriel’s Angel tells the heartwarming story of a recluse receiving the gift of love to brighten his holiday season—and his life. Tragedy drove Gabriel Bradley into isolation. A secluded cabin, far from those who failed him, provides the shelter his broken heart requires to heal and the space he needs to nurture his works of art. Then in the midst of a blizzard, a very pregnant Laura Malone appears on his doorstep, shivering from more than the cold. His mysterious, beautiful guest—willing to risk her life to protect her unborn child—is clearly in danger. And as Gabriel reluctantly cares for Laura, she returns his attentions with affection and passion, restoring his ability to hope, dream, and to love once again.
As seen on The Today Show When she was fifteen years old, Leslie King ran away from an abusive home, looking for a better life and longing for real love. What she found instead was a man who wooed her just long enough to trap her in a life of prostitution. She became one of the many thousands of trafficked individuals in the United States, a number that continues to rise--in the biggest cities and in the most idyllic towns. As is true for so many in similar situations, life was nothing but brokenness and pain for Leslie. After years of hopelessness, she finally decided to take her own life. And then God spoke. With his promise that he was with her and had mighty things for her to accomplish ringing in her ears, she got off the streets, got clean, and got to work on the mission to which he'd called her. Now Leslie is a passionate and heroic advocate for other trafficked women and teenage girls in her community and across the country. More than a gritty, no-holds-barred deliverance story, When Angels Fight includes powerful advice from Leslie and those she's encountered in her work--police officers, judges, and other advocates and activists. She also shows you what YOU can do to make a real difference in your own community. Her call from God includes marshaling others to the cause and equipping them to fight alongside her and the angels who battle for God's children--just as they once fought for her.
