After witnessing the suicide of a churchgoing young woman, Minister Francine Amen blames herself: After this young woman had accused their pastor of sexual abuse, Francine rejected her as a friend. Francine's guilty feelings land her in a mental hospital, and after her release she vows to restore her ministry by making amends to every person she's ever hurt, especially her sister Dawn Amen. Dawn's husband Sly-- formerly Francine's boyfriend--is spending too much time with Francine during her recovery, when he should be making his own amends to Dawn.
On 31 August 2008, Sister Jesme left the Congregation of Mother of Carmel. The authorities repeated attempts to have her declared insane, she says, left her no other option. This book, a first of its kind in India, is an outpouring of her experiences as a nun for thirty-three years. Spirited and fun-loving, from a good family, deeply-rooted in Catholicism, Jesme was drawn to religious life at seventeen after a Retreat at junior college. As a nun, seven years later, she felt distressed at the many ills growing inside the convent and being forced to remain silent about them. There was corruption, by way of donations for college seats; sexual relations between some priests and nuns, and between nuns; class distinctions whereby the cheduthies, or poorer and less-educated sisters, did menial jobs; and a wide gap between comforts and facilities enjoyed by the priests and nuns. Jesme was permitted to complete her doctorate in English Literature, to pursue her passion for literature, cinema and teaching college students. She exposed them to classic films, believing that aesthetics enhances spirituality. But these joys were clouded by the troubles she faced. Searing, sincere, and sensitive, Amen is a plea for a reformation of the Church and comes at a time of its growing concern about nuns and priests. It affirms Jesmeâ¬"s unbroken spirit and faith in Jesus and the Church, living like a nun, but outside the Four Walls of the convent.
From one of the world's leading experts on how the brain works, a step-by-step, practical program for women to achieve greater health, energy, and lasting happiness by harnessing the power of the female brain. For the first time, bestselling author and brain expert Dr. Daniel G. Amen offers insight on the unique characteristics and needs of the female brain and a practical, prescriptive program targeted specifically for women to help them thrive. In this breakthrough guide based on research from his clinical practice, Dr. Amen addresses the issues women ask about the most including fertility, pregnancy, menopause, weight, stress, anxiety, insomnia, and relationships.
Award-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley delivers a bold and heartwarming story of family and faith about a man who has succeeded as a reverend and failed as a father. Reverend Simon Jackson has always felt destined to lead and he’s done a good job of it, transforming his small Houston church into one of the most respected and renowned in the region. But while the good Reverend’s been busy tending his flock, his family’s gone astray. His nineteen-year-old daughter, Rachel, gives new meaning to “baby mama drama.” Crazy in love with her son’s father, she's wreaking havoc on the man’s life, even though he's about to marry another woman. David, Simon's oldest at twenty-seven, has been spiraling downward ever since a knee injury ended a promising football career. These days he’s seeking solace in drugs—even feeding his habit by stealing church offerings. Blessedly, twenty-three-year-old Jonathan, a college graduate and the apple of Simon’s eye, is poised to take his father’s side as associate pastor—or so everyone thinks. Loretta has been a devoted wife to Simon, but she’s beginning to realize that enabling him to give more to the church than to his children was her biggest mistake. As things begin to fall apart and secrets are revealed, will Loretta be able to help her husband reunite their tattered family before it’s too late? Let the Church Say Amen is a powerful journey through one family’s trials—and a remarkable story of reconciliation and love. When things are down to the wire will Reverend Simon Jackson choose to fight for his family or the congregation?
In 1964, Karol Jackowski was just out of high school. But while her friends were heading off to college or finding their first jobs, Karol decided to enter the convent of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. Those years were a time of enormous change in the country and in the Church. They were times of joy, dedication, and a great deal of fun, set against the Second Vatican Council and the reforms it fostered, many of which remain controversial today. In this playful and candid memoir, Jackowski pulls back the curtain on the mysteries of convent life, as she recounts her rocky transition from worldly teenager to cloistered postulant; the trials she faced in coping with the restrictions of convent life; and the lessons she learned from the elderly nuns she was assigned to, who weren't nearly as pious as people thought.--From publisher description.
SPECIAL PURCHASE: Buy the paperback edition and get the e-book for $1.99. Limited time only! The Amen Sisters, the third book in Angela Benson's emotional and uplifting Genesis House series, offers a compassionate look at the lives that are forever changed when a pastor abuses his power with the women of his congregation. It is a story of love, faith and forgiveness that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. Francine Amen burned a lot of bridges when she left her home town to join a traveling ministry. When she's forced to return broken and alone after a scandal involving her pastor, she finds that making amends is not easy. Her sister, Dawn Amen-Ray, is having her own set of problems. With her marriage to Francine's ex in trouble, she's not ready to deal with Francine's return. About the Author Angela Benson writes from the heart about matters that she has experienced and about which she feels strongly. She is the award winning and bestselling author of fourteen novels, two novellas and two non-fiction books. Her most recently published works are the relationship guide, Men Don't Like Ugly, Women Don't Like Broke, and the contemporary novel, The Summer of Me (William Morrow, 2016).
Love lost doesn’t mean love lost forever. Can unexpected romance deliver a second chance for two deserving widows? Full of resolve, young widow Willow Peterson decides to pursue her dreams to be an artist as she settles into a new life in the growing mountain town of Cripple Creek. When she lands a job working as a portrait painter with handsome entrepreneur and photographer Trenton Van Der Veer, the road before Willow seems to be taking a better-than-anticipated turn. With questions tugging at several hearts in town, including the Sinclair Sisters’ beloved Miss Hattie, change is traveling down the tracks as several unexpected visitors make their way out West. Will the new arrivals threaten the deep family bonds of the Sinclair sisters and the roots of love that are just taking hold for Willow? Filled with the resonating questions that all women face, this romance awakens hope against grief, love against loss, and dreams against life’s unexpected turns.
When the last thing you want is the one thing you need, you've got to have a little faith.... Growing up, Ellen Carlisle was a Christian: She went to Jesus camp, downed stale Nilla Wafers at Sunday school, and never, ever played with Ouija boards. Now, years later, when infertility prevents her from giving her ambitious attorney husband a family, she finds herself on the brink of divorce, unemployed, and living with her right-wing, born-again Christian parents in her suburban New Jersey hometown. There the schools are private, the past is public, and blessings come in lump sums. Then Ellen meets a man to whom she believes she can open her heart, and she begins to think that maybe it’s true that everything happens for a reason—until all that was going well starts going very badly and Ellen is finally forced to dig deep to find her own brand of faith.
A warm and practical guide to coping with anxiety—and finding ways to laugh anyway. Got anxiety? Join the club. More specifically, join the Anxiety Sisterhood. Abs and Mags, aka the Anxiety Sisters, have spent the past thirty years figuring out how to outsmart their anxiety-ridden brains, and the last five years sharing what they’ve learned with a growing online community of like-minded sufferers who are looking for ways to cope better every day. Whether you’re looking to better understand and manage panic, worry, grief, stress, or phobias, or just want to pause the endless spin cycle in your head, you’ll find real-world, research-based techniques, exercises, and insights—without the clinical, confusing, one-size-fits-all approach that isn’t so helpful when your mind is racing, your triggers are in overdrive, and you just want to get back to feeling normal . . . ish. Most of all, this is a handbook for fighting Shrinking World Syndrome—that isolating, lonely feeling that comes from letting your anxiety run the show. The stories and suggestions in this book will remind you that you’re not alone. You don’t have to eliminate anxiety from your life in order to feel okay . . . and, yes, even happy.
