“Readers will swoon over this story of love despite impossible odds.” —Romantic Times From the author of Don’t Die, My Love comes this young adult novel that intertwines a family saga with a grand love story. This novel stands alone or can be read as the companion to The Year of Luminous Love and Wishes and Dreams. For fans of Sarah Dessen’s The Moon and More and Ann Brashares’s Forever in Blue. Ciana Beauchamp hasn’t seen or heard from Jon Mercer in months. Until now. He’s back in Windemere to see her. Deep down Ciana is filled with joy and relief. She has never stopped loving him. It’s proof of Jon’s love that he has returned, but what will their future be? When tragedy strikes, almost no one in town is left unscathed. Tragedy has a way of bringing people together, but it can also tear them apart. Ciana can hardly face her choices, but she knows she must, and there are now people who she can turn to if only she is willing.
Clint McBride wanted to have it all--a beautiful wife, a great career, success, wealth--all before age 30, but it was not to be. Everything came crashing down on him, including his beautiful home that he burned to the ground. Doors opened for Clint everywhere he went, as his best friend's father took the young architect into his construction business. Deal followed deal, success followed success, and soon Clint and his wife, Dusty, seemed to have it all. But it was too much too soon for the young couple--especially for Clint, whose greed for more wealth, more power, and more success dominated his life. Clint and Dusty had it all and then lost it. Terrible things happened to the two of them as Clint's dreams became obsessions and overpowered their lives in Woodside, California. When greed and betrayal took over, Clint left for Europe. In a drunken stupor on the airplane to Madrid, he met Father Bernardo, who eventually brought renewed direction and meaning to Clint's life and helped turn failure into new success. What lay ahead meant new places, new people, a new life, and new dreams to chase--dreams that Clint never could have imagined before.
When University of Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill stepped down due to health concerns in October 2015, he said, "I can't do what I love doing anymore." What Kill loved doing, and did remarkably well, was turn around college football programs. In this book Coach Kill shares for the first time his inspirational, thought-provoking, and heartwarming story, from his early years playing for and working under Dennis Franchione to guiding the Gophers to a New Year's Day bowl game and being named Big Ten Coach of the Year. Kill describes his dedication to his players, how he drove them, and made them into disciplined and inspired football players. Readers will also learn about Kill's work to bring awareness to cancer and epilepsy.
Our journey through life is like traveling by train. We live life station-to-station, trying to pick the right train to board. While traveling the railways of life, Matthew Chance learned to navigate his way through some gracious guidance and some bad mistakes. Once a devout, humble, discerning youth, he turned to all forms of prodigality in teenage rebellion. As he awakened to his senses, he was about to graduate high school. By the grace of God and a family whose hope for him never faded, he now attends Baylor University. These revelations have released him to see Philippians 4:13 become a reality: we can truly do all things through Christ who gives us strength. His life has been radically transformed by the concepts he learned through the revelations in this book.
If you really and truly want God in your life, you owe it to yourself to read this book. This story is about a young boy who suffered and still suffering chasing dreams and facing a lot of suffering along the way, and how he achieved most of his dreams. After fifty-five years of his life, he came to find Jesus Christ even though he came from an extremely dysfunctional family, feeling rejected, not loved, was sexually, physically, and verbally abused. He faced the nasty words from his father, "You are way too stupid and black and ugly. You'll never amount to anything!" Those nasty words from his father were the words that motivated young Danny to execute his dreams. At the tender age of ten, Danny was put into the juvenile hall for incorrigible boys. But after three long years, he was released and became a matador (bullfighter) in Tijuana, Mexico; prizefighter, Rodeo Brahma bull rider and bareback bronco rider; professional roller skating derby skater for thirty-two years, a professional Texas bounty hunter; a repo man; a successful entrepreneur, was in a few motion pictures and Hispanic soap opera called Padres con Poder; and an author. Danny also spent five years in prison, and that's how he found our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and his ordained minister wife Dharma. She came to the prison to minister to seven hundred inmates, and that's how Danny met her. Danny's partner, Jane P. Peterson, was killed in an arrest attempt. His son was shot, and his house was bombed. Danny had been shot and stabbed multiple times and was left in a coma for seven days in an attempted arrest as a bounty hunter. And while he was in a coma, Danny had his second Christian spiritual experience with God. The first spiritual encounter was in the juvenile hall. The story you are about to read may seem like fiction or something out of a movie script. If you enjoyed the books Divine Revelations of Hell, by Mary K. Baxter, or Proof of Heaven, by Dr. Eden Alexander, or the movies Forrest Gump or Walking Tall, then you'll love reading this book. Ninety-five percent of what you will read in this book is true. All of the names have been changed to protect the innocent. God bless.
For fans of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, this inspirational novel is set in Tennessee horse country, as well as the historic cities and picturesque countryside of Italy. As the story unfolds, three girls, recently graduated from high school, plan the next phase of their lives while dealing with complicated issues. Author Lurlene McDaniel subtly explores the many types of love--including love for one's family and friends, and intimate love--and the sacrifices the girls face.
Ernie Tolin had wanted to go to the US Naval Academy. He would not be able to realize that dream. He would pursue a second dream of working with aircraft and being able to work on the National Forest. He gave up a full time job to pursue this dream and would spend the majority or his life working for the US Forest Service. His first assignment was the "Air Attack Unit" at Chino airport. He would be reassigned to an aerial reseeding project on the San Dimas Experimental Forest. He would continue working on research projects and would receive a permanent appointment and work for the "Fuel Break Project". Ernie would eventually get transferred to the new Forest Fire Laboratory in Riverside California. Helicopter projects, fire fighting, re vegetation and vegetation survey work would keep Ernie busy for a couple of years. Working at the Fire Lab would require analysis of large volumes of data. The only way to do the analysis was to use hand calculators or learn how to use mainframe computers. Ernie became a computer programmer and began writing programs to analyze not only field data but use the technology to dispatch fire equipment and make maps of fuel types for fire simulations. Ernie would be reassigned to Washington DC to work on automated mapping systems. Soon, he would be heading up a technical group of computer specialist. He would help develop specifications for major computer purchases. By the late 1970's Ernie would head up a group of specialist to analyze data for the Roadless Area Review (RARE II). Ernie would be named as the Director of Computer Science in the California Pacific Island Region and he would move to the San Francisco Bay area. Ernie continued working as the Director of Computer Science & Telecommunications Staff until his retirement.
This heartfelt digital original short story by Lurlene McDaniel features many of the same characters connected to her poignant contemporary novels The Year of Luminous Love and The Year of Chasing Dreams. When Ciana Beauchamp awakens from a dream about Jon Mercer, her initial happy thoughts are muddied by the reality that they haven't talked in months. Indeed, Ciana has no idea where Jon is. Her emotions are confused as she both longs for him and is infuriated with him. Jon has put distance between them. He’s off riding broncos on the rodeo circuit. But the miles don't stop thoughts of Ciana from swirling in his head. He knows he must come to a decision about what to do with his life if he is to reconnect with her. Lurlene McDaniel offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of two people who are deeply in love but must overcome their pride to come together again.
Chasing Dreams: The True Story of the Youngest Female Tevis Cup Champion is the incredible, action-packed memoir of Sanoma Blakeley’s 2019 Tevis Cup championship, won while riding her beloved horse Goober, and the tale of how she became the youngest woman to ever become a Tevis Cup champion. Beginning her endurance riding career at the age of seven, Blakeley writes about the years of training and teamwork required to win the most challenging and famous 100-mile horse race in the world aboard a horse she had originally acquired for free off of Craigslist. Blakeley places readers on the ride with her so that they can experience the thrill of the most exciting horse endurance race in existence. Blakeley and Goober survive narrow mountain trails winding through the Sierra-Nevadas, containing over 19,000 feet of elevation gain; three steep, grueling canyons; crossing the shoulder-high American River; riding at night with only the light of the moon to guide them; temperatures that soared over 115 degrees; and, most excitingly, the final neck-and-neck sprint to the finish against a four-time Tevis Cup champion and world class competitor after 100 miles of some of the most rugged mountain trails in the world. When Blakeley and Goober cross the finish line just a few feet ahead of their competition and Blakeley becomes the youngest woman in history to win the Tevis Cup, a lifetime of hard work that began when the author started training as a small child and who had long dreamed of winning the Tevis Cup was finally rewarded. Chasing Dreams contains action, heartwarming twists, and an epic ending that will leave readers in tears.
The most sacred journey we will ever take is to seek and then live our own dreams. We always have had dreams. Children freely dream and joyfully create and explore them. We tell children that if They Dream It---They Can Do It! Now it is our turn to show that same faith and trust. If we are Dreaming It- We can Do It! Each dream, whether small, medium or large has the power to enrich our lives and gift us with joy. So why not Do It? This book is about that spiritual journey. First, we must be ready to Dream again. We have to be open to the process and the steps involved. We need to be Open to the idea that this will work for us. Then, we take the next step. We need to become willing to understand the process of Dream Weaving, Dream Catching, Dream Chasing and finally Dream Doing. The third step is to become able to manifest our personal Dreams. This step is about living in our world and understanding what we need to do to walk through our fear and get it done. Dream Do or Dream Destroy: The choice is ultimately yours. Here’s Praying that you choose to Dream Do! Happy Journey.
