On Friday night, August 7, 1987, my three youngest children-Amanda (eleven), Kevin (nine), and Craig (eight)-went with their daddy, my cousin Coby (seventeen, we had taken him in to live with us), and Amanda's friend Samantha to see the movie He-Man: Masters of the Universe. Craig, our youngest, had just celebrated his eighth birthday on Monday on the third (he was our seventh wedding anniversary gift). Our oldest daughter Michelle (fourteen years) had asked to go "eat and ride" with a friend and would be back by ten o'clock that night. I stayed home to wait for their return. My family would never return home on Aster Dr. The strangest fact about what happened that fateful night was that Amanda knew she was going to die. She did not know when or how. She never seemed to be afraid, but in Amanda's last eight months on this earth, she began to ask me and other family members, "Am I going to die?" She would also ask this strange question about her younger brothers whenever they fell ill or if they were injured while playing. This is not a happily-ever-after type fairy tale. No one except for God and the hosts of heaven can rejoice the death of a child. This is a true, gut-wrenching story about love, gratitude, relationships, mistakes, forgiveness through repentance, and, most of all, faith. I know with every fiber of my being my three children are with God in heaven. You see, they believed in Jesus more than they believed in anyone! After losing them, I can clearly see God had a plan for their short lives here on this earth. As a repentant, forgiving, born-again Christian, I am simply...His witness. God had a plan for my three youngest children. This is their story, or, as some say, "their legacy of love."

"Smith's sage advice will aid Christians in recognizing the simple joys of practicing their faith."--Publishers Weekly Western culture is in a tailspin, and Christian faith is entangled in it: we do kingdom things in empire ways. Western approaches to faith leave us feeling depressed, doubting, anxious, and burned out. We know something is wrong with the way we do faith and church in the West, but we're so steeped in it that we don't know where to begin to break old habits. Popular pastor and speaker Mandy Smith invites us to be unfettered from the deeply ingrained habits of Western culture so we can do kingdom things in kingdom ways again. She explores how we can be transformed by new postures and habits that help us see God already at work in and around us. The way forward isn't more ideas, programs, and problem-solving but in Jesus's surprising invitation to the kingdom through childlikeness. Ultimately, rediscovering childlike habits is a way for us to remember how to be human. Unfettered helps us reimagine how to follow God with our whole selves again and join with God's mission in the world. Foreword by Walter Brueggemann.

Recapture the joy of being a child and apply it to your relationship with God. Ask the difficult questions about faith, then just take Jesus at His word. Includes discussion guide.

“21 Days to Childlike Prayer makes you want to pray.” —Donald S. Whitney, author of Praying the Bible Childlike Prayer Is Life-Changing Prayer God doesn’t need great prayers to do great things. When you speak to Him in simple, trusting faith, you find yourself in a new story where anything is possible, where you always get what’s best, and where your problems become opportunities for a greater experience of Jesus. In 21 Days to Childlike Prayer, you’ll witness how God responds in power and love to your specific prayers. As you dive into what the Bible says about communing with God, you will… identify what prayer is, how it can change you, and what major prayer pathways are laid out in Scripture learn easy-to-remember prayer strategies that help you overcome challenges and pursue goals discover inspiring true examples—both biblical and contemporary—of God’s miraculous answers to his people’s prayers This concise 3-week devotional journey will show you how to turn your daily worries, frustrations, and dreams into prayers throughout your Christian life. This transformative resource is perfect for individual and group study, empowering you to be intentional—and fruitful—in your time with God.

Trapped in complicated Christianity? Here's permission to come out of confinement! How did so many people wind up trapped by complicated systems of performance-based faith? Why do we push ourselves past our limits in pursuit of more works than any reasonable Pharisee would have demanded? Must we run at a pace somewhere between maddening and insane to prove we're among the faithful? "No!" is the emphatic answer from best-selling author Chuck Swindoll. In Simple Faith, he shows us how to get free from such arbitrary confinement. He reminds Christians that they serve a God who promised freedom, peace, and rest. And it's everlasting---not exhausting---life, remember? Here at last is an exhilarating invitation to simple faith. Move beyond rat-race Christianity and break the bars calculated to wilt free spirits. A cage is no place for a Christian. Welcome to your wings!

The concept of blessing pervades the everyday life of Christians—from testimonies recounting God's provision, to praise songs, to wishing someone well. In fact, the term has been so integrated into Christian language that it is rarely considered thoughtfully. In the pages of Scripture, blessing seems to be either physical or spiritual, but a fuller biblical-theological approach reveals that God's blessing has always been both spiritual and physical. In Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God, William Osborne traces the theme of blessing throughout Scripture as he guides readers into a deeper understanding of how God's gracious benevolence impacts the everyday lives of Christians.

"Hi! My name is Jesus." These are the first five words in this simple but profound picture book. Jesus is telling the story and makes the depth of the gospel easy for little ones to understand leaving no doubt about how much He loves each child. The colorful illustrations are captivating. A great introduction to the Savior of the world!