Gathering more than 240 family snapshots with extended selections from her writings, this is a photographic biography of M.F.K. Fisher in image and anecdote: her childhood in a Quaker town in southern California just after the turn of the century; her sensual and intellectual awakening as a young woman in France in the 1930s; the uneven terrain of her adult life as a writer, wife, daughter, parent; and finally the refuge of northern California's wine country, where Fisher spent her last years.

The thought of hosting a dinner party or even having a friend over for coffee is enough to give some women flashbacks of lopsided cakes or doomed casseroles from home economics class. But opening up your home to others doesn't have to be fancy or frightening or cost a fortune, says Karen Ehman. In A Life That Says Welcome, she offers a practical, painless (no crafting or cooking aptitude required) course on hospitality. It helps busy women open up their hearts in order to open up their homes. Full of tips, ideas, recipes, to-dos, and how-tos, A Life That Says Welcome shows readers that opening up their homes is less scary and less work than they might think.

The gentle and powerful way to turn feelings of distress into helpful action'Life can be demanding enough without us causing ourselves greater upset because we "don't feel happy". Instead, let's welcome all our feelings of distress, all our thoughts and beliefs about life's challenges, and focus on transforming these in a way that is helpful for us.'In How to Cope, psychologist and clinical director of depression awareness charity Aware Dr Claire Hayes takes a good look at our thoughts and how they can affect us, demonstrating how each of us can use cognitive behavioural principles to help us cope. In a very clear, practical way she shows us how to make sense of our distressing feelings, to become aware of our unhelpful thoughts and our core beliefs, and most of all, to focus on what we can actually do to improve things for ourselves. Rather than trying to suppress or ignore negative thoughts and feelings of distress, she invites us to welcome them as messengers asking us to do something helpful to improve things.Using her unique techniques such as the 'Coping Triangle' and 'Coping Sentences', Dr Hayes shows us how to proactively manage life's challenges, such as pressure, rejection, loss, failure, success and change. Real-life case studies illustrate the success of Dr Hayes's approach, while practical exercises and advice make it accessible to all readers. How to Cope is the ideal book is for anyone who has suffered from stress, anxiety or depression, and for their friends and family.'Thoughts, no matter how awful they seem, cannot do us any harm unless we actually believe them! Think it's not that easy? Well, maybe it is!''A standout volume that will prove a timely resource for those navigating the pressures of daily living in a society that is in danger of burning out.'Dr Declan Lyons, Consultant Psychiatrist in St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin

The author of "Homespun Gifts from the Heart" now offers a practical, no-pain, no craft, queenship-required course on practicing hospitality--the kind that helps women open their hearts and homes.

This book is about the theology of Jean Vanier. Drawing from Vanier's writings, it situates Vanier's theological thinking on community, care, and what it means to be and become human in the context of "welcome." This book draws attention to how welcome, for Vanier, is a visible expression of genuine hospitality, friendship, and human growth, offering an alternative way of conceiving and naming the social forming dynamics within Christian community, with special attention given to how welcome occurs within the communities of L'Arche. At a deeper level, this book assesses Vanier's thinking on the place and role both the self and community play in welcoming the truth of reality as it is revealed and given within community in order to prepare the way for exploring how welcome is a sign of community life, the visible expression of individual and communal trust in God's providence, and a conduit of God's presence in the world.

"God’s Welcome" is a different kind of how-to book on hospitality, one that studies the stories of God’s welcome and takes seriously the culture of hostility that sometimes masquerades as Christianity. Gather your small group or leadership group (discussion guide included in the book) and dig into the important work of gospel hospitality.

"This manual, prepared by the UUA's Office of Lesbian and Gay Concerns, is designed to help interested congregations become more welcoming places for the gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in their midst and in the wider community"--P. 1.