Imagine just for a moment, life the way you have always dreamed it could be. Feeling connected to God and hearing His voice, creating with the Holy Spirit, following His lead as you share your art and see it transform people's lives. Imagine a world where artists are free to thrive spiritually, artistically, and financially in everything they do. Imagine a life where your mind is clear, renewed, and focused on God's purposes for your life and art; no longer struggling with negative patterns of thinking that have held you back for years. My friend, this is not some pie in the sky dream that will never come true. This is the way God designed life to be lived in His Kingdom. This can be your story, fully alive and thriving in everything you do. In Created to Thrive, you'll learn how to start living life from a new blueprint based on God's Word and His divine design for your life as an artist in His Kingdom. You'll begin to see your life without limits as you learn to align with Him and cooperate with the Holy Spirit to create new patterns of living. Your mind will be renewed, your heart will be unlocked, and your imagination will be set free to resonate with the Kingdom that's already living inside of you. You were made to be more than just a frustrated artist, struggling to make sense of your life and art. Get ready to become the artist you were created to be, get ready to thrive!

Social networks and online communities are reshaping the way people communicate, both in their personal and professional lives. What makes some succeed and others fail? What draws a user in? What makes them join? What keeps them coming back? Entrepreneurs and businesses are turning to user experience practitioners to figure this out. Though they are well-equipped to evaluate and create a variety of interfaces, social networks require a different set of design principles and ways of thinking about the user in order to be successful. Design to Thrive presents tried and tested design methodologies, based on the author’s decades of research, to ensure successful and sustainable online communities -- whether a wiki for employees to share procedures and best practices or for the next Facebook. The book describes four criteria, called "RIBS," which are necessary to the design of a successful and sustainable online community. These concepts provide designers with the tools they need to generate informed creative and productive design ideas, to think proactively about the communities they are building or maintaining, and to design communities that encourage users to actively contribute. Provides essential tools to create thriving social networks, helping designers to avoid common pitfalls, avoid costly mistakes, and to ensure that communities meet client needs Contains real world stories from popular, well known communities to illustrate how the concepts work Features a companion online network that employs the techniques outlined in the boo

In Thrive, Arianna Huffington makes an impassioned and compelling case for the need to redefine what it means to be successful in today's world. Arianna Huffington's personal wake-up call came in the form of a broken cheekbone and a nasty gash over her eye--the result of a fall brought on by exhaustion and lack of sleep. As the cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group--one of the fastest growing media companies in the world--celebrated as one of the world's most influential women, and gracing the covers of magazines, she was, by any traditional measure, extraordinarily successful. Yet as she found herself going from brain MRI to CAT scan to echocardiogram, to find out if there was any underlying medical problem beyond exhaustion, she wondered is this really what success feels like? As more and more people are coming to realize, there is far more to living a truly successful life than just earning a bigger salary and capturing a corner office. Our relentless pursuit of the two traditional metrics of success--money and power--has led to an epidemic of burnout and stress-related illnesses, and an erosion in the quality of our relationships, family life, and, ironically, our careers. In being connected to the world 24/7, we're losing our connection to what truly matters. Our current definition of success is, as Thrive shows, literally killing us. We need a new way forward. In a commencement address Arianna gave at Smith College in the spring of 2013, she likened our drive for money and power to two legs of a three-legged stool. They may hold us up temporarily, but sooner or later we're going to topple over. We need a third leg--a third metric for defining success--to truly thrive. That third metric, she writes in Thrive, includes our well-being, our ability to draw on our intuition and inner wisdom, our sense of wonder, and our capacity for compassion and giving. As Arianna points out, our eulogies celebrate our lives very differently from the way society defines success. They don't commemorate our long hours in the office, our promotions, or our sterling PowerPoint presentations as we relentlessly raced to climb up the career ladder. They are not about our resumes--they are about cherished memories, shared adventures, small kindnesses and acts of generosity, lifelong passions, and the things that made us laugh. In this deeply personal book, Arianna talks candidly about her own challenges with managing time and prioritizing the demands of a career and raising two daughters--of juggling business deadlines and family crises, a harried dance that led to her collapse and to her "aha moment." Drawing on the latest groundbreaking research and scientific findings in the fields of psychology, sports, sleep, and physiology that show the profound and transformative effects of meditation, mindfulness, unplugging, and giving, Arianna shows us the way to a revolution in our culture, our thinking, our workplace, and our lives.

God loves us and sees us as His branches, growing and bearing beautiful fruits during our lifetime. He does not want us to be stagnant. He does not want us to merely survive. God wants us to thrive. There are many people who are lost and running blindly in different directions but Made to Thrive will empower you to become a guide to self and others. In order to achieve success, we must alter our mindsets and possess thoughts of success. Whether you got a promotion yesterday, have been stagnant, or have been merely surviving, this book is for you. Higher glory and purpose are waiting. As you read, may the Lord open your eyes and ears to see and understand what He has for you. You have the potential to achieve anything as long as you comply with God’s will. Trust in His instructions, arise, pursue, and redefine your divine purpose.

Overcome your struggles. Fulfill your deepest longings. Your whole life awaits you. Many people today are struggling with unprecedented levels of anxiety, hurt, doubt, guilt, and shame. Medical and mental health professionals confirm that much of the dysfunction and disconnectedness we experience in life stems from unresolved relational and emotional hurts. These hurts leave us with unfulfilled God-given longings that we seek to fulfill through unhealthy behaviors and relationships. Yet, our struggles aren't random; they're signals that when answered, can pave our way towards a thriving life. In Free to Thrive, Josh McDowell and Ben Bennett invite you on a journey of healing and will teach you how to overcome unwanted behaviors by engaging your unmet longings. With a blend of hard-won wisdom and youthful energy, they present: Biblical teaching Recent neuroscientific research Time-tested principles Personal stories of deliverance Practical tools Opportunities for reflection No matter what you are struggling with, it is possible to experience the spiritual, emotional, and relational wholeness that God wants you to have--and live the thriving life you were made for.

The Science to Practice Series: Issue 1

Every pastor's wife is a faithful servant and leader in her own right. She has great influence on her church, her community, her family, and her husband, and she finds joy in seeing God move in the lives of others. Yet she also faces unique challenges that too often go unnoticed and unaddressed. At times, a pastor's wife may feel she can't talk about her struggles even with those who are closest to her, which can leave her feeling alone, depleted, and misunderstood. She may settle for this way of living, but that's not God's desire for her. Christine Hoover knows firsthand the unique struggles and opportunities afforded a pastor's wife--she's been filling that role for more than 20 years. Coming alongside as an understanding friend, she offers encouragement and guidance to the struggling pastor's wife, showing her how to make meaningful personal relationships with God, her husband, her children, her church community, and other women--relationships that will sustain her and help her thrive.