A heart prepared to die that has never lived or loved…Born with fragile health, Dawn Uxbridge has lived a sheltered existence. Her lonely days are filled by drawing fanciful landscapes and nurturing plants. When tragedy strikes, she finds herself alone and penniless with only one talent – a green thumb.Jasper, the Earl of Seton, is in need of a gardener to reclaim his derelict estate in the remote west of England. He expected a robust commoner, not a fragile young woman. With the next train a week away, Dawn has one chance to change the earl’s mind and earn her place.But all is not as it seems at the ancestral manor. The estate is full of secrets, ravens cluster on the parapets, and a ghostly young woman cries out at night. This garden conceals a rotten heart, and it plans to squeeze the last beat from Dawn’s…

I was with her twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for the last ten months of her life. The conversations we had were priceless. The promises I made to her I am still fulfilling. Dawn definitely made me a stronger person. She taught me so many things about life, about myself, but also about others. After she was diagnosed, Dawn saw things as they were and not as she wished them to be, and slowly but surely she began putting things in order. Yes, this cancer is going to end my life here on earth several years sooner than if I didn't have it. Though it won't take away what I have. I have a loving father and best friend. I have Cathy, my wonderful mother by marriage. I have my mother and Kristie who I love so very much. I have the two most beautiful children in the world in Tyler and Jordan. I have peace with God and myself. I also have something that is so important to me: I have love from all those I just mentioned. They love me. So you see, cancer didn't win. It can never take what I have. Please understand that I haven't given up on a miracle nor have I given up on life here on earth. I won't live my life waiting on a miracle. I'm going to live my life as if I don't need a miracle. I won't live my life in fear of death. I'm going to live my life as if I have nothing to fear. Yes, I will do whatever it takes to live. I'm going to do my best to do what it takes to be happy not depressed. So yes, I hate that I have cancer, although I love my life and those who are in it and make it what it is.

And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts. (II Peter 1:9) The word of prophecy was not given that we might merely be comforted but that we would be prepared and made ready. Let us look into the Word of God together, searching out the prophecies, that the Day-Star arise in our hearts until the Day dawns.

Prayers, responses, liturgies, songs, poems, reflections, meditations, sermons and stories, covering the weeks from Easter Day to Trinity Sunday, including Ascension Day, Pentecost, Saints' days, Rogation days, environmental days and many more.

Author Ken McAlpine stands in his front yard one night in Ventura, California, trying to see the stars. His view is diminished by light pollution, making it hard to see much of anything in the sky. Our fast-paced, technologically advanced society, he concludes, is not conducive to stargazing or soul-searching. Taking a page from Thoreau's Walden, he decides to get away from the clamor of everyday life, journeying alone through California's Channel Islands National Park. There, he imagines, he might be able to "breathe slowly and think clearly, to examine how we live and what we live for." In between his week-long solo trips through these pristine islands, McAlpine reaches out to try to better understand his fellow man: he eats lunch with the homeless in Beverly Hills, sits in the desert with a 98-year-old Benedictine monk, and befriends a sidewalk celebrity impersonator in Hollywood. What he discovers about himself and the world we live in will inspire anyone who wishes they had the time to slow down and notice the wonders of nature and humanity. To learn more about the author, visit his website at www.kenmcalpine.com.

Dawn Buckle spends most of her days trying to get people to notice her. But whether at home or at school, it's as if she's completely invisible. And that's exactly what makes her the ideal recruit for S.H,.H. (Strictly Hush Hush)-a secret intelligence agency. How the world's most forgettable girl transforms herself into a world-class spy and tracks down a surprising secret agent will delight readers.