How big is your God? Have you ever come face to face with a Holy God? Have you ever considered what would happen to you if you did? Do you consider yourself to be "messed up, missing the mark, lacking, or a failure?" Do you deal with memories that haunt you due to regret, unforgiveness, or PTSD? Or do you think that you are "all that" or "God's gift to this world?" Well, this book will address these topics and more! Karen was an 18-year-old rape victim with a "don't mess with me" attitude. She had a reputation - one where people would say, "Hey, you don't want to mess with that girl, she will drink you under the table, she will cuss you like a sailor, she will fight you until she draws blood, and she will cut you up with her words and spit you out!" This is the "tough-girl baggage" that Karen brought with her when she began her corporate career as the traffic manager of a subsidiary of the largest maritime shipping company in the United States. Despite growing up in that waterfront industry and having the tenacity, disciplines and skills to handle the public relations and manage thousands of tons of cargo moving internationally and locally, she struggled with having that same drive to manage her own personal life. Through this time Karen occasionally thought of crying out to God for help, but she presumed Him to be dis-interested in her plight and most likely a wimp compared to the enormity of her crisis. Then one night, she read a book that was mysteriously delivered to her house. This book, "Power for Living," contained testimonies of corporate high rollers, sports icons and managers like her but who had surrendered their lives over to the Lord and had been blessed in doing so. After considering what she had read, she began to pray the prayer of commitment to Jesus that was recorded in the back of the book, but she added one additional request of God. She defiantly demanded that He prove to her that He was tougher than she was because she refused to serve a wimpy God. Well, God accepted her challenge that night and what He revealed to her is what she is passionate to share with all. Karen's ministry began as she used the gifts and knowledge she received from God to speak His prophetic truths into people's lives. Most come away experiencing joy and peace, being delivered from what had kept them in fear, unforgiveness, or bound to their past. When teaching, Karen has an uncanny way of pressing against those dark places in your character, worldview, or behaviors that many have adopted as their "comfort zone," or "I just can't change" places. By skillfully using stories, scriptures and questions, these truths will challenge you to see "yourself" as God sees you and guide you to receive His deliverance from what torments you. Are you ready to live life differently, to see God differently, and to take off your mask and keep it off? Then get ready to experience freedom and intimacy with a Holy God as you learn how to "face the darkness within you."

Facing the Darkness aims to support those going through times of crisis and depression - primarily Pagan, but accessible to all. Utilizing Pagan spiritual imagery, skills and perspectives, a combination of inspirational text and easy exercises work with images and stories to distract and encourage for short-term relief and long-term healing. From the apparent hopelessness of deep night through to the inevitable return of sunrise, Nature imagery, tales of mythology and Deity combine in accessible meditations, activities and anecdotes to remind the reader that they are not alone on their path through the darkness. Cat Treadwell acts as a guide through the forest, working with the Druid skills of Bardic tales and Ovatic land/spirit connection. Darkness and despair can lead to peace and inspiration...through the simple bravery of stepping forward. ,

In this powerful book, Steffany Barton, RN, documents her decades long journey to understanding and embracing the valuable lessons offered in life after suicide. With personal passion and professional integrity, Steffany carefully listens to the voices of departed souls and compassionately speaks to those left behind, building a bridge of timeless love between heaven and earth. Those who commit suicide communicate clearly and lovingly from a place of unconditional Love where their souls dwell on the Other Side. "Facing Darkness, Finding Light" provides insight into the afterlife of those who commit suicide, sheds the light on healing in life after suicide, and shares meaningful techniques for forging new bonds between the departed and those left behind. Though the journey begins in the darkness of death, there is hope, there is light. Find it in this truly exceptional book.

In 1927, during the murderous anti-Catholic reign of Mexican president Plutarco Elias Calles, Mother Luisita and two members of her Carmelite community cast off their religious habits, donned secular clothes, trembling all the while, started out on a perilous flight from the brutal, atheistic government intent on killing them. Neither their forced exile nor those death squads broke these brave nuns, suddenly thrust into the barren American Southwest. For in addition to the meager possessions they carried with them, they bore deep within their hearts a confident love of Jesus as well as a devotion to that principle by which Mother Luisita had directed their steps: "Adelante! Onward! God will Provide!” Strangers in a strange land they were now…but not for long! Mother Luisita's beautiful, prayerful presence soon won these nuns friends and patrons in America, where she and her companions continued their mission. In the decades since then, Mother Luisita's communities have brought comfort and hope to countless sick and suffering, lost and downtrodden souls who have discovered the liberating truth in Mother Luisita's words: “For greater things you were born!” In these pages, you'll read the moving story of Mother Luisita's heroic adventures and learn her secrets of holiness. It's a story that will renew your confidence in the loving protection of God, strengthen your spirit, and – as Mother Luisita's secrets of holiness did for her and her spirit, and – shield you from temptation and deliver you from evil.

In our postmodern, experience-oriented culture, people are longing for greater authenticity, integrity, and depth in their pastors and leaders. Board directors, church members, and staff alike are all eagerly seeking leaders who effectively integrate their spirituality and leadership. Pastors and executives, however, often struggle with knowing how to integrate their spiritual values and practices into their leadership and management roles. Designed for pastors, executives, administrators, managers, coordinators, and all who see themselves as leaders and who want to fulfill their God-given purpose, The Spirit-Led Leader addresses the critical fusion of spiritual life and leadership for those who not only want to see results, but who also desire to care just as deeply about who they are and how they lead as they do about what they produce and accomplish. Geoffrion creates a new vision for spiritual leadership as partly an art, partly a result of careful planning, and always a working of the grace of God

It's easy for us to trust God when life is going well. But when suffering comes, trusting God's goodness, his attentiveness to what's going on in the world, and his justice becomes far more difficult. In times of intense suffering, many of us ask, Why does God allow these things to happen? In the Bible, Job is known for facing intense personal suffering. Yet, upon closer examination, we find the book of Job is about more than just Job's calamities; it's a story about God and his relationship to Christ and his people in their suffering. In this helpful guide, Christopher Ash helps us explore the question, Where is God in the midst of suffering? As we read, meditate, and pray through the book of Job, we will find assurance that God will be with us in Christ through every season and trial.

A Michael L. Printz Honor Book "This is East Texas, and there's lines. Lines you cross, lines you don't cross. That clear?" New London, Texas. 1937. Naomi Vargas and Wash Fuller know about the lines in East Texas as well as anyone. They know the signs that mark them. They know the people who enforce them. But sometimes the attraction between two people is so powerful it breaks through even the most entrenched color lines. And the consequences can be explosive. Ashley Hope Pérez takes the facts of the 1937 New London school explosion—the worst school disaster in American history—as a backdrop for a riveting novel about segregation, love, family, and the forces that destroy people. "[This] layered tale of color lines, love and struggle in an East Texas oil town is a pit-in-the-stomach family drama that goes down like it should, with pain and fascination, like a mix of sugary medicine and artisanal moonshine."—The New York Times Book Review "Pérez deftly weaves [an] unflinchingly intense narrative....A powerful, layered tale of forbidden love in times of unrelenting racism."―starred, Kirkus Reviews "This book presents a range of human nature, from kindness and love to acts of racial and sexual violence. The work resonates with fear, hope, love, and the importance of memory....Set against the backdrop of an actual historical event, Pérez...gives voice to many long-omitted facets of U.S. history."―starred, School Library Journal