Every person matters. Here, national-bestselling and beloved author Nancy Tillman shows readers how each of us fits into life's big picture, and how the world would be incomplete without you in it. You're here for a reason. If you think you're not I would just say that perhaps you forgot . . . a piece of the world that is precious and dear would surely be missing if you weren't here.

In this second devotional, expanded to cover 12 new original songs, one of the authors describes how his airplane, carrying the shrouded body of a heart attack victim, landed only to have the man throw off his covers and walk off the plane. Another of the writers of this book explains seeing a miracle when a young man walked unharmed out of what should have been electrically charged swimming pool waters. And the third scribe tells for the first time a previously untold secret of why his army platoon buddies were fatally ambushed and why he wasn't with them. All this and lots more awaits the reader in ‘Here for a Reason.’

The memoir side of the house relates to truth, honesty, and experience. the satire side of the house is not true, not honest, and not from experience. It is just relevant on the imagination of the reader.

Leap of Reason is the product of decades of hard-won insights from philanthropist Mario Morino, McKinsey & Company, and top social-sector innovators. It is intended to spark the critically important conversations that every nonprofit board and leadership team should have in this new era of austerity. The authors make a convincing case that the nation's growing fiscal crisis will force all of us in the social sector to be clearer about our aspirations, more intentional in defining our approaches, more rigorous in gauging our progress, more willing to admit mistakes, more capable of quickly adapting and improving--all with an unrelenting focus on improving lives.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A meditation on sense-making when there’s no sense to be made, on letting go when we can’t hold on, and on being unafraid even when we’re terrified.”—Lucy Kalanithi “Belongs on the shelf alongside other terrific books about this difficult subject, like Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air and Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal.”—Bill Gates NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE Kate Bowler is a professor at Duke Divinity School with a modest Christian upbringing, but she specializes in the study of the prosperity gospel, a creed that sees fortune as a blessing from God and misfortune as a mark of God’s disapproval. At thirty-five, everything in her life seems to point toward “blessing.” She is thriving in her job, married to her high school sweetheart, and loves life with her newborn son. Then she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. The prospect of her own mortality forces Kate to realize that she has been tacitly subscribing to the prosperity gospel, living with the conviction that she can control the shape of her life with “a surge of determination.” Even as this type of Christianity celebrates the American can-do spirit, it implies that if you “can’t do” and succumb to illness or misfortune, you are a failure. Kate is very sick, and no amount of positive thinking will shrink her tumors. What does it mean to die, she wonders, in a society that insists everything happens for a reason? Kate is stripped of this certainty only to discover that without it, life is hard but beautiful in a way it never has been before. Frank and funny, dark and wise, Kate Bowler pulls the reader deeply into her life in an account she populates affectionately with a colorful, often hilarious retinue of friends, mega-church preachers, relatives, and doctors. Everything Happens for a Reason tells her story, offering up her irreverent, hard-won observations on dying and the ways it has taught her to live. Praise for Everything Happens for a Reason “I fell hard and fast for Kate Bowler. Her writing is naked, elegant, and gripping—she’s like a Christian Joan Didion. I left Kate’s story feeling more present, more grateful, and a hell of a lot less alone. And what else is art for?”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love Warrior and president of Together Rising

The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.

Celeste Gianni has always been fascinated by metaphysical sciences and the spiritual realms, but she never realized she had such a strong connection to it all. Nor did she realize her deteriorating health was connected to the fact she had lost her ability to put herself first and pursue her own dreams and goals. With this realization and awareness, a new world opened for her. Not only did her health improve, but she became a better wife and mother. In You are Here for a Reason, she shares the story of her spiritual journey and how she came to accept her psychic gifts and clairvoyant abilities. After years of denying her real self and questioning her psychic visions, Gianni narrates how she came to terms with the forces from beyond and the messages they were trying to convey. With her mind, body, and spirit back in alignment, Gianni seeks to motivate others to change their lives and improve their health.