Life is hard. Raising children is hard. Raising a medically fragile child seems at times impossible. Thirteen years ago, my daughter was born with complex medical needs. As I wandered through this new landscape, I realized that there were no resources available for families like ours. In our journey, I have realized that we all have journeys. We all have days where there is little hope. We all have challenges, and we all need to find God in our journey. That is what this book is about""finding hope, finding faith, and finding God in the journey.

Life is hard. Raising children is hard. Raising a medically fragile child seems at times impossible. Thirteen years ago, my daughter was born with complex medical needs. As I wandered through this new landscape, I realized that there were no resources available for families like ours. In our journey, I have realized that we all have journeys. We all have days where there is little hope. We all have challenges, and we all need to find God in our journey. That is what this book is about--finding hope, finding faith, and finding God in the journey.

Henry is a middle-aged science writer whose infatuation with the cosmos gets in the way of his love life. He’s researching the most compelling mystery of the universe when he meets Isabel, a bright attorney with captivating eyes. For Henry, who’s been romantically struggling for years, it’s love at first sight. Isabel is not so quickly convinced, well aware of her own baggage. Her daughter, Lauren, is a stunning, smart, and intuitive twenty-one year-old with issues—most notably, her addiction to opiates and alcohol. Lauren’s been to hell and back, taking her mom with her most of the way. She’s got one last chance before Isabel cuts her off for good. These three personalities become strangely entwined in a poignant, uplifting, funny, and fascinating, yet unexpected journey. The Long Desert Road takes Henry, Isabel, and Lauren to unfamiliar places: lifeless valleys, alien plateaus, and the tops of lofty peaks, from which their lives appear altogether different. It’s a gripping story about addictions and the universe, faith and suffering, courage and fear, truth and deception, death and love.

Sarah went about her daily life as a planner, living by deadlines and goals. She planned to take a break from her 13-year teaching career to transition to a stay-at-home mother of two girls. Cancer was not on the agenda. What happens when you don't plan for the unimaginable? The daily walk one takes through the worst storm of one's life brings the ultimate test of faith. Knowing this was out of her hands, Sarah turned to God's love. Sarah always had a love for God, but she learned to fully surrender. It comes down to five things: God, faith, family, friends, and a positive attitude.

Life is hard. So is prolonged singleness. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Chelsea thought life would look different. She thought she would be married and have a family by age 32. Instead, walking a winding road in the desert of singleness, she encountered more disappointment than she expected. Her singleness called her to question: Is God good in the midst of the mess? Does God care about the deep desires of my heart? What do I do with all this pain? But God met Chelsea in the valley. He has a good plan for Chelsea-and He has a good plan for you. Hope in the Desert is a journey through the messy, complicated parts of one woman's life. By taking an honest look at her own sin, struggle, and hope, Chelsea draws readers into a vulnerable, imperfect narrative that offers valuable, anchoring truths for seasons of heartache, heartbreak, grief, and longing. It invites the reader to see that God is not cold or indifferent to our heartache. That He is present. And that He can meet us in ways we would never dare to imagine. While many resources for Christian singles focus on an earthly happy ending or a heavenly consolation, Hope in the Desert is a book about the journey, not the destination. It invites the reader into the pain and questions that emerge when life isn't perfectly packaged. This book invites readers to believe-even to expect-that God's love can be vivid and sustaining, even when our earthly longings remain unfulfilled. That hope can be found, even in the driest seasons.

Having retired after a teaching career of more than thirty years, having taught across multiple grade levels and various content areas, The Collapse of the Church: Reversing the Challenges That Threaten the Gospel Message is the product of an enriching ministry experience in the local church, having served as a teacher, deacon, and pianist for both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking congregations. It is a research-based study with a pragmatic and practical perspective on the current needs and issues of the believers of the twenty-first century. The gospel message is clear, and the members of the body of Christ have a responsibility to "encourage one another and build each other up" (1 Thess. 5:11 NIV). The message of our Lord Jesus Christ is as real today as it was centuries ago: "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest" (John 4:35 NIV), and this includes believers in the local churches. Many believers in the local congregations need the support of other members of the body of Christ, an attitude and practice that has been neglected and abandoned for superficial religious activities. Observe and listen to their silent cries as revealed in The Collapse of the Church: Reversing the Challenges That Threaten the Gospel Message. Jesus knew the importance of reaching out to those who were in distress, debilitated, and desolate: "Now he had to go through Samaria" (John 4:4 NIV). In Samaria, he met the Samaritan woman, and through her, her village and her town received the good news about the Messiah: "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony" (John 4:39 NIV). His own disciples were blind to her need; they were subject to the day's misconceptions and misinterpretations and biases. Many believers in the local congregations are experiencing similar hurts. Paul said, "Carry each other's burdens," and, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Gal. 6:2, 10 NIV). The Collapse of the Church: Reversing the Challenges That Threaten the Gospel Message is an invitation to attend to the needs of individuals who have been abandoned, forgotten, and rejected by addressing their spiritual, social, emotional, psychological, and financial needs. Solomon said, "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act" (Prov. 3:27-28 NIV).