In 1981, An American Student In Europe, Gretchen McGregor Walked Into A Bookstore And Bought A Book That Would Change Her Life Forever, A History Of The Worship Of The Divine Mother. Gripped By The Possibility That This Ancient Tradition Must Still Exist Today, She Embarked On A Journey That Would Take Her From The Hills Of Pennsylvania To The Mountains Of New Mexico, And By 1983 To A Remote Village In Kerala, South India, Where She Would Find A Mahatma, Known Only To The Pious Locals And A Handful Of Spiritual Seekers Who Had Gathered Around Her. They Called Her, Simply, Amma. Convinced That She Had Found The Divine Mother In A Human Form, Gretchen Settled Down To Seek The Highest Truth As A Spiritual Aspirant In Amma’s Ashram. Little Did She Know That Her Journey Had Only Just Begun. When Amma Received An Invitation To Visit The U.S. For The First Time In 1987, It Was Kusuma, As Gretchen Was Named By Amma, Who Traveled Alone To The U.S. To Organize Amma’s First Tour. With Little More Than A Hope And A Prayer, And Often Less Than Five Dollars In Her Pocket, 25 Year Old Kusuma Traversed The Length And Breadth Of America, Armed Only With A Home Video She Had Made Of Amma And A Heart Full Of Faith And Love. Her Efforts Bore Fruit Beyond Her Wildest Dreams As The Subsequent Annual World Tours Allowed Amma To Touch The Hearts Of Countless People In More Than 25 Countries. But As Amma’s Mission Expanded, Kusuma’s Own Heart Grew Distant, And She Found Herself Turning Her Back On Amma And Walking Away. This Book Is Kusuma’s Unflinching Exploration Of Her Own Spiritual Journey; What Brought Her To Amma, And What Took Her Away. It Is Also The Story Of How She Decided To Come Back, And Finally Discovered That She And Amma Had Never Really Been Apart. Gretchen Kusuma McGregor Is One Of The Earliest Followers Of The Indian Spiritual Leader And Humanitarian Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Known Throughout The World As Amma, Or Mother, For Her Selfless Love Toward All Beings. She Lives In Amritapuri, South India. Published By The Disciples Of Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Affectionately Known As Mother, Or Amma The Hugging Saint.

“Simple solutions for survival in this family-unfriendly culture…Eye-opening…heart-wrenching and uplifting.”—San Francisco Chronicle Even more resonant today than at its original publication in 1996, The Shelter of Each Other traces the effects of our society’s “anti-family” way of life, where parents are overtaxed, children are undersupervised, and technology is rapidly dictating how we interact. As she did in her number-one bestseller Reviving Ophelia, Mary Pipher illuminates how our families are suffering at the hands of shifting cultural norms, and she snaps our gaze into crisp focus. Drawing on the fascinating stories of families rich and poor, angry and despairing, religious and skeptical, and probing deep into her own family memories and experiences, Pipher clears a path to the strength and energy at the core of family life. Compassionate and heart-wrenching, The Shelter of Each Other is an impassioned call for us to gather our families in our arms and hold on to them for dear life.

What do you do when the storm clouds of life surround you—and you can’t see the silver lining? Where do you turn when God feels distant? Exploring truths from the book of Job, Jill Briscoe addresses the tough issues involved in the collision of affliction and faith.

When Jeff Ritter offered Ashley Churchill shelter, the struggling single mom longed to lean on his broad shoulders. And though she accepted a job as his housekeeper, Ashley was determined to make her own happiness, without the heartbreak of loving a man. No matter how tempting that man was.... It was Jeff's nature to protect, but his heart was off-limits--even to the woman and child he came home to each night. For life had made Jeff a hardened soldier, not a man to love. And despite the hope he saw shining in Ashley's eyes, Jeff didn't dare dream she could truly be his....

Hundreds of books have been published about the atrocities that occurred in World War II. Now it is time to complete the story by telling the other side – the story of a non-Jewish girl and what she endured. The fact that Adolf Hitler attempted to annihilate the Jewish race has been rightfully taught to subsequent generations to insure that something as heinous as The Holocaust is never repeated. Unfortunately, many people have mistakenly assumed that the entire German population was in line with the Nazi dogma and shared Hitler’s irrational hatred and diabolical solutions. Friedl tells another side of the story. Her true story shows many beliefs to be quite wrong. Friedl’s story is divided into two parts, which helps the reader absorb the duality of her wartime experiences. Book One relates to her childhood years and her loving family, her musical development, her orders to leave her music and work in support of the war effort, her conscription into the Nazi Army and her many horrible wartime experiences far, far from home. In Book Two, Friedl begins her post-war journey home. We travel with her as far as the train tracks allow and then she begins to walk and hitchhike. As she reaches the American Army controlled border, she, as all returning Germans did, is detained until all formal paperwork is completed and entrance into Germany is authorized. This begins a six-week-plus adventure, not knowing if her family has survived, during which she is “adopted” by a German farm couple who had recently lost a daughter and a growing friendship with a German-speaking American Sergeant Jackson. Finally her entrance into her homeland is authorized. Through her eyes we travel on the final leg of her journey to Frankfurt while viewing the horror, destruction, and shambles of the former “most perfectly preserved medieval city,” her beloved Frankfurt.

From New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster As a teenager Sabrina Downey escaped an abusive situation and found shelter in her neighbor’s home. Not all foster care homes are as welcoming and caring as the Pilar family’s. In her foster-brother Roy, Sabrina found safety and friendship. Years later, their relationship has the potential to deepen into something more meaningful if they’re willing to brave their emotions. Originally published in THE PROMISE OF LOVE.