This is a story about an adolescent girl, Francine Josephine, who was abused by her mentally ill birth mother and lived in the dregs of society for the first ten years of her life. She found warmth, kindness, and happiness with her foster mother and birth father, who immediately fell in love and married. Though shut off from beauty and loved so little in her childhood, she grew up to be an empathetic, altruistic, sensitive, forgiving, thoughtful, and compassionate young woman. Such rarities this girl possesses at such a tender age. For these attributes are not often found in ordinary everyday people for they do not appreciate what life has to offer and who take God’s gifts for granted. Francine, always believing in the best of all people, always giving them the benefit of the doubt and second chances, always wanting to please everybody and wanting everyone to be happy, is what she happens to be like. Although knowing her parents were estranged from their siblings, it was Francine who brought them together, thus becoming a tight-knit, close, loving family. When she met her paternal grandparents for the first time, she was warm and kind to her grandfather, who was afflicted with dementia and of whom she had no recollection of. As for her grandmother, whom she was named after, she formed a loving and close bond. She is very curious about other people in her parents’ lives that she has never met or who have never knew of her existence but nonetheless thinks of them lovingly and as part of herself and her family. But one day, Social Services informed her that her birth mother wants to see her, which she agrees to do, surmising that maybe this woman had been rehabilitated and was remorseful or at least civil, as it was Francine’s nature to be understanding. Unfortunately, nothing came about as she had hoped, and for that she suffered from it. But afterward, does Francine regress back into her shell after these past few years of getting to love and trust people, or does she grow up and accept what had happened to her during that one fateful encounter and become the fine young woman that everyone who knows her portrays her to be?

Touching and original, Stories About Mothers and Their Daughters and the Clock Family is comprised of two parts. In the first, author Beth Carol Solomon, M.A., has written a collection of short stories about the relationships mothers have with their daughters, many of whom have special needs, and their day-to-day lives together. The second part of the book follows the story of the Clocks, a well-mannered, affectionate family, who love each other unconditionally, as they go about their day-to-day lives and, later, deal with the hardship of their matriarch’s struggles with dementia and the decisions made around the passing of her life. This collection embraces both the joys and struggles of family life, mulling over the question of what it means to love someone unconditionally with care. Full of warmth and candor, this collection is well-suited to anyone with a penchant for sentimental fiction about family life.

The Bible teaches us that we are to be filled with God's Spirit and that God's presence and grace is manifested among his people as they serve, love, and minister to one another. Yet some of the gifts that God offers to his people aren't commonly seen in many churches today. Gifts of prophecy, healing, tongues, and other supernatural gifts of God seem to be absent, and many Christians are unsure how to cultivate an atmosphere where God's Spirit can work while remaining committed to the foundational truth of God's Word. How can Christians pursue and implement the miraculous gifts of the Spirit without falling into fanatical excess and splitting the church in the process? In Practicing the Power, pastor and author Sam Storms offers practical steps to understanding and exercising spiritual gifts in a way that remains grounded in the word and centered in the gospel. With examples drawn from his forty years of ministry as a pastor and teachers, Storms offers a guidebook that can help pastors, elders, and church members understand what changes are needed to see God move in supernatural power and to guard against excess and abuse of the spiritual gifts. If you long to see God's Spirit move in your church and life, and aren't sure why that isn't happening or where to begin, this book is for you.

The author of Desiring God reveals the biblical evidence to help us see and savor what the pleasures of God show us about Him. Includes a study guide for individual and small-group use. Isn’t it true—we really don’t know someone until we understand what makes that person happy? And so it is with God! What does bring delight to the happiest Being in the universe? John Piper writes, that it’s only when we know what makes God glad that we’ll know the greatness of His glory. Therefore, we must comprehend “the pleasures of God.” Unlike so much of what is written today, this is not a book about us. It is about the One we were made for—God Himself. In this theological masterpiece—chosen by World Magazine as one of the 20th Century’s top 100 books, John Piper reveals the biblical evidence to help us see and savor what the pleasures of God show us about Him. Then we will be able to drink deeply—and satisfyingly—from the only well that offers living water. What followers of Jesus need now, more than anything else, is to know and love—behold and embrace—the great, glorious, sovereign, happy God of the Bible. “This is a unique and precious book that everybody should read more than once.” —J.I. PACKER, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia

Close to one in four American women experience the silent grief of pregnancy loss. Loved Baby offers much-needed support to women in the middle of psychological and physiological grief as a result of losing an unborn child.

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

How would life be different if we could think, see, and do all things in light of the person and work of Jesus? With this inspiring collection of 365 Scripture-centered prayers, Scotty Smith helps readers pray the Scriptures through the lens of the gospel, mining the resources of God's grace and applying them in every season of life. He frees readers to abandon any posing or pretending in favor of an honest, no-spin relationship with a God who claims them as his own. Each day includes a Scripture reference and an inspirational original prayer, born from both moments of great faith and moments of crisis. Like a modern-day book of Psalms, Everyday Prayers is a year's worth of growing in grace that readers will lean on year after year.