The Ride of Our Lives is the humorous yet deeply moving account of NBC journalist Mike Leonard’s cross-country odyssey with his eccentric parents, three grown children, and a daughter-in-law. Full of ups and downs, laughs and tears, the month-long journey becomes a much larger tale of hope, persistence, and valuable lessons learned along the way. A celebration of the ties between parents and children, as well as the unforgettable community of people one can meet across America, The Ride of Our Lives is an inspiring narrative of self-discovery and self-fulfillment–and how one unique family found blessings and simple pleasures on the road called life. “Touching, hilarious . . . should be required reading in every family.” –Tom Brokaw “Poignant moments of questions and discovery, of truth-telling and memories.” –The Charlotte Observer “Often laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes heartbreakingly sad.” –St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Delightful.” –Chicago Tribune “Heartfelt and whimsical . . . a cross-country trek through life’s lessons . . . Mike Leonard is a storyteller at heart, and each anecdote . . . punctuates the family’s love, struggles, and triumphs. In short, this is one ride worth taking.” –Rocky Mountain News

Packed with stories of friendship, romance, time travel and magic. The stories are educated throughout with fun facts and lessons on gratitude and domestic violence. There is a search for world peace in "Alien Science Project", a story of self love in "I Traveled Far Within A Book", and a light-hearted story of an independent woman. A perfect book for quick reading.

"The Ride of Our Lives, Lessons on Life, Leadership, and Love" is an inspirational story about a man and his family on a transformational journey as they bicycled across the United States. It is a powerful story about the resiliency required to overcome challenges. In 1983 John and Berti Gronski and their 15-month-old son Stephen set off on a bicycle tour across America. There were no ubiquitous mobile phones, no internet, no email, Google, or social media sites. The closest thing to connectivity was a payphone along a dusty road. John pulled Stephen in a bicycle trailer that resembled a pioneer's covered wagon. They traveled over 4,000 miles from Washington state to Pennsylvania. The trip was filled with adventures and enduring leadership lessons. "From Homer's Odyssey to Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, tales of travel, adventure, and self-discovery have always fascinated people. Likewise, John Gronski's The Ride of Our Lives regales readers with an inspirational and engaging story of a young family's cross-country bicycle trip that results in a life-long formation of character, family values, patriotic service and citizenship, and unshakable faith. Gronski skillfully weaves into his captivating story a wide range of military leadership principles, faith-based truths, and life lessons that serve as guideposts for the reader's own moral development. This book is a must read for all people interested in learning how one family's experience shaped their notion of character-based leadership through their encounters with and embracing of the best life has to offer." --John J. Sosik, Ph.D., Professor of Management and Organization, Penn State University, Great Valley School of Graduate and Professional Studies, Malvern, PA. John L. Gronski, Major General, USA (Ret.) is founder and CEO of Leader Grove Consulting, LLC (www.LeaderGrove.com). John is a much sought-after speaker and leadership seminar facilitator.

Born in an ambulance fleeing the disease and chaos of Tokyo following World War II, Nelle enters the world like a wild man riding bareback. As the daughter of a commissioned officer in the US Army and a courageous mother who is one of the first wives to join American soldiers in occupied Japan, Nelles young life is dictated by military orders that transport her family from Japan to Alaska to Texas and Louisiana. But it is not long before Nelle begins wearing the scars gained from an anchorless existence that erodes her foundation of stability and parental protection. As her mother self-medicates her internal demons with alcohol and her father battles mental illness, Nelle emerges as a child who absorbs the strength and fortitude of parents now lost and wounded by war. She is nourished by a miraculous meeting of horses that impart the power to guide her through loss, humiliation, betrayal, and abandonment and embarks on a unique coming-of-age journey, in which she encounters people who recognize her abilities and set her life on a winning path. In this compelling novel, a girls discovery of an ancient vessel and of a passion for the natural world restores order to her chaotic life and propels her to the ultimate redemption through the power of love.

The Heart of the Story will help you see God’s Word in a new and inspiring light. In the Bible’s seemingly disconnected stories, you’ll discover one grand, unfolding epic – God’s story from Genesis onward – and your own life-story contained within it. “To understand the Bible,” says author and pastor Randy Frazee, “you need bifocal lenses, because two perspectives are involved. The Lower Story, our story, is actually many stories of men and women interacting with God in the daily course of life. The Upper Story is God’s story, the tale of his great, overarching purpose that fits all the individual stories together like panels in one unified mural.” In this new edition, Randy dives deeper in the Upper and Lower stories and shows how both perspectives will open your eyes to the richness and relevance of the Bible. Illuminating God’s master-plan from Genesis to our daily lives, The Heart of the Story will encourage you to experience the joy that comes from aligning your stories with God’s.

Embrace and revel in the stories of the toughest cyclists of all time, told by The Velominati, originators of The Rules. Read and get ready to ride . . . In cycling, suffering brings glory: a rider's value can be judged by their results, but also by their panache and heroism. Prepared to be awed and inspired by Chris Froome riding on at the Tour de France with a broken wrist or Geraint Thomas finishing it with a broken pelvis. In The Hardmen the writers behind cycling superblog Velominati.com and The Rules will tell the stories and illuminate the myths of not just the greatest cyclists ever, but the toughest. From Eddy Merckx to Beryl Burton, and from Marianne Vos to Edwig Van Hooydonk, the book will lay bare the secrets of their extraordinary and inspirational endurance in the face of pain, danger and disaster. After all, suffering is one of the joys of being a cyclist. Embrace climbs, relish the descents, and get ready to harden up . . .

Relationship is the greatest faith-shaping tool a parent possesses. Because kids learn about following Christ mostly from their parents, we have a huge responsibility to model authentic faith and its practice on a daily basis. Steve and Valerie Bell offer Faith-Shaped Kids as a practical tool to help parents maximize their relationship with their children in such a way as to draw them to faith. Filled with life lessons and useful suggestions, this resource helps readers ride out the roller-coaster ride called parenting. Faith-Shaped Kids is co-published with the Willow Creek Association (WCA). The WCA is affiliated with Willow Creek Community Church, the largest church in America, and serves thousands of pastors and Christian leaders through North America. Its primary goal is to foster local church transformation and vitality.