In this beautiful and broken world, God is here. The heavens declare the glory of God . . . but are we listening? Yes, God created this world, but sometimes we forget that he hasn't left--that his redemptive, creative work happens still today, right here under our feet. So when we seek for God and study his truth, how much are we missing if we don't awaken to all he has placed in the soil and sky? God made this world of light and darkness, summer and winter, life and death. What does he intend to teach us in these ever-repeating cycles and seasons? Seamlessly weaving biblical truths into everyday life, Catherine McNiel will help you discover an unbelievable reality: God meets and transforms you in the mess and abundance of every mundane moment.

When Christie Purifoy arrived at Maplehurst that September, she was heavily pregnant with both her fourth child and her dreams of creating a sanctuary that would be a fixed point in her busily spinning world. The sprawling Victorian farmhouse sitting atop a Pennsylvania hill held within its walls the possibility of a place where her family could grow, where friends could gather, and where Christie could finally grasp and hold the thing we all long for--home. In lyrical, contemplative prose, Christie slowly unveils the small trials and triumphs of that first year at Maplehurst--from summer's intense heat and autumn's glorious canopy through winter's still whispers and spring's gentle mercies. Through stories of planting and preserving, of opening the gates wide to neighbors, and of learning to speak the language of a place, Christie invites readers into the joy of small beginnings and the knowledge that the kingdom of God is with us here and now. Anyone who has felt the longing for home, who yearns to reconnect with the beauty of nature, and who values the special blessing of deep relationships with family and friends will love finding themselves in this story of earthly beauty and soaring hope.

Marilyn Adams, Founder of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, share her story of how the tragic loss of her son in a farming incident changed her life. Each of us suffers loss or grieves over something that cannot be. That is part of the human experience. During those times, friends and strangers come bearing the gift of hope which allows us to live and laugh once more.

Illuminates the stages of life from biological and psychosocial perspectives

The bestselling inspirational book in which the author reunites with a childhood football hero, now a minister and coach, and witnesses a revelatory demonstration of the true meaning of manhood—Season of Life is a book that “should be required reading for every high school student in America and every parent as well” (Carl Lewis, Olympic champion). Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL football star and volunteer coach for the Gilman high school football team, teaches his players the keys to successful defense: penetrate, pursue, punish, love. Love? A former captain of the Baltimore Colts and now an ordained minister, Ehrmann is serious about the game of football but even more serious about the purpose of life. Season of Life is his inspirational story as told by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Jeffrey Marx, who was a ballboy for the Colts when he first met Ehrmann. Ehrmann now devotes his life to teaching young men a whole new meaning of masculinity. He teaches the boys at Gilman the precepts of his Building Men for Others program: Being a man means emphasizing relationships and having a cause bigger than yourself. It means accepting responsibility and leading courageously. It means that empathy, integrity, and living a life of service to others are more important than points on a scoreboard. Decades after he first met Ehrmann, Jeffrey Marx renewed their friendship and watched his childhood hero putting his principles into action. While chronicling a season with the Gilman Greyhounds, Marx witnessed the most extraordinary sports program he’d ever seen, where players say “I love you” to each other and coaches profess their love for their players. Off the field Marx sat with Ehrmann and absorbed life lessons that led him to reexamine his own unresolved relationship with his father. Season of Life is a book about what it means to be a man of substance and impact. It is a moving story that will resonate with athletes, coaches, parents—anyone struggling to make the right choices in life.

A never-before-seen volume of poetry by the preeminent poet laureate Herman Hesse--a beautiful companion to Seasons of the Soul and the author's better-known prose work. Organized into four parts--spring, summer, autumn, and winter--The Seasons of Life relates the transitions in nature to the organic progressions of human life from birth through death. From the mundane to the sublime, the spiritual to the political, and private feeling to expressed opinion, Hesse touches on the range of human experience, inviting the reader to consider both the beauty and what Hesse called the "adversities of life." Beloved by readers as a wise and open friend, Hesse offers in this never-before-translated volume an honest portrayal of a whole life: its lessons and mysteries, its glories and despairs. The poet's voice--so treasured in his novels among a worldwide English-speaking audience--can now be enjoyed through this new translation in the follow-up to Seasons of the Soul.

"A pennant-winning look at baseball at its purest." —Atlanta Journal & Constitution On the field with baseball classics like Men at Work and The Boys of Summer, David Lamb travels the backroads of America to draw a stirring portrait of minor league baseball that will enchant every fan who has ever sat in the bleachers and waited for the crack of the bat. A sixteen-thousand mile journey across America…. A travelogue of minor league teams and the towns that support them… A chronicle of hopes and dreams… Correspondent David Lamb embarks on a trek that captures the triumphs and defeats as thousands of players do all they can to reach the big leagues. In watching the games and riding the roads, Lamb also discovers a nation that breathes baseball, and towns that wrap their own dreams around their teams. Stolen Season is full of unforgettable characters, none more so than Lamb himself, a journalist who has written about and lived baseball his entire life, telling tales with humor and with warmth of a sport that reveals as much about Americans as it does about long summer days and nine glorious innings. "Part love letter, part snapshot, part history, and all-American...this book should be read by anyone who has yet to savor the sounds and delights of a minor-league baseball game." —New York Times Book Review "Thoroughly engaging." —Sporting News "An absorbing, delightful chronicle...at once nostaglic, sharp-eyed, and beautifully crafted." —San Francisco Chronicle