Showing results by narrator "Nan McNamara" in All Categories

Life’s painful trials can bring shame about our inadequate and broken faith. There is relief in hearing the expressions of desperation in the psalmist’s voice. He didn’t experience this life perfected, and we don’t either. But the psalmist was loved. So are we. God was so kind to give us the Psalms. To walk through darkened days is part of the human experience. To walk through them with faith, comfort, strength, joy, and hope is part of the divine experience.

Hope Venerable's life took a detour, then a left turn, and before she knew it her dream to own a restaurant hit a dead end. Raising kids, paying bills, and being a wife became her life. Add to that her husband putting his own schemes before her dreams made owning a restaurant about as likely as winning the lottery. A food-inspired life is Hope's joy, her gift, and she never stopped working to make at least a small part of her dreams come true. When her husband betrays her and tries to crush her ideas again, she knows she needs a change.

In May of 1976, twenty-four-year-old Carol Menaker was impaneled with eleven others on a jury in the trial of Freddy Burton, a young Black prison inmate charged with the grisly murders of two white wardens inside Philadelphia's Holmesburg Prison. After being sequestered for twenty-one days, the jury voted to convict Mr. Burton, who was then sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In a world marked by transience, envy, and rootlessness, committing to staying put is a radical, unusual act. Hungry for rootedness, Courtney Ellis and her family decided to truly commit to a place and a people God had given them for a season, to grow some deep roots and discover what it would mean to be “all in.” Through winsome storytelling, Courtney demonstrates that there is tremendous growth when we stop holding a community at arms’ length and open ourselves to the blessing of stability, the grace of limits, and the joy of presence.

In July 1970, 18-year-old Paula Oberbroeckling left her house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and never returned. A cold case for 50 years, Paula’s story had been largely forgotten when Katherine Dykstra began looking for answers. A woman was dead. Why had no one been held responsible? How could a community give up and move on? Could there ever be justice for Paula?

In today's technology-driven culture, reading has become a lost art. With smartphones offering information at the tap of a finger, reading a book is often seen as a tedious and outdated activity. Christians are not immune to this problem, as many find it hard to read books - even the Bible - consistently and attentively. Recovering the Lost Art of Reading addresses these timely issues by exploring the importance of reading generally as well as studying the Bible as literature, giving practical suggestions along the way.

Relationships fill our lives from the instant we're born until the moment we die. While the quality of a relationship often seems random, in almost every case it is possible to predict—from the very beginning—which relationships will feel comfortable and which ones just won't. Deceptively simple and easy to comprehend, The Five Elements of Relationships offers the opportunity to better understand everyone in our lives, enhance every connection we have, improve family dynamics, and seek out the people who will best support us in every conceivable situation.

Women face unique challenges when it comes to managing finances. Society tells us we should be caregivers who put everyone in our families before ourselves, including financially. Data shows women tend to live longer than men, meaning we need more money during retirement, but we tend to earn and save less because of our role in child rearing and caring for older family members. As a result, many women feel overwhelmed by financial planning and avoid the conversation altogether. Super Woman Wealth is a guide to empower professional women to take an active role in their finances.

Hormonal contraception is something most women will use at some point during their life. But the reach of the pill goes far beyond the small number of targeted effects we take it for. It affects almost every system in our body. Column inches and anecdotal conversations prove there are many questions about the pill and its effects yet until now we have known very little about. In this trailblazing book expert psychologist Dr Hill reveals the latest science on the pill and how it's changing women and the world, for better and for worse.

Is God really good? Is he good to others? Is he good to us? And if the answer is yes, why does it often feel like he's so far away? Walk with Abby as she follows Jesus through the book of John. In 13 stories, we discover piece by piece, through Jesus, who God is - and we also see 13 very different modern-day believers awake to these truths in their own lives. These personal and biblical stories, along with further Scripture and application and discussion questions, will show us that God is for us, not against us. He will draw our hearts back to himself.

In 40 Unstoppable Women Who Changed the World, author Harold Sala paints portraits of 40 Christian women who were used by God to change the lives of the people around them. This book will inspire Christians and help them discover the path for their own lives. Stories told in this book include: Joni Eareckson Tada, Corrie ten Boom, Susanna Wesley, Mother Theresa, Elisabeth Elliot, Amy Carmichael, Rosa Parks, and many more.

The Angels of Christmas: Hearing God's Voice in Advent, a four-week Advent study by Susan Robb, explores the four angelic visits surrounding the birth of Jesus with Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds. In this study, the listener will explore the visits and dive deep into the history of the angel Gabriel—and other angels—in the Old Testament. The Angels of Christmas uses these four angelic appearances to discuss God's presence in history and our lives today. The messages of the angels hold meaning for listeners both then and now.

How do individuals decide whether to accept human causes of climate change, vaccinate their children against childhood diseases, or practice social distancing during a pandemic? Democracies depend on educated citizens who can make informed decisions for the benefit of their health and wellbeing, as well as their communities, nations, and planet.

With a brand-new approach to environmental responsibility, environmental expert Gay Browne offers small and simple changes we can make that will have a huge impact on the environment and our health. In an increasingly toxic world, the paths to environmental safety and personal well-being run parallel. The damage we're doing to our planet is literally making us sick. In this quietly revolutionary book, Gay Browne shares a roadmap for living a greener, healthier life.

Cora couldn't have been happier: Matt Greystone was coming to town! The rookie sensation had just signed a huge contract with the Yankees, coming to the team from Arizona, where he won 17 games as a starting pitcher for the Diamondbacks. But an arm injury requiring rehab had sidelined his meteoric rise, and this was her chance to meet him! A diehard Yankee fan, Cora was delighted when Matt invited her to a weekend pool party. On the plus side, she got to meet Derek Jeter. On the minus side, she had a puzzle of her own to solve when a couple of guests got killed.

Meet the hottest detective duo in New Orleans - she's Queen Latifah. He's Danny DeVito. Or they would be if this were a movie - in print, they're Talba Wallis and Eddie Valentino. Talba's got the beauty, the brains, the computer savvy, the poetic soul, the youth, the right demographic, and the sass. Eddie's got the detective agency. Also a short fuse and yes, wisdom. Not only do they make it work, they've got chemistry.

In Money Matters for Nonprofits, Melisa makes complex topics easy to understand with lots of examples and clear explanations of how financial statements work. With this resource at your fingertips, you as a board member will feel equipped to better advise your nonprofit and make an even greater difference in the world.

The way of Christ is countercultural. It doesn't go with the flow, compromise on truth, or stay silent in the face of injustice—so neither can we. No matter how young or old we are, or how much or how little influence we think we have, God calls us to boldly engage our upside-down culture through the lens of his truth. With powerful examples from Scripture and stories from teens today and through the centuries, Sara Barratt equips teens to live with a biblical worldview, approach today's hot-button issues with godly wisdom, and influence their generation for the glory of God.

Every day, it seems, we hear stories about hackers. Hackers breaking into the computers of banks, governments, and corporations. Some are criminals, coding to exploit and destroy. Others are activists, using their tools to challenge institutions and fight for freedom. But often these characters linger in the shadows. Who are they? What makes them tick? Are they our allies, or our enemies?

In 365 Ways to Love Your Child, Julie encourages moms, dads, and anyone who works with children to show kids every day with simple but meaningful gestures and activities how very much they are loved. Join Julie in expressing tangible acts of love to show your kids they are valued by their parents and, most especially, by God.