Showing results by narrator "Nan Mcnamara" in All Categories

Francie Meeker and Vi Carothers were sold a bill of goods: Find a man, marry him in a white wedding gown, and live happily ever after. These best friends never expected to be on the train to Reno, those “lies in white dresses” shattered, their marriages over. On board the train, they meet June Samples, who is fleeing an abusive husband with her daughter, and take the vulnerable young mother under their wing. The three decide to wait out the required six weeks together, and then they can toss their wedding bands into the Truckee River and start new lives as divorcees.

Affluence, autonomy, safety, and power. These are the central values of the American dream. But are they actually compatible with Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves? In essays grouped around these four values, D. L. Mayfield asks us to pay attention to the ways they shape our own choices, and the ways those choices affect our neighbors. Where did these values come from? How have they failed those on the edges of our society? And how can we disentangle ourselves from our culture's headlong pursuit of these values and live faithful lives of service to God and our neighbors?

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.

Filled with reflections and brief imaginative sequences, Come to Mary's House invites you to imagine you are with the Blessed Virgin-visiting in her living room, working in her garden, or catching up over coffee. The goal is to encourage your encounter with Mary as a friend, sister, and mother-in a comfortable, gentle way. By developing a personal relationship with her, you'll let her lead you closer to Jesus.

Drawing on her upbringing in a long-standing family tradition of winemakers and her degrees in biblical studies and spiritual theology, Gisela Kreglinger shows Christians that wine is a gift from God that we are to receive with gratitude and enjoy in wholesome, communal, and redemptive ways.

You're not alone in your ministry. And you don't have to suffer in silence. Ministry is a stressful vocation, with unspoken expectations, projected anxieties, and conflicting demands. After the pandemic caused a sudden shift to online worship and factions fighting over when and how to return to in-person worship, pastors have been leaving congregational ministry at even higher rates than usual. The emotional fallout of burnout and abuse at the hands of parishioners is something pastors carry for years, whether they stay or leave the congregation.

After escaping war-torn France, where 18 members of her family were murdered in the Holocaust, Gisèle Huff arrived in the US with her mother. It was 1947, and they had $400 to their name. Gisèle quickly found her footing in America, eventually earning a PhD at Columbia University, running for Congress, and launching a spectacular career in K–12 education.

As women, we tend to shoulder the burdens of our family, friends, and work—not to mention the heaviness of world events. As a result, we often feel overwhelmed, stuck, full of fear, believing we are never enough. We unknowingly build walls that hinder us from thriving in who God created us to be. Sharing from her own story, author Krissy Nelson helps you identify the twelve most common walls that hold women back.

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.

Cornelia Brown is reeling from a terrifying act of violence when she gets word that her mother has been badly injured in an accident. Cornelia returns to Virginia, to the house she grew up in, and in the weeks that follow, she watches her mother Ellie struggle to recover, fluctuating between her usual crisp, can-do clarity and periods of delirium during which she seems haunted by a devastating loss from her past. In grief-stricken tones, Ellie begs Cornelia to bring her the Northern Lights, and despite her confusion at this mysterious plea, Cornelia vows to do so.

Jen, Faith, and Carrie have worked hard to make sure that the Newport Harbor house is out of the woods and stays in the family. New plans, a new future for Faith's pillow business and new love for Jen and Carrie are on the horizon. But the unexpected high tide from the full moon coupled with high winds put the house—and their dreams—in jeopardy once again. All hands on deck are required to keep everything on track, and the friends come together to ensure the future of the house—and their plans.

With Jen and Carrie at the beach full time, it's gotten harder by the week for Faith to return to her job inland as a new life has been unfolding for her at the beach on the weekends. Her part time job at the boutique has taken more and more of her time as the owner becomes increasingly scarce. Her daughter, Maggy, has been visiting more frequently, with all the ups and downs that brings. Jen's son, Max, has been spending time in Newport as well, and Faith still holds out hope that Maggy and Max might end up together.

It took Jen and her best friends Carrie and Faith all summer to save the beach house. And none of them could have realized how much it would change their lives. Jen's making a new life for herself in Newport, facing new challenges and new relationships. The beginning of the school year calls Faith back to her kindergarten classroom while she tries to juggle that and her job at the boutique. But Carrie—Carrie's life is about to be turned completely upside down when the stepdaughter she thought she'd lost forever turns up on her doorstep.

It was a blood-curdling crime that rocked the town to its core, leaving some with permanent scars and others with deep regrets. A young girl had been brutally slain. Memories were beginning to fade, but during the renovation of the old parsonage, the murder rears its ugly head again when workers discover a time-ravaged portrait of the young victim. Conservator Annora Garde is hired by the local police to clean the painting and expose what lies buried within it.

Widow Jen Watson's grown boys are on their own, and she's looking forward to having a blissful summer at the family beach house with her lifelong best friends, for the first time in years—until she finds out her family has been scheming to sell it. Just the thought of losing her late grandmother's home and all the memories it holds makes her head spin, even though it needs quite a bit more fixing up than her family is willing to do. But Jen and her best friends will do just about anything to keep the house in the family. Especially when a long lost friend comes back into Jen's life.

Somebody's getting married . . . And Jen's going to be a grandma, any minute. Her daughter-in-law's mother has dropped the ball for the baby shower and the wedding has come out of the blue. Faith, Carrie, and Jen have to manage both events—but will any of them be the star of the show?

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.

In Southern California, it's twinkle lights on palm trees, boat parades with colored lights everywhere, gondola rides, and beachfront mansions decorated with Santas. But also cookie exchanges, house decorating contests, and hot chocolate. And Jen is determined to recreate all of her grandmother's Christmas traditions, if it's the last thing she does.

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, asserting that the Constitution did not confer the right to abortion. This ruling, in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case, was the culmination of a half-century of pro-life activism promoting the idea that fetuses are people and therefore entitled to the rights and protections that the Constitution guarantees. But it was also the product of a much longer history of archaic ideas about the relationship between pregnant people and the fetuses they carry.

This epic novel follows one extraordinary American woman as she grieves and triumphs through the horrific realities of three wars that threaten the men she loves.