Religious Grief

In Just Show Up, Kara and her close friend, Jill Lynn Buteyn, write about what friendship looks like in the midst of changing life seasons, loads of laundry, and even cancer. Whether you are eager to be present to someone going through a difficult time or simply want inspiration for pursuing friends in a new way, this eloquent and practical audiobook explores the gift of silence, the art of receiving, and what it means to just show up.

Embark on a heart-wrenching journey alongside Hope Rodriguez in "Hope Lost," the captivating second book of the Hope series. As she tirelessly seeks solace and fulfillment, Hope's path takes unforeseen twists and turns, challenging her notions of love and redemption. With unwavering determination, Hope sets her sights on Michael Trent, the man who holds the key to her happiness. Yet, amidst her plans, an encounter with a child trapped in the clutches of sex trafficking shatters her world. Seeing it as a divine opportunity to experience motherhood once again, Hope embraces the chance to save...

A girl afraid of love and loss. A boy determined to change her mind. Leah Bontrager, the daughter of the town soapmakers, is grieving the death of her older brother. Compounding the grief is the vision of his widow’s devastation. As a result, Leah vows never to fall in love to spare her ever suffering such pain. Matthew Mast arrives in Cardinal Hill to help out his cousin after the death of her husband. He is hired as an apprentice at the Bontrager’s soapmaking business. He meets Leah, and in time, he finds himself drawn to her and sets off down the path to change her mind about love. ...

A young widow shouldering heavy burdens. A farmer ready to lend a hand. Iris Mast is grieving her late husband and overwhelmed by single-parenthood. To make matters worse, her mother is battling with early-onset dementia. Starved for options, Iris moves back home and assumes her mother’s role as the town’s herbalist. Iddo Yoder is a farmer who lives outside of Cardinal Hill. One day, he goes into the herbalist’s shop to buy a remedy for his father’s ailment. When he meets Iris, he is instantly drawn to her for he, too, lost a spouse as well as his son. How will Iris manage raising a...

Embark on an emotional and transformative journey in "Hope Returns," the gripping third book of the compelling Hope series. Hope Rodriguez's life has been a tumultuous ride, filled with twists and turns that defy her expectations. In this poignant installment, the depths of her resilience and the power of human connection come to light. Awakening in the somber confines of a hospital's behavioral unit after a failed suicide attempt, Hope finds herself under the compassionate care of Dr. Miller, a seasoned psychiatrist. Through their sessions, she learns the significance of embracing a ...

More than a decade ago, Jerry Sittser prayed for the protection of his family, yet three of his loved ones - his daughter, his wife, and his mother - died in an automobile accident. What went wrong? When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer takes an honest and probing look at the problem of unanswered prayer. In doing so, it draws us ever deeper into a relationship with the God who is the end of all our prayers, the object of our faith, and the one who fulfills our deepest longings.

Theirs wasn't the usual happy ever after romantic love story...more like a bad comedy. But he wants a second chance. She’d only loved one other man in all the years since kicking Harry Patterson out of her home and her life. But Jed Delaney was lost to her on the fields of war thousands of miles away.Lizzie Patterson vowed years ago that she’d never again allow her first husband back into her life. It was also said that she’d been heard to say she’d never again love another man. That life was complicated enough. As far as she was concerned husband number two and husband number three...

Jenna Camden knew nothing would be the same again. She felt like a guest in her own home...empty rooms echoed with precious memories, quiet nights filled with shadows of so many cherished yesterdays. Nothing was the same. Not even Christmas.A Christmas love story of hope, courage, and the enduring strength of love… Jenna didn’t have to look around her home with its colorful and shining Christmas decorations, the tall Christmas tree in her front room with the many Christmas ornaments that told in a special way the story of her family, to know that no matter what she did it would never ...

She's given it her best shot...more than that and more than once...now it is all about starting over. A story of family with all its twists and turns and complications.Broken is the third novella in the Andersen Family Saga series. Pamela Andersen Handen loves her husband. She always has. Finding out what he did to cause problems for her brother was bad enough. Finding out he intentionally set up their son to bear the blame was more than she could deal with. Now, not even two weeks after the death of their mother, she’s on a cross-country-train trip with her aunt. Will distance and time ...

Emily Curtis is used to dealing with her problems while under the hood of an old Chevy, but when her mom dies, Emily’s world seems shaken beyond repair. Driven from home by hospital bills they can’t pay, Emily and her dad move in with his wealthy sister, who intends to make her niece more feminine - in other words, just like Whitney, Emily’s perfect cousin. But when Emily hears the engine of a 1970 Dodge Challenger and sees the cute gearhead Zander next door, things seem to be looking up. But even working alongside Zander can’t completely fix the hole in Emily’s life.

The Yoder Family Saga follows widow Miriam Yoder and her four unmarried daughters, Megan, Rebecca, Josephine, and Lillian, as they discover God’s plans for them and the hope He provides for a happy tomorrow. Miriam Yoder is unsure about Abe Schmidt’s role in her family’s life despite the fact that her daughter Josephine has been working for him and sees him as a father figure. When Josephine discovers that Abe and her mother were once in a romantic relationship, she enlists the help of her sisters to reunite them. Will Abe forgive Miriam for past hurts? Will Miriam allow herself to ...

In the tradition of A Song of My Heart, The Harper Call is a collection of song lyrics and poems written over several years. Several were inspired from the Legends of Arria and Legends of Arria 2002 series, as well as an unpublished novel. The rest have ties to the writer’s life or the writer’s whimsy.

The entire family is thrown into turmoil, however, when a carriage accident threatens the life and sanity of Grandpa Dinsmore and Aunt Enna, and Violet is burned with a troublesome secret. Everyone in the family is thrilled as young Elsie blossoms under the warmth of new love, but sorrow strikes as Lily is gathered into the arms of the Good Shepherd despite all the efforts to save her life.

Her scars are soul deep Artist Cami Bolin has trust issues. Every man who should have loved her ultimately betrayed her. The word “father” leaves her cold, even when it applies to the one in Heaven, the one her current friends are trying so hard to get her to believe in. What does she need God for? She loves her work. She has a newfound granddad who treats her with a kindness she’s never experienced. She has all she needs, except there’s this guy… Temptation…or Divine intervention As a boy, Easton Cramer had two dreams. Convinced that his call to the ministry couldn’t coexist ...

In the quiet college town of Binghamton, New York, two souls on unexpected journeys collide in a love story fraught with moral dilemmas, shattered faith, and the search for redemption. Rabbi Nachman Shapiro, a widower haunted by the tragic loss of his wife and infant daughter, escapes to Binghamton to find solace in his faith and work. But as he buries himself in his new life, the last thing he expects is Leah Sandler—a brilliant yet broken history professor with a past as painful as his own. Once part of an insular religious world, Leah has fought her way to a prestigious academic career...

The Yoder Family Saga follows widow Miriam Yoder and her four unmarried daughters, Megan, Rebecca, Josephine, and Lillian, as they discover God’s plans for them and the hope He provides for a happy tomorrow. Lillian Yoder is the baby of the family and is keen to grow up and find her way in the world. Noah Troyer has been captivated by Lillian since he was a young boy, but becoming an Amish wife is appalling to her. She wants to break free into the wide world just beyond her settlement. Can Noah capture Lillian’s heart before it’s stolen away by the ways of the world? Or, will the ...

What do we think of when we think about heaven? What might it look like? Who or what might be there? Since humans began to huddle together for protection thousands of years ago, these questions have been part of how civilizations and cultures define heaven, the good place beyond this one. In this engrossing cultural history of heaven, Catherine Wolff delves into how people and cultures have defined heaven over the centuries. She describes how different faiths and religions have framed it, how the sense of heaven has evolved, and how nonreligious influences have affected it.

Time doesn’t heal all wounds. Love does. Amy Harte, an Emergency Medicine physician, lost her mother to cancer suddenly on the day of her residency graduation one year ago. As a doctor, she struggles with not being able to save her mother and experiencing her best day on her worst. Since then, she has turned from her relationship with God in her guilt and grief. Near the fateful day’s anniversary, her father calls to tell Amy the bank may take her childhood home. Amy knows she must save the house that holds the last precious memories of her mother. Meanwhile, Amy meets a gorgeous ...

As a troubled teenager, Tamara Laroux just wants the pain to go away. Crying out to God for forgiveness, she makes the heart-wrenching decision to end her life. As she plummets from her body to a place of vast darkness, torment, and agony, Tamara instantly realizes the finality of her rash decision and begs God to save her.

In this unabridged audio download, Letters from the Land of Cancer, award-winning writer Walter Wangerin Jr. offers his profound insights into the greatest challenge we face: confronting our own mortality. Diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in January 2006, Wangerin began writing letters to his friends and family members. Now he offers these intimate letters to all who ask questions about living and dying well.