The writer intends that parents who read this book will: Realize the world's view of traditional may not coincide with God's plan for their child; Recognize their own parenting style could conflict with the personality of their nontraditional child; Be excited about their nontraditional child and how they together can venture into the life abundant that Christ has for us. She uses examples of traditional and nontraditional traits in social and academic settings,the unique experiences Jesus encountered and nontraditional mindsets he created, and specific strategies parents can use to not only accept the uniqueness of their child, but embrace the adventure God has in store because of it.

Many Christian women yearn to see their husbands become the spiritual leaders of their marriages, yet spend much of their lives discouraged as they live with their seemingly self-absorbed mates. At the same time, men sense they are failing, but struggle to do something they have never seen. They look to church leaders, who admonish them for falling short, but rarely give them specific guidance. Vision: The Godly Husband gives discouraged wives hope that their husband will cherish her as Christ loves the Church. For men, the book becomes the virtual mentor to understanding and loving their wives in the ways that their fathers may have failed to model. After the introductory section, each chapter starts with practical, biblical insights on women's love needs and how husbands can meet them, and then moves the reader into the home of Lance and his wife, Kay, as he applies these insights in his young family. In the process, Lance serves as mentor to the male readers who lack a vision of how it is done.

This personal account of a father, David, and his experiences raising a son with Asperger's syndrome shows the seemingly contradictory development of a child who is both challenged and gifted, a boy who can barely tolerate to hear someone sing yet loves music and plays the piano well. David chronicles his journey to connect emotionally with his son and the way prayer and God's word play crucial roles in this process. In the end, David's family still faces significant hurdles, but they are able to see the wonderfully unexpected ways God answers prayer. A broken marriage is restored. Two parents connect with their son. And a boy who begins childhood struggling to communicate learns to speak - not just English - but Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish too.

Our culture does not prepare young men and women for marriage. Current media promote relationships based on nothing more than sexual attraction and emotional exhilaration. Those qualities are exciting and stimulating, but they fade quickly when challenged by the real-life difficulties which occur in every relationship. For every little girl who has ever dreamed of meeting her handsome prince, the reality of married life can often prove to be a disillusionment. An intimate and growing marriage is difficult to attain but is not an impossibility when we begin to understand such things as the magnitude of God's grace, the power of kindness, that forgiveness is a choice, and that God is enough. God has provided the biblical instruction and the tools needed to equip young couples to build a marriage that is deeply satisfying and God-honoring. Marriage is hard, but love grown God's way is love that will last a lifetime.

This book addresses how married partners can contribute to the happiness, growth, and psychological and spiritual well being of each other by relating in terms of a helping relationship. It helps partners to understand how their behavior both affects and is affected by the behavior of each other. Initial focus is on two questions: Shall We Marry? and What Kind of Marriage Do We Want? Other chapters discuss: understanding and maintaining the helping relationship, accentuating the positives, eliminating the negatives, listening and information sharing, decision making and problem solving, and confrontation and conflict resolution.

The manuscript does more than discuss the need for fathers to teach their sons how to be godly and noble men. The book is a toolbox filled with lessons, discussion questions, and activities to help fathers instill biblical principles in their sons while also giving fathers and sons an environment to build a strong relationship with each other. After the manner of the medieval knights, this book utilizes an oath, a motto, and a code of honor to give young men a sense of purpose, direction, and accomplishment in their pursuit of manhood

When children suffer, one cannot help but ask God, "Why do you make some flowers bloom and allow others to wither?" Written from the perspective of a mother who suffers with her child, Weak and Loved is a story of the struggles of faith and the encouragement of God during one tumultuous year. The writer's own little flower began to wither shortly after her fourth birthday when she had her first seizure. This young girl fought severe epilepsy for nearly a year until the successful removal of a brain tumor restored her to health. This book includes no clichés or easy answers, and it is not an attempt to answer complicated questions of human suffering. Rather, it is a demonstration of God's faithfulness to one sick child and her imperfect mother: both weak, but both loved. Readers will enter the difficult, earthy, and sometimes humorous world of a sick child, and be pleased to find the beauty of God's love in Christ even there.

Does God really turn around for good what Satan means for harm? The writer declares, "Absolutely. And he is always with us, even in the womb. During one attempted abortion God intervened to protect the life of a very special little girl and is using her today to share the incredible love of Jesus with anyone who will listen. The Kissing Spot, the story of Hope Hoffman's amazing survival, is an unforgettable one that will touch your heart - proving once again the power of God who can take a tragic and heartbreaking situation and redeem it for his glory. If you need proof miracles still happen, this is it!"

The writer states, "In 2009, Imagine Adoption Agency went bankrupt, leaving 43 children, including our son and daughter, in their transition home in Ethiopia. This is the account of our fight to bring them home. The story is one of faith, determination, and unwavering love for two orphans. This love would transcend government bureaucracy, the unfamiliar spotlight of the media, financial obstacles, and common sense. Above all, this is the story of miracles--the miracle of adoption and the faithfulness of a God who asks us to love the least of these."

The writer summarizes, "My father, a farmer turned salesman then Methodist minister, wrote a letter containing highlights he remembered about my childhood. He asked that I write down some of my memories. The memories from the two letters relate the story of my youth as I grew up in the 1950s and 60's in a Christian family in Southern Illinois. . . . A house fire, a life-threatening bee sting, revival meetings, county spelling contests, discipline--things that made daily life in rural America common yet entertaining--are captured in this true story of family life in simpler times."

These Scripture-based devotionals are cultivated from a heartbreaking decade during which the writer's family struggled with the consequences of their youngest son's addiction to drugs and alcohol. The short chapters begin with anecdotal reflections and include a lesson for the reader to meditate upon.

The message of this book is that it is never too late to reach your difficult teenager. The book gives parents help in understanding their child's temperament, their own parenting style, and the developmental process their child is going through. It discusses the world their teenager is growing up in, which is very different than their parents may realize and understand. The book gives information and tools, and encourages parents to accept the adolescent period of time, but not the excesses or extremes that go with it. Each chapter ends with a short homework task and a prayer. There is hope. That hope rests in the parent's faith and trust in God, and their willingness to seek his help, to put feet to their prayers, and rest in the belief that he will do what they cannot.

We know that "men are from Mars and women are from Venus - but why? Gender finds its purpose in the gospel. Through gender and the marital relationship, God, in his absolute genius, portrays his unfailing love for his church and his plan of salvation for a lost human race. In gendered interactions, the gospel is symbolically retold in a timeless manner that transcends both culture and religion. The Never-ending Loving Story addresses why God created gender in the first place and delineates the essential qualities of masculinity and femininity, which correspond to the attributes of Christ and his church, respectively. The manuscript also elucidates how love is central to our understanding of gender and demonstrates how gender is intimately tied to the gospel. The book concludes with the implications of gender's symbolism for the reader's romantic relationship, and for social issues such as domestic violence and same-sex marriage.

Saddled with an inability to love, an irresponsible single father fails to discipline his two young daughters. When they become teenage drug addicts (one heroin, one methamphetamine), and then are subsequently diagnosed as mentally ill (one bipolar, one paranoid schizophrenic), he can't live with himself. When all attempts to repair the damage fail, despair takes center stage. Immersing himself in alcohol, he soon finds that nothing can alleviate the guilt and suffering that follows his every waking moment -- until he accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Through faith in Christ he begins to understand the true meaning of fatherhood, and he embarks on a journey of discovery and healing in this personal account.

Have you ever wondered how your child views family life? Don't Blink encourages parents to examine family interactions from a child's perspective. Using the acronym BLINK, the author provides useful suggestions for dismantling the frustrating roadblocks parents encounter on the road to a deeper relationship with their children. Scriptural references and relevant stories inspire parents as they grapple with the significant themes of gentle, respectful, honest, caring and sacred communication in the home.

A collection of vignettes, each about one of the more than 70 foster children the writer has had. Each story shows what caused the child to be "broken" and how the family responded. It is intended to educate the Christian community about the problems of the hurting children in our society, and challenge Christians to become involved in solving them. The first chapter is an introduction to foster care, and the chapter suggests ways in which the church can be involved.

Rather than wanting to know, "What can my husband do for me?" wives should be asking, "What can I do for my husband?" Self-sacrificing love is not only the secret to happy marriages, but is also the key to personal fulfillment and the satisfaction of our deepest longings. The premise of this book is that when a wife puts her husband's needs ahead of her own, she will find her own needs being met in the process. Nowhere is this truer than in the area of sex, so the first half of the book is devoted to that aspect of the marital relationship. A wife who gives herself freely to her husband will enjoy better health, lower stress, deeper sleep, fewer anxieties, more energy, a stronger marriage, and a more peaceful home. The second half of the book deals with the importance of unconditional love, encouraging words, full forgiveness, unwavering commitment, a grateful heart, a submissive spirit, and an attitude of prayerful support.

The writer gives a personal account of events leading up to and following the revelation that the husband she loves is a pedophile and, sadly, the abuser of her own daughter. To stay in the ruptured marriage and trust God's healing and restoration for her family is natural for who she is spiritually . . . no decision on her part. A fierce battle ensues between her brutalized emotions and the joy of the Lord when she is persecuted, abandoned, victimized by false rumors, threatened, and subsequently cast out of her church for her stand of faith. The marriage will succumb to an enemy she knew too little about but as she struggles to recover from the many losses, God reveals the intricate ways he directed her steps when she thought she was only surviving. Something Beautiful at the Dump is not about the failure of humanity that brought the writer to her Gethsemane but the faithfulness of God that brought her through it. He honors her trust with astounding events that are too precise to be accidents and brings about an outcome far more amazing than she could ever imagine . . . Evidence of Things Not Seen! "After surviving a severely abusive first marriage, Kay remarries and finally has everything she ever dreamed of . . . a deep intimate relationship with Christ, four wonderful children from her barren womb, and a Christian husband. Her riveting memoir reveals, however, that abuse has many faces and when carried out under a cloak of religion generates a wounding only God can make whole."

The manuscript presents a memoir offering hope and healing for wives whose husbands struggle with pornography issues or sexual addiction. Included in the book are also resources, application questions with Bible references that can be used in weekly support groups.

In a world of constantly changing attitudes and values in marriage, where does God fit into holy matrimony? For Christian couples who seek the blessings of God in their home there is a need to understand marriage as the "God thing" that is was created to be. Within the pages of this book there is provided for the Christian couple and marriage counselor alike a fresh look at marriage from the perspective of the pastor's heart. The book builds on a strong foundation of biblical principles and scripture. Throughout the text the social sciences are used for the supporting framework, but first and foremost this is a book for the Christian home.

There is a paucity of information in the Christian community regarding breastfeeding, although in his Word God brings the topic up many times. Breastfeeding was intended to be a blessing for mothers and babies, but most people see it as just another choice in life, one that doesn't matter. The writer argues there are over 100 benefits of breastfeeding; conversely, the potential hazards of formula feeding are great. Without burdening mothers with guilt, this book explains how to overcome the barriers to breastfeeding, how to make it work, and how to be blessed in the process.

The book is a guide to a successful marriage. It offers direct insight into areas of marriage that are often glazed over and offers biblical perspectives on issues married couples often face. It also provides a non-traditional biblical approach that is engaging for all social, ethnic, and religious demographics.

Choices was inspired by Lisa's own personal experience with divorce. Lisa first faced divorce as a child, at the young age of 4. Although her parents loved her and never intended to hurt her or her siblings, in their ignorance, they made choices that left deep scars on their kids. Lisa's first marriage also ended in divorce. During this very dark time in her life, Lisa turned to God for answers, and he led her to what she calls an "internal mirror." This mirror experience helped her to remember her past as a child living in a divorced home, so that she could make wiser choices in the present as an adult who was now faced with divorce. Her goal was to provide a better future for her children by minimizing the scars that come from growing up in a divorced home. This is the insight and wisdom Lisa desires to share with others so that they too can make wiser choices in their journey with divorce.

As the job market goes into "crazy zone" people who never thought they would relocate for work are considering making a move. The Relocation Book for Parents looks at the practical side of listening to God and allowing the Holy Spirit to plan national or international family relocation. Kathleen Smith offers a practical and proven solution for the whole family. A result of over thirty years of overseas family experience, Smith looks at the level of move that is just right for a family and matches that level to school, neighborhood, social support and church selection.

This manuscript combines biblical instruction with practical recommendations to help couples grow in their relationship. It emphasizes how to anticipate and overcome issues that inevitably arise. From preparation for marriage to compatibility, from the roles of husband and wife to building intimacy, Rhodes discusses matters with candor and balance. He provides a biblical perspective about needs in marriage and explains communication issues practically. The manuscript includes a discussion of both Jesus' and Paul's most important discourses on marriage. Then, in an appendix, Rhodes overviews the Song of Solomon and shows how there is not only room for romance and sexuality in a Christian marriage but that it is proper and biblical for Christian couples to develop this aspect of marriage too. This work places marriage in a biblical perspective while showing that the application of biblical principles is the best prescription for a happy marriage.

A new study affirmed born again Christians are just as likely as the average American couple to divorce (Barrick, 2008). One of the most complex issues facing Christian couples is marital difficulty and conflict. Couples struggle to develop tools to increase marital success. The purpose of this book is to equip couples with psychologically sound strategies for enhancing marital relationships using biblical couples as models.

Nick Lore's son, Andrew, missed entering kindergarten by six days, and almost simultaneously he learned that his deadly prostate cancer had entered remission. Viewing these two events as a sign from above, he decided to change his life. Taking a sabbatical from his 30-year career as a successful mortgage banker, Andrew and Nick embarked on an unforgettable 15-month adventure. While appreciating remote mountain waterfalls, historic villages and the wild Atlantic coast, Nick's spirituality deepened along with his convictions about fatherhood. This book about Nick's adventures with Andrew is also, and more importantly, about the marginalized role of father's in families. The need for fathers to step up and be counted, to be regularly involved in the lives of their children, is substantial and urgent.

The writer states, "When I brought my first baby home from the hospital during the summer break between academic years, I was totally unprepared for the collision of theory and belief, of personal aspiration and mother love, that this tiny human being would occasion. Half a Time is an experimental memoir that looks back on this experience. It evokes my decade-plus at home, raising three boys in California and Asia, viewed through the lens of the surprise arrival of their little brother." The book is loosely structured through the rhythm of a labor and delivery. The book attempts to document, interpret, and ultimately to transcend the struggle to harmonize the competing demands of family, and the need to thrive as an individual human person.

Seeds of Wisdom for Parents is a collection of inspirational/motivational essays with practical hands-on tips for embracing parenting from a gardener's perspective. It makes a unique adaptation of the monthly column I write for The East County Gazette, (with a readership of 39,000+ in the Portland, Oregon, metro area.) Each 600-800 word narrative draws parallels between garden observations and encouraging words for parenting. Each analogy begins with rich quotes from notable personalities and/or scripture references and when grouped with garden photos will make an easy-read, non-fiction gift-book for parents.

This book examines the development of an autistic child, through the eyes of his Christian father. Following the first nine years of the child's life, it shows how the father learns his son has a developmental problem, how the diagnosis of autism is reached, and how the family copes with autism and its treatment. The author shares intensely personal experiences in dealing with his son's autism. A practical approach to autism therapy is presented, based on a biblical world-view and proven behavioral techniques. The book contains many practical insights and suggestions for Christian parents, relatives, friends, educators, and care workers working with autistic children.

The Birthday Gift: Snapshots of Marriage to a Pastor/Sex Addict and the Unexpected Path to Healing Using narrative, the writer offers an inside look at the impact sex addiction has on the family unit, with particular emphasis on the spouse. The reader sees the sex addict as a whole person, being both obedient to God in his role as a pastor and yet captive to internet pornography, prostitution and massage parlors. Fervent prayers for her husband's healing illustrate the author's faith. Family birthday parties unify they story, contrasting the pain of addiction against the joy of family. The story culminates with the author discovering her husband's affair and being forced to leave the church parsonage on her fortieth birthday. Struggles with faith follow as the author discovers that everyone in the church was aware of her husband's infidelity. The events of each day of Family Week at a rehab facility for sex addiction are explored in detail. When the author learns that her husband was sexually molested by his sister beginning at the age of four, she realizes that God had answered her prayers for her husband's healing. God had given her a birthday gift. The story seeks to provide hope and education for families of sex addicts everywhere.

In May 1983 the writer's daughter, Karis Joy, was born with an intestinal dysfunction that eventually led to a failed intestinal transplant, and finally a five-organ transplant at age 22. This true story is the way she has led her life in the face of overwhelming obstacles, including a family move to Brazil. The writer willingly makes herself and her family members transparent as this twenty-five year struggle affected not only Karis, but also every family member. Kornfield happily reports that Karis will graduate from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, May 2008.

In Matthew 7, Jesus distinguished the wise from the foolish builder by the material each used for the foundation of his home. Both homes were faced with inevitable storms, but the rock-solid foundation of the wise man enabled him to withstand the devastating effects. In Weatherproof Your Home, the author presents biblical principles which allow women to identify attitudes and behaviors which do not line up with the truth of God's Word, and therefore erode their strength in trying times. Using intimate examples of God's work in her own life, the author offers her readers a new perspective on rebellion, repentance and restoration. Weatherproof Your Home seeks to empower women to abandon their helplessness and reframe their lives and families according to God's Word.

Pure Play has a simple objective, to help contemporary Christian parents take advantage of God's child development plan. There are three steps. 1) Clear away the misconceptions about children and play by looking at what the Bible says. 2) Build a system of understanding for parents about children' play. 3) Coach parents with "how to" tips for sustaining play and instructing children following play.

These recent text messages were sent by high school students:

"btw we r goin to pza hut at 6 if ya wanna go bring $ can u bring my coat 2"

"tbh i cant wait 4 skool to be over!!!! i cant take n e more i need a brake i got a job at mcdonalds starting nxt wk"

"r u friends with that new girl gabby shes so kewl! i dint know shes a balet dancer did u"

No wonder many parents and educators are concerned about kids' inability to communicate! Within a few years these teens will be parents, teaching the next generation. How can we transition from this text-messaging, abbreviation-loving generation to children with strong verbal skills that spill over into strong writing and reading skills?

Raising a Verbal Child is an idea-packed guide for parents, grandparents, babysitters, teachers—anyone involved in the lives of children up to age seven. Learn from nine powerful chapters how you can provide a solid foundation, raising confident kids who communicate clearly. Then choose from 100-plus activities in bonus chapters to put what you've learned into  action. The child you love will benefit for life—guaranteed!

The purpose of the book is to convince parents of children with LD and ADHD that they, the parents play the key role in helping their child to learn successfully.  This book emphasizes the concept that parenting is a journey, with many twists and turns, but a journey that offers tremendous opportunities to capture love and purpose along the way.  The knowledge and resources shared will shed light on the mist enshrouding the bumpy road of LD and ADHD identification, assessment, and special education placement.  Parents are given practical and proven tools for nurturing a sense of value, acceptance, competency and love in their special child. Inspiring stories from parents who have already made the journey will convince readers of this book to eagerly take up the challenge to plan their own amazing journey.  A running theme throughout the book is for parents to trust the ancient Guidebook-God's Word for making important decisions concerning their child's current education and future life.

It’s the goal of this manuscript to encouraging Christian fathers to take seriously and joyfully their responsibilities as fathers. It argues that one finds the joy of fatherhood in the duties of fatherhood. The approach is to discuss scriptural truths about fatherhood and discover how they bear themselves out in personal experiences.

There’s a temptation to argue for the importance of this work by highlighting the troubling state of fatherhood in America or even that among Christians, fatherhood is seen as a chore. Though these things are true, they do not make a work like this worthwhile. What makes it meaningful is this: God is our Father. How one views fatherhood affects the way one views God (and viceversa). Even if every dad in America joyfully and faithful took on fatherhood, it would still be important to think about fatherhood in a Biblical way.

The manuscript had the original intent to express love for being a dad and to exhort others to love it too. As the manuscript took form, it became something of a spiritual disciplines book. The reality is this: the joys of fatherhood and the disciplines of fatherhood are one in the same.

For those who choose to make a second or third trip down the aisle, all the sunshine and flowers filling the church may not be able to chase away the slight shadow cast on their day of love and hope. They have probably heard the statistics about the percentage of remarriages that will end in divorce, but still they stand at the altar making vows to love, honor, and cherish until death parts them. Despite the odds stacked against them, they hope and pray that they will be the exception that remains untouched by divorce. Such hope is a powerful gift from God that allows a man and woman to dare to love again.

Creating a thriving marriage the second time around will take hard work, understanding, a sense of humor, and total dependence on God. With these firmly in place, the Lord can make any marriage a joyful tribute to His love, goodness, and power.  No man or woman who has already been divorced is probably walking into another marriage with idea that the script for their future is a perfect fairy tale, but they can confidently believe that God has written a happy ending just for them.

Our homes are powerful places for ourselves and those who live there, and often we miss their potential.

This is a personal book about home--a book to inspire us to look deeper into our own homes and how we can make where we are an even better place. It addresses the most basic needs we all have in the power of family and the place or places we do "family."

An unflattering mug shot reproduced in a newspaper. Unfashionably dressed in an orange jump suit with hands shackled at the waist and ankles chained together. Sitting behind bars in a bare room with a non-descript cot and stainless steel toilet as the centerpiece. None of these are highlights parents expect of their child’s life. Yet, it is the fate of too many – including children of Christians.

Parents of prodigals struggle deeply with the challenges of relating to their wayward offspring. Siblings, spouses, and children of prodigals face similar struggles. Loved ones of prodigals often feel overwhelmed and isolated. Too often, their faith becomes unmoored. My goal is to help anchor the faith of those struck by the storms their prodigal creates. I especially address a group untouched by any other author – loved ones of a prodigal who never returns. Grounded in the truth of Scripture, family members can know joy and serve as a light for Christ at a time when they feel their world is collapsing around them. The focus of my book is to help loved ones use Scripture as their guide in facing perplexing issues arising from engaging with those who have abandoned themselves to reckless living.

A missionary brought to her knees by mothering.

A decades-old Christian finally grasps that Christ had already been “the perfect mom” on her behalf.

A woman with multiple degrees enrolls herself in “Older Women University.”  

That’s me. Motherhood, like no other experience on earth, exposed the shallowness of my sanctification. And motherhood, like no other experience on earth, impelled me to desire sanctification.

Motherhood is the usual life path of a woman, but rarely is it appreciated as one of the deepest roads into Christlikeness. Parenthood is a treasure chest of spiritual wealth, offering us huge handfuls of supernatural gems.

As I pondered mothering, a role that placed me in love-filled authority over children fully dependent on me, I saw God as never before. It dawned on me that the mothering methods I use daily actually transform who I am becoming … so am I becoming like Christ?

God led me on a journey into a goldmine of learning to discern and reflect His nature as a parent to a child.

What makes Christian marriage different?  In a culture that is increasingly accommodating to alternative lifestyles, shouldn’t Christian marriages shine like bright lights in a dark place?  Almost two millennia have passed since God’s Spirit inspired a great missionary apostle to reveal a vision of marriage that is distinctly Christian.  With a divine economy of words he addressed Christian wives, Christian husbands, and Christian couples.  These words, found in Ephesians 5, inform believers in every age about what makes a Christian marriage Christian.  Every Christian marriage is meant to be a living parable of the love relationship between Jesus and his Bride, the Church.  Many books about Christian marriage provide helpful practical advice, but believers also need to trust God’s Word about marriage.  While there is practical advice offered in this book, the focus is on building a biblical foundation for understanding the distinctiveness of Christian marriage.  The goal is to inspire confidence in Christians as they struggle to remain faithful to God’s mandate for marriage in a rapidly changing social and spiritual environment. 

Youth are in crisis.

One in four young people struggles with mental health issues. One in four girls is sexually abused. A third of all deaths of young men are due to suicide.

Why?

Could it be that we have lost vital wisdom from former generations? Could the 3000-year-old advice from an ancient king, purported to be "the wisest man who ever lived," have something critical to teach young people today?

Indeed, it does! King Solomon’s wisdom is surprisingly relevant and applicable.

Learn his practical advice about:

• Choosing good friends
• Selecting a spouse
• Finding a career you’ll enjoy
• Handling money
• Looking after your health
• Dealing with conflict
• What to do when life goes wrong

You can avoid the fatal mistakes that rob so many young people of a purposeful and fulfilling life.  Follow the Wisdom of the Ancient.

This book teaches family planning and disease protection for married Christian couples and is intended to supplement abstinence-only education so common in the South.  In Texas, for example, 85% of schools do not teach any family planning and more than half (54%) of all pregnancies in Texas are accidental!  Clearly, some additional education is needed.      

Starting with fertility awareness methods through to sterilization, each method is discussed along with common reasons for and techniques to avoid the most common failures.  Methods that can be combinmed are noted, as well as those that are not compatible.  Importantly, disease protection and STIs are also discussed.  The myth that abstinence is 100% effective against disease, which is actually codified in Texas law, is busted, and couples advised on stratgeies to prevent transmission of STIs to each other or to newborn babies.    

Topics of difficulty for many Christians, such as same sex marriage and abortion, are simply omitted.  

The adoption agency made a mistake. A barren mother welcomed in a child who brought fear and destruction into the home. She wrestles with God, doctors, and social workers over what to do next. Quick-thinking, leaps of faith, and some dark humor challenges readers to ask themselves: Do you have what it takes to raise a child with a harrowing past… or an uncertain future? The completed creative non-fiction, Un-Adoptable? Faith Beyond Foster Care, reveals deeply personal psychological and spiritual questions that arise when pursuing this parenting path.

At an easy 41,000 words, the story provides firm, but loving truths to guide readers through social issues including racism, sexuality, and mental health. The story centers around building a family based on faith, hope and acceptance.

Genre:                        Non-Fiction Memoir (Inspirational Parenting)

Target Market:        Women, ages 25+, interested in becoming a parent to a foster child, adopt a child, or raise a child with special needs and looking for uplifting, spiritual guidance.

Readers will be interested in modern social issues (sexual orientation, gender orientation, interracial families, bi-racialness, religion, mental health, and education), advocacy, and finding solutions for difficult parenting scenarios. A secondary audience could include those working in social work, child development/education, psychology, and pediatrics.

Having worked in student ministry for more than twenty-five years and served as a Family Ministry Pastor for almost fifteen, I have witnessed first-hand the fact that students and young adults are packing and carrying some enormous emotional baggage. This baggage is holding them back from living out their lives in the grace and freedom that Christ provides and hindering them from being emotionally, spiritually, and relationally healthy. These bags include things like performance, identity, rejection, and authority. When kids pack these bags, there are long-term consequences that affect relationships, behavior, and quality of life. While parents are not necessarily responsible for all of the bags our children pack, we are in a unique position to help our kids “lighten the load” along the way. The purpose of this book is twofold: 1. To help parents become aware of the specific bags that kids tend to pack as they grow up, how these bags tend to get packed, and the long-lasting negative impact they can have.  2. For parents to know there is hope and a way forward to help their kids! I offer practical strategies parents can employ to leverage their influence and prevent some of these bags from getting packed in the first place. If we can help our kids avoid these bags, they have a much better chance of embracing their identities in Christ and learning how to live from a healthy place. In essence, this is a book about awareness and preventive maintenance.

A rabid bat attack, a cancer diagnosis turned spiritual megaphone, Grandma Camp, and a young boy fighting to save his vision are a few of the true-life examples that mark the path to building spiritual grit in the next generation. The authors use scripture narratives such as rebuilding the Jerusalem walls and characters like Rahab and Elijah who need grit in a pinch. These support claims that we can rear children to defy spiritual mediocrity. Scripture is blended with engaging stories and practical tips to keep the audience reading and help parents move easily from theory to practice in an appealing and often humorous environment.

This book is replete with practical strategies like the daily gentle nudge, a solution to the question of whether to give kids allowance, and how to confidently manage kids’ tendencies toward excess with games and entertainment.

The contributions of the Baby Boomer mother (Colleen) and her three Millennial daughters (Haley, Rosalind and Claire) offer the reader a multi-generational view of igniting the next generation with spiritual grit showing each challenge or strategy from both the parent’s and child’s perspectives.

-Designed to complement Bible class or personal study

-Discussion questions included for each chapter

Have you maxed out all the potential of what your marriage can be? Have you exhausted all there is to know about your spouse? Do you long for a relationship where you can be transparent, yet safe? Marriage is designed by God to be a refuge, where two hearts can experience intimacy as they journey into the vast possibilities of God's love. When Lovers Discover Each Other reveals God's desire for couples to uncover in each other the treasures that He has buried in our heart and will inspire the reader to explore for more in marriage and love. No matter if you're single with a desire to be married, happily married, divorced, or in a troubled marriage, When Lovers Discover Each Other has something for you.

The woman most likely to experience sexual coercion in marriage are 35-50, white, college-educated, and going to church every week. Research shows that over a third of married women experience it through badgering, bullying, manipulation, threats, and even misuse of scripture. But this subject is not talked about. What happens in a marital bedroom is loaded with emotional baggage, assumptions about marital duty and consent, and the attitudes we bring from our world and our upbringing. It happens in private. And it stays in private. Silent, unchecked, metastasizing. We need to understand this broken language of intimacy, how it developed, how it happens, and what the biblical truth is that we need to return to. We need to understand what the Bible says about the darker side of physical love and how God responds to it. We need to understand the impact to the woman and the ripple effects on marriage, family, and church.  This book will open eyes and equip people to meet this challenge. This book seeks a collaborative approach to understanding appropriate behavior in marriage, how to correct something already broken, and how to prevent its occurrence in the next generation of marriages.

Parenting the adopted child into adulthood can be challenging because of the trauma a child experienced before or during the adoption experience. This trauma can make it difficult for an adopted child to trust their parents. During the transition to adulthood, the young adult often needs to problem solve with parents, return to parents for support and refuge when the world is a hard place. When the adopted child struggles to trust their parents as a safe place, this often leaves them feeling alone in the launch. This book can help families to understand why the launch is so challenging, based in an understanding of trauma. It provides ways for parents to stay connected to their child, for the adult adoptee to understand the role of parents and family in launching, and practical tools and tips about accessing services and supports for the whole family. The authors share their personal stories, as adoptive mothers who have launched adoptees to adulthood, paired with clinical psychoeducation and recommendations. All of this is presented through the lens of faith, how our relationship with God sustained us and what the examples in the Bible teach us about parenting.

The COVID-19 epidemic caught our world by surprise and has deeply impacted our lives in numerous ways. But there is another epidemic: drug and alcohol abuse. The economic impact of this epidemic cannot be overestimated. Far more people have died from drug overdose and alcohol-related illness and accidents than the number of people who died in the Korean War and Vietnam put together. And yet, this issue goes far beyond statistics. For every person who died of drug or alcohol related causes, there is a family that is devastated by the loss, bewildered as to what they could have done better to prevent their loved one from taking this route. Families despair that their loved one may be lost for eternity if they don’t do something, but they are confused as to what the “something” is. Set Free: Finding Truth and Hope When a Loved One is Addicted will help a reader understand what addiction is, the root causes of addiction, the impact on the family, and provide hope for being set free from addiction.

(Working Title: My Father the Narcissist) I was puzzled by my father’s contradictions, his Jekyll and Hyde antics. For thirty plus years, I tolerated his craziness. Then my husband and I did something crazy – we invited Dad to live with us. Ninety and in failing health, he needed us in his last years, or so we thought. After a year together, God pulled back the curtain, revealing Dad as a narcissist with a whopping eight of the nine tell-tale characteristics. Even though I was sixty, that realization came as a blow. My father was a pathological narcissist; he had never loved me, never loved anyone. After the Big Reveal, life with Dad went from bad to worse. He moved out and returned to his rathole apartment far away. There he tried to hook up with two women who were previous members of his ever-changing fan club. Finally, Dad made a series of shockingly poor decisions in his last months and died without a word to me. To process my grief and bitterness with the goal of arriving at forgiveness, I began to write as therapy, reliving  weird, crazy, laughable, disturbing moments with my father, the narcissist.