Beautiful People Don T Just Happen

Find the freedom from regret, hurt, and fear that God wants for you while discovering joy, relief, and hope as you become the beautiful human he created you to be. We all carry regret, hurt, and fear. These are burdens that weigh us down and make us feel trapped. In twenty-five years of pastoral ministry, Scott Sauls has come alongside countless individuals and communities through weary seasons and circumstances. From his own seasons of regret, hurt, and fear--including battles with anxiety and depression--he knows what it's like to be unfinished and on the mend under Jesus' merciful, mighty healing hand. Beautiful People Don't Just Happen reads like a field guide that can help you: Find hope in how God is drawn toward you, not appalled by you, in your sin and sorrow. Practice emotional health with joy, gratitude, and lament. Quiet shaming, wearying thoughts with God's divine counter-voice. Discover how the defining feeling of faith is not strength but dependent weakness. Learn what the Bible calls "the secret of being content" in every circumstance. Dare to embrace the contentment, hope, and fullness God wants for you--offered to all who will receive it.

NOW AN EMMY-NOMINATED HULU ORIGINAL SERIES • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • “A stunning novel about the transformative power of relationships” (People) from the author of Conversations with Friends, “a master of the literary page-turner” (J. Courtney Sullivan). “[A] novel that demands to be read compulsively, in one sitting.”—The Washington Post ONE OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S TEN BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: People, Slate, The New York Public Library, Harvard Crimson Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At school, Connell is popular and well liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation—awkward but electrifying—something life changing begins. A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other. Normal People is the story of mutual fascination, friendship, and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t. WINNER: The British Book Award, The Costa Book Award, The An Post Irish Novel of the Year, Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire, Vox, The Paris Review, Good Housekeeping, Town & Country

If someone puts one more thing on my shoulders, I might collapse. Bestselling self-help book titles tell you that you’re brilliant, awesome, powerful—usually with an expletive thrown in, just to pound home the point. Do these affirmations feel accurate? Instead of blasting through projects and conquering the world, most of us feel like we’re crawling uphill. But Christians are still called to live a life that glorifies God and blesses others. How do we do that when we’re stretched to capacity? Just Show Up answers that question with a liberating message: God doesn’t expect you to do everything. And He certainly doesn’t expect you to do it all overnight. Simply showing up is often the most important thing. This book looks at present-day examples and also stories from Scripture of imperfect people used by God. Moses, by his own admission, wasn’t very eloquent, but he showed up and God used him to liberate and lead His people. We name churches and children after the disciples. But originally, they were just a bunch of uneducated nobodies with one thing in common: when Jesus said, “Follow me,” they showed up. With humor and candor, Dyck reflects on his own faltering progress while recounting inspiring stories of how God rewards the persistent presence of ordinary people. Just Show Up challenges readers to show up for God, family, community, and themselves. We tend to think it’s the big, bold moments that matter. In reality, it’s the steady accumulation of small acts of obedience to God that add up to a life of meaning and impact. –Dyck

None of us make it through life without experiencing loss that leaves us feeling broken. That’s what makes grief so normal. In Normal Broken, Kelly Cervantes isn’t trying to tell you what to do, how to feel, or the right way to heal. She’s also not flinging sunny thoughts, vibes, and prayers at you. After losing her daughter to epilepsy, she knows that grief is many things. It’s weird. It sucks. It’s all-encompassing. Something everyone will have to deal with. But never linear. Just as what we are grieving varies, so do our journeys to process it. Normal Broken was born out of this desire to meet people where they are in their grief journeys, to lend a hand, or maybe to just sit in the dark with them. To acknowledge your brokenness and to feel broken together—never pressured to “move on” or “think positive.” With chapters that can be read in any order, Normal Broken is divided into “moments” of grief that will allow you to choose what you need at any given time—such as: When you’re not sure if you want to heal When your greatest fear is socializing When you’re facing anniversaries and other meaningful dates When you’re ready to be okay Kelly also shares stories from her ongoing journey, along with advice she wishes someone had given her, and simple exercises to help you reflect on where you are. Normal Broken is designed to serve as a companion through your own grief journey, whether you are mourning the loss of a child, a friend, a family member, or anyone special in your life.

This essential go-to guide reveals how women can enhance their lives by creating valuable friendships in today’s busy, mobile world, from nationally recognized friendship expert and CEO of GirlFriendCircles.com. Every woman is searching for a happier, healthier, more fulfilling life. Many realize the significant role that an intimate, tightly knit circle of friends plays in creating a more fulfilling life, but with hectic schedules, frequent moves, and life changes, it’s more important than ever for women to establish natural, meaningful friendships that will contribute to their overall wellbeing. In Friendships Don’t Just Happen!, Shasta Nelson, friendship expert and CEO of GirlFriendCircles.com, reveals the most important proven steps, processes, and secrets vital to establishing the five different levels of friendships, or Circles of Connectedness, that women—no matter their age or relationship status—are longing for in today’s stressful and mobile culture. This revolutionary, engaging guide will also benefit women who already feel rooted to fabulous friends, with insightful principles that will help them maintain and enhance their current friendships. Full of practical how-to tips, fun activities, guiding questions, and step-by-step instructions, Friendships Don’t Just Happen! highlights several areas of developing lasting friendships, teaching women how to: Evaluate their current circle of friends Recognize what types of friends they are seeking based on career, interests, location, and relationship status Create a prioritized friendship action plan Find extraordinary friends—where to look and how to approach them Take initiative to jumpstart friendships and face fears of rejection Establish “frientimacy,” trust, and happiness through conversation and activities Maintain meaningful friendships and determine which ones are worthwhile Excerpt from Friendships Don't Just Happen: There is a lie out there that real friendship just happens. When I was new to San Francisco eight years ago, I remember standing at a café window on Polk Street watching a group of women inside, huddled around a table laughing. Like the puppy dog at the pound, I looked through the glass, wishing someone would pick me to be theirs. I had a phone full of far-flung friends’ phone numbers, but I didn’t yet know anyone I could just sit and laugh with in a café. It hit me how very hard the friendship process is. I’m an outgoing, socially comfortable woman with a long line of good friendships behind me. And yet I stood there feeling very lonely. And insecure. And exhausted at just the idea of how far I was from that reality. I knew I couldn’t just walk in there and introduce myself to them. “Hi! You look like fun women, can I join you?” I would have been met with stares of pity. No one wants to seem desperate, even if we are. We don’t have platonic pick-up lines memorized. Flirting for friends seems creepy. Asking for her phone number like we’re going to call her up for a Saturday night date is just plain weird. All the batting of my eyelashes wasn’t going to send the right signals. And so I turned away from the scene of laughter and walked away. No, unfortunately, friendships don’t just happen. We Value Belonging Friendships may not happen automatically, but what we crave about them sure seems to! We all want to belong—that need to be connected to others is an inherent desire. We live our entire lives trying to fit in, be known, attract acceptance, and experience intimacy. We desperately want to have others care about us. This book is about that hunger. And more pointedly, it is about listening to it and learning how to fulfill it.

Abandon dead, dry, religious rule-keeping and embrace the promise of being truly known and deeply loved. Jefferson Bethke burst into the cultural conversation with a passionate, provocative poem titled "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." The 4-minute video became an overnight sensation, with 7 million YouTube views in its first 48 hours (and 23+ million in a year). Bethke's message clearly struck a chord with believers and nonbelievers alike, triggering an avalanche of responses running the gamut from encouraged to enraged. In his New York Times bestseller Jesus > Religion, Bethke unpacks similar contrasts that he drew in the poem--highlighting the difference between teeth gritting and grace, law and love, performance and peace, despair, and hope. With refreshing candor, he delves into the motivation behind his message, beginning with the unvarnished tale of his own plunge from the pinnacle of a works-based, fake-smile existence that sapped his strength and led him down a path of destructive behavior. Along the way, Bethke gives you the tools you need to: Humbly and prayerfully open your mind Understand Jesus for all that he is View the church from a brand-new perspective Bethke is quick to acknowledge that he's not a pastor or theologian, but simply an ordinary, twenty-something who cried out for a life greater than the one for which he had settled. On this journey, Bethke discovered the real Jesus, who beckoned him with love beyond the props of false religion. Praise for Jesus > Religion: "Jeff's book will make you stop and listen to a voice in your heart that may have been drowned out by the noise of religion. Listen to that voice, then follow it--right to the feet of Jesus." --Bob Goff, author of New York Times bestsellers Love Does and Everybody, Always "The book you hold in your hands is Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz meets C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity meets Augustine's Confessions. This book is going to awaken an entire generation to Jesus and His grace." --Derwin L. Gray, lead pastor of Transformation Church, author of Limitless Life: Breaking Free from the Labels That Hold You Back

If you are searching for practical strategies and arguments to defend your Christian faith, How Science Has Discovered God: Physics, Metaphysics, and Beyond is a must-read. Through meticulous research and analysis, Darrell Hall skillfully conveys scientific concepts and theories—from the origins of the universe to the origins of life—all the while displaying the fingerprints of an intelligent Creator. Hall bridges the perceived gap between reason and belief, offering compelling scientific, philosophical, historical, and theological arguments for the existence of God. How Science Has Discovered God is not just another book on the relationship between science and religion. It is a quest for the truth about reality and the meaning and purpose of life. It engages the reader in a thought-provoking exploration of Christian Apologetics, revealing the existence of a loving and purposeful Creator. Explore with the author: why God is the best explanation for the big bang, the fine-tuning of the universe, the mathematical intelligibility of the universe, the existence of mind, consciousness, and free will, and much more. Unearth the evidence for the claims of Jesus and his resurrection, and see how suffering and evil are best explained through a loving God. This authoritative and comprehensive study is sure to provide material for thought and inspiration. Over two thousand years ago, Jesus assured us that God is real, that God does care, and that everything we do does matter. With a willingness to follow where the evidence leads, join Darrell Hall in a search for truth. Open your mind and heart, and listen to the voice of God, as He speaks through His Creation, and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Nevaeh Erusrof is a young teen who struggles to find the meaning of life. She is put in situations that are hard to deal with, especially at a young age. Just when it seems that everything is working in her favor, another obstacle is put in her way. She grows tired and gives up. Now shes left with nothing but overwhelming pain and grief. In the midst of it all, she finds God, and without hesitation, he saves her life. Nevaeh now has a second shot at life. What she does with it is something bigger than she couldve imagined.