Chasing Wonder

You weren't born to be like everyone else because God made you to stand out—so use this inspirational book to discover the amazing adventures He has planned for you! You can certainly survive without adventure—keep your head down and live in your comfort zone, doing only what you must to maintain the day-to-day. But life is meant to be a grand adventure! It should surprise and wow us on a regular basis. The problem is our days are so full of routine, monotony, and fear, that it is easier to stay on that treadmill of boredom than it is to step off into the unknown and discover something wonderful. Ginger Stache firmly believes that we are at our best when we live with an attitude that life is an adventure—an outlook that sets the stage by believing that every moment has the potential to bring something amazing, a sight to behold, or a lesson to be learned. By walking you through her own adventures in Chasing Wonder, you will find the inspiration to begin your own. And what's more, you'll make space for God to move in marvelous and unexpected ways.

You weren't born to be like everyone else because God made you to stand out—so use this inspirational book to discover the amazing adventures He has planned for you! You can certainly survive without adventure—keep your head down and live in your comfort zone, doing only what you must to maintain the day-to-day. But life is meant to be a grand adventure! It should surprise and wow us on a regular basis. The problem is our days are so full of routine, monotony, and fear, that it is easier to stay on that treadmill of boredom than it is to step off into the unknown and discover something wonderful. Ginger Stache firmly believes that we are at our best when we live with an attitude that life is an adventure—an outlook that sets the stage by believing that every moment has the potential to bring something amazing, a sight to behold, or a lesson to be learned. By walking you through her own adventures in Chasing Wonder, you will find the inspiration to begin your own. And what's more, you'll make space for God to move in marvelous and unexpected ways.

Chasing Wonders is a short collection of poetry and free-writes. Through this collection, author Marissa Williams, explores the little wonders that life has to offer sparked in Family. Arts. Love. Diversity. Equality. Discovery. All these combine into Marissa's way of teaching readers that there is still beauty in the world when it seems impossible and unexpected.

Chasing Wonder is a story for all ages, about confronting the unknown. The story is told in clever and entertaining rhyme, rich in word play, that adds multiple layers of meaning and intrigue. A fast-paced underwater tale told by an EMMY-award-winning author, Chasing Wonder is the odyssey of a small oyster, banished from the oyster bed Just because! On his reluctant journey of discovery, he encounters Esteemed Lobster, Squid Pro Quo, Coral Larry, Marlin Brand-Oh, and other wittily named characters--smart and foolish, good and evil, all of whom shape his journey and ultimately his, and the reader's, self-awareness. Suffused with humor and wisdom, with enticing illustrations (each one itself containing a game of discovery), the story captivates readers quickly and entertains them throughout, en route to a dramatic ending. Alive with the joys of wonderment, this book is easy to read, hard to put down, and insightfully profound.

Huston Smith, the man who brought the world's religions to the West, was born almost a century ago to missionary parents in China during the perilous rise of the Communist Party. Smith's lifelong spiritual journey brought him face-to-face with many of the people who shaped the twentieth century. His extraordinary travels around the globe have taken him to the world's holiest places, where he has practiced religion with many of the great spiritual leaders of our time. Smith's life is a story of uncanny synchronicity. He was there for pivotal moments in human history such as the founding of the United Nations and the student uprising at Tiananmen Square. As he traveled the world he encountered thinkers who shaped the twentieth century. He interviewed Eleanor Roosevelt on the radio; invited Martin Luther King Jr. to speak at an all-white university before the March on Washington; shared ideas with Thomas Merton on his last plane ride before Merton's death in Bangkok; and was rescued while lost in the Serengeti by Masai warriors who took him to the compound of world-renowned anthropologists Louis and Mary Leaky. In search of intellectual and spiritual treasures, Smith traveled to India to meet with Mother Teresa and befriended the Dalai Lama; he studied Zen at the most challenging monastery in Japan; and he hitchhiked through the desert to meet Aldous Huxley, dropped acid with Timothy Leary, and took peyote with a Native American shaman. He climbed Mount Athos, traipsed through the Holy Land, and was the first to study multiphonic chanting by monks in Tibet, which he recorded with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Most important, he shared the world's religions with the West—writing two bestselling books and serving as the focus of a five-part PBS television series by Bill Moyers. Huston Smith is a national treasure. His life is an extraordinary adventure, and in his amazing Tales of Wonder, he invites you to come along to explore your own vistas of heart, mind, and soul.

When Ralph Thomas comes across graffiti of a horse in an alleyway in the early hours of the morning, he is stopped in his tracks. He recognizes this horse. A half-asleep Indigenous homeless man sees Ralph’s reaction to the horse and calls out to him. Over the course of a morning’s worth of hot coffee on a bitterly cold day, Ralph and the homeless man talk and Ralph remembers a troubling moment from his childhood when an odd little girl, Danielle, drew the most beautiful and intriguing horse on his mother’s Everything Wall, winning the competition set up for children on the Otter Lake Reserve. Ralph has lived with many questions that arose from his eleventh winter. What did the horse mean — to him, his sister, his best friend, and, most importantly, the girl who drew it? These questions have never left him. Chasing Painted Horses has a magical, fablelike quality that will enchant readers, and haunt them, for years to come.

Jessica Alexander arrived in Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide as an idealistic intern, eager to contribute to the work of the international humanitarian aid community. But the world that she encountered in the field was dramatically different than anything she could have imagined. It was messy, chaotic, and difficult—but she was hooked. In this honest and irreverent memoir, she introduces readers to the realities of life as an aid worker. We watch as she manages a 24,000-person camp in Darfur, collects evidence for the Charles Taylor trial in Sierra Leone, and contributes to the massive aid effort to clean up a shattered Haiti. But we also see the alcohol-fueled parties and fleeting romances, the burnouts and self-doubt, and the struggle to do good in places that have long endured suffering. Tracing her personal journey from wide-eyed and naïve newcomer to hardened cynic and, ultimately, to hopeful but critical realist, Alexander transports readers to some of the most troubled locations around the world and shows us not only the seemingly impossible challenges, but also the moments of resilience and recovery.

Chasing Slow models HGTV star Erin Loechner's journey to help you break out of the faster-better-stronger trap and make small changes to refresh your perspective, renew your priorities, and shift your focus to what matters most. You're here, but you want to be there. So you spend your life narrowing this divide, and you call this your race, your journey, your path. You live your days tightening your boot straps, wiping the sweat from your brow, chasing undiscovered happiness just around the bend. And on and on you run. Viral sensation and HGTV.com star Erin Loechner knows about the chase. Before turning 30, she'd earned the title "The Nicest Girl Online" as she was praised for her authentic voice and effortless style. Her HGTV web show garnered over one million fans worldwide, and her client list includes Walt Disney World, IKEA, Martha Stewart and Home Depot. The New York Times applauded her, her friends and church admired her, and her husband and baby adored her. She had arrived at the ultimate destination. So why did she feel so lost? Through a series of steep climbs--her husband's brain tumor, bankruptcy, family loss, and public criticism--Erin learns just how much strength it takes to surrender it all, and to veer right into grace. In Chasing Slow, Erin upgrades her life through downsizing--her stuff, her obligations, her fears, her personal metric of "perfect." And ultimately, her invitation becomes yours: to turn away from the fast and frenzy, and find freedom in a new-fashioned lifestyle defined by grace. Life's answers are not always hidden where they seem. It's time to venture off the beaten path to see that we’ve already been given everything we need. We've already arrived. You see? You'll see.