Expect Something Beautiful

Is motherhood only about self-sacrifice? Or will it bless your life, too? You know that motherhood makes high demands. Yet you know it’s worth the cost because it benefits your child. On some grand level, it’s also good for civilization. And of course, it’s a calling from God. So is that what you’re doing here—pouring out your life for God and others while getting little in return except the consolation that you’ve done the right thing? Laura Booz wants you to expect something more out of motherhood—something truly beautiful. You might be asking: Will I lose myself in motherhood? Compromise my career? Squander my potential? What’s the point of all that unseen (and uncelebrated) serving, cleaning, caring, snuggling, discipling, and praying? Laura wants to help you see that behind all the giving that mothers do is the receiving of something special—a profound growth in God that is cultivated through motherhood’s everyday ups and downs. Let this book give you a renewed vision of motherhood: to see God’s good purpose for you as a mother, a woman, and a follower of Christ.

When she goes looking for "something beautiful" in her city neighborhood, a young girl finds beauty in many different forms.

In The Netherlands, the arts have gained a sacralized status, while religion is increasingly viewed through the lens of heritage. The dynamic resonance of sacred forms this results in, is exemplary for the postsecular. Exploring this resonance, this book offers a strong counterweight to the popular trope of the arts having replaced religion in secularized societies. Instead it approaches artistic performance, religion, and its heritage as mutually engaging sacred forms. Lieke Wijnia thoroughly connects theoretical perspectives on the sacred with ethnographic research at the annual festival Musica Sacra Maastricht. She explores the continued relevance of a broad conceptual approach to the sacred, as well as the practical side to negotiating the sacred at the festival. The resulting analyses shed new light on topics like musical performance as generator of the sacred, how art and heritage impact the continuity of religion in secularized societies, and the fragility of artistic performance in the contemporary fragmented framework of the sacred. This book offers an innovative and interdisciplinary interpretation of the continuing significant role of art and religion in postsecular societies.

Yvette Manessis Corporon grew up listening to her grandmother's stories about how the people of the small Greek island Erikousa hid a Jewish family -- a tailor named Savvas and his daughters -- from the Nazis during World War II. Nearly 2,000 Jews from that area died in the concentration camps, but even though everyone on Erikousa knew Savvas and his family were hiding on the island, no one ever gave them up, and the family survived the war. Years later, Yvette couldn't get the story of the Jewish tailor out of her head. She decided to track down the man's descendants -- and eventually found them in Israel. Their tearful reunion was proof to her that evil doesn't always win. But just days after she made the connection, her cousin's child was gunned down in a parking lot in Kansas, a victim of a Neo-Nazi out to inflict as much harm as he could. Despite her best hopes, she was forced to confront the fact that seventy years after the Nazis were defeated, it was still happening today. As Yvette and her family wrestled with the tragedy in their own lives, the lessons she learned from the survivors of the Holocaust helped her confront and make sense of the present.

It's weird how every woman reacts differently. How each pregnancy differs. Mine is definitely unique. My sense of smell became stronger, picking up the faintest odors, and my stomach was in constant turmoil. Those were the first signs. And then I started eating. And eating. If I don't, I get a migraine and people's faces become blurry. Electronics seem to malfunction in my presence. And the nightmares-they don't stop. Something is changing my body. Something that should have never happened. Something that my husband and I had prevented from happening. Something people say is miraculous. The bigger I get, the more frequently I encounter people who become possessed. And the more often I wind up questioning if I am carrying a miracle baby. The closer I get to the due date, the more I love this child and the more confident I am that I will protect my baby from anything. Even its fate. DNA Demons N Angels contains violence, swearing, and sex scenes.

Do you ever feel like there’s more to life than what you are currently experiencing? From an early age, society would have women believe that our worth is found in outer appearance. We are made to think that being pretty and popular will make us happy. But what happens when we don’t feel pretty? When we never seem to be quite enough? When we’re rejected or made to feel inadequate or even invisible? There is so much more to you than what the world would have you see or believe. Join authors Jackie Tinkler and Amber Edwards as they share biblical encouragement weaved together with personal stories of how God changed them in the midst of disappointments, insecurities, and rejections. You will be encouraged as you see how He used the tattered and torn threads of these women’s lives to create an amazing life tapestry and gave them Something Beautiful to enjoy and celebrate. It’s time to redefine our beauty and worth according to God’s Word. b

Beautiful Broken Things is a moving story of friendship from debut author Sara Barnard, shortlisted for the YA Book Prize and selected as part of Zoella's Book Club. Now with a bold cover look. I was brave She was reckless We were trouble Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne's past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realizes, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own. 'I felt like I was living this book' - Zoella 'This book is exquisite, and exactly what YA needs . . . This author is one to watch!' - Holly Bourne, author of Am I Normal Yet?

"Mouse, Elephant, and Giraffe have so much in common. They like the same games. They eat the same snacks. They need no one else! Or do they? Perhaps there's something beautiful in making new friends"--