Five Million Steps On A Journey Of Hope

The true story of Bob Grau's 170-day hike across 14 states from one end of the Appalacian Trail to the other.

There are some women who don’t have a desire to get married and have children. However, Samantha was not one of them. Many women in their late 30s and early 40s postpone marriage or childbearing to obtain their education, establish their careers, and become financially secure. Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to difficulties in finding Mr. Right or conceiving (or both). This can be an arduous and heartbreaking time of life, when it seems lifelong hopes and dreams of family may not be possible. Samantha delayed marriage until the age of 36 after she’d pursued advanced degrees and established her career—not entirely by choice since Mr. Right hadn’t entered her life sooner. At times she wondered if it would ever happen. Once married, she and her husband wanted kids right away, only to suffer a miscarriage and the devastating diagnosis of infertility. In this book, Samantha shares her extraordinary journey of hope. You will discover how her faith in God and perseverance led her to the right husband and overcoming infertility to have their first baby at 40. Don’t give up on your dreams, whatever they are. You still have time. Author Dr. Samantha Fitts is an educator/specialist (special education, literacy, education leadership, and adult learning), professional development presenter, and motivator. She has been in education for over twenty years. She is extremely passionate about helping others reach their professional and personal goals in life. For more information, visit www.samanthafitts.com

Something happened there that is too rare among men: We touched the soul, and we touched heaven. The encounter put fire in my bones and brought a deep humility to know that God was at work in this crazy project of mine.Hiking from Georgia to Maine sounds incredulous to most. To Lon Chenowith, it is a journey that calls him into the wild--a journey that reveals true tests of faith and will in the direst circumstances. What began as a dream in his teens to trek the Appalachian Trail takes flight with a preliminary hike with his two young boys from Amicalola Falls to Unicoi Gap. The initial intrigue wears off, and Lon quickly realizes he will be making a long, arduous journey alone, save for a few hiking partners and unique characters met along the way. As a section-hiker, Lon, best known as the Arkansas Traveler, spans the course of fourteen years, climbing 237 mountains in a backcountry with a culture all its own. The romance of trekking across the mountains quickly wears off, and the presence of God teaches him perseverance and faith. While at times lonesome and hard, the undeniable urge to return to nature keeps Lon climbing and chronicling his Five Million Steps.

Offers new hope to the more than 17 million Americans who suffer from depression Written by nationally recognized experts in the field, Beating Depression arms sufferers and their families with the knowledge and tools they need to recognize depression and make informed choices about its treatment and management. The authors explore the latest findings on the causes of depression and the treatments currently available, including medications and psychotherapeutic approaches. Readers get checklists, quizzes, and other powerful self-assessment tools to help determine if they are actually suffering from depression and to what clinical degree. And they get expert guidance on how to find help and work with physicians and mental health professionals to develop a treatment plan and to cope with problems that can arise during treatment.

Are we ever ready to say goodbye? She looked out into the yard sprinkled with spring dandelions. “Yellow flowers,” she said, searching for her words. We knew something wasn’t right. That’s when things began to fall apart for our family, when our longest goodbye journey began—the defining before-and-after moment. And now, looking back, it’s been almost a decade of slow loss and drawn-out grief as we slowly let go of our beautiful mom. In the middle of it all, though, we have learned to look for hope and chase down joy, discovering that, in spite of our pain, there are always gifts to be found, even on the hardest of days. Alzheimer’s disease affects almost fifty million people worldwide. It touches people across every walk of life. So, how do millions of people figure out how to love as they let go? The Longest Goodbye is a collection of stories and moments not just about the clinical side of memory loss–but the emotional heart journey. It is a story that shows how joy and grief are often intertwined and wrapped up together in the glorious mess of life. The Longest Goodbye encourages readers to remember the ones they love while they are still here and to intentionally celebrate and live through the pain and hard days. It’s filled with tears, hope, and bitter-sweet moments all held together by the beautiful love of a mother and daughter holding onto a life filled with memories, while learning to let go and say goodbye.

Once upon a time, one deeply troubled soul entered the woods in Georgia to hike the Appalachian Trail. Life became too much for him to handle; this would be his last hope to find any peace. Six months and five-million steps later, he emerged from the woods of Maine completely transformed: mind, body, and spirit. His long journey of physical exertion coupled with deep spiritual contemplation for months on end transformed him into the Soul Man. This hiker became a superhero of sorts, possessing the wisdom to heal a restless nation. This is the short story about our superhero, Soul Man.

This is Song-nai Rhee’s personal memoirs of an eighty-seven-year-long life between a pine grove of Songki-riin, Korea and the bank of the Siuslaw River on the West Coast, covering his early life during World War II; his existential crisis during the Korean War; his life transformation from Confucian to Christian; coming to America and Northwest Christian College; his formal education in America (resulting in two bachelors, four masters, and two PhD degrees); thirty-seven years of professional service at NCC (now Bushnell University) as a professor of history, Bible, and archaeology, as well as academic vice president/dean; and as a father, grandfather, and writer/publisher, retiring as a farmer/fisherman on the bank of the Siuslaw River. Most of all, this book is about the people, beginning with Bill Peterson in a war zone, who helped make all this and Rhee’s life possible—the meaningful connections.