My Past Decisions Have Made Me Who I Am Today

For author Doe Running Deer, life has been a series of tragedy and healing. In My Past Decisions Have Made Me Who I Am Today, she narrates the stories of her trials and tribulations, sharing how faith helped her get through the difficult periods. Using personal anecdotes to illustrate how God has worked in her life, she explores the doubts, fears, and perplexities she experienced and describes how she found comfort and guidance in the Bible and through prayer. In this memoir, she recalls growing up as the oldest of four in a small Texas town against the backdrop of her parents' alcoholism and marital issues; being molested by a cousin at an early age; being introduced to Jesus Christ in her teenage years; marrying an alcoholic; and enduring his subsequent suicide. With scriptural examples to highlight key points, My Past Decisions Have Made Me Who I am Today serves to communicate the message that there is healing and that God is listening and is rescuing his people from their hurts and pains.

This book is about life experiences, my childhood and teenage years in Jacksonville, Texas, and life experiences in the Northwest-Oregon and Washington state-as a young adult. In this book, I am trying to tell my story-being introduced to Jesus Christ in my teenage years, marrying an alcoholic, and enduring his subsequent suicide and two divorces. Ella Whitaker is a widow with two daughters, two grandsons, and one great-granddaughter. Her husband died in November 2021. In this memoir, she discusses the past decisions that have led her to her present and the present decisions that will lead her to her future. She is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and her gifts and talents are being used by God. She plans to enjoy her life on the way to where God is leading her-like a flower slowly opening up with strong, beautiful petals.

This is NOT just another book on forgiveness; this one provides the necessary tools to help you forgive profoundly, more or less instantaneously and with ease. First published in 1997, this 2nd Edition builds on the success of the first edition which has changed hundreds if not thousands of lives. The book will more than likely change your life. It will transform how you view your past and what is occurring for you in the present, especially where relationships are concerned. Unlike other forms of forgiveness, radical forgiveness is easily achieved and virtually immediate, enabling you to let go of being a victim, open your heart and raise your vibration. The simple, easy-to-use tools provided help you let go of the emotional baggage of the past and to feel the joy of living in total surrender to the process of life as it unfolds, however it unfolds. The result is vastly increased happiness, personal power and freedom.

Chasing Lightning: The Pursuit of Successful Living in America is the culmination of an exploration of the American dream and the struggle to live a “successful life.” Wondering if they were on the right life path and in the right career, author Chris Moeller and friend Brian Ardinger quit their jobs, packed up their worldly belongings, and set off on a 6-month journey across America to explore the meaning of success and happiness in today’s society. Through interviews and chance meetings with over a hundred people, they gathered information for their Quest-4 web site (www.quest-4.com) and stepped closer to understanding their own place in the world around them. Written as a travel adventure, Chasing Lightning is a parable for modern times. Join Chris and Brian on their quest as they leave their old lives behind and journey out into the unknown in search of answers. Explore the roadways and sights of America, meet and talk to people of all walks of life, hear philosophy on successful living and draw your own conclusions. Are you on your right path? Are you following your life’s calling? Is there a secret to living successfully? Join in the quest and find out…

A memoir in essays that expands on the viral sensation “The Crane Wife” with a frank and funny look at love, intimacy, and self in the twenty-first century. From friends and lovers to blood family and chosen family, this “elegant masterpiece” (Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Hunger) asks what more expansive definitions of love might offer ​us all. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, THE GUARDIAN, GARDEN & GUN "Hauser builds their life's inventory out of deconstructed personal narratives, resulting in a reading experience that's rich like a complicated dessert—not for wolfing down but for savoring in small bites." —The New York Times “Hauser’s wry, introspective investigation of their assumptions about love will likely free readers to examine their own personal narratives as well ... ‘The rare happy ending I appreciate is one that makes room for the whole painful fact of the world at the same time it offers the reader some joy,’ they write. The Crane Wife embraces this philosophy again and again as Hauser excavates their past loves and losses, thoughtfully examines them and declares the pain of love to be worth the risk.” —BookPage Ten days after calling off their wedding, CJ Hauser went on an expedition to Texas to study the whooping crane. After a week wading through the gulf, they realized they'd almost signed up to live someone else's life. Hauser releases themself from traditional narratives of happiness and goes looking for ways of living that leave room for the unexpected, making plenty of mistakes along the way. They kiss Internet strangers and officiates at a wedding. They reread Rebecca in the house their boyfriend once shared with his ex-wife and rewinds Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story to learn how not to lose yourself in a relationship. They think about Florence Nightingale at a robot convention and grief at John Belushi’s rock and roll gravesite, and the difference between those stories we’re asked to hold versus those we choose to carry. Told with the late-night barstool directness of your wisest, most bighearted friend, The Crane Wife is a book for everyone whose life doesn't look the way they thought it would; for everyone learning to find joy in the not-knowing; for everyone trying, if sometimes failing, to build a new sort of life story, a new sort of family, a new sort of home, to live in.

As a young girl growing up in a small town in Honduras, Keyla Sanders imagined her own version of the American Dream. The reality involved dangers, suffering and sacrifice during an overland journey through Guatemala and Mexico, including arrests, deportations and kidnapping. For the first time, there is a first-person account from an undocumented immigrant from the Northern Triangle countries of Central America. Keyla tells what inspired her to embark on a dangerous journey, what the journey was like, and the years of struggle she endured after attempting to navigate the U.S. immigration system. She uses her own experience to demonstrate how this broken system is as reliant on circumstance and luck as any lottery. She recounts the struggle of an undocumented immigrant while also dealing with high school, young adulthood, and eventually having her own children. Keyla's story adds the voice of an undocumented immigrant to the conversation, demonstrating that the hardships expended in achieving one's American Dream are what unite all those striving for a better life, regardless of where they were born or how they got here.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

"With its gentle affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and tasks — write yourself a thank-you letter, describe yourself at 80, for example — The Artist’s Way proposes an egalitarian view of creativity: Everyone’s got it."—The New York Times "Morning Pages have become a household name, a shorthand for unlocking your creative potential"—Vogue Over four million copies sold! Since its first publication, The Artist's Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron's novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems areas and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to free up any areas where they might be stuck, opening up opportunities for self-growth and self-discovery. The program begins with Cameron’s most vital tools for creative recovery – The Morning Pages, a daily writing ritual of three pages of stream-of-conscious, and The Artist Date, a dedicated block of time to nurture your inner artist. From there, she shares hundreds of exercises, activities, and prompts to help readers thoroughly explore each chapter. She also offers guidance on starting a “Creative Cluster” of fellow artists who will support you in your creative endeavors. A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist's Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.