Ordinary Miracles

Find out how people have learned to cope with their troubles and have become stronger by the very act of overcoming obstacles and surviving catastrophes. These are their stories, written by the people who lived them, their families, or those who helped them save the day.

After a lifetime's close observation of the continent, one of the world's finest Africa correspondents has penned a landmark book on life and death in modern Africa. It takes a guide as observant, experienced, and patient as Richard Dowden to reveal its truths. Dowden combines a novelist's gift for atmosphere with the scholar's grasp of historical change as he spins tales of cults and commerce in Senegal and traditional spirituality in Sierra Leone; analyzes the impact of oil and the internet on Nigeria and aid on Sudan; and examines what has gone so badly wrong in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo. Dowden's master work is an attempt to explain why Africa is the way it is, and enables its readers to see and understand this miraculous continent as a place of inspiration and tremendous humanity.

That's what Mark Filkins has always believed. But it seems as if he's also gotten a lot he hasn't asked for, like feeling that he's a slightly faded copy of his twin brother, or his parents' plan that both boys will grow up to be preachers. When he meets Dr. Colin Hendrick, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose research Mark's family disapproves of, Mark realizes that he can -- and should -- make choices for himself. But when Colin reveals a terrible secret, Mark knows the time has come to ask for the most important thing of all...and put his own faith on the line.

We walk to God, how wondrous our task, Simple truth, no questions left to ask. We walk to God, an awesome holy thing, Our open hearts are all were asked to bring. Ordinary Miracles is an oxymoron in a world where peace seems unreliable and prayers seem unanswered. But what if the real world exists where miracles are the norm? Miracles of joy and forgiveness always occur within our minds, and their external form may or may not be apparent to us. However, since miracles always come from love, they always offer an inner experience of bliss. The love that causes miracles is only ordinary because it is always present within us. Miracles are ordinary because they are our true nature, not a bonus that was earned by someone extra-ordinary. No matter how successfully weve hidden our inner spark of love, it remains with us, always the truth of who we are, always awaiting our consent to offer miracles. The poetry of Ordinary Miracles is the authors response to the inner Voice for God, what she calls the Holy Spirit. Inspired by A COURSE in MIRACLES, these poems celebrate the truth that we always have a choice: to invest ourselves in thoughts of kindness rather than criticism, happiness rather than sorrow. But whatever we choose, we cannot change the magnificent reality of what we are. The poems are written as an acknowledgment that the Voice for God offers a very personal relationship with each of us. The Voice for God is always patient, always answers, always loves us, and to our little effort adds the strength of God. In the COURSE, Jesus reminds us, Love waits on welcome, not on time (Text, chapter 13) The most profound journey we each make is to that place within where God patiently awaits our certain return.

After nearly three decades of providing medical care for women and men facing breast cancer, surgeon S. David Nathanson calls the survival rates today an ordinary miracle. Ordinary because the vast majority of patients now do live at least 20 years after diagnosis due to enormous progress that has been made in medicine; and a miracle too because of the intangible qualities such as faith and hope that seem key to success in battling the disease. In this book, survivors describe their experiences, emotions, and means to overcome the disease. S. David Nathanson is an esteemed, longtime surgeon who calls the survival rates today for women and men facing breast cancer nothing short of an ordinary miracle. Ordinary because the vast majority of patients live at least two decades after diagnosis, due to great advances that have been made in early detection, surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. But also a miracle because we know that key elements for a woman or man succeeding in a personal battle against breast cancer include completely intangible qualities of courage, fortitude, trust, persistence, faith, and hope. Although science cannot completely explain it, a supportive network of family and friends with those qualities also empower patient survival and recovery. In these pages, Nathanson shares stories from his patients, teaching us about the experience of breast cancer and explaining how they found and fueled the will and power to defeat the disease. Even surgeon Nathanson himself cannot fully describe what goes through the hearts and minds of breast cancer patients as they discover, deal with, and finally triumph over the diagnosis. So in this book he acts as a narrator, letting his ordinary yet miraculous cancer survivors tell their stories, certainly filled with fear of the known and unknown, and with pain, but opening up to courage, love, sometimes humor, and finally hope. It is hope that firms up their resilience; hope that initiates their fortitude. Hope is an important component of healing, says the surgeon. Seventy-one survivors, including one man, tell their stories to ilustrate every step of the experience.

When approximately 340 babies are born every minute worldwide (or nearly 490,000 births per day),1 conception seems to be quite an ordinary occurrence. Well, for the fertile world anyway. But for Krissi and her husband Rob, having a baby was almost impossible. No one dared to say they were infertile, not even their doctors. And suddenly the deep ultimate fear of never being completely fulfilled kept them awake night after night. But giving up was not an option. Krissi and Rob were soon immersed into in-vitro fertilization, their only chance for success. It was a world of hormone injections, countless blood tests, anxiety, and exhaustionall mixed with hope. IVF represented both an amazing, wonderful medical advancement and a demanding, frightening regimen with no guarantees, and often, heartache. Whether or not youve struggled with infertility, Krissis journey will touch your heart with its honesty and devotion. From the bittersweet news that her twin sister conceived in her first month of trying, and her own mothers death, to the joy of hearing her daughters heartbeat for the first time and the sweetness of a 2:00 a.m. feeding after her twins were born, this is a story of acceptance, perseverance, and love. 1 WikiAnswers: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_babies_are_born_every_day_in_the_world

It only takes ordinary miracles to change your life. Jasmine Smith: forty next month and not ready for it; married to a man she likes and not prepared to give up on love; smothered by life's mundanity, and yet drawn towards its mystery. She wants the sort of love that makes her feel more alive, she wants wild sex in stalle d lifts with film stars. She wants something else.... Jasmine Smith is in desperate need of a miracle. And with the help of an adventurous school friend, a man called Charlie and a pig called Rosie she is about to find one. A sharp, funny, moving novel and an exhilarating invitation to step out of quiet desperation and re-discover the magic in life and in love.

Where is God in the midst of temper tantrums, laundry, and accidents? Find out in this honest devotional memoir about mothering three busy boys. In Ordinary Miracles, ordained Mennonite minister and blogger Rachel S. Gerber gives voice to the grit of parenting with stories of hope. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, who failed at first to recognize Christ walking beside them, Rachel learns to discover the gifts and holy calling hidden in the events of harried family life. Overburdened parents will find reassurance in Rachel’s own story of how, in her darkest hour of disorientation, in the most mundane and ordinary days of motherhood, and in moments of exhilaration, joy, and beauty, God is present.