Overextended And Loving Most Of It

Would you consider your life stretched to the limit? Are you a burn-the-candle-at-both-ends kind of gal with lots of room for improvement when it comes to creating margins for rest? But you actually love it and wouldn’t want it any other way? Well, so does Lisa Harper. In her humorous and packed-with-biblical-wisdom way, Lisa shows us that it is possible for a frazzled nature to be glorifying to the Lord. Every late-night conversation with a hurting friend and each precious, adopted child needing a little extra tender loving care—exhausting, yet imperative, ways to be extensions of the gospel. In each of these vignettes illustrating Lisa’s overextended life, we learn that even in the middle of our own pure motives and hectic schedules, it is only by resting in God’s sovereign mercy that we are able to keep risking our hearts to serve his people and fulfill the callings he has placed on us. Real life . . . abundant life . . . godly life is about loving Jesus and the people he allows us to rub shoulders with well—which means some days you’ll be stretched emotionally and physically. You’ll feel overextended. Thankfully God will expand our hearts and calendars to accommodate the calling. He is in the business of supplying us with new mercies every morning . . . new candles to burn, for more lives needing his light.

You are seen. You are known. You are free. You are loved. Does anyone see me? If they knew the real me, they might not accept me. So often women feel invisible, pretending to be okay while staggering under the weight of the hidden burdens they carry. God sees. He knows us inside and out—and loves us anyway. Jesus offers freedom from our burdens, promising restoration, forgiveness, and new life. The bottom line is this: You are not alone. There is hope, because every minute of every day, you are loved! Loved by God Devotional is a unique collection of inspiration from much-loved Women of Faith speakers, real-life stories from attendees sharing their remarkable experiences, and insights from some of the freshest voices resonating with women today. This devotional offers a year’s worth of inspiration with 52 weekly entries that feature a meaningful Scripture and a prayer. Organized in four sections—one for each season of the year—Loved by God Devotional shares with readers the message they so desperately need to hear: You are seen. You are known. You are free. You are loved.

Can poetry articulate something about love that philosophy cannot? The Form of Love argues that it can. In close readings of seven “metaphysical” poems, the book shows how poets of the early modern period and beyond use poetic form to turn philosophy to other ends, in order not to represent the truth about love but to create a virtual experience of love, in all its guises. The Form of Love shows how verse creates love that can’t exist without poetry’s specific affordances, and how poems can, in their impossibility, prompt love’s radical re-imagining. Like the philosophies on which they draw, metaphysical poems imagine love as an intense form of non-sovereignty, of giving up control. They even imagine love as a liberating bondage—to a friend, a beloved, a saint, a God, or a garden. Yet these poems create strange, striking versions of such love, made in, rather than through, the devices, structures, and forces where love appears. Tracing how poems think, Kuzner argues, requires an intimate form of reading: close—even too close—attention to and thinking with the text. Showing how poetry thinks of love otherwise than other fields, the book reveals how poetry and philosophy can nevertheless enter into a relation that is itself like love.

In this book, Simon Perry has brought together a discussion of politics, philosophy, religion, and science by using the Declaration of Independence as a backdrop. He questions whether Jefferson was motivated by God. Is there a role for religion in our government? Is God real or a fantasy? Is the Good Book really good? Why has man turned to God to achieve eternal life? Does the mythicism of creation prevail over evolution? Is man indoctrinated at an early age to accept God unconditionally? These are but a few of the questions that he deals with. As you read, you will discover others. He spent five years researching this book and it relies heavily on the great scholars of religion, science, and politics. This book lays bare our cognitive distortions of who we are and where we came from.

“Lisa’s fine grasp of Scripture and love for the Lord make her a trustworthy teacher, yet we learn from her own hard-earned lessons as well. She speaks and writes from a place of understanding, as she clings to God’s hand, giving us the privilege of stumbling into grace with her.” —LIZ CURTIS HIGGS, best-selling author of Bad Girls of the Bible “So, today I’ve been thinking about...things that bind us. The thought flitted around my mind and then landed for a while, likely because I was wearing a pair of too-tight jeans.” Women of Faith® speaker and author Lisa Harper relates from experience — life can be uncertain, sometimes even scary. But with a witty twinkle in her eye and a Bible in her hand, she describes what it’s like to find real security in the arms of a Savior who doesn’t just notice us but who moves heaven and earth on our behalf. Part diary, part devotional, Stumbling Into Grace weaves hilarious and poignant stories from Lisa’s own life with intimate and transformational encounters from the life of Christ. Prayers, reflection questions, and journal prompts help women dig deep into biblical truths to better understand how our Redeemer’s compassion, affection, and constancy make every single moment of life not only more enjoyable but well worth living!

Discover the answer to our culture’s need for simplicity and peace—by doing less and loving more. If you crave simplicity, yearn for peace and calm, this is the book for you. Author Chip Ingram goes beyond quick fixes and speaks to all of us who find it impossible to break free of our busy lifestyles, filled with too many good and important things that fill our schedules. The message of this book is simple: Spiritual simplicity will not be achieved by strategic attempts to control our lives and schedules but through doing less because we are able to love more. As you learn the practice of loving people, you will experience a shift from complex to simple, from hurried to peaceful, from “never enough time” to “time enough for those you love.” It’s time to redirect our focus from the complex, overextended lifestyle that keeps us running but never arriving. In Spiritual Simplicity, learn how to “reorient your life around life. The result is a life whose priorities are so radically rearranged that” (Dave Stone, author of the Faithful Families series) lasting change is finally within your reach.

Some of the world’s foremost thought leaders consider the role of leadership, love, and power in the midst of political and social upheaval. In a world where organizations and leaders face conflicts and complexity at an alarming rate, where human cruelty sometimes dominates kindness in individuals and families, and where nations hover in the shadow of moral and financial collapse, how do we find courage to forge a strong and enduring path into the future? In this book, fourteen of the world’s foremost thought leaders consider the role of leadership, love, and power in the midst of political and social upheaval. Included are interviews with former president of the Philippines Corazon Aquino; servant-leaders Margaret Wheatley, Ken Blanchard, George Zimmer, and James Autry; and others. They engage the significant leadership questions of our time and reveal an uncommon and life-affirming path toward families, organizations, and nations imbued with generosity and meaning. Shann Ray Ferch is Professor of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University and author of Forgiveness and Power in the Age of Atrocity: Servant-Leadership as a Way of Life. He is also the editor of the International Journal of Servant-Leadership. Larry C. Spears is CEO of the Spears Center for Servant-Leadership. His many books include The Spirit of Servant-Leadership, coedited with Ferch. Mary McFarland is Director of Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins.

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts. Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him--and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth. With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more. “As surprising as it is delicious.”—BCCB, starred review “Fun with a twist of supernatural and Southern charm.” —VOYA “The romance, coming-of-age aspects, and a well-drawn heroine with a crackling wit will lure in readers.” —Booklist