The Helping Heart

Four sisters alone on a hiking trip. Will it make them or break them? Helen, nearly forty, returns to Stella Mare after twenty years with secrets. The village reminds her of things she’d rather forget, including her grief from her mother’s death, but she hopes to strengthen connections with her family. Turns out, being with her sisters is impossible. They don’t understand her, and she can’t understand them, though she’s tried. When the bickering becomes too contentious to be ignored, Helen tries to fix it. A hiking trip is Helen’s answer, even when the hike consultant suggests they’re better suited for a day at the spa. To her surprise, her sisters agree to a four-day backpacking trip along the Bay of Fundy. Only a few kilometers from home, it’s truly a world apart. The Fundy Footpath, beautiful and challenging, offers gifts: a chance to lead, to follow, to take care of each other, to allow others to care. But the gift you get might not be the gift you wanted. Adversity makes a trip into an adventure, and adventure abounds, testing everyone to their limits. With only themselves to count on, their connections are strained and tested, and the truth begs to be heard. Helen’s secrets threaten to derail them all, but bringing her shame to light is too painful. Except these are her sisters…. On the hiking trail, perhaps no one will get what they want, but will they get what they deserve? The Madison sisters embark on a journey of secrets and rediscovery in the final volume of the Sisters of Stella Mare quartet.

"Like the subject about which she writes, Perlman engages the reader immediately, permitting a view into the author's rich and varied experiences, threaded throughout with profound compassion for all those who seek, suffer, and strive. . . . [This is] a welcome and wise effort, written with grace, sense and deep humanism. Were it in my power I would make it mandatory reading for all those who seek to offer others help."—Shirley Cooper, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

How do we get students to "ache with caring" about their writing instead of mechanically stringing words together? We spend a lot of time teaching the craft of writing but we also need to devote time to helping students write with purpose and meaning. For decades, Georgia Heard has guided students into more authentic writing experiences by using heart maps to explore what we all hold inside: feelings, passions, vulnerabilities, and wonderings. In Heart Maps, Georgia shares 20 unique, multi-genre heart maps to help your students write from the heart, such as the First Time Heart Map, Family Quilt Heart Map, and People I Admire Heart Map. You'll also find extensive support for using heart maps, including: tips for getting started with heart maps writing ideas to jumpstart student writing in multiple genres from heart maps suggested mentor texts to provide additional inspiration. Filled with full-color student heart maps, examples of the resulting writing, along with online access to 20 different uniquely designed reproducible heart map templates, Heart Maps will be a practical tool for awakening new writing possibilities and engaging and motivating your students' writing throughout the year.

These lessons help children learn to trust God, obey and follow Jesus, help and share with others, and be thankful and kind. A 52-Week Bible Journey–Just for Kids!Route 52™ is a Bible-based journey that will take kids through the Bible every year from age 4-6. Every lesson features: Scripturally sound themes Culturally relevant, hands-on activities Age-appropriate Bible-learning challenges Reproducible life-application activity pages Route 52™ Bible lessons will help kids learn the Bible and how to apply it to their lives at their own level of spiritual development. These reproducible Bible lessons are appropriate for Bible school, children's church, youth group, kids club, and midweek Bible study programs.

Do you want a better prayer life? Need more joy in your heart? Wish you felt closer to God? In this short action guide, author John Christopher Frame, PhD, sets out a quick seven-day plan to help you revitalize your walk with God. 7 Days to Upping Your Prayer Life, Loving Others, and Having More Joy is an easy-to-follow workbook that can lead you to become the better Christian you want to be. You’ll discover: --Seven powerful concepts that can motivate you on your faith journey and help you improve your relationship with God --Short daily readings, brief Bible passages, and compelling prayers that can strengthen your spirituality --Reflective questions and doable challenges so you can experience God’s greater presence in your life If you like spirit-filled devotionals and practical steps to help you live out your faith, then you’ll love this inspirational action guide. Grab your copy of 7 Days to Upping Your Prayer Life, Loving Others, and Having More Joy to renew your spiritual life and experience a deeper level of faith.

A Story from the Heart... Fifth-grader Javon has the big responsibility of being a Book Buddy to a kindergartner named Richard. But when he meets Richard for the first time, he isn't so sure he's up for the challenge. Richard won't talk to Javon or even look at him. He seems sad, but Javon quickly realizes that Richard reminds him a whole lot of himself at that age, and Javon is determined to help his new friend. Both boys learn a lot that year, but what Javon learns from Richard is the most important lesson of all: that helping someone find their happiness can make your own heart happy, too. Children need to be taught they have unique gifts they can be proud of and that make them special. They need to know how to cope when the world feels like a big, scary place, and they need to be reminded of the things that make them happy so when they are sad, they can remember those things. With these tools in their tool belts, children can grow in self-confidence and learn to thrive in their world.