Winter S Grace

AN AVALANCHE TOOK HIS SON. WHAT FOLLOWED WILL GIVE YOU LIFE. Will Kautz has written a love letter to anyone who has ever suffered a heartbreaking loss. Take a journey into the human soul and experience the hunger and the joy of a brilliant, penetrating, transformational work that will uncover your humanity and clothe you with wisdom and grace. "Beautiful, heart wrenching, amazing, powerful" E.D., British Columbia "This is one of the most inspiring works I have ever read...passionate and discerning, it discloses what we want and why we're afraid of having it. My wife found me in tears. The last chapter blew me away." J.M., Florida "This book reminds us that there is sanity in the midst of all that isn't sane and hope when despair seeks to make us its own. If we do nothing more than bear our imperfect witness to that truth, life is worth the living." R.K., Connecticut "It's been a long time - maybe never - since I've read something so deep and powerfully written, so truthful to its core. This work is beautiful in every sense of the word, even in spite of or because of the wrenching loss that occasioned it." S.B., New Hampshire

"Does Grace Grow Best in Winter?" addresses the issue of suffering from the standpoint of the sovereignty of God. It teaches that we need to learn that suffering exists, and we need to learn to suffer.

Filled with unexpected good news about growing older, Winter’s Graces highlights eleven qualities that ripen with age—including audacious authenticity, creative ingenuity, necessary fierceness, self-transcending generosity, and a growing capacity to savor life and to ride its ups and downs with humor and grace. Decades of research have established that the catastrophic conditions often associated with late life, such as severe dementia and debilitating frailty, are the exception, not the rule. Still, the mistaken idea that aging equals devastating decline persists, causing enormous and unnecessary suffering, especially for women. Drawing on decades of experience as a psychology professor and psychotherapist, Susan Stewart, PhD, weaves together inspiring folk stories that illustrate the graces of winter and recent research that validates them, along with a wealth of user-friendly tools and practices for amplifying these graces and bringing them to life. Written primarily for women over 50 seeking good news about growing older, Winter’s Graces offers adults of all ages a compelling vision of aging that celebrates its many gifts, acknowledges its challenges, and reveals how the last season of life can be the most fulfilling of all.

The Musical Adventures - Spring represents one of four seasonal stories, where a grace note is transformed into a little girl who, then, goes on to make new musical friends. Throughout Graces adventures, she, and her crew, learn about the magical things that happen when you create, play instruments, sing, and listen to all kinds of music.

"It was not long after I left the hospital in 1967 that I fell into a deep pit of depression. I was but a young girl, yet I was facing an overwhelming future - a life of total and severe paralysis. I was in desperate need for answers. . . . A young friend who often cam by my home for visits stopped by one day with a special book in hand . . . . Together, we read that book through the weeks of winter . . . . I eagerly look forward to each chapter - discovering sense in sovereignty and delighting in a new grasp on God's grace. . . . May I be the friend who stops by in your life this day? You have in your hands that same special book that I read back in that first winter of my disability. Grace grew then for me. And through grace, you will grow too!" - Joni Eareckson Tada, from the Foreword. MARGARET CLARKSON of Willowdale, Ontario, was a poet, hymn-writer, and author. She has written hundreds of articles and several books. Here she offers a thoughtful, biblical exploration of the "why" of human suffering.

Introduces Thanksgiving, describing how the holiday originated, similar festivals around the world, what people eat during the meal, the activities they do, and why it is important for families.

The Winter Elf speaks to familiar feelings from childhood, especially those of fear and grief, but also of love and security. It’s Christmas time, and Clara Rose is grieving the absence of her mother who is hospitalized. The resulting family stress leaves the child feeling lost and alone. In response, she keeps her worries and tears silent, trying hard to be a 'good little girl' and not call attention to herself. When an odd but proper English elf shows up in her yard one snowy night, the little girl sees her sacrifice of self in a new light as she learns the importance of embracing her pain and opening up with those who love her. Clara discovers that it is only through sharing her hurts and hopes that her heart can find healing. The Winter Elf revisits the nostalgic enchantment of wintertime and fairytales. Reading the tale aloud, families connect and bond in the cozy evening hours before bed and learn with Clara Rose the importance of sharing one’s heart, hurt, and hope.