"Wait is a necessary source of comfort for those plagued by intractable problems."
– Foreword Reviews

What are you waiting for?

Everyone has endured the endless traffic light, the queue that goes nowhere, the elevator music piped through the phone line. But what of those periods in your life when everything seems on hold? When you can't do the next thing in your professional or personal life because you can't get to it?

Waiting—be it for health, a life partner, a child, a job—can be an agony. The persistently unrealized goal feels like an endless road. And hope's constant deferment can be exhausting. A firm answer against the thing you're hoping for—"no"—might be easier than this constant lack of closure. It might be easier to give it up.

But what if waiting means to be something else? Waiting doesn't have to mean idleness. Our prolonged state of need might teach us to look beyond the desired goal to something infinitely better. We find lessons on this throughout the Bible and, if we are paying attention, in our own lives.

Rather than fostering frustration, periods of waiting might have great truths to tell us. It might show us that hope is worthwhile. Waiting might even be a gift in and of itself.

Study and Discussion Guide for the book Wait

What are you waiting for?

Everyone has endured the endless traffic light, the queue that goes nowhere, the elevator music piped through the phone line. But what of those periods in your life when everything seems on hold? When you can't do the next thing in your professional or personal life because you can't get to it?

Waiting—be it for health, a life partner, a child, a job—can be an agony. The persistently unrealized goal feels like an endless road. And hope's constant deferment can be exhausting. A firm answer against the thing you're hoping for—"no"—might be easier than this constant lack of closure. It might be easier to give it up.

But what if waiting means to be something else? Waiting doesn't have to mean idleness. Our prolonged state of need might teach us to look beyond the desired goal to something infinitely better. We find lessons on this throughout the Bible and, if we are paying attention, in our own lives.

Rather than fostering frustration, periods of waiting might have great truths to tell us. It might show us that hope is worthwhile. Waiting might even be a gift in and of itself.

Join Rebecca Brewster Stevenson in a guided discussion and reflection on the lessons shared within her award-winning book Wait: Thoughts and Practice in Waiting on God. This guide is designed to be used together with award-winning source book

"Relevant, challenging, and accessible." –Brother Dennis Gibbs, Community of Divine Love

Our lives are busy, much more so than they ought to be. A demanding lifestyle calls for a healthy dose of spiritual refreshment, the kind that can go the distance. That’s where the brief meditations in Week by Week come in. Each reflection presents a topic to chew on, expressed in relatively few words; something to mull over.

Life is rhythmed with spiritual seasons, each providing its own challenges and joys; each calling for its own medicine. Souls, not just bodies, need to be able to adapt, refresh, reboot, and readjust to changing climates. As we move through the seasons of life, may God’s healing power enter to bring us what we need.

This collection of meditations and reflective questions is designed to adjust with your needs for the season you are in. With one meditation per week, this book can be read and enjoyed topically or in the printed order.

"The product of a rare author, someone who is both as deeply grounded in Christian tradition as one can imagine but at the same time has the profound ability to touch others with insights of practical depth." –The Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls, Bishop of the Episcopal Church

Four kingdoms are locked in a horrible war—a war that, if lost, will surrender innocent lives to the power and control of King Kayne, the barbaric and bloodthirsty king of the South. The kings and queen of the North, East, and West have no choice but to join forces against the South if they’re going to hold onto everything they hold dear.

But the northern Queen’s brother has a different ambition in mind, and sees the South as a route to power. While Kayne spends his time traveling across the Great Sea, seeking out herbs and potions to enhance his abilities, Kristofer rises amongst the ranks to become his right hand and leads the people in the king’s absence.

Bewildered and devastated by Kristofer’s betrayal, Queen Elora of the North and lifelong ally King Rian of the West join their armies to fight against him. As they seek to save their kingdoms, Elora and Rian face an excruciating struggle between the love they once had for Kristofer and their duty to deal the fatal blow.

Fans of Christopher Paolini, Laura Sebastian, and Chloe Gong are sure to devour this action-packed debut from D.S. Churchill.

Inspired by his immigrant physician mother, who surmounted multiple obstacles in her forty-five year-career, Dr. Friedman worked through a twenty-year battle with depression to realize the life-saving power of committing himself to love, spirit, and service. This story of his personal journey toward wholeness offers thoughtful advice for those who suffer and encouragement for those aspiring to careers in the healing arts.

Where Spirit Touches Matter: A journey toward wholeness is a book about health, healing, and hope by a physician who has spent more than thirty-five years helping patients find relief from pain and suffering.

Dr. Friedman writes: "On a journey to Tibet, while circling what is widely considered the holiest mountain on Earth, Mount Kailash, which sources the five great rivers of Asia with its runoff, I heard the myth that one of the rivers, the Saraswati, existed only in nonmaterial form. In this form, it contributed a spiritual and vitalistic energy to the holy Ganges, which arises at the convergence of four rivers in the Himalayan region of India.

"Eight years later, on my last journey to India, I stood in front of the gorge where the Saraswati River originates, and I wept. I wept because I saw that the nonmaterial had become material, and that the chasm between the mythological and the physically real had been bridged. This is the meeting place of spirit and matter that I have pursued in endless forms throughout my life.

"This book chronicles a sampling of my experiences of that space between. It honors the continuously moving stream running through all of time and space, filled wholly with the presence of a loving consciousness. I am grateful to have been a participant in the flow of that stream and to have been given the opportunity to return whatever love I can into that current."

Growing up in the suburbs in the 1950s was a completely different experience than growing up after the year 2000. Just about everything was self-created and directed. From a very early age, we left our house right after breakfast and would return in time for supper. No parent or adult told us what to do to occupy our time. Mostly, they told us what not to do and we paid little attention to that advice.

Each new adventure took us to its logical or illogical conclusion. Sometimes a lesson was learned, more often than not the hard way. This is a journey through those experiences, many of which are not repeatable today.

Growing up is mental, and growing older is physical. Both form integral parts of the experiential library. Whether in the late 1800s, the mid-1950s or now, it is the best time to be alive in an ever-changing world.

Join C.M. Rip Cunningham in his recollections of what it means to grow up in an ever-shifting environment, supplemented by excerpts from As the Twig is Bent by Dr. John H. Cunningham.

A journey in defying cancer

In this story about her harrowing battle with a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer, Dr. Julia Burns encourages readers to take charge of their own health by seeking multiple medical opinions and fighting for a treatment plan that meets their emotional and spiritual needs as well as their physical needs.

Chapter by chapter Julia shares lessons learned from her own journey through cancer. The numbers were abysmal: her odds of survival were so low some wondered why she should even bother fighting. Julia didn't care what the numbers said—she defied the odds and found a path where few had dared to look.

Julia Burns inspires others who face seemingly insurmountable challenges to take heart, to advocate for themselves, and to pursue the path that makes them feel well and whole—no matter the odds.

An elderly mother, an aging son, and life’s final journey
"Winter Stars is a gift — a modern classic of frontier literature documenting the uncertain journey into the country of caregiving." –Michael J. Fox.

Dave Iverson was a busy broadcast journalist recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when he decided to do something he’d never quite imagined: He moved in to take care of his 95-year-old mom. Winter Stars is the moving story of their ten-year caregiving journey.

"The resulting memoir is a love story you won't soon forget," writes Elizabeth Farnsworth, former chief correspondent for The PBS NewsHour and author of A Train Through Time.

By the end of this decade, 74 million Americans will be over the age of 65, including every member of the Baby Boom generation. The pandemic prompted more Americans to consider caring for their parents at home, but as Iverson learned, the gritty, life-changing reality caregiving delivers requires more than good intentions. He didn’t know that his mom’s dementia would pose more challenges than his Parkinson’s. He didn’t know he’d be capable of getting so angry. He didn’t know that becoming a caregiver means experiencing love and loss, anger and insight—usually when exhausted and often on the same day. And he didn’t know that moving in with his mom would challenge and change him more than any other life experience.

"A deeply moving memoir, Winter Stars is still more than that — it is a guide to finding the help we all need, in one way or another, as life poses new and different challenges," praises Ron Elving, Senior Editor and Correspondent, NPR

For the vast number of families who are confronting —or will soon confront—a caregiving journey, Winter Stars offers an intimate, unvarnished portrait of the challenges, choices, and life lessons that lie ahead.

"Honest, comforting, and true, Winter Stars is a testament to the power of family love," says Ann Packer, best-selling author of The Dive from Clausen’s Pier and Songs Without Words.

Meditations from the Psalms and Proverbs to help you ponder the beauty of God’s Word and grow in worship and wisdom.

The inspired prayers of Psalms range through the entire gamut of human emotions: faith and doubt; elation and sorrow; hope and despair; confidence and terror; love and hate. We read magnificent paeans of praise, and howling wails of complaint. With utter honesty, they allow us to express our hearts to the LORD, knowing that he hears us. With a growing crescendo, they point us back to God who cares for his people. Through them, we learn how to worship.

The Book of Proverbs contains wise sayings from David’s son Solomon and others. On the surface, it seems to focus on this life and how to live it well. Here we learn about sex, money, and power; the proper use of the tongue, relating well to others, and the path to success. From the opening chapter to the end, however, one theme dominates: If we want to be wise, we need to fear and to love God.

Victoria Claflin Woodhull (1838-1927) became the first woman to run for President. Tennessee Celeste Claflin (1845-1923) beguiled the richest man in America, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who fell completely in love with her. Learn how they ruthlessly manipulated Wall Street and the Gold Exchange endangering the entire US economy.

Volume One of The Victoria Woodhull Saga, OUTRAGEOUS: Rise to Riches tells the poignant, lascivious, and compelling inside story from Victoria’s personal point of view.

“Victoria Woodhull is one of the most fascinating but forgotten characters in American history. She deserves to be better known by anyone who cares about gender equality and the ongoing fight to make America a more tolerant and just country—kudos to Neal Katz for bringing her story to life for a new generation of readers.” –Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher

El espíritu de la juventud y la tecnología pueden cambiar el mundo.

Con una tragedia tras otra golpeando su aldea -accidentes, enfermedades- los gemelos Dakuntu y Sakuntu están desesperados por encontrar una forma de ayudar a sus seres queridos. Su pasión por la lectura los conduce a un descubrimiento transformador: internet.

Recién iniciados en el mundo de la tecnología, devoran cada libro que encuentran sobre internet y, más tarde, sobre programación. Entonces tienen una idea brillante. Si logran ponerla en práctica, podrían salvar a toda su aldea y abrir una nueva era para sus amigos y familiares.

"Los guerreros del Código" no es solo una historia sobre ciencia y tecnología llegando a zonas remotas. Es también una historia de amor, compasión y del poder de hacer todo lo posible por quienes amamos.

Daniel Amadi disfruta identificar problemas y usar la programación para resolverlos. A través de sus publicaciones y talleres, busca fomentar la curiosidad por el código e inspirar la creatividad en muchas mentes.

Beth Delaney, a nurse struggling with grief and heartbreak, joins a Bible study group in search of healing and connection. ​There, she meets John Beaumont, a successful CEO with a passion for ministry but a longing for deeper fulfillment. ​Together, they embark on a whirlwind romance, navigating family tensions, career challenges, and personal trials. ​

As their love grows, so do the obstacles they face—health crises, false accusations, and heartbreaking losses. Yet, through every storm, Beth and John lean on their faith, discovering the power of forgiveness, prayer, and trust in God’s plan.

Perfect for fans of inspirational romance, Steadfast Love is a moving testament to the strength of love and the hope that shines even in life’s darkest moments. A story of redemption, healing, and unwavering faith. ​

It's 1978, and Jennifer Morgan, a sassy New Yorker, has escaped to the counterculture village of Flanders, Massachusetts. Her peaceful life is disrupted when one of her customers at the Café Galadriel is found dead.  Everyone is a suspect—including the gentle artisan woodworker, the Yeats-wannabe poet, the town's anti-war hero, the peace-loving Episcopalian minister, and the local organic farmer who can hold a grudge.

Concern for her community prompts Jennifer to investigate the murder with the sometimes-reluctant help of Ford McDermott, a young police officer. Little does she know that the solution lies in the hidden past.

Part of the Solution blends snappy dialogue, unconventional settings, and a classic oldies soundtrack, capturing the essence of a traditional whodunnit in a counterculture era. ​

After the Allied D-Day landings in June 1944, Paris was liberated in late August, and the rest of France was freed in the following weeks. However, two pockets of German occupation in Royan and La Rochelle, both cities along the Atlantic coast, remained occupied for several months more.

Blocking access to Bordeaux, the city of Royan would end in martyrdom under a carpet of Allied bombs on January 5, 1945. But the fortress of La Rochelle, with its port, submarine base, and German garrison of 14,000 soldiers guarding the historic city and its 30,000 civilians, would later be delivered intact to Allied forces by its occupier.

By what perilous negotiations were two enemy officers able to avoid disaster in the besieged city? Two men of honor, French Commander Hubert Meyer and German Admiral Ernst Schirlitz, strove to see beyond the war toward reconciliation and the reconstruction of Europe.

Korvo, Merin, Bryce, and Tiernan have permission to open a school for Magics in Kaybrum, but the work is only beginning. The right to learn didn’t come with books or teachers or funding, and putting a school where a correctional facility used to be brings its own challenges and trauma.

The more they learn about the Refuge, the more atrocities they discover. When Bryce finds a grave on the property, Korvo is pushed to his limits. Aer is gone, and the man behind it all, the General, is still out there. Craving justice and revenge, Korvo leaves to hunt down the General. Without Korvo to lead the school, Bryce and Merin must step up and care for all the students still grappling with their newly tolerated magic.

As their found family spreads across the continent, they’ll have to learn to be as strong individually as they are together before the progress they’ve made slips away. But the continent has been fighting for years, and all-out-war is one misstep away.

This educational book teaches children facts about gray whales and their ocean home from the perspective of Carrie Newell, the author's dog, Koda, as the narrator. It is based on true stories and experiences she has had with whales and all three of her dogs for decades. Many of the drawings are from photographs or a compilation of photographs with an artistic flair to describe Koda’s story. The book is illustrated by Jack Wiens, who accurately represents marine life and the dogs’ personalities.

The book is fully illustrated in color and includes a glossary and classroom questions and activities at the back of the book. Topics of discussion are:

• Different types of whales
• Whale behaviors
• How whales feed and what they eat
• Identifying the individual whales who live in Depoe Bay, Oregon
• How Carrie trained her dogs to spot and interact with the whales
• Whale encounters

When Celia Finch arrives at the Bingham Reserve in the North Carolina mountains, something is very wrong. Celia is supposed to be on a much-needed family vacation, but when she hears whispers about a missing woman in the beautiful but treacherous landscape, she can't ignore the pull of the mystery.

Did Pamela Stevens get lost? Was she lying injured on the trail? Or did something more sinister happen? Soon, Celia is mired in the middle of a potential murder investigation, and everyone has something to hide:

The Type-A Resort Manager
The Devastated Husband
The Rest-on-his-Laurels Deputy
The Grizzled Local Water-Sports Guide

With each passing day, the road to unraveling the mysery grows colder and the odds of finding the lost hiker alive diminish. Despite the risk to her family, her sanity, and her safety, Celia refuses to give up the search. She's been down this dark path of obsession in a case before, and this time she is determined to find the missing woman alive.

This inspiring book offers a week-by-week approach to mindfulness, featuring focus words, actionable suggestions, and stunning original watercolor artwork that connects you to the beauty of nature. Designed to integrate mindfulness into the seasons of your life, it helps you embrace change, cultivate calmness and joy, and discover deeper purpose and meaning. With qualities like awareness, gratitude, and courage at its core, 52 Mindful Weeks encourages you to honor your authentic self and foster a balanced, fulfilling life.

Follow the meditations in order or by theme. This book will be your companion in cultivating presence, inner harmony, and connection to the world around you.

Part-time sleuth Blanche Murninghan and her love, Emilio Del Sierra, are enjoying a reunion on Santa Maria Island when Emilio gets news that his long-lost aunt and cousin need his help—in Argentina. Posing as tourists, Emilio and Blanche head out to the luxurious pink estancia, La Palma, on the pampa to unravel the plot endangering Emilio's family.

Escapees from World War II are managing La Palma, and they have a lot to hide. Blanche is intent on exposing them. She has help: from Emilio and Tomás with his divina tango partner, Anna de Gamoure, the mysterious and handsome Guillermo de Losada Iglesias, and Lusita, the elusive kitchen maid who knows more than she’s letting on.

Blanche maintains her touristy cover to snare the schemers, but around every corner a new twist threatens to put a stranglehold on her efforts. Blanche must right the wrongs before time can tango away.

Hot Tango in Argentina is the fifth installment in the Blanche Murninghan Mysteries. Known for a lively cast of characters and atmospheric settings, each mystery can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story or read in publication order, starting with Saving Tuna Street.

Beatrix Patterson has faced monsters before, but in a world teetering on the edge of social change, she comes up against her most complicated case yet. In one chaotic morning, her friend has been arrested following a fight during a strike at the railroad, the railroad owner was found murdered, and another close friend admits to being blackmailed.

Amid growing tensions between the Union Pacific Railroad and workers' strikes, Beatrix must go undercover before more people are killed or injured. But as she dives into this investigation, she finds one consistent group at the center.

In order to bring down the racial supremacist group digging its claws into Santa Barbara, California, she must put her intense loathing aside to stop the threat before it can reach Thomas, their baby girl Birdy, and the life they're building. With deadly secrets everywhere she turns, Beatrix has to keep her cards close to her chest if she hopes to escape this case unscathed.

Jacob Hart has always been convinced there is an answer to any problem. That belief propelled him to a successful engineering career at corporate giant, GoldOrb Diversified. But following an abrupt retirement and his wife's untimely death, Jacob suffers an existential crisis. The man who once believed that anything could be solved becomes all consumed with uncovering the role of a higher power in his seemingly crumbling world. Plagued with prophetic visions, he travels to Lake Paradise in pursuit of his coveted answer to life's mysteries.

Joined in his quest by a kind Rabbi who has lost his faith, an unruly Ivy League professor, and the powerful CEO of GoldOrb, Jacob enters into a philosophical pursuit for the ages. But the troubles of the real world follow the friends to paradise, and soon they are ensnared in a high stakes political scandal that threatens to destroy everything.

The Overexamined Life of Jacob Hart tests the bonds of friendship, family, and country and infuses existential questions from time immemorial with modernity, intrigue, and sheer excitement.

"Music is life. Music is a reflection of who we are as humans. Music tells us things that words can’t, it ignites feelings in us that we didn’t know we had, and it can reach a depth that nothing else can.” —Susan Graham, renowned American mezzo-soprano

Music has existed as long as there have been people to listen. It takes on many forms and is many things, providing entertainment, emotion, storytelling, and most of all, magic for all who hear.

In revealing and genuine interviews, Larry Ruttman converses with world-renowned musicians of the 21st century and engages them in an approachable manner. Dive into the recesses of their minds to discover the influences and inspiration behind classical music and other popular genres such as pop, jazz, folk, Americana, and many other genres impacting today’s musical culture.

Perfect for dedicated fans, determined students, and the casually interested listener to music of all genres, Intimate Conversations: Face to Face with Matchless Musicians is sure to inspire, fascinate, and entertain.

Eliza Fox must be smarter than the police and a step ahead of the killer.

When an exchange student is found dead in the music practice rooms of Wexford College, there are few suspects and no clear answers. Martina Noto's parents will fly into California from Rome as soon as they can, but until then the nearest relatives are Martina's cousins: Private Investigator Eliza Fox and her mother, Francesca Noto-Fox.

As detectives Byron Comstock and Jessica Fonseca get familiar with the case, Eliza is determined to help catch Martina's killer. She quickly begins her own investigation and is soon caught up in the twists and turns of finding the murderer, a far cry from her usual work as a paralegal. Often out of her depth, Eliza must overcome her own inexperience and learn to trust her instincts as she fumbles through her first high-stakes case.

Filled with both humor and suspense, this is one traditional mystery novel you don't want to miss.

After all, why should not some humans be like angels? If our spirit has the same origin and the same destination, we’re but pilgrims on the Earth.

Documented throughout various times, cultures, religions, and geographical locations are stories of spiritual events that transcend the human experience beyond the limits of the physical body.  Many have sought answers for how it may be possible that a human is comprised of both immaterial consciousness and physical matter. After all, physical evidence suggests a distinct connection between life and the functionality of the body. However, first-hand experiences passed down through global oral traditions and among present humans suggest the existence of the spiritual realm.

The God Connection is a philosophical treatment of both the savory and unsavory aspects of religion and the belief in a higher power. Written in simple and direct English, it embodies scientific insights as well as inspirational passages while also considering the negative implications of corrupt religious practices in tandem with the benefits of sound mystical explorations.

Join Dr. Basil Gala in this personal adventure into spiritual thought and meditation, complemented with scholarly research of the histories and achievements of great religious movements worldwide.

Christine Amoroso did everything right to achieve the perfect life. Falling for a sandy-haired surfer and landing pregnant at seventeen, she knew the “right” thing to do. She could have it all, even if in the “wrong” order: beautiful children, a good marriage, and approval from those around her. Until it all fell apart.

Ever the overachiever, she continued to take on too much, finishing college with two kids in tow. But as her responsibility grew, so did her resentment. A stressed-out young mom, an inattentive husband, and the attention of another man made the perfect recipe for disaster. Hard work and responsible decisions had not guaranteed a happy life or lasting love. She had failed, and now she floundered as she tried to find a fresh start. She turned inward for answers rather than seeking external validation.

After a few missteps, she slowly learned her worth couldn’t come from a list of accolades, achievements, or some guy. Her story is an earnest and humorous account of what it’s like to be a modern American woman trying to have it all and the dangers of losing oneself in the process.

Bare Naked in Public is a must-read memoir for burnt-out overachievers seeking answers about their worth while finally forgiving their past.