Author: Abby Sher
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416592539
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
Until the age of ten, Abby Sher was a happy child in a fun-loving, musical family. But when her father and favorite aunt pass away, Abby fills the void of her loss with rituals: kissing her father's picture over and over each night, washing her hands, counting her steps, and collecting sharp objects that she thinks could harm innocent pedestrians. Then she begins to pray. At first she repeats the few phrases she remem-bers from synagogue, but by the time she is in high school, Abby is spending hours locked in her closet, urgently reciting a series of incantations and pleas. If she doesn't, she is sure someone else will die, too. The patterns from which she cannot deviate become her shelter and her obsession. In college Abby is diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and while she accepts this as an explanation for the counting and kissing and collecting, she resists labeling her fiercest obsession, certain that her prayers and her relationship with G-d are not an illness but the cure. She also discovers a new passion: performing comedy. She is never happier than when she dons a wig and makes people laugh. Offstage, however, she remains unable to confront the fears that drive her. She descends into darker compulsions, starving and cutting herself, measuring every calorie and incision. It is only when her earliest, deepest fear is realized that Abby is forced to examine and redefine the terms of her faith and her future. Amen, Amen, Amen is an elegy honoring a mother, father, and beloved aunt who filled a child with music and their own blend of neuroticism. It is an adventure, full of fast cars, unsolved crimes, and close calls. It is part detective story, part love story, about Abby's hunt for answers and someone to guide her to them. It is a young woman's radiant and heartbreaking account of struggling to recognize the bounds and boundlessness of obsession and devotion.
Author: Jesmi (Sist̲ar)
Publisher: Penguin Books India
ISBN: 0143067087
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
On 31 August 2008, Sister Jesme left the Congregation of Mother of Carmel. The authorities repeated attempts to have her declared insane, she says, left her no other option. This book, a first of its kind in India, is an outpouring of her experiences as a nun for thirty-three years. Spirited and fun-loving, from a good family, deeply-rooted in Catholicism, Jesme was drawn to religious life at seventeen after a Retreat at junior college. As a nun, seven years later, she felt distressed at the many ills growing inside the convent and being forced to remain silent about them. There was corruption, by way of donations for college seats; sexual relations between some priests and nuns, and between nuns; class distinctions whereby the cheduthies, or poorer and less-educated sisters, did menial jobs; and a wide gap between comforts and facilities enjoyed by the priests and nuns. Jesme was permitted to complete her doctorate in English Literature, to pursue her passion for literature, cinema and teaching college students. She exposed them to classic films, believing that aesthetics enhances spirituality. But these joys were clouded by the troubles she faced. Searing, sincere, and sensitive, Amen is a plea for a reformation of the Church and comes at a time of its growing concern about nuns and priests. It affirms Jesmeâ¬"s unbroken spirit and faith in Jesus and the Church, living like a nun, but outside the Four Walls of the convent.
Author: Karyn D. Kedar
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780881233506
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 210
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Book Description
"This collection includes prayers for personal use, prayers for use at communal gatherings, prayers and readings for moments of grief and moments of joy, a collection of daily Psalms, and focus phrases and questions for meditation"--
Author: Randy Travis
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 1400207991
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
A riveting tale of unfathomable success great joy deep pain, and redemption that can come only from above. From a working-class background in North Carolina to a job as a cook and club singer in Nashville to his "overnight success" with his smash 1986 album Storms of Life--which launched the neotraditional movement in country music--Randy's first three decades are a true rags-to-riches story. But in 2009, this seemingly charmed life began a downward spiral. His marriage dissolved, he discovered that his finances had unraveled, and his struggles with anger led to alcohol abuse, public embarrassment, and even police arrest in 2012. Then, just as he was putting his life back together, Randy suffered a devastating viral cardiomyopathy that led to a massive stroke which he was not expected to survive. Yet he not only survived but also learned to walk again and, in 2016, accepted his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame by singing the hymn that explains his life today: "Amazing Grace." Filled with never-before-told stories, Forever and Ever, Amen is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at dizzying success and the miraculous road to restoration.
Author: ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743477146
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
Award-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley delivers a bold and heartwarming story of family and faith about a man who has succeeded as a reverend and failed as a father. Reverend Simon Jackson has always felt destined to lead and he’s done a good job of it, transforming his small Houston church into one of the most respected and renowned in the region. But while the good Reverend’s been busy tending his flock, his family’s gone astray. His nineteen-year-old daughter, Rachel, gives new meaning to “baby mama drama.” Crazy in love with her son’s father, she's wreaking havoc on the man’s life, even though he's about to marry another woman. David, Simon's oldest at twenty-seven, has been spiraling downward ever since a knee injury ended a promising football career. These days he’s seeking solace in drugs—even feeding his habit by stealing church offerings. Blessedly, twenty-three-year-old Jonathan, a college graduate and the apple of Simon’s eye, is poised to take his father’s side as associate pastor—or so everyone thinks. Loretta has been a devoted wife to Simon, but she’s beginning to realize that enabling him to give more to the church than to his children was her biggest mistake. As things begin to fall apart and secrets are revealed, will Loretta be able to help her husband reunite their tattered family before it’s too late? Let the Church Say Amen is a powerful journey through one family’s trials—and a remarkable story of reconciliation and love. When things are down to the wire will Reverend Simon Jackson choose to fight for his family or the congregation?
Author: Max Lucado
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780849948480
Category : Prayer
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Join Max Lucado on a journey to the heart of biblical prayer, and find hope for doubts and confidence even for prayer wimps. Distilling prayers in the Bible down to one pocket-sized prayer, Max reminds you that prayer is not a privilege for the pious nor the art of a chosen few. Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and his child.
Author: ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416578099
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
As the First Lady of Zion Hill, Rachel is Pastor Lester Adams's wife - and she's currently pregnant. Unfortunately, so is Lester's mistress. Rachel has a few choice answers for exactly where mistress Mary can go. As these expectant moms do battle, hostilities erupt into a drama unlike anything Zion Hill has ever seen. Rachel contemplates everything from transferring her lifelong church membership to packing up and leaving Lester, but she knows deep down God is calling her to forgiveness.
Author: Angela Benson
Publisher: Walk Worthy Press
ISBN: 0446501158
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 232
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Book Description
After witnessing the suicide of a churchgoing young woman, Minister Francine Amen blames herself: After this young woman had accused their pastor of sexual abuse, Francine rejected her as a friend. Francine's guilty feelings land her in a mental hospital, and after her release she vows to restore her ministry by making amends to every person she's ever hurt, especially her sister Dawn Amen. Dawn's husband Sly-- formerly Francine's boyfriend--is spending too much time with Francine during her recovery, when he should be making his own amends to Dawn.
Author: Sierra DeMulder
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 1449478581
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 130
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Book Description
Dear you: Whoever you are, However you got here, This is exactly where you are supposed to be. This moment has waited its whole life for you. These are the opening lines of "Today Means Amen," YouTube star Sierra deMulder’s immensely powerful and virally popular poem, which lends its title to this collection. Like her fellow Millennial poets Tyler Knot Gregson, Clementine von Radics, and Lang Leav, Sierra has the gift of speaking directly to the reader. “Today Means Amen” has become an anthem of sorts to thousands, who find themselves reflected in its pain, its fierceness, its tenderness — but also in its triumphant culminating refrain: You made it You made it You made it Here. The poems in Sierra's new book explore the rocky terrains of love, family, and womanhood with this same remarkable honesty and generosity. Today Means Amen brings this important young poet's work to an even broader audience.
Author: Chestina Mitchell Archibald
Publisher: Dutton Adult
ISBN: 9780525942153
Category : African American families
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
"Featured here are the words of great historical figures like Frederick Douglass, Jupiter Hammon, and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as such contemporary leaders as Jesse Jackson, Maya Angelou, and Marian Wright Edelman. Classic prayers like "Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes" and "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" appear alongside such modern devotions as "Grace at Mealtime," "Peace in the Community," and "Prayers for a Kwanzaa Celebration."" "There are prayers for welcoming God into your life, fighting loneliness, thankfulness for friends and family, confronting racial oppression, and living with illness. There are also prayers for celebrating special occasions, such as marriages, baptisms, and birthdays. Each prayer speaks to the heart of the African American experience, touching, comforting, and inspiring."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
