From the discomforts of pregnancy to the adventures of parenting toddlers, tweens, and teens, every mom knows (or quickly learns): Motherhood is humbling. Between constant messes, surprises, and the multi-faceted needs of our children, mamas are constantly on their toes-rising to meet challenges that call at all hours of the day and night. Raising kids is an honor and a joy, but it is also more demanding than most of us anticipated prior to the arrival of our little ones. We are often spread thin and stretched to our limits. Motherhood can be fertile ground for discouragement. Mercifully, it can also be a mirror to reflect back to us how strong, brave, and beautiful we are. Strong, Brave & Beautiful: Stories of Hope for Moms in the Weeds is a collection of essays packed with honest and grace-filled stories and practical, heartfelt encouragement for the beautiful, messy years of raising children. Readers will... better understand and recognize God's presence and work in the mundane find beauty in otherwise unglamorous motherhood moments begin to recognize their own strength and courage Strong, Brave, and Beautiful is the perfect gift for the moms in your life who need encouragement, nourishment, and hope. "In the pages of Strong, Brave & Beautiful, every mother will find herself in the powerful stories and compassionate understanding offered by the writers of this book. From poop disasters that make you laugh and groan with sympathy to the specific bittersweet of weaning to enthusiastic celebrations of not only surviving but thriving in an ordinary day, these essays paint vivid pictures of the highs and lows of parenting that will fill the hearts of mothers everywhere with camaraderie and encouragement. Read this book and know that you are not alone." -Meg Tietz, author of Spirit-Led Parenting and host of The Sorta Awesome Podcast "Mamas will relish the validation, relief, and kinship within these pages. Strong, Brave & Beautiful is a balm for the soul and a grace-filled gift for mamas clearing a path through the weeds of motherhood. I loved it." --Shauna Letellier, author of Remarkable Hope: When Jesus Revived Hope in Disappointed People Ready for a fresh dose of hope in your mothering? It's waiting for you on every page." --Becky Keife, author of No Better Mom for the Job and community manager for (in)courage

When a young girl's fish-wrestling, spider-wrangling mom becomes an illness-fighting mom, they explore together what it means to be strong, brave, and fierce.

100 courage-building moments to help girls 8-12 explore who they are, easing their fears and anxiety, while inspiring them to strive towards the woman they want to be through this exciting yet confusing season of change. From Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and blogger, Lynn Cowell, comes Faithgirlz’ Brave Beauty: Finding the Fearless You. These 100 motivating moments guide tween girls to reflect on Scripture and find confidence in God, rather than in someone, some place, or some thing, as pop culture is already telling them. Throughout these pages—formatted as theme-based mini chapters that can be read once a day, once a week, or at the reader’s own pace—Lynn prepares tween girls to: Overcome confidence-defeating thoughts and stand on who Jesus says she is. Build a strong foundation to face the fickle, sometimes hurtful opinions of others. Find approval of herself even when she lacks the acceptance of others. Walk confidently through the exciting, yet scary world of growing up by turning to Christ step by step. Featuring a gorgeous, foil decorated hardcover and beautifully formatted pages modeled after the well-known and loved Faithgirlz brand of books, Lynn’s relatable, conversational tone makes it easy for girls to feel like they’re in a safe place spending time with a close friend.

Jill Homer has an outlandish ambition: Racing a mountain bike 2,740 miles from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide. But her dream starts to unravel the minute she sets it in motion. An accident on the Iditarod Trail results in serious frostbite. She struggles with painful recovery and growing uncertainties. Then, just two days before their departure, her boyfriend ends their eight-year relationship, dismantling everything Jill thought she knew about life, love and her identity. This is the story of an adventure driven relentlessly forward as foundations crumble. During her record-breaking ride in the 2009 Tour Divide, Jill battles a torrent of anger, self-doubt, fatigue, loneliness, pain, grief, bicycle failures, crashes and violent storms. Each night, she collapses under the crushing effort of this savage new way of life. And every morning, she picks up the pieces and strikes out to find what lies on the other side of the Divide: Astonishing beauty, unconditional kindness, and boundless strength.

In this bold, compassionate title, yoga teacher, wellness trainer and social media sensation Rhyanna Watson - who has come out the other side of a lot of personal trauma both stronger and happier - explores how to strip back your protective layers, feel brave and beautiful again, and make the rest of your life the best of your life. Rhyanna's nurturing yet empowering text encourages us to get out of our heads and more into our bodies and hearts in order to reconnect with both ourselves and others - to feel less judged, more accepted; less flawed, more worthy; less insecure, more confident; less scared, more loved. As the title suggests, the key message is that it's only when we're willing to be brave, open our minds and hearts, get fit from the inside out, and both 'bare' it all (allowing ourselves to be vulnerable when appropriate) and 'bear' it all (accepting both the good and the bad with patience and grace) that we will be able to feel our most beautiful and live our best lives. Being brave doesn't mean we have to jump out of planes or fight lions of course! It simply means being open enough to really get to know and love ourselves, stripped of all societal pressures and expectations. And when it comes to being beautiful, well, we're all beautiful in our own ways, so it's just about accepting our own truth and embracing and believing in ourselves!

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • A timely and important book that challenges everything we think we know about cultivating true belonging in our communities, organizations, and culture, from the #1 bestselling author of Rising Strong, Daring Greatly, and The Gifts of Imperfection Don’t miss the five-part Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! “True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are.” Social scientist Brené Brown, PhD, MSW, has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives—experiences of courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame, and empathy. In Braving the Wilderness, Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in an age of increased polarization. With her trademark mix of research, storytelling, and honesty, Brown will again change the cultural conversation while mapping a clear path to true belonging. Brown argues that we’re experiencing a spiritual crisis of disconnection, and introduces four practices of true belonging that challenge everything we believe about ourselves and each other. She writes, “True belonging requires us to believe in and belong to ourselves so fully that we can find sacredness both in being a part of something and in standing alone when necessary. But in a culture that’s rife with perfectionism and pleasing, and with the erosion of civility, it’s easy to stay quiet, hide in our ideological bunkers, or fit in rather than show up as our true selves and brave the wilderness of uncertainty and criticism. But true belonging is not something we negotiate or accomplish with others; it’s a daily practice that demands integrity and authenticity. It’s a personal commitment that we carry in our hearts.” Brown offers us the clarity and courage we need to find our way back to ourselves and to each other. And that path cuts right through the wilderness. Brown writes, “The wilderness is an untamed, unpredictable place of solitude and searching. It is a place as dangerous as it is breathtaking, a place as sought after as it is feared. But it turns out to be the place of true belonging, and it’s the bravest and most sacred place you will ever stand.”

In a culture that bombards women with "thinspiration" messages and pressure to "do it all" while wearing the mask of perfection, women are left feeling alone and overwhelmed. How can they stop comparing themselves to others? How can they live out who they really are? Lee Wolfe Blum offers stories from everyday women who have answered these questions with their lives—and found true beauty in the process. In Brave Is the New Beautiful, Blum weaves reflections from her own journey with inspirational stories from everyday women who chose to take off their masks and live authentically. Through call-to-action questions and ideas, she encourages readers to be brave enough to be who they really are and the beloved that God knows they are.

Find yourself. Find your place. Find your brave. This uplifting tale, which award-winning author Leslie Connor dubbed “a perfectly paced journey of the heart” is perfect for fans of Lisa Graff and Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Cyrus Olson’s dad is a hero—Northfield’s former football star and now one of their finest firefighters. Everyone expects Cyrus to follow in his dad’s record-breaking footsteps, and he wishes they were right—except he’s never been brave like that. But this year, with the help of a stray dog, a few new friends, a little bit of rhythm, and a lot of nerve, he may just discover that actually…he is. Lauded as “remarkable” by the New York Times Book Review, Lindsey Stoddard’s heartfelt stories continue to garner critical acclaim, and her latest novel will have fans new and old rooting for Cyrus and Parker’s special bond and the courage it helps them both to find.

A Moms guide to better communicating with teen daughters.We have an opportunity to greatly influence and empower our teen daughters.How we choose to go about communicating with them now will determine our future relationship with them.

When life-changing pain is coupled with the welcoming of a new story for yourself, the word bittersweet just doesn't do it justice. You are quite literally in the middle - anchored between where you thought you were headed and where you're going now. In that uncertain middle space is where this story takes place, and maybe where you find yourself, too. The life Kelsey Baldwin had imagined for herself, the one she was right in the middle of, quickly crumbled around her on a single day as she was faced with a looming divorce while staring at a positive pregnancy test. It wasn't the way it was supposed to go. With each uncertain transition she went through - divorce, pregnancy, giving birth, moving cities, dating, raising a child without a partner - she clung to what she knew for sure: she was a strong girl and a brave girl, and the middle was not the ending. (Spoiler: that's why it's called the middle.)My story might look really different than yours, but I'm willing to bet you find threads from my messy middle that are also woven into yours.