Natalie Ashby has lived all of her life in active ministry. Her parents were evangelists and church planters with twelve children in tow -- she was the youngest girl. She married right out of high school and became a Pentecostal preacher's wife. When her husband was diagnosed with cancer, she expected life to slow down but it only increased in responsibility. Though the illnesses that plagued him were long-suffering, nothing could prepare her for the day he died. Suddenly, she was called "widow". A dirty word. A constant reminder of a long journey that led to the label. Natalie candidly shares the road to discovering her identity, purpose, calling and coming out on the other side. This book is her story in this season of life -- a newly-widowed former pastor's wife navigating life outside of full-time ministry. The tables have turned, her seat has changed, and she's along for the ride.

My Story is a refl ection on the events of my lifefrom my birth in 1926 until my marriage in 1949, at the age of 23. My experiences in growing up on a poor, hilly farm without electricity or inside plumbing during the depression years of the 1930s, then the diffi cult war years of the early 1940s, followed by the growing prosperity after WW II all helped to shape the kind of person that I wished to become. These events helped me to progressively establish three main goals for my life: Build a meaningful relationship with my Creator, get a worthwhile education, and fi nd a Special Girl to share my life. In those 23 years, I accomplish two of my goals. The one remaining goalmy fi rst and oldest objectivewas still a work in progress at the end of My Story. My efforts to fi nd an acceptable way of worshipping my God would not be realized until a few more years had passed. I had also determined that my Special Girl and I would reach this goal together. If time allows, I will complete that account in Our StoryAll the Way in the near future. My initial purpose in writing this account has been to preserve that heritage for my two sons, Steve and Jeff, and for their families . . . If My Story proves to be of any interest to others, so much the better. Jim Wahl - text should be Amazone BT for "Jim Wahl"

In this tender story of international adoption, a mother weaves a magical web of tales to explain how her child came to be part of the family. A young child asks his mother to tell the story of where he came from. I might tell how you came from a land far away in a hot air balloon. The basket slowly drifted down like a feather into our yard. I dropped the firewood I was carrying and ran to you. 'You're home now, ' I said. Or maybe it was a lark--and not a stork--that brought the child to the mother. Or perhaps he was rescued from a dragon! Each lyrical and fantastic tale contains a small kernel of truth that pieces together the baby's journey from China into his new mother's arms. Beautifully illustrated by Jessica Lanan, The Story I'll Tell is a gentle and moving story of international adoption and parental love that is sure to touch the hearts of readers everywhere, no matter how they came to be a family.

In the tradition of Michael Herr's Dispatches, a National Guardsman's account of the war in Iraq. John Crawford joined the Florida National Guard to pay for his college tuition, willingly exchanging one weekend a month and two weeks a year for a free education. But in Autumn 2002, one semester short of graduating and newly married—in fact, on his honeymoon—he was called to active duty and sent to the front lines in Iraq. Crawford and his unit spent months upon months patrolling the streets of Baghdad, occupying a hostile city. During the breaks between patrols, Crawford began recording what he and his fellow soldiers witnessed and experienced. Those stories became The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell—a haunting and powerful, compellingly honest book that imparts the on-the-ground reality of waging the war in Iraq, and marks as the introduction of a mighty literary voice forged in the most intense of circumstances.

Local rather than international, the dramas and privations described in this memoir are not the stuff of headlines. This is the story of an ordinary boy growing up in Belfast after the war; an ordinary boy who would go on to become world-famous as a hostage in Beirut and author of the extraordinary testimony of imprisonment and survival that was An Evil Cradling. Brian Keenan has captured the vanished world of 1950s Belfast in all its vivid vernacular and grey, post-war austerity. I'll Tell Me Ma is an affectionate story of a disaffected childhood. At the centre is a shy, self-conscious boy of unusual moral integrity; a boy puzzled by religion and sectarianism, in love with books and music and full of curiosity about the world outside. It is also a book about coming-to-terms with the past: a resounding, thrilling record of redemption.

Some of the stories in Tell Me a Story, Ill Bake You a Cake will take you back to a carefree time when kids ran barefoot all summer, caught lightning bugs, climbed trees, and didnt have to come home until the streetlights came on at night. Joys humor is evident as she tells about kitchen disasters, poison ivy, family togetherness, the agony of math, the ecstasy of Baked Alaska, and the infamous Lavisson sisters. Some stories are funny, others poignant, but all are entertaining. The recipes are simple and non-threatening to the novice cook. As long as youre not looking for recipes for turnips, brussels sprouts, or liver, youll find a recipe to suit any occasion. Enjoy the stories. Now go into the kitchen, and cook something.

Collection of personal essays about adolescence and young adulthood.

No one will tell Oli why he and his mother are staying with relatives in the country without his father, but when he finds a secret of his own, that lurking in the attic is Eren, a creature hungry for stories, Oli begins to make sense of what is happening with his family and faces the choice of learning the truth or abandoning himself to Eren's world forever.

At the time of the authors retirement a few years ago, writing a childrens storybook for her grandchildren was one of the top items on her bucket list. However, it wasnt far into the project that she realized that these stories, based on her familys real-life experiences and her most cherished tales from childhood, begged to be shared. The collection represents a legacy for future generations, and each story is just too precious to be forgotten. The twelve stories, appropriate for bedtime, are introduced by scripture texts that can be memorized by even young children. Lessons of Gods protection, answered prayers, the care of angels, thankfulness, and Gods direction in our lives are but a few of the faith-building topics covered. Each story is beautifully illustrated by the watercolor-and-colored-pen artistry of the authors good friend, Darla Hanson. The authors purpose in writing this book is to provide yet another avenue for children to know Jesus in their formative years and develop a growing and lifelong relationship with him. Her prayer is that one of these stories might linger in your childs memory as a reminder of Gods love and care in trying circumstances.