Are you weary? Worn out by the bills that keep stacking, a virus that keeps raging, or a heart that keeps aching? If so, the book of Esther brings welcome news: Relief will come! To be clear, you didn't ask for this struggle. You want to get past it. You don't know how much longer you can hold up. But what if God is with you in this difficult season? When life seems off the rails, remember this truth: the minute you bow your head to pray is the moment God lifts his hand to help. Queen Esther learned this truth firsthand. When confronted with a royal decree that would annihilate her people, she had to make some tough choices. Would she remain silent in the face of this challenge, or would she speak up? Would she blend in, or would she stand out? But after Esther spent three days in prayer and fasting, God gave her the courage to speak up. God used her to save the nation. And God can do the same with you. In You Were Made for This Moment, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado will help you: put your hope in the God of grand reversals, trusting that God will right every wrong cultivate courage for your challenging times by leaning on the God who redeems and restores discover your role in God's story by exploring how God can use your experiences and circumstances to join him in his holy work God never promised us a life without trials, but he does promise to be with us as we walk through them. Trust that he can redeem your struggles for a mighty purpose. You, friend, were made for this moment.

This practical guide will help you simplify your life and remove the friction from your business. If you're at a transitional point in your career, it will prepare and sustain you to make the moves you need to for your future.

In the story of every great company and career, there is one defining moment when luck and skill collide. This book is about making that moment happen. According to Frans Johansson’s research, successful people and organizations show a common theme. A lucky moment occurs and they take advantage of it to change their fate. Consider how Diane von Furstenberg saw Julie Nixon Eisenhower on TV wearing a matching skirt and top, and created the timeless, elegant wrap-dress. That was a “click moment” of unexpected opportunity. Johansson uses stories from throughout history to illustrate the specific actions we can take to create more click moments, place lots of high-potential bets, open ourselves up to chance encounters, and harness the complex forces of success that follow.

These stories are shared authentically by people who trusted God through personal trials. We are all unique and interesting individual beings. We laugh, cry, get excited and get angry. Our range of emotions vary with circumstances, but it is often our faith in God which pulls us through events that are life changing or life threatening. As you read through each story, you might feel the emotion felt by the individuals sharing their story. It is because your soul will relate to their soul, and their life event. That means, it might be transforming you as you read a story in which you too can relate. You are about to join in on some personal journeys where God intervened. These individual situations have no other explanation except, God’s hand of intervention. These amazing stories will change your perspective and maybe change your life. To God be the glory. With love, Lu Ann Topovski

Pastor and popular Bible teacher Sheryl Brady helps Christians prepare for, recognize, and cultivate the powerful yet easily overlooked moments when God shows up in their lives. Everyone experiences God moments, times when God pulls back the curtain and gives a glimpse of his active presence in their lives. Most of us operate under the misapprehension that these moments are rare occurrences that reveal themselves in grand fashion. We expect bells ringing, lights flashing, and neon signs that point to earthshaking revelations. But God often speaks in whispers, strategically and incrementally unveiling his plans, preparations, and purposes through the most unassuming circumstances. The key is to learn how to prepare for, recognize, and be faithful in these moments. In Don’t Miss the Moment, Pastor Sheryl Brady reminds Christians that God is real and unwaveringly present in our daily lives. Through biblical teaching and personal stories of God showing up in times of need, she shows how to pursue deeper relationship with the Faithful One so that we can learn to hear his voice and feel his leading, discern when we are in a defining moment, and redirect our hearts and lives toward his plans and purposes.

This engaging and inspirational book by Carl Lentz, the rock star pastor of Hillsong NYC, shows us the way toward a more connected, spiritually-grounded, and fulfilled life. When you think of a Christian pastor, you probably don’t envision a tattooed thirty-something who wears a motorcycle jacket, listens to hip-hop music, references The Walking Dead and Black Lives Matter in his sermons, and every Sunday draws a standing-room only crowd to a venue normally used for rock concerts—in godless New York City, no less. But then you clearly have never met Carl Lentz. As lead pastor of the first United States branch of global megachurch Hillsong, the former college basketball player is on a mission to make Christianity accessible in the 21st century. In Own The Moment, he shares the unlikely and inspiring story of how he went from being an average teenager who couldn’t care less about church to leading one of the country’s fastest-growing congregations—how one day he is trying to convince a Virginia Beach 7-Eleven clerk to attend his service, and just a few years later he is baptizing a global music icon in an NBA player’s Manhattan bathtub. Amid such candid personal tales, Lentz also offers illuminating readings of Bible passages and practical tips on how to live as a person of faith in an increasingly materialistic world. How do you maintain your values—and pass them onto your children—in a society that worships money and sex and fame? How do you embrace your flaws in this Instagram era that exalts the appearance of perfection? How do you forget about “living the dream” and learn to embrace the beauty of your reality? These are just a few of the many important questions Lentz answers in Own The Moment—a powerful book that redefines not just Christianity but spirituality as a whole.

THE FIRST BOOK WITH ONE FOOT ON THE COFFEE TABLE, AND ONE FOOT IN THE CLASSROOM Joe McNally, one of the world’s top pro digital photographers, whose celebrated work has graced the pages of Sports Illustrated, Time, and National Geographic (to name a few), breaks new ground by doing something no photography book has ever done—blending the rich, stunning images and elegant layout of a coffee-table book with the invaluable training, no-nonsense insights, and photography secrets usually found only in those rare, best-of-breed educational books. When Joe’s not on assignment for the biggest-name magazines and Fortune 500 clients, he’s in the classroom teaching location lighting, environmental portraiture, and how to “get the shot” at workshops around the world. These on-location workshops are usually reserved for a handful of photographers each year, but now you can learn the same techniques that Joe shares in his seminars and lectures in a book that brings Joe’s sessions to life. What makes the book so unique is the “triangle of learning” where (1) Joe distills the concept down to one brief sentence. It usually starts with something like, “An editor at National Geographic once told me...” and then he shares one of those hard-earned tricks of the trade that you only get from spending a lifetime behind the lens. Then, (2) on the facing page is one of Joe’s brilliant images that perfectly illustrates the technique (you’ll recognize many of his photos from magazine covers). And (3) you get the inside story of how that shot was taken, including which equipment he used (lens, f/stop, lighting, accessories, etc.), along with the challenges that type of project brings, and how to set up a shot like that of your own. This book also gives you something more. It inspires. It challenges. It informs. But perhaps most importantly, it will help you understand photography and the art of making great photos at a level you never thought possible. This book is packed with those “Ah ha!” moments—those clever insights that make it all come together for you. It brings you that wonderful moment when it suddenly all makes sense—that “moment it clicks.”

The authors, writing as scholars of communication and media, demonstrate how God's great gifts of media and technology can rob us of everyday Sabbath and impede spiritual growth if not faithfully stewarded through a process described as mindful media attachment. Mindful media attachment helps to promote the "holy habits" of sacred intentionality, sacred interiority, and sacred identity. These "three sacreds," which arise from a proper understanding of the "grammar and language" of media and technology, ultimately allow us to avoid treating media and technology as ends in and of themselves and to avoid divided affections that drain energy, purpose, and kingdom service.

A person can have one traumatic experience in life, and that experience can determine the course of the rest of his or her life. One experience gave the author the idea for this manuscript. When the author saw people demonstrating at the Michigan State Capitol during the pandemic when the governor ordered lockdowns, that is when he asked the question, "Is this what they will be telling their grandchildren and great-grandchildren thirty or forty years from now?" Is this what they did with that moment in time? Then he looked at famous people who went on long before us, and he asked them what they have done with their moment. Some great entertainers, some great sporting figures, some great African American inventors, and current famous politicians. Then he concluded that our lives are filled with moments. This author concludes that your moment is your life. However, you don't go up to someone and ask them what they have done with their life because people might not be satisfied with how their life turned out. This question causes them to rationalize. Ask them what they have done with their moment, and they will talk to you all day.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “In her book, Melinda tells the stories of the inspiring people she’s met through her work all over the world, digs into the data, and powerfully illustrates issues that need our attention—from child marriage to gender inequity in the workplace.” — President Barack Obama “The Moment of Lift is an urgent call to courage. It changed how I think about myself, my family, my work, and what’s possible in the world. Melinda weaves together vulnerable, brave storytelling and compelling data to make this one of those rare books that you carry in your heart and mind long after the last page.” — Brené Brown, Ph.D., author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Dare to Lead “Melinda Gates has spent many years working with women around the world. This book is an urgent manifesto for an equal society where women are valued and recognized in all spheres of life. Most of all, it is a call for unity, inclusion and connection. We need this message more than ever.” — Malala Yousafzai "Melinda Gates's book is a lesson in listening. A powerful, poignant, and ultimately humble call to arms." — Tara Westover, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Educated A debut from Melinda Gates, a timely and necessary call to action for women's empowerment. “How can we summon a moment of lift for human beings – and especially for women? Because when you lift up women, you lift up humanity.” For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, you need to stop keeping women down. In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she’s learned from the inspiring people she’s met during her work and travels around the world. As she writes in the introduction, “That is why I had to write this book—to share the stories of people who have given focus and urgency to my life. I want all of us to see ways we can lift women up where we live.” Melinda’s unforgettable narrative is backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention—from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world—and ourselves. Writing with emotion, candor, and grace, she introduces us to remarkable women and shows the power of connecting with one another. When we lift others up, they lift us up, too.