"Their son, Jason, a young man who initially had so much promise, is now serving a life sentence for murder in a maximum-security prison. All their appeals have be exhausted at both the state and federal levels--humanly speaking, they have run out of options. But there's more to the story. Despite their grim situation, Carol and her husband live a life full of grace. Kent reveals how life's problems are a fruitful time to discover the very best divine surprises, including peace, compassion, freedom, and adventure"--Page 2 of cover

In this six-session video-based small group Bible study, bestselling author Carol Kent gives proof that you can experience grace and joy during even the lowest moments of your life. This Participant’s Guide helps you decide where you stand when you are caught between a rock and a hard place: Will you place yourself in a posture of humility and complete dependence on God, or will you just “try harder” and stumble over what could be a transforming encounter with grace? Carol Kent and her husband, Gene, are living what some would call a heartbreaking life—their son, Jason, a young man who initially had so much promise, is now living out a life sentence for murder in a maximum security prison. All their appeals have been exhausted. But despite their hopeless situation, the Kent’s live a life full of grace. With hope, joy, and a sense of humor, Carol helps you find God’s “grace places” in the midst of your worst moments. This Participant Guide provides individual and group activities, additional background material, and between-session personal studies that will enhance your experience of the video sessions. Sessions include: Grace in the Hardest of Places – Surprised by Faith Angels in Disguise – Surprised by Mercy Longing for a Better Me – Surprised by Contentment The Secret Power of Gratitude – Surprised by Thanksgiving Why Do You Weep? – Surprised by Joy Dwelling in the Great Place – Surprised by Freedom Designed for use with the Between a Rock and a Grace Place Video Study (sold separately).

You’re never ready for calamity to strike. Carol Kent and her husband Gene were devastated by the news that their son killed his wife’s ex-husband. Gene and Carol were buoyed in their faith by eight principles, gleaned from the story of Abraham and Isaac: Over the course of eight chapters Carol explores the power of unthinkable circumstances, relinquishment, heartache, community, hope, faith, joy, and speaking up.

A day-by-day account of Aron Ralston's unforgettable survival story. On Saturday, 26 April 2003, Aron Ralston, a 27-year-old outdoorsman and adventurer, set off for a day's hike in the Utah canyons. Eight miles from his truck, he found himself in the middle of a deep and remote canyon. Then the unthinkable happened: a boulder shifted and snared his right arm against the canyon wall. He was trapped, facing dehydration, starvation, hallucinations and hypothermia as night-time temperatures plummeted. Five and a half days later, Aron Ralston finally came to the agonising conclusion that his only hope was to amputate his own arm and get himself to safety. Miraculously, he survived. 127 Hours is more than just an adventure story. It is a brave, honest and above all inspiring account of one man's valiant effort to survive, and is destined to take its place among adventure classics such as Touching the Void.

Carol Kent has lived every parent's nightmare. After her only son was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Carol's life took a permanent detour. She and her husband, Gene, have been adjusting ever since, moving to Florida to be near the prison, starting a new ministry for prison inmates and their families, and sharing the faithfulness of God with anyone who will listen. A New Kind of Normal begins with the story of that horrible night when Carol and Gene learned their son had been arrested, but it doesn't end there. In fact, Carol knows what it means to live with an unthinkable circumstance that will never change-and to still make hope-filled choices. Through the eight chapters in this book, Carol will use their own story, the story of Mary mother of Jesus, and stories of women who have experienced their own "new normal" to share how God has led them to choose life, gratitude, vulnerability, involvement, forgiveness, trust, and action.

Allison MacKenzie looks back on life in the New England town where she grew up around the time of Pearl Harbor.

Where is your faith today—first sparks of faith, bright blue flames, radiating heat, raging bonfire, red-hot coals, cooling embers, cold grey ashes? Is your love for God burning so brightly that you are consumed by its passion? Are those who surround you drawn to its radiance and warmed by its heat? Are sparks flying from you, spreading a wildfire faith that ignites passion in others? Or has your passion cooled, your light dimmed, or your fire been quenched? Throughout history God has chosen fire to represent his awesome power, his judgment and wrath, his protection, and his Shekinah glory: the flaming sword guarding Eden, the burning bush, the pillar of fire, the fiery furnace, the chariot of fire, the burning coal, the flame upon the altar, the lake of fire, and the flaming eyes of the Son of Man upon the throne—these are only a few of the images he has seared into our minds that we might know him more fully. God is the source of that first flicker that sparked your faith and one day you will stand in his holy presence, look into the flaming eyes of Jesus, and see his burning love for you face to face. But between that first flicker and that heavenly meeting, there is life to be lived on this earth. The challenge we all face is that life can dim our fire or even quench it, whether by the soggy mist of the mundane, or the quenching downpour of crisis. Carol Kent has discovered that God’s Word is filled with the secrets of nurturing his fire in our lives, sometimes painfully so, other times even undetected, refining, purifying, cauterizing, healing, and ultimately reshaping us into the image of his Son. Author and speaker Carol Kent will take you into God’s word, and into your own story, to reveal the true power of the fire God has placed in you, to fan the flames of your faith, stir your passion, and embolden you to spark wildfires that will spread to forever change the landscape of this world beyond your wildest imagination. God’s fire is in your life. Fan the flames. Burn brightly. Start a wildfire!

A popular writer and speaker examines ten fears common to most women and suggests ways to overcome such fears by using them as stepping stones to deeper faith, renewed confidence and sincere reverence for a powerful and loving God.

Includes an excerpt from William Kent Krueger's "This tender land."

In the summer of 1978, the B-52's conquered the New York underground. A year later, the band's self-titled debut album burst onto the Billboard charts, capturing the imagination of fans and music critics worldwide. The fact that the group had formed in the sleepy southern college town of Athens, Georgia, only increased the fascination. Soon, more Athens bands followed the B-52's into the vanguard of the new American music that would come to be known as "alternative," including R.E.M., who catapulted over the course of the 1980s to the top of the musical mainstream. As acts like the B-52's, R.E.M., and Pylon drew the eyes of New York tastemakers southward, they discovered in Athens an unexpected mecca of music, experimental art, DIY spirit, and progressive politics--a creative underground as vibrant as any to be found in the country's major cities. In Athens in the eighties, if you were young and willing to live without much money, anything seemed possible. Cool Town reveals the passion, vitality, and enduring significance of a bohemian scene that became a model for others to follow. Grace Elizabeth Hale experienced the Athens scene as a student, small-business owner, and band member. Blending personal recollection with a historian's eye, she reconstructs the networks of bands, artists, and friends that drew on the things at hand to make a new art of the possible, transforming American culture along the way. In a story full of music and brimming with hope, Hale shows how an unlikely cast of characters in an unlikely place made a surprising and beautiful new world.