These two separate volumes grew out of Susan Lenzkes's own flood of adversity. As her husband, Herb, battled cancer, Susan came to recognize the goodness found not only in refreshing spring showers but also in the raging torrents that threaten to wash away the very bedrock of our lives. These two books are now combined in a larger print edition that is gentle on the eyes and even gentler on the heart.

Lenzkes offers a reflective, hope-filled devotional guide for those who seek comfort in the face of loss and grief. Brief, meditative devotions consider the many aspects of loss and speak compassionately to grieving hearts, while offering God-centered solutions.

For women struggling to balance demands of work, church, community, marriage, and parenthood with their desire to live for God. A woman's handbook of devotional support.

The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

Have you ever wondered what separates people who think bigger from people who set their bar low? What makes one person accept low standards and another person to constantly raise them? You can say, “Well, the answer is simple enough – one person is ambitious, while the other one is not.” But what exactly causes it? And most importantly – how do you become more ambitious and think bigger? Is it something you’re born with and can’t change, or is it something over which you have control? I found so many similar questions popping out from the minds of youngsters and youth. So I decided to find out the answer for myself and write a book about it. This book is the result of my research about people who think big and the science of being more ambitious. This book is for those who are struggling in life and want to make their life by achieving big. This is an easy-to-read, practical, common-sense life-changing book that will take you from ancient wisdom to modern-day thinking. This book helps you establish new goals, make your life better, develop a new sense of purpose, and generate new ideas about yourself and your future. The title of this book has a massive and deep meaning which one must first understand to go through my book further and that can only be done once you read this book. No matter where you are in your life right now- whether you’re currently succeeding at the highest level you’ve ever imagined, or you’re struggling to find your way. Our first goal will be to improve our lives, and ourselves to make our life better and succeed. Most people don’t discover what life is all about until just before they die. While we are young, we spend our days striving, competing with society and keeping up with social expectations right the moment we come into this world. We are imposed with all the rules, regulations and pressure to succeed in our life. So we become so busy chasing life’s big pleasures that we miss out on the little ones, like dancing barefoot in a park on a rainy day or planting a rose garden or watching the sun come up or watching the bright colors of Rainbow or feeding the pets with joy and many more things. We live in an age where we have conquered the highest of mountains but have yet to master our selves. We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, more possessions but less happiness, fuller minds but emptier lives. This book enables you to translate positive thinking into attitude, ambition and action to give you the winning edge. This book will help you to:- · Make your life better. · Build confidence by mastering over positive thinking. · Be successful by turning weaknesses into strengths. · Gain credibility by doing the right things for the right reasons. · Take charge by controlling things instead of letting them control you. · Build trust by developing mutual respect with people around you. · Accomplish more by removing the barriers to effectiveness. Here are just some of the things you will learn from the book: - What key things you need to inspire yourself to think bigger, and more importantly, achieve your big goals. - Why you need a “why,” and what kind of motivators will set you up for success (hint: attaining money or status are some of the least motivating goals possible). - What the chimp is and why you need to learn how to control it to get yourself motivated and work on your big goals. You can be making things hard for yourself without being aware of it. - How to cultivate the art of strategic laziness to achieve more while doing much less than other people (why work so hard if you can get better results by being lazy?). - The secret of achieving the impossible is not really such a secret, but most people tend to forget about it and get overwhelmed by their goals. You can also learn how to find motivation to become the best version of you. Scroll up and buy the book now.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Blackstone chairman, CEO, and co-founder Stephen A. Schwarzman, a long-awaited book that uses impactful episodes from Schwarzman's life to show readers how to build, transform, and lead thriving organizations. Whether you are a student, entrepreneur, philanthropist, executive, or simply someone looking for ways to maximize your potential, the same lessons apply. People know who Stephen Schwarzman is—at least they think they do. He’s the man who took $400,000 and co-founded Blackstone, the investment firm that manages over $500 billion (as of January 2019). He’s the CEO whose views are sought by heads of state. He’s the billionaire philanthropist who founded Schwarzman Scholars, this century’s version of the Rhodes Scholarship, in China. But behind these achievements is a man who has spent his life learning and reflecting on what it takes to achieve excellence, make an impact, and live a life of consequence. Folding handkerchiefs in his father’s linen shop, Schwarzman dreamed of a larger life, filled with purpose and adventure. His grades and athleticism got him into Yale. After starting his career in finance with a short stint at a financial firm called DLJ, Schwarzman began working at Lehman Brothers where he ascended to run the mergers and acquisitions practice. He eventually partnered with his mentor and friend Pete Peterson to found Blackstone, vowing to create a new and different kind of financial institution. Building Blackstone into the leading global financial institution it is today didn’t come easy. Schwarzman focused intensely on culture, hiring great talent, and establishing processes that allow the firm to systematically analyze and evaluate risk. Schwarzman’s simple mantra “don’t lose money” has helped Blackstone become a leading private equity and real estate investor, and manager of alternative assets for institutional investors globally. Both he and the firm are known for the rigor of their investment process, their innovative approach to deal making, the diversification of their business lines, and a conviction to be the best at everything they do. Schwarzman is also an active philanthropist, having given away more than a billion dollars. In philanthropy, as in business, he is drawn to situations where his capital and energy can be applied to drive transformative solutions and change paradigms, notably in education. He uses the skills learned over a lifetime in finance to design, establish, and support impactful and innovative organizations and initiatives. His gifts have ranged from creating a new College of Computing at MIT for the study of artificial intelligence, to establishing a first-of-its-kind student and performing arts center at Yale, to enabling the renovation of the iconic New York Public Library, to founding the Schwarzman Scholars fellowship program at Tsinghua University in Beijing—the single largest philanthropic effort in China’s history from international donors. Schwarzman’s story is an empowering, entertaining, and informative guide for anyone striving for greater personal impact. From deal making to investing, leadership to entrepreneurship, philanthropy to diplomacy, Schwarzman has lessons for how to think about ambition and scale, risk and opportunities, and how to achieve success through the relentless pursuit of excellence. Schwarzman not only offers readers a thoughtful reflection on all his own experiences, but in doing so provides a practical blueprint for success.

If you were to watch the news lately, you will notice that opioid addiction has been declared a national crisis as many turn to drugs and other substances like alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, wine, and spirits to control their mind and thought process. Many also turn to psychiatrists to get relief from prescription medication. All these drugs, legal or illegal, have one thing in common: temporal and intermittent control of your feelings, emotions, and mind. A few years ago, while training as chaplain, we had a guest speaker who is a psychiatrist with more than thirty years' experience. She came to give a speech on emotional issues, and I raised my hand and asked her this fundamental question: what causes depression? Her response was, "Cause is unknown." This response troubled me as I thought to myself, if the cause is unknown, then why are millions of people being medicated? This book seeks to answer a fundamental question: are emotional issues like loneliness, fear, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts medical or spiritual issues? Your response to this question will determine where you go for help.

Over twenty-two months in 1979 and 1981 nearly two dozen children were unspeakably murdered in Atlanta despite national attention and outcry; they were all Black. James Baldwin investigated these murders, the Black administration in Atlanta, and Wayne Williams, the Black man tried for the crimes. Because there was only evidence to convict Williams for the murders of two men, the children's cases were closed, offering no justice to the families or the country. Baldwin's incisive analysis implicates the failures of integration as the guilt party, arguing, "There could be no more devastating proof of this assault than the slaughter of the children." As Stacey Abrams writes in her foreword, "The humanity of black children, of black men and women, of black lives, has ever been a conundrum for America. Forty years on, Baldwin's writing reminds us that we have never resolved the core query: Do black lives matter? Unequivocally, the moral answer is yes, but James Baldwin refuses such rhetorical comfort." In this, his last book, by excavating American race relations Baldwin exposes the hard-to-face ingrained issues and demands that we all reckon with them.