Life. There are so many decisions. So much to think of, remember, plan, do, be, and accomplish. If only there was someone with wise words, a plan, some "direction" for our lives.

Luci Swindoll has spoken to thousands of women over the course of her lifetime. She finds reason for laughter in the midst of tears. She also knows―from experience―the importance of listening, learning, laughing, and loving her way through life.

Between laughing with friends and adopting humor as a basic lifestyle, Luci brings balance and wisdom your way as she openly shares her life. For more than 60 years, she's maintained a joyful spirit, a grateful heart, and a rich, purposeful relationship with God.

Let Luci show you how to not only live life, but celebrate it.

This collection of seventeen essays newly identifies contributions to musical culture made by women before 1500 across Europe. You will learn about repertoire from such diverse locations as Iceland, Spain, and Italy, and encounter examples of musicianship from the gender-fluid professional musicians at the Islamicate courts of Syria to the nuns of Barking Abbey in England. The book shows that women drove musical patronage, dissemination, composition, and performance, including within secular and ecclesiastical contexts, and also reflects on the reception of medieval women's musical agency by both medieval poets and by modern recording artists. Contributors are David Catalunya, Lisa Colton, Helen Dell, Annemari Ferreira, Rachel Golden, Gillian L. Gower, Anna Kathryn Grau, Carissa M. Harris, Louise McInnes, Lisa Nielson, Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Megan Quinlan, Leah Stuttard, Claire Taylor Jones, Melissa Tu, Angelica Vomera, and Anne Bagnall Yardley.

Each time she knelt to "catch" another wriggling baby -- nearly three thousand times during her remarkable career -- California midwife Peggy Vincent paid homage to the moment when pain bows to joy and the world makes way for one more. With every birth, she encounters another woman-turned-goddess: Catherine rides out her labor in a car careening down a mountain road. Sofia spends hers trying to keep her hyper doctor-father from burning down the house. Susannah gives birth so quietly that neither husband nor midwife notice until there's a baby in the room.

More than a collection of birth stories, however, Baby Catcher is a provocative account of the difficulties that midwives face in the United States. With vivid portraits of courage, perseverance, and love, this is an impassioned call to rethink technological hospital births in favor of more individualized and profound experiences in which mothers and fathers take center stage in the timeless drama of birth.

Be inspired by a woman who dared to follow God Amy Carmichael understood true discipleship and lived it out. At a very young age she felt called to the mission field, followed God's guidance, and eventually went to India, where she would spend fifty-three years without furlough. While there, Amy founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, a refuge for children in moral danger-children who were orphaned or unwanted and sold to the temple. Amy became a mother for these children, and so they called her "Amma." Even today, Amy's life of obedience and courage stands as a model for all Christians everywhere. We resonate with her desires and dreams, her faults and fears, her dedication and service. For former missionary and author Elisabeth Elliot, Amy became a role model. "She was my first spiritual mother," writes Elliot. "She showed me the shape of godliness." A Chance to Die is the life story of Amy Carmichael. In this reverent biography, Elisabeth Elliot brings "Amma" to life, providing a compelling, unforgettable narrative that will provoke you to examine the depths of your own faith and encourage you to reaffirm your life and commitment to Christ. Elisabeth Elliot, one of the outstanding women of present-day Christianity, is the author of more than twenty books, including Passion and Purity, The Journals of Jim Elliot, and These Strange Ashes. She and her husband, Lars Gren, live in Magnolia, Massachusetts.