With autism diagnoses rising, more and more parents find the challenges of caring for an autistic child added to the everyday strains and stresses—and joys—of family life. In a deeply personal, honest, humorous set of essays, Martha Johnson Bourlakas grapples with life—life as a person of faith, life as a wife and mother, life as a clergy spouse (her husband is bishop of Southwestern Virginia), life as the parent of a developmentally disabled young adult, life as one unable to maintain pretense. Reading these essays is like sitting down over coffee with a good friend to commiserate and laugh with someone who understands.

Women live uniquely demanding lives as providers, managers, caretakers, and, amidst those many roles, both chosen and cast upon them, the individual spirit sometimes loses her voice. To awaken this voice, Martha Bourlakas began a group for women in the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia called "Our One Word" to pray about and observe the secular, holy, and personal significance of one word each week. This simple goal affects participants in profound ways, and now Bourlakas shares their practice with the rest of us in book form. She provides a structure and resource for those who want to start a group, as well as meditation for anyone who wants to expand her or his own spiritual horizons. The book encompasses words Bourlakas has offered to groups in the weekly format and at weekend retreats. Each chapter focuses on a different word, such as Joy, Heart, Change. There are brief quotations from religious texts, literature, music, etc. that explicate the word, combined with her own perspective. Our One Word offers a way for individuals or groups to cultivate a hospitable, constant presence, modeling the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives-a way to celebrate, pray, just be.

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Prompted by an unwelcome diagnosis of multiple sclerosis at 57, author Martha Johnson reflects, over a period of 5 years, on her confusions, her emotional reactions and her ways of coming to grips with a the unanticipated loss of the future she had envisioned for herself. While this book is not about MS, it is about dealing with illness and loss. The author's sparse and honest poetry will resonate with all those who choose to live the life they are given as a journey, whether or not they suffer from a chronic illness. It is a "must read" for anyone looking to understand those who live with chronic illness.

Challenged with crafting her personal approach to living comfortably with the limitations of her illness (see Volume One of this series), the author was next faced with an additional avalanche of losses--her marriage, her mother, and her business. The musing continues in Johnson 's unique style of honest and sparse poetry. She reflects on her suffering, the difficulties of letting go, and her efforts to rebuild her life, make new friends, and accept her condition. She fearlessly shares her personal trials, and leads the reader down a path to discovering their own resurrection of hope and lightness of being. This book will resonate for all who are on the journey we call life, doing their best to bring balance and grace into their daily existence--no matter what.

How are leaders facing a crisis supposed to handle and overcome an unknowable set of issues? This book demonstrates how effective leaders under pressure work from an understanding of the situation at hand and of their impact on others, and explains how leaders can best apply their internal strengths. Most leaders are steeped in risk management, crisis response tactics, readiness for disaster, continuity-of-operations planning, and logistical and agility capabilities. These preparations are critical but not complete. The reality is that even experienced leaders themselves need guidance when it comes to managing a crisis. This standout book fills that need, drawing on interviews with successful leaders; research findings on trauma, neuroscience, and crisis management; and the authors' own extensive career experiences. The chapters suggest and probe ideas from various angles rather than promoting simplistic formulas or nostrums that are unlikely to apply to all circumstances and present new angles on self-awareness and management under pressure for the practitioner. The book leads off with a description of organizational disaster and crisis leadership-topics of considerable concern as disasters are becoming the "new normal." The authors then explore three critical but very different types of responses by leaders at such a time: recognition and response, care of self and others, and storytelling. A detailed case study of a leader in the midst of Hurricane Katrina-the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history-provides readers with a real-world practicum for the theories and ideas suggested. Comprehensively addresses a universal and very important concern of leaders: "How will I respond in a crisis?" Identifies clear expectations for leadership performance in the immediate moments after an organizational shock and in the succeeding hours, days, and months Highlights how a leader's skills and willingness to create meaning through story is an essential capability in a crisis Draws from a variety of social science research as well as leadership stories to make key points that may be unexpected and counterintuitive