A forgotten Halloween decoration learns about Thanksgiving and the true meaning of Christmas in this unique and charming full-color illustrated book.

On a cloudless spring day nearly three years after Cal and Michele met, they stood before a preacher and Cal promised to love Michele and to give her everything. Soon after, they began an almost fairy-tale existence of wedded bliss, complete with a white picket fence, two cats in the yard, and a perfect family-including the baby girl Michele always wanted.

They had carefully planned and prepared for the arrival of their daughter, Lourdess, whose name means "miracles of healing." Although she entered the world perfect, the standard hearing test mandated by the state produced spirit-crushing results. To their shock and disbelief, their wonderful little angel had profound hearing loss.

"Daddy, Did You Hear That Bird?: The Miracles of Hearing," Family, and Love shares the touching story of how they got through the trials of having a deaf child, including the natural grieving process they experienced upon learning the news. Even though they wondered about her future, their strong personal relationship helped them overcome the stress that destroys some marriages burdened with caring for a special-needs child. The toughest tasks involved working with service systems and professionals who were guiding them through the process. Through it all, they had each other and the knowledge that God was there for them, always.

"Daddy, Did You Hear That Bird?" reminds us that love always trusts, hopes and perseveres but it never fails. As Cal and Michele yearned for a miracle, a striking and poignant series of events would reveal a miracle no one saw coming.

Lost for more than fifteen hundred years, the Gospel of Mary is the only existing early Christian gospel written in the name of a woman. Karen L. King tells the story of the recovery of this remarkable gospel and offers a new translation. This brief narrative rejects Jesus' suffering and death as a path to eternal life and exposes the view that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute for what it is--a piece of theological fiction. The Gospel of Mary of Magdala offers a fascinating glimpse into the conflicts and controversies that shaped earliest Christianity.

Age, race, culture, loneliness, relationships and the pandemic are all neatly drawn together in this outstanding picture book for young children. Claire Malone and her cat, Marmalade are back in Claire Malones Makes a Friend, a delightful and charming picture book about life in lockdown. In her trademark style of positivity and action, Claire works through the loneliness and monotony of lockdown by looking outside her own life to affect change. Claire, yet again, shows us how to be an agent for positive change in our own neighbourhoods. A charming and relevant sequel to Claire Malone Changes the World with delightfully lively and colourful illustrations by Alisa Knatko.

Every person has stories in their hearts, wanting to be expressed, seen through eyes and letting others know what life is. Maybe through those stories the person reading will be released from their bonds and are free inside to let their own stories come alive. I like the Daily Snapshots, they tell a brief lurid event happening at the moment. Stand back and let the story happen. A fresh outlook in seeing the world around you.

Cal King had it all: charm, affability, a body chiseled by rigorous workouts, and a successful career as a financial service executive. But that all changed dramatically during the first week of August in 2000. On a business trip to Chicago, he contracted Legionnaire's Disease.

Within a few dreadful days of contracting the disease, he narrowly escaped death, lost the ability to speak, and saw his rising star plummet. "Never Better" narrates the story of his efforts to overcome the devastating effects of this disease, including speech impairment, a weakened body, and depression that threatened to consume his life.

It is the story of his single-minded determination to talk, resume his career as a successful call center executive, and rise above the hurtful looks from people who believed he was mentally-challenged in the wake of Legionnaire's Disease. "Never Better" demonstrates the importance of faith, perseverance, and bravery. It reveals the inner spirit of a man destined to overcome nearly insurmountable odds to find new meaning in his life.

If I Never Say More is a walk on the high ground of contemporary poetry. Its imagery summons the music of midnight and opens the windows of memory. By a writer who is both artist and philosopher, you are propelled through emotional experience and intellectual challenge with a force that dares you to put down the book. Sometimes you will recognize what you have thought but not expressed. Often you will find totally new views of familiar subjects. You will be rocked in the warm arms of remembered tenderness and jolted by the cold blast of unmasked truth. And when you have finished If I Never Say More, you will be asking for more.

While there are many diatribes against the modern Word of Faith Movement and as many defenses of it, little scholarly work has investigated, analyzed, and compared and contrasted modern faith teaching with earlier evangelical writers. Only Believe is such a ground-breaking book written for non-specialists and scholars. Among its many accomplishments, Only Believe . . . * theologically engages both the teachings of the Word of Faith Movement and their critics, examining from the unique viewpoint of the elliptical nature of truth the counter-polarities of faith teaching and practice; * traces the origins of faith teachings such as revelation knowledge, logos and rhema, point of contact, seed faith, faith as a law and a force, covenant rights and inheritance, positive confession, and attitudes toward doctors and medicine through the church fathers, mystics, reformers, Pietists, Puritans, and the 19th-century Wesleyan, Keswick, and Higher Life holiness and healing movements; * draws upon the faith teachings and practices of a wide variety of theological and denominational backgrounds: Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian/Reformed, Episcopalian/Anglican, Lutheran, Congregationalist, holiness, Brethren, Catholic, Pentecostal/charismatic, and many others; * highlights positive, balanced principles and models of faith of respected evangelical leaders, guiding the reader away from questionable teaching and practice and yet encouraging a walk by faith that is both strong and sound; * contains a treasure house of preaching, teaching, Bible study, examples of faith, and research material.

Every person has stories in their hearts, wanting to be expressed, seen through eyes and letting others know what life is. Maybe through those stories the person reading will be released from their bonds and are free inside to let their own stories come alive. I like the Daily Snapshots, they tell a brief lurid event happening at the moment. Stand back and let the story happen. A fresh outlook in seeing the world around you.

This work examines the experiences of African Americans under the law and how African American culture has fostered a rich tradition of legal criticism. Moving between novels, music, and visual culture, the essays present race as a significant factor within legal discourse. Essays examine rights and sovereignty, violence and the law, and cultural ownership through the lens of African American culture. The volume argues that law must understand the effects of particular decisions and doctrines on African American life and culture and explores the ways in which African American cultural production has been largely centered on a critique of law.

Art Therapy, Trauma, and Neuroscience combines theory, research, and practice with traumatized populations in a neuroscience framework. The classic edition includes a new preface from the author discussing advances in the field. Recognizing the importance of a neuroscience- and trauma-informed approach to art therapy practice, research, and education, some of the most renowned figures in art therapy and trauma use translational and integrative neuroscience to provide theoretical and applied techniques for use in clinical practice. Graduate students, therapists, and educators will come away from this book with a refined understanding of brain-based interventions in a dynamic yet accessible format.

Nathan L. King's The Excellent Mind considers the importance of the intellectual virtues: the character traits of excellent thinkers. He explains what it means to have an excellent mind: one that is curious, careful, self-reliant, humble, honest, persevering, courageous, open, firm, and wise. Drawing from recent literature in philosophy and psychology, he considers what these virtues are like in practice, why they are important, and how we grow in them. King also argues that despite their label, these virtues are not just for intellectuals: they are for everyone. He shows how intellectual virtues are critical to living everyday life, in areas as diverse as personal relationships, responsible citizenship, civil discourse, personal success, and education. Filled with vivid examples and relevant applications, The Excellent Mind will serve as an engaging introduction to the intellectual virtues for students and anyone interested in the topic.

This collection contributes to and advances scholarly discussions about the African American novel as a literary form. Essays respond to the general question, what has been the impact of the African American vernacular tradition--from the spirituals, blues, gospel, and jazz to hip hop--on the structure and style of the modern African American novel?

When Jake Rollins isn't worrying about his dad going ape-shit, he's busy creating out-of- this-world manga and hanging out with his best mate. Jake and his mum spend their lives dodging Jake's dad's fists, but it's the last year of high school and Jake has the perfect plan to escape home. All he has to do is nab a scholarship to Tokyo where he'll learn how to be a professional manga artist. But before then, Jake has to navigate his final year of high school, and keep himself, his mum and their dog alive. Baba Ami may look like an ordinary Australian Terrier but she's more like Jake's spiritual guide. She's got tons of wisdom, plus she talks, but the only person who can hear her is Jake. She's not the only surprising thing about Jake's life - his anime hero, Takehiko sometimes inexplicably comes to life. He's Jake's role model for friendship, bravery and being true to yourself. And let's face it, Jake needs all the help he can get when he ends up complicating his life by kissing his best friend, Phee and getting in with Clay Perez, the local graffiti artist who is always in trouble with the police. Jake's life takes a turn for the worst when he's arrested after Clay Perez dobs him in. When his dad throws him out of the house, he ends up being a homeless teenager with nowhere to go. Thank goodness for best friends. Life gets even more complicated when Jake's portrait of his dad ends up in the local paper. It will be a miracle if they don't all end up dead like Jake's little sister, Katie. This is a story of survival, resurgence, and what it means to be bigger than where you come from. With themes of friendship, coming-of-age, family abuse, survival, creativity, courage and diversity, Can the Real JR Stand Up, Please? is a warm-hearted hopeful story about being true to yourself and learning to be brave.

This collection brings together fifteen chapters written by scholars specializing in disciplines ranging from anthropology and sociology to literature, film, and performance studies. These scholars analyze complex questions about how the body is lived and imagined as a locus of meaning-making in contemporary Japan. Exploring such topics as mind-body dualism, aging and illness, spirit possession, beauty, performance, and gender, this collection addresses the wide array of socio-cultural and literary contexts in which the body is interpreted in Japanese culture and thought.