Are you ready to blossom?

Faith is like a flower. In order to grow, it needs soil, water, and sun food for the spirit. That s just what this devotional is. Spiritual food to help your faith grow strong and beautiful.

Featuring 365 days of wisdom from your favorite Faithgirlz authors, as well as quotes and questions from real girls like you, this devotional offers pages of inspiration on everything from navigating friendships, to taming the tongue, to trusting God in everything, big and small. Growing up can be tough, but Jesus is guiding you every step of the way.

Beauty of Believing combines the talents of Faithgirlz authors Tasha K. Douglas, Mona Hodgson, Kristi Holl, Lois Walfred Johnson, Allia Zobel Nolan, and Nancy Rue, and their words of wisdom will help your faith bloom and flourish as you grow into the girl God wants you to be."

As you grow up, a lot of new, sometimes strange, things start to happen, and it can be overwhelming. You have new responsibilities, new opportunities, and a whole new set of problems, and sometimes it can feel like no one but you can understand what it's like to be you. You're not alone. This one-year devotional is filled with stories about girls who feel just like you. As you read their stories each week and fill in questions about how you think each girl should react, you'll learn new ways to deal with the pressures around you, embrace the opportunities God has given you, and make choices that give you the opportunity to dream. Through prayer and journal exercises, you'll also discover there is someone out there who knows exactly how you feel. And he's more than ready to listen.

Late at night, as the Christina puts out into the Mississippi River, Caleb and Libby keep watch on deck. Close by, the runaway slave, Jordan, creeps forward without a sound. Drawing near the lantern, he stops, as if afraid to enter the circle of light.
On the streets above them no one stirs. Then a dark shape steps from the shadows.
Jordan moans. "It's Riggs " (The slave-trader.) The cruelest man Caleb knows. Jordan's owner stepping out, so they know he's on their trail.
From that moment the Freedom Seekers can never forget that because of a fugitive slave law Jordan can be taken back into slavery, even from a free northern state. Nor can they forget that if Captain Norstad is caught hiding a fugitive he can lose the Christina. Then Elsa, a new-found immigrant friend, faces illness and possible death.
Will Libby's need for courage bring her to the Lord who promises, "Do not fear, for I am with you"? Can the Freedom Seekers live the courage that offers life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to every person? Can they go beyond fear to put that courage into practice?
As steamboats race for St. Paul, stakes are high. To escape capture, Jordan makes a mighty leap. In a time when captains did not stop for a man overboard, will Jordan survive his fall into icy waters?

The" Freedom Seekers" series is a six-novel middle-reader set in 1857. Feel the rush of immigrants to the new land, and the dangers of the Underground Railroad in these true-to-life riverboat stories.The characters will receive a heart-warming response from readers of all ages. Adult readers will ask themselves, "Would I have been one of those who helped runaway slaves?" Lois Walfrid Johnson uses strong historical research, great writing, and wonderful storytelling to bring alive a critical time in American history.

Even before Western contact, the Pacific Islanders inhabited nearly every island north and east of Australia - a thousand distinctive peoples. This overview of the cultures of the Pacific Islands treats their physical setting, prehistory, activities, and social relations before European influences subjected them to radical changes. It is intended mainly for college-level students in courses dealing with the region, but Native Cultures of the Pacific Islands will also be enjoyed by those interested in the Pacific Islands and by visitors to the Pacific. The book is an abridgement of the author's larger, two-volume work, Oceania: The Native Cultures of Australia and the Pacific Islands. Native Cultures of the Pacific Islands contains a number of maps and illustrations from the larger work.

Long ago Jordan's parents named him in the belief that one day he would lead his people across the Jordan River into the Promised Land of freedom. Now Jordan, as a newly escaped fugitive, plans how to rescue his mother, two sisters, and a brother from slavery.

But has an escaped convict crept aboard the "Christina"? Did he overhear Libby's talk with Caleb-her giving away of a life-or-death secret?

Sick at heart, Libby knows she has failed her friends. Not only has she risked Jordan's safety, she has endangered the mission to rescue his family. Will she ever be trusted to work in the Underground Railroad? If she takes part, can she be a Freedom Seeker who holds steady to go beyond fear?

Soon after Caleb and Jordan leave the "Christina," a log raft on the Mississippi breaks up in front of the steamboat. With everything seeming to go against the rescue, will Jordan's practical skills and ability to recognize God leading make the difference between life and death? Or will the escaped prisoner rob Jordan, not only of his freedom, but also the freedom of his family?

In "Midnight Rescue," the third "Freedom Seekers" novel, as well as others in the series, Lois Walfrid Johnson ends each chapter with a cliffhanger to build interest, valuable insights, and suspense.

The "Freedom Seekers" series is a six-novel middle-reader set in 1857. Feel the rush of immigrants to the new land, and the dangers of the Underground Railroad in these true-to-life riverboat stories.The characters will receive a heart-warming response from readers of all ages. Adult readers will ask themselves, "Would I have been one of those who helped runaway slaves?" Lois Walfrid Johnson uses strong historical research, great writing, and wonderful storytelling to bring alive a critical time in American history.

Once again Bree finds the courage to win in a story that builds on the first two books of the Viking Quest series. In this novel, Bree arrives in Norway and is sent to work as a slave for the family of Mikkel, her Viking captor. She struggles to adjust, feeling worthless and disrespected, and wondering why God wants her in Norway. Her prayers are answered when she is given the opportunity to teach Mikkel's grandparents to read using an illuminated Bible stolen from an Irish monastery.

Thirteen-year-old Bree asks God for protection when she and her brother Devin are captured and taken from their home on the Irish coast by Viking raiders in the late tenth century.

In this short book, Lois Walfrid Johnson offers readers hope. Not just heartfelt get-well wishes, but the life-giving hope that is found in the presence of Jesus. It is because Johnson understood her life to be in tune with the Spirit of God that she was able to say, "Either way, I win". It is her hope that this book will give anyone facing cancer or any difficult time the same reassurance.