Travel with Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins on her compelling journey from America's heartland to international sports history, navigating challenges and triumphs with rugged grit and a splash of glitter Pyeongchang, February 21, 2018. In the nerve-racking final seconds of the women's team sprint freestyle race, Jessie Diggins dug deep. Blowing past two of the best sprinters in the world, she stretched her ski boot across the finish line and lunged straight into Olympic immortality: the first ever cross-country skiing gold medal for the United States at the Winter Games. The 26-year-old Diggins, a four-time World Championship medalist, was literally a world away from the small town of Afton, Minnesota, where she first strapped on skis. Yet, for all her history-making achievements, she had never strayed far from the scrappy 12-year-old who had insisted on portaging her own canoe through the wilderness, yelling happily under the unwieldy weight on her shoulders: "Look! I'm doing it!" In Brave Enough, Jessie Diggins reveals the true story of her journey from the American Midwest into sports history. With candid charm and characteristic grit, she connects the dots from her free-spirited upbringing in the woods of Minnesota to racing in the bright spotlights of the Olympics. Going far beyond stories of races and ribbons, she describes the challenges and frustrations of becoming a serious athlete; learning how to push through and beyond physical and psychological limits; and the intense pressure of competing at the highest levels. She openly shares her harrowing struggle with bulimia, recounting both the adversity and how she healed from it in order to bring hope and understanding to others experiencing eating disorders. Between thrilling accounts of moments of triumph, Diggins shows the determination it takes to get there-the struggles and disappointments, the fun and the hard work, and the importance of listening to that small, fierce voice: I can do it. I am brave enough.

Travel with Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins on her compelling journey from America's heartland to international sports history, navigating challenges and triumphs with rugged grit and a splash of glitter Pyeongchang, February 21, 2018. In the nerve-racking final seconds of the women's team sprint freestyle race, Jessie Diggins dug deep. Blowing past two of the best sprinters in the world, she stretched her ski boot across the finish line and lunged straight into Olympic immortality: the first ever cross-country skiing gold medal for the United States at the Winter Games. The 26-year-old Diggins, a four-time World Championship medalist, was literally a world away from the small town of Afton, Minnesota, where she first strapped on skis. Yet, for all her history-making achievements, she had never strayed far from the scrappy 12-year-old who had insisted on portaging her own canoe through the wilderness, yelling happily under the unwieldy weight on her shoulders: "Look! I'm doing it!" In Brave Enough, Jessie Diggins reveals the true story of her journey from the American Midwest into sports history. With candid charm and characteristic grit, she connects the dots from her free-spirited upbringing in the woods of Minnesota to racing in the bright spotlights of the Olympics. Going far beyond stories of races and ribbons, she describes the challenges and frustrations of becoming a serious athlete; learning how to push through and beyond physical and psychological limits; and the intense pressure of competing at the highest levels. She openly shares her harrowing struggle with bulimia, recounting both the adversity and how she healed from it in order to bring hope and understanding to others experiencing eating disorders. Between thrilling accounts of moments of triumph, Diggins shows the determination it takes to get there-the struggles and disappointments, the fun and the hard work, and the importance of listening to that small, fierce voice: I can do it. I am brave enough.

Become a Resting Place For God's Presence and Power!

Historically, God has moved mightily through revivals, awakenings, and outpourings of His Spirit. But these legendary moments are only a glimpse into what God desires for you each and every day.

Your everyday life can be a permanent dwelling place for God’s presence.

Todd Smith, pastor of Christ Fellowship Dawsonville and leader of the North Georgia Revival, has firsthand experience in creating a habitation for God. He was on the verge of quitting the ministry when the Holy Spirit began showing him how to create a place in his life for the presence of God to live.

Today, Todd shares these keys with you! Discover how to…

• Shift from revival visitation to Holy Spirit habitation—where God’s manifest presence rests upon you with power.
• Become a carrier of God’s holy fire—where you impact the atmosphere around you.
• Practice core values that protect the presence—keys that help you cultivate and sustain a lifestyle saturated in God’s presence and power.
• Create atmospheres that pass God’s test—discover what the Holy Spirit is seeking in order for Him to manifest His presence.
• Pray three things that position you for supernatural setups.
• Discover the supernatural power and peace that comes when you make your life a habitation for God’s glory!

The small town of Glenns Ferry, Idaho; nestled in the valley of southern Idaho's high plains desert, had a big problem. The Sheriff had a small force of personnel to cover Elmore County's rangeland. If not for that damn rancher, the 14-year old boy and Terry, the Indian foreman, even the mundane duties would have piled up. Their unique collaboration to stop the outside forces that strived for free, quick money, is the story. "COMPROMISE" is a 21-Century western tale of the farm and ranchland that still exists and the lives of the people who live it. An action adventure, leisure read, roller coaster ride of modern western life.

From Dominance to Disappearance is the first detailed history of the Indians of Texas and the Near Southwest from the late eighteenth to the middle nineteenth century, a period that began with Native peoples dominating the region and ended with their disappearance, after settlers forced the Indians in Texas to take refuge in Indian Territory. Drawing on a variety of published and unpublished sources in Spanish, French, and English, F. Todd Smith traces the differing histories of Texas's Native peoples. He begins in 1786, when the Spaniards concluded treaties with the Comanches and the Wichitas, among others, and traces the relations between the Native peoples and the various Euroamerican groups in Texas and the Near Southwest, an area encompassing parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. For the first half of this period, the Native peoples-including the Caddos, the Karankawas, the Tonkawas, the Lipan Apaches, and the Atakapas as well as emigrant groups such as the Cherokees and the Alabama-Coushattas-maintained a numerical superiority over the Euroamericans that allowed them to influence the region's economic, military, and diplomatic affairs. After Texas declared its independence, however, the power of Native peoples in Texas declined dramatically, and along with it, their ability to survive in the face of overwhelming hostility. From Dominance to Disappearance illuminates a poorly understood chapter in the history of Texas and its indigenous people. F. Todd Smith is an associate professor of history at the University of North Texas. He is the author of several books on Texas Indians, including The Caddo Indians: Tribes on the Convergence of Empires, 1542-1854, The Wichita Indians: Traders of Texas and the Southern Plains, 1540-1845, and The Caddos, the Wichitas, and the United States, 1846-1901.

From Dominance to Disappearance is the first detailed history of the Indians of Texas and the Near Southwest from the late eighteenth to the middle nineteenth century, a period that began with Native peoples dominating the region and ended with their disappearance, after settlers forced the Indians in Texas to take refuge in Indian Territory. Drawing on a variety of published and unpublished sources in Spanish, French, and English, F. Todd Smith traces the differing histories of Texas's Native peoples. He begins in 1786, when the Spaniards concluded treaties with the Comanches and the Wichitas, among others, and traces the relations between the Native peoples and the various Euroamerican groups in Texas and the Near Southwest, an area encompassing parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. For the first half of this period, the Native peoples--including the Caddos, the Karankawas, the Tonkawas, the Lipan Apaches, and the Atakapas as well as emigrant groups such as the Cherokees and the Alabama-Coushattas--maintained a numerical superiority over the Euro-Americans that allowed them to influence the region's economic, military, and diplomatic affairs. in Texas declined dramatically and along with it their ability to survive in the face of overwhelming hostility. From Dominance to Disappearance illuminates a poorly understood chapter in the history of Texas and its indigenous people. F. Todd Smith is an associate professor of history at the University of North Texas. He is the author of several books on Texas Indians, including The Caddo Indians: Tribes on the Convergence of Empires, 1542-1854, The Wichita Indians: Traders of Texas and the Southern Plains, 1540-1845, and The Caddos, the Wichitas, and the United States, 1846-1901.

In 1542 members of the thriving Caddo Indian culture came face to face with Luis de Moscoso, successor to Hernando de Soto as leader of a Spanish exploration party. That encounter marked a turning point for this centuries-old people, whose history from then on would be dominated by the interaction of the native confederacies with the empires of various European adventurers and settlers.Much has been written about the confrontations of Euro-Americans with Native Americans, but most of it has focused on the Anglo-Indian relations of the eastern part of the continent or on the final phases of the western wars. This thorough and engaging history is the first to focus intensively on the Caddos of the Texas-Louisiana border area. Primarily from the perspective of the Caddos themselves, it traces the development and effect of relations over the three hundred years from the first meeting with the Spaniards until the resettlement of the tribes on the Brazos Reserve in 1854.In an impressive work of scholarship and lucid writing, F. Todd Smith chronicles all three of the Caddo confederacies-Kadohadacho, Hasinai, and Natchitoches-as they consolidated into a single tribe to face the waves of soldiers, traders, and settlers from the empires of Spain, France, the United States, Mexico, and the Republic of Texas. It describes the delicate balance the Caddos struck with the various nations claiming the region and how that gradually evolved into a less beneficial relationship. Caught in the squeeze between Euro-American nations, the Caddos eventually sacrificed their independence and much of their culture to gain the benefits offered by the invaders. Falling victim to swindlers, they at last lost their lands and were moved to a reservation. This intriguing new view of a little-known aspect of history will fascinate those interested in the culture and fate of American Indians. Thorough in its research and comprehensive in scope, it offers valuable insight into the differing approaches of the various European and American nations to the native peoples and a compelling understanding of the futility of the efforts of even some of the most sophisticated tribes in coping successfully with the changes wrought.

Strategically located at the western edge of the Atlantic World, the French post of Natchitoches thrived during the eighteenth century as a trade hub between the well-supplied settlers and the isolated Spaniards and Indians of Texas. Its critical economic and diplomatic role made it the most important community on the Louisiana-Texas frontier during the colonial era.
Despite the community's critical role under French and then Spanish rule, Colonial Natchitoches is the first thorough study of its society and economy. Founded in 1714, four years before New Orleans, Natchitoches developed a creole (American-born of French descent) society that dominated the Louisiana-Texas frontier.
H. Sophie Burton and F. Todd Smith carefully demonstrate not only the persistence of this creole dominance but also how it was maintained. They examine, as well, the other ethnic cultures present in the town and relations with Indians in the surrounding area.
Through statistical analyses of birth and baptismal records, census figures, and appropriate French and Spanish archives, Burton and Smith reach surprising conclusions about the nature of society and commerce in colonial Natchitoches.