Personal Ministries

A blogger and homeschooling mom of three, Jessica Smartt shares her family’s journey out of monotony, distraction, and busyness to a life of making lasting memories and how families can take those memories, together with old and new traditions, to breathe life into their homes.

Marriage is the most profound human relationship there is. Coming to know and love your spouse is one of the most rewarding and wondrous things we can experience in life. But it is also one of the most difficult and painful. In this 365-day devotional, Timothy Keller and his wife of 43 years, Kathy Keller, share powerful instructions on how to have a successful marriage. The Kellers draw from and expand upon lessons they first introduced in their book, The Meaning of Marriage, offering stories, daily scriptures, and prayer prompts.

You're deeply committed to helping your kids succeed. But you're concerned. Why are so many graduates unprepared to enter the workforce and face life on their own? You're doing your best to raise healthy children, but sometimes you wonder, am I really helping them? Tim Elmore shows you how to avoid 12 critical mistakes parents unintentionally make. He outlines practical and effective parenting skills so you won't fall into common traps. Find out why thousands of organizations have sought out Tim Elmore to help them develop young leaders.

Pregnancy is not just a trek from one medical appointment to another but a journey of the heart. Here at last is a guidebook through its sacred terrain. For each week, Orthodox doula Laura Jansson provides a new reflection on a theme specific to the ground covered at that stage. From one milestone to the next, she helps us unearth the spiritual treasures buried within the physical experiences of childbearing. These are gifts of love from a merciful God who reaches out to us, making a perilous expedition into a path of salvation.

Author Remi Adeleke takes listeners back to stories from his childhood as Nigerian royalty to losing his father early in life and being financially stripped of everything by the Nigerian government. He delves into being raised by a single mother in the Bronx and doesn’t shy away from the illegal activities that threatened to derail his future. Having gone through times of intense struggle, pressure, and failure, Adeleke shares his inspiring story of overcoming the odds, even when it didn’t make sense; and ultimately experiencing true personal transformation.

Experience the blessings of an imperfect marriage. We all - at one time or another - have opportunities to act right when our spouses act wrong. There are no perfect marriages or perfect spouses. We know that having a good marriage requires effort and hard work. Yet we often don't know how to continue to love when we are angry, hurt, scared, or just plain irritated. Nor are we sure what that kind of love is supposed to look like.

This best-selling book has provided the foundation for a whole new way of thinking about relationships among today’s generation. Rather than chasing after temporary relationships, this book challenges listeners to give the “pen” to God and allow him to script their love story in his own perfect time and way.

Harry Potter has captivated the imagination of millions of children. And Harry Potter has caused controversy in churches and schools. What's a parent to do with the magical, mystical world of Harry and his friends? Gina Burkart chose to read the books with her own children. As they read together, she discovered many parallels between Christian faith and the themes of these books. Indeed, the escapades of Harry Potter sparked significant conversation between Burkart and her kids.

Learn to find and play the role God wants most for you to play, not the ones you feel pressured into playing for the sake of others or even our sense of accomplishment and worth. Most of us spend a lot of our lives figuring out when to say yes and when to say no. How to manage our time, reduce stress, do our best for our families, find a little space for "me". But we don't find space for our souls until we learn to step past the yes and no of daily decisions and seek a third option: the best yes. The best yes is the choice that shapes all our other choices.

Your personality is a gift, not a liability. This book helps you uncover and embrace the hope, laughter, and joy of using your unique gifts to parent your children. Life as a mom is loud, but you long for quiet. When the volume of family life clashes with your personality, frustration, guilt, and overwhelm naturally result. In Introverted Mom, author Jamie C. Martin lifts these burdens from your shoulders, reminding you that your steady strength is exactly what your family needs in this chaotic world.

Physician Ed Wheat has helped thousands of couples improve their love lives and build happier marriages. In Love Life for Every Married Couple, he'll help you improve your marriage through sharing, touching, appreciating, and focusing healing attention on your mate. Answering physical, psychological, and stress-related questions in a Christian context, Dr. Wheat demonstrates how to bring your feelings of love back to life.

Do you know if you have enough? Do you know how much is enough? If you can't answer these questions, Master Your Money is for you. In this book, Ron Blue extracts principles from God's word and applies them to your financial portfolio. Ron's professional experience in financial planning will ease your anxieties over money and be an asset to you and your family for generations to come. Learn the tools and techniques you need to move forward toward true financial freedom.

Many of you grew up assuming that marriage would meet all of your needs and unlock God's purposes for you. But God has far more planned for you than your future marriage. Not Yet Married is not about waiting quietly in the corner of the world for God to bring you "the one" but about inspiring you to live and date for more now. If you follow Jesus, the search for a spouse is no longer a pursuit of perfection but a mutually flawed pursuit of Christ.

Have a new husband by Friday? Is that even possible? Dr. Kevin Leman says it is. The New York Times best-selling author and self-help guru shows even the most frustrated wife how she can have a new husband by Friday. Leman reminds any wife that if what she's doing to get better behavior out of her husband isn't working now, it never will. So it's time for a change. That means it's time to change her own patterns of behavior.

From successful parents, learn how to train up your children rather than discipline them. With humor and real-life examples, this book shows you how to train your children before the need to discipline arises. Be done with corrective discipline; make them allies rather than adversaries. The stress will be gone, and your obedient children will praise you and bring joy and peace into your home.

A must-listen for pre-married as well as long-married couples, Craig and Amy Groeschel explore the time-tested wisdom able to guide you and your spouse into the marriage you've always wanted. Perfect for single adults, engaged couples, and married couples alike, Craig and his wife, Amy, show you how to conquer the odds and find the joy, passion, and strength of a marriage built by God. Craig and Amy open their hearts, share personal experiences, and walk you through five powerful commitments you can make to fail-proof your marriage.

In this new audiobook by best-selling author, Edward Sri, we discover the close connection between growing in the virtues and growing in friendship and community with others. A consummate teacher, Dr. Sri leads us through the virtues with engaging examples and an uncanny ability to anticipate and answer our most pressing questions. Dr. Sri shows us in his inimitable, easy-to-listen style, that the virtues are the basic life skills we need to give the best of ourselves to God and to the people in our lives. In short, the practice of the virtues give us the freedom to love.

Tony Gaskins has inspired others by sharing his truth - drawing millions of followers online and making him one of America’s foremost experts on love and relationships. Now, he and his wife explore a woman’s positive impact on a relationship in this practical and accessible guide that walks you through a series of irreplaceable lessons on making personal changes that foster healthy relationships.

We are designed for relationships, yet they often bring us pain. In this paradigm-shifting book, Gary Smalley unravels the DNA of relationships: we are made for three great relationships, with God, others, and ourselves, and all relationships involve choice. Gary exposes a destructive relationship dance that characterizes nearly every relationship conflict, and he offers five new dance steps that will revolutionize relationships.

Gary Chapman has helped millions prepare for marriage. Now let him prepare you for kids. Inside, Gary shares what he wishes he and his wife had known before having kids. For example: Children affect your time, your money, and your marriage - and that's just the beginning. With his trademark warmth, he offers practical advice on everything from potty training, to the importance of apologizing to your child, to keeping your marriage strong, all the while celebrating the great joy that children bring.