Power Families

Many fantasize about dramatically changing their lives - living in accordance with their ideals rather than the exigencies of job, bills, and possessions. William Powers actually does it. Here, his family, with baby in tow, searches for balance, community, and happiness in a small town in Bolivia. They build an adobe house, plant a prolific orchard and organic garden, and weave their life into a community of permaculturists, bio-builders, artists, and creative businesspeople. Can this Transition Town succeed in the face of encroaching North American capitalism?

Healthcare has changed immensely over the past few generations - house calls from a local family doctor are a thing of the past, and the deeply personal relationships and bonds between provider and patient are eroding with the demands of for-profit insurance. As a family practitioner focused on cradle-to-grave care, author Barb Regis has a valuable perspective on how patients can experience better outcomes.

Marigold "Goldie" Vance lives and works at the Crossed Palms Resort Hotel in Florida with a whole slew of characters: her dad, Art, the manager of the joint; Cheryl Lebeaux, the concierge and Goldie's best friend; and Walter Tooey, the hired hotel detective. Her mom, Sylvie, works nearby at the Mermaid Club. While life at the Crossed Palms is always busy, the resort is currently overrun with Hollywood-types filming the hottest new creature feature, and tensions are at an all-time high.

Imagine a generation of children who are empowered, confident, and victorious - children who know God for themselves, who live differently than the world, and who move in the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. Bethel Church’s children’s minister, Amy Gagnon, has a passion to help children make authentic, supernatural connections with Jesus. In Raising Powerful Children, she elevates the standard for what it means to train kids up in the “way they should go” by empowering parents and teachers to establish a kingdom culture among children of all ages.

Loving your neighbor as yourself would be easy if your neighbors were all people you understood, people you agreed with, people like you. But what about playground bullies, colleagues, refugees, online adversaries? They're all our neighbors, and Jesus said to love them. Every one. But how? Lauren Casper believes the key is the lost art of empathy, stepping into other people’s shoes and asking what if? - what if it were my child? What if it were me? Learn to connect in simple but life-altering ways and shine God’s unconditional love into a dark world.

You promised yourself you'd never fall into the same sin again. You've prayed about it over and over, but it has tripped you up at the most inopportune times, knocking you back several steps. Will you ever be victorious? Maybe like Aaron Davis, among thousands of pastors, and millions of Christians around the world, you have felt powerless to overcome the same one or two pitfalls that have plagued you your whole life.

The events of the Arab Spring have come to be overshadowed by the civil war in the Arabic-speaking nation of Syria, which has been ruled throughout the 21st century by Bashar al-Assad. Though he had not planned on ruling Syria, several events conspired to make Bashar the successor of his father, Hafez. Though the West frequently looked for signs that Bashar might be a reformer, due in part to his formerly popular Western wife, Assad remained part of a critical alliance with Iran and the sub-state groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

No one wants to feel like a failure, especially when the pressure and expectation of others is weighing you down. You want to make yourself and others proud and prove that you can do anything you set your mind to, so what’s holding you back? It’s that little voice inside saying, “Are you crazy? Of course, you can’t really achieve your goals.” No, you most certainly can. You are in a world where you choose the life you want to live. You deserve freedom and happiness.

Enjoy introducing the power of community, caring, and kindness in support of our wellbeing and better health.

Lucky, age 10, can't wait another day. The meanness gland in her heart and the crevices full of questions in her brain make running away from Hard Pan, California (population 43), the rock-bottom only choice she has.

Jean can handle the upcoming divorce, the constant hot flashes, the unemployed son, even the boredom of working in retail. What she can't handle is what's been happening to her business partner and best friend, Rosie. Life has been tough on Rosie these past few months. Although trying to remain cheerful (as she always is), she's not doing so well and is feeling blue. And both Jean and Rosie are concerned about Mary. Mary has had a tough life so far.

Maine's rugged, picturesque Monhegan Island is home to weathered lobster fishermen and curious tourists, a genial if sleepy group. But when Spark Monahan - rakish prodigal son - returns unannounced to the dilapidated family home, his arrival launches a summer the likes of which this quiet town has never seen. During Spark's absence, his young son, Hally, has been cared for by what remains of the Monahan family: Spark's gentle brother, Hugh, and their shrewd, fork-tongued father, Pastor Ragnar.

All women need their own simple pleasures. Jean and Rosie are involved in a new adventure together-one they're both excited about - and they'll introduce you to some interesting characters along the way.

Everybody wants a piece of Grand Chef Sophie Valroux. With her once-destroyed reputation fully recovered and then some, Sophie is making her mark in the culinary world. But after she accepts to cook for the Parisian elite, her world crumbles. She suffers a fall and loses her senses of smell and taste. Certain that her career will vanish if people find out, she keeps this secret to herself. She fakes it all.

Griffin’s grandmother spins the most marvelous stories, from breathtaking fairy tales to fascinating family lore. These stories fuel his imagination and fill their days with magic. So when he sees her once-bright spark begin to fade, Griffin is scared to think of the future. Fortunately, though, he has her stories to guide him—and to remind him that he is braver than he could ever imagine.

Most teens would love to have a pro surfer for a dad. Just not Riley. Abandoned as a kid, he hates the sound of the ocean and the man who gave himself to it. When the 18-year-old learns that his best friend is stranded at a New Mexico hospital as her father fights for his life, Riley hits the highway to head east. But when his Jeep breaks down before he even leaves California, he must rely on the one man he despises to get to the girl who needs him the most.

God has a place of profound influence for each of us. Penny Tucci shares her life with us in a way that is both vulnerable and challenging. She lets us in on the intimate details of a journey that is filled with painful obstacles and miraculous outcomes. She gives insight into the characteristics and qualities that open doors of influence in every relationship in our lives.

In The Invisible Toolbox, Kim shares with parents the single most important thing they can do to foster their child's future-learning potential and nurture the parent-child bond that is the foundation for a child's motivation to learn. She is convinced that the simple act of reading aloud has a far-reaching impact that few of us fully understand and that the importance of that act has recently been further occluded by our nearly universal saturation in technology.

Mina, Penny, and Sheryl have the typical expectations of prom night in 2005: dresses, dancing, and of course some coming of age moments. None of them plans to get pregnant, but when all three do, they band together as they face decisions that have the power to shape the rest of their lives. In 2024, their three children—Blossom, Amber, and Cole—are high school seniors, gearing up to go to prom and facing some big decisions of their own.

The only life Mae has ever known is on the island, living on the charity of the wealthy Prosper family who control the magic on the island and the spirits who inhabit it. Mae longs for magic of her own and to have a place among the Prosper family, where her best friend, Coco, will see her as an equal, and her crush, Miles, will finally see her. Now that she’s 18, Mae knows her time with the Prospers may soon come to an end.