Showing results by narrator "Nan McNamara" in All Categories

Claudia Morgan is overwhelmed. She's a single parent trying the best that she can, but her four-year-old son, Henry, is a handful - for her and for his preschool. When Claudia hears about a school with an atypical teaching style near her Chicagoland home, she has to visit. The Hawthorne School is beautiful and has everything she dreams of for Henry: time to play outside, music, and art. But when Henry brings home stories of ceremonies in the woods and odd rules, Claudia's instincts tell her that something isn't quite right.

Ever feel like it's easier to believe we'll meet God in the afterlife than it is to feel God at work in this life, with its chores and schedules and messes and unrealized dreams? The truth is, God is at work every day of our lives, but because this work is quieter than we expect, we so often dismiss it as coincidence or chance. What if we could clearly understand those divine whispers? What if listening to them is the beginning of living out our truest story and purpose? In Trust the Whisper, Kathy Izard shares compelling true stories that help you connect the "God Dots" in your life.

The big news story in Chicago is the murder trial of Johnny Santoro, a dock worker whose girlfriend has been killed. Most Chicagoans are betting on a quick guilty verdict, but Ellie Foreman has doubts about his complicity - Santoro is strangely familiar to her. Checking back to the outtakes of a video project in progress while the murder took place, Ellie finds evidence that could save Santoro from a lifetime behind bars.

In the everyday battle of raising kids who love Jesus while living in a world that doesn't, God invites you to come to Him. No cleaning up, no pretenses, no fancy words-all you need is to tell Him what's truly on your heart and then ask for the wisdom, encouragement, and protection that only He can provide.

There Was An Old Woman by Hallie Ephron is a compelling novel of psychological suspense in which a young woman becomes entangled in a terrifying web of deception and madness involving an elderly neighbor.

On the cusp of her fiftieth birthday, Libby Quinn's Pinterest-perfect life has turned into a disaster. When her husband leaves with all her money, Libby is left broke, alone, and unemployable. A surprise invitation from her aunt to enjoy a retreat at the family's old summer beach house could be the balm she needs.

God is often at work through the ordinary: ordinary people, ordinary objects, ordinary grace. Through the ordinary, God communicates epiphanies, salvation, revelation, and reconciliation. It is through the mundane that we hear God's quiet voice.

Teaching kindergarten in Thailand wasn’t the job Dian Seidel had in mind when, at age sixty and craving adventure, she convinced her husband that they should try working abroad. But coping with rambunctious children, sweltering heat, and COVID-19 turned out to be the challenge she needed. Struggling to understand Thai culture, their school, and their marriage, could she learn Thailand’s essential lesson: mai pen rai, don’t worry, keep cool? Part travel memoir and part second act story, Kindergarten at 60 is a retirement tale like none other.

What is your purpose in life? This is the question we ask ourselves far too often. In Lean Forward Into Your Life, author Mary Anne Radmacher invites you to find a new way to live: by leaning forward. When you’re trying to see something better, you lean toward it. When you are listening to someone and can barely hear, you lean in. When the really exciting part of a basketball game comes, you lean forward in your seat. When you’re trying to catch, to see, to listen to the best bits—you lean forward.

Filled with reflections and brief imaginative sequences, Come to Mary's House invites you to imagine you are with the Blessed Virgin-visiting in her living room, working in her garden, or catching up over coffee. The goal is to encourage your encounter with Mary as a friend, sister, and mother-in a comfortable, gentle way. By developing a personal relationship with her, you'll let her lead you closer to Jesus.

The way of Christ is countercultural. It doesn't go with the flow, compromise on truth, or stay silent in the face of injustice—so neither can we. No matter how young or old we are, or how much or how little influence we think we have, God calls us to boldly engage our upside-down culture through the lens of his truth. With powerful examples from Scripture and stories from teens today and through the centuries, Sara Barratt equips teens to live with a biblical worldview, approach today's hot-button issues with godly wisdom, and influence their generation for the glory of God.

While we can’t see the brain, it sends signals to us and those around us. Just as the colors of a traffic light send drivers a signal to go, slow down, or stop, our brains signal to our emotions and affect our behavior toward others. In Signals, Cherilyn Orr introduces a common language and imagery to help everyone manage their emotions. Rooted in neuroscience and the Bible, this approach has been used around the world because its spans across all cultural contexts.

In Ordinary on Purpose, Mikala shares her heartfelt journey in a raw and revealing way as she invites you to lay down your own endless chase for perfection and embrace this beautiful, messy life exactly as it is with our perfect, loving God right by your side. What would it look like to stop pretending to be "perfect" and be ordinary? Instead of always feeling overwhelmed and alone, you might discover the beauty of a good, hard life grounded in the radiant hope of God's unending love. Life happens in the ordinary, after all.

No parent enjoys discipling...but we know it's important, so we grit our teeth and make it happen! Or can it be more than something we just "put up with"? Sara Wallace, a mother of five, brings you a personal, frank account of her own journey with discipline - and introduces an entirely new way to look at it. Not as something we do to our children, but as something we do for them. We can be glad when our children disobey while still in our care - they are showing us where they need to be strengthened and encouraged, giving us a chance to shape their hearts.

When life sends us trouble, we should pray. When we experience blessings, we should pray. When a friend or loved one is going through a difficult time, we should pray. We know this. Yet too often we don't know exactly what to say - so we say nothing.

On September 11, 2001, Ann Kansfield, a successful Wall Street broker who had spent years laying a path of achievements, stood on the doorstep of profound change. The city she loved was in turmoil, and a calling to help others was emerging from deep within her. Part memoir and part spiritual formation guide, Kansfield's Be the Brave One relays her stunning transformation from a "run-of-the-mill capitalist jerk" into a wife, mother, and pastor committed to feeding the poor at her church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Women are essential to the biblical story - they lead communities, bear life, and testify to God's power and presence. Some of their names we know, others we've only heard, and others, tragically, go unnamed.

If there was ever a need for an audiobook like this, it is now. As a world renowned expert on the subject, Dr. Joan Neehall is the one to deliver this message. Have you been stressed, anxious, or worried? Have you felt pangs of loneliness in recent times? Are you longing for greater connection with others and the world around you? In a phrase, are you looking for happiness? If so, you are not alone - at least not statistically speaking. Millions of others are seeking this feeling of spiritual, mental, and physical wellness too.

Empowering women empowers everyone. Women with confidence, equal pay, and leadership opportunity enrich workplace culture and help the whole organization. The first step is understanding that gender balance is not a zero-sum game. The Next Smart Step is a clear, assured guide to understanding the challenge of gender imbalance, implementing solutions, and equipping listeners with the tools we all need to ensure change that is positive and enduring. It is about all of us becoming leaders.

For more than two years, Donna Freitas’s graduate school mentor, a priest and celebrated scholar, stalked her, forever changing her life. In her 2019 account Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention, she recreated, in novelistic detail, the story of being traumatized by her professor’s obsession with her, of how he used his power to try to rob her of her own.