Download or read book Sober Mercies written by Heather Harpham Kopp and published by Jericho Books. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where do you turn for hope when you already have the answer--but the answer isn't working? As a long-time Christian, Heather Kopp never expected to become an out-of-control alcoholic who kept private stashes of booze all over the place--tucked behind books in her study, zipped into a special compartment in her oversized purse, at the back of her closet stuffed inside her boots. Even as her career and marriage teetered on the brink, Kopp couldn't get a grip, desperately hiding the true extent of her drinking from the rest of the world--her husband included. During the day she wrote books about God and prayer and family. At night she'd locked herself in her bathroom to guzzle chardonnay. For her, as for many Christians who struggle with addiction, overwhelming shame and confusion only made things worse. Why wasn't her faith enough to save her? Why didn't repentance, Bible reading and prayer work? Where was God? Meanwhile, as she watched in horror, her grown son descended into his own nightmare of drugs and alcohol. She feared for his life, yet she couldn't stop drinking long enough to help him--or find a way out for herself. Until the day everything changed. Engaging, funny and bracingly honest, Kopp shares her remarkable journey into darkness...and back to the light again. Her story reveals the unique challenges and spiritual conundrums Christians face when they become ensnared in an addiction, and the redemption that's possible when we finally reach the end of ourselves. If you love Jesus but shop too much, drink too much, eat too much, crush on men who aren't your husband, or otherwise fixate on doing things you hate but can't stop doing, SOBER MERCIES is for you. As you follow Kopp's sincere, stumbling journey toward freedom and a deeply satisfying relationship with God, you'll find renewed hope--and practical steps of recovery--for your own journey.
Download or read book Sober Mercies written by Heather Harpham Kopp and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where do you turn for hope when you already have the answer--but the answer isn't working? As a long-time Christian, Heather Kopp never expected to become an out-of-control alcoholic who kept private stashes of booze all over the place--tucked behind books in her study, zipped into a special compartment in her oversized purse, at the back of her closet stuffed inside her boots. Even as her career and marriage teetered on the brink, Kopp couldn't get a grip, desperately hiding the true extent of her drinking from the rest of the world--her husband included. During the day she wrote books about God and prayer and family. At night she'd locked herself in her bathroom to guzzle chardonnay. For her, as for many Christians who struggle with addiction, overwhelming shame and confusion only made things worse. Why wasn't her faith enough to save her? Why didn't repentance, Bible reading and prayer work? Where was God? Meanwhile, as she watched in horror, her grown son descended into his own nightmare of drugs and alcohol. She feared for his life, yet she couldn't stop drinking long enough to help him--or find a way out for herself. Until the day everything changed. Engaging, funny and bracingly honest, Kopp shares her remarkable journey into darkness...and back to the light again. Her story reveals the unique challenges and spiritual conundrums Christians face when they become ensnared in an addiction, and the redemption that's possible when we finally reach the end of ourselves. If you love Jesus but shop too much, drink too much, eat too much, crush on men who aren't your husband, or otherwise fixate on doing things you hate but can't stop doing, SOBER MERCIES is for you. As you follow Kopp's sincere, stumbling journey toward freedom and a deeply satisfying relationship with God, you'll find renewed hope--and practical steps of recovery--for your own journey.
Download or read book Traveling Mercies written by Anne Lamott and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2000-09-05 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of Bird by Bird comes a personal, wise, very funny, and “life-affirming” book (People) that shows us how to find meaning and hope through shining the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life. "Anne Lamott is walking proof that a person can be both reverent and irreverent in the same lifetime. Sometimes even in the same breath." —San Francisco Chronicle Lamott claims the two best prayers she knows are: "Help me, help me, help me" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She has a friend whose morning prayer each day is "Whatever," and whose evening prayer is "Oh, well." Anne thinks of Jesus as "Casper the friendly savior" and describes God as "one crafty mother." Despite—or because of—her irreverence, faith is a natural subject for Anne Lamott. Since Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird, her fans have been waiting for her to write the book that explained how she came to the big-hearted, grateful, generous faith that she so often alluded to in her two earlier nonfiction books. The people in Anne Lamott's real life are like beloved characters in a favorite series for her readers—her friend Pammy, her son, Sam, and the many funny and wise folks who attend her church are all familiar. And Traveling Mercies is a welcome return to those lives, as well as an introduction to new companions Lamott treats with the same candor, insight, and tenderness. Lamott's faith isn't about easy answers, which is part of what endears her to believers as well as nonbelievers. Against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself. As she puts it, "My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers."
Download or read book Sober Boots written by Heather Kopp and published by DESK Publishing. This book was released on 2017-03-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Blackout written by Sarah Hepola and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2015-06-23 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this unflinchingly honest and hilarious memoir, a woman discovers that her best life is a sober one. For Sarah Hepola, drinking felt like freedom; part of her birthright as a twenty-first-century woman. But there was a price–she often blacked out, having no memory of the lost hours. On the outside, her career was flourishing, but inside, her spirit was diminishing. She could no longer avoid the truth–she needed help. Blackout is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure–sobriety. Sarah Hepola's tale will resonate with anyone who has had to face the reality of addiction and the struggle to put down the bottle. At first it seemed like a sacrifice–but in the end, it was all worth it to get her life back.
Download or read book A Sober Mom s Guide to Recovery written by Rosemary O'Connor and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-09-08 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rosemary O’Connor brings her many years of experience working with women in recovery to addressing the key life issues mothers face at all stages of their recovery path. Rosemary O’Connor brings her many years of experience working with women in recovery to addressing the key life issues mothers face at all stages of their recovery path. Recovering from an addiction is tough enough, but when you throw in the tremendous responsibilities of motherhood, resisting cravings and remaining abstinent—much less enjoying the rewards of sobriety—can seem like an impossible challenge. Rosemary O’Connor brings her many years of experience working with women in recovery to addressing the key life issues mothers face at all stages of their recovery path. At once affirming, engaging, and practical, A Sober Mom’s Guide to Recovery combines down-to-earth advice with the inspiring stories of recovering moms, including the author’s, to offer guidance on over fifty vital topics, including stress, relapse, relationships, sex and intimacy, spirituality, shame, gratitude, dating, and, of course, parenting. The result is an inspirational and practical handbook, not just for getting through the day, but for building a sense of well-being that radiates outward, allowing you to be present with your kids and loved ones, and find hope for the future.
Download or read book The 1928 Book of Common Prayer written by Oxford University Press and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1993-11-16 with total page 523 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1928 Book of Common Prayer is a treasured resource for traditional Anglicans and others who appreciate the majesty of King James-style language. This classic edition features a Presentation section containing certificates for the rites of Baptism, Confirmation, and Marriage. The elegant burgundy hardcover binding is embossed with a simple gold cross, making it an ideal choice for both personal study and gift-giving. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer combines Oxford's reputation for quality construction and scholarship with a modest price - a beautiful prayer book and an excellent value.
Download or read book Girls with Swords written by Lisa Bevere and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2014-02-18 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A passionate call for Christian women to effectively "wield the sword" of their God-given feminine strength against any evil that threatens them and those they love. What if you discovered you have been entrusted with an invisible, invincible, and incorruptible weapon? Would you use it? In a day of worldwide trafficking, gendercide, discrimination, and other hostility against women, Lisa Bevere points to a biblical foundation to present a model of feminine strength that will empower women to live confidently. Drawing on the many references to swords throughout Scripture, the author constructs a revealing and compelling female paradigm that will impact every area of a woman's self identity, spiritual awareness, relationships, and life vision and mission. Long known for her passionate and articulate expression of biblical womanhood, Bevere presents fresh imagery--as enticing and strong as polished steel--to prepare women boldly for the challenges they face in today's world. It's not enough to just be wise and strong: Now a woman must know how to wield her sword. Creatively forging the imagery of swords, the Word of God, and the Cross, Girls with Swords will teach you: • How to speak the language of heaven on earth • What it means to intercede • What it means to carry your cross • What it means to be discerning • How to disarm the enemy • Why women are the enemy’s target—and why God needs them to be heroes It’s time to take up your sword and be a hero.
Download or read book Why Can t Church Be More Like an AA Meeting written by Stephen R. Haynes and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do Christians need recovery? Or is recovery something needed by the church itself? Addiction—whether to a substance or to a behavior—is a problem within faith communities, just like it is everywhere else. But because churches are rarely experienced as safe places for dealing with addiction, co-addiction, or the legacy of family dysfunction, Christians tend to seek recovery from these conditions in Twelve-Step fellowships. Once they become accustomed to the ethos of vulnerability, acceptance, and healing that these fellowships provide, however, they are often left feeling that the church has failed them, with many asking: why can’t church be more like an AA meeting? Inspired by his own quest to find in church the sort of mutual support and healing he discovered in Twelve-Step fellowships, Stephen Haynes explores the history of Alcoholics Anonymous and its relationship to American Christianity. He shows that, while AA eventually separated from the Christian parachurch movement out of which it emerged, it retained aspects of Christian experience that the church itself has largely lost: comfort with brokenness and vulnerability, an emphasis on honesty and transparency, and suspicion toward claims to piety and respectability. Haynes encourages Christians to reclaim these distinctive elements of the Twelve-Step movement in the process of “recovering church.” He argues that this process must begin with he calls “Step 0,” which, as he knows from personal experience, can be the hardest step: the admission that, despite appearances, we are not fine.
Download or read book The Recovery Minded Church written by Jonathan Benz and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2015-12-03 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You want to have vibrant relationships with those who struggle with addiction in your church and community. This practical resource for church leaders and congregations answers your pressing questions about addiction and recovery, through real-life stories, the latest insights from medical science and a biblical framework for how to love the addicts in your midst.
Download or read book Carry On Warrior written by Glennon Doyle and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-04-08 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times essayist shares her journey from a self-destructive college student to a devoted family woman and teacher while illuminating the importance of trusting in a higher power and being truthful about life's challenges.
Download or read book The bruised reed and smoking flax 1630 written by Richard SIBBES and published by . This book was released on 1818 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book By The Numbers written by Jen Lancaster and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-06-21 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestselling author of The Best of Enemies serves up a hilarious new novel of the “sandwich generation.” Actuary Penny Sinclair has a head for business, and she always makes rational decisions. Knowing that 60% of spouses cheat and 50% of marriages end in divorce, she wasn’t too surprised when her husband had an affair. (That he did so with a woman their daughter’s age? Well, that part did sting a bit.) She just made sure she got everything in the divorce, including their lovely old Victorian house. And as soon as her younger daughter has her hipster-fabulous wedding in the backyard, she’s trading it in for a condo in downtown Chicago... Well within the average market time in her area, Penny gets an offer on the house. But then life happens. Her children, her parents and her ex come flying back to the nest, all in need of Penny’s emotional—and financial—support. Spread thin, Penny becomes the poster child for the “sandwich generation,” when all she really wanted to do was make managing director, buy a white couch, and maybe go on a Match.com date...
Download or read book Operating Instructions written by Anne Lamott and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2005-03-08 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the same brilliant combination of humor and warmth she brought to bestseller Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott gives us a smart, funny, and comforting chronicle of single motherhood. It’s not like she’s the only woman to ever have a baby. At thirty-five. On her own. But Anne Lamott makes it all fresh in her now-classic account of how she and her son and numerous friends and neighbors and some strangers survived and thrived in that all important first year. From finding out that her baby is a boy (and getting used to the idea) to finding out that her best friend and greatest supporter Pam will die of cancer (and not getting used to that idea), with a generous amount of wit and faith (but very little piousness), Lamott narrates the great and small events that make up a woman’s life. "Lamott has a conversational style that perfectly conveys her friendly, self-depricating humor." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review "Lamott is a wonderfully lithe writer .... Anyone who has ever had a hard time facing a perfectly ordinary day will identify." -- Chicago Tribune
Download or read book I Love Jesus But I Want to Die written by Sarah J. Robinson and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.
Download or read book The Listening Heart written by Judy Gordon Morrow and published by Gospel Light Publications. This book was released on 2013-12-09 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More. Life is full to overflowing, but we crave an illusive more. Via social networking, airwaves, and TV, our culture tells us to strive for more stuff, more activities, more adventure—you name it. Yet we are often left unfulfilled and wanting. Empty, even. With so many demands for our attention, it is difficult to quiet our minds long enough to hear the still, small voice of our loving Father, and to listen to the One who desires to bring us so much more than the noise of everyday life. Judy Gordon Morrow discovered the more when her world was turned upside down and she knelt before God to seek Him and ask for His help. More than a decade ago, in tear-stained notebooks, she began to pen God’s responses to her desperate prayers. Now, in The Listening Heart, Judy invites you to spend a year hearing from the God Who Speaks—the God who wants to speak to you. Each daily devotion echoes the Father’s love and care for you, offering hope, comfort, encouragement and more—a rich closeness with God that will satisfy the longings of your heart.
Download or read book A Very Fine House written by Barbara Cofer Stoefen and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2014-09-23 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Very Fine House is an intimate memoir of a mother's Norman Rockwell family turned upside down by her daughter's descent into meth addiction and crime. Bright and beautiful, Annie is an unlikely candidate for meth. Living fast and hard on the streets of Bend, Oregon, she commits crimes against herself, the community, and her own family. The author chronicles her child's addiction in a way that other writers have not written about addiction. What begins as an obsession to save her daughter, and a rage against God for allowing drugs to devour her college-age girl, transforms into release in a life changing letting-go-and-letting-God moment. The reader is first introduced to the Stoefen family and Barbara's dream for its idyllic future. Kinks in the perfect life appear. When Annie's alcoholism, drug use, and criminality ensue, Barbara fights to save her. There is all-consuming grief and the devastating loss of not just her daughter, but her dream for her own life as well. Barbara eventually finds support and a new way of thinking. While she continues the battle to save her daughter, she ultimately finds the courage to save herself. The conclusion deals with Annie's recovery--and Barbara's. Both experience a spiritual awakening and are transformed. A new and better dream for Barbara's life is born.
