Showing results by narrator "Pam Ward" in All Categories

Christians are supposed to be “the light of the world.” Yet we seem to spend most of our time stumbling in the dark. We want answers carved in stone, and instead we get uncertainty. We want a clearly marked path and a panoramic view of the future, and God gives us only fleeting glimpses of what lies ahead—and just enough light to take the next step.

One August evening in 1914, a bushwhacker ends a pleasant outing by blowing a hole in Bill McBride, kidnapping and ravaging Bill's fiancée and wounding Alafair Tucker's daughter, Mary. All Mary knows is that the crime had something to do with the Fourth of July.

It's a sad duty that brings Alafair Tucker and her two daughters to Enid, Oklahoma, in the fall of 1915. Her sister Ruth Anne's husband, Lester, is not long for this world, and the family is gathering to send him to his reward. But her niece's irresponsible husband, Kenneth, has disappeared at a most inconvenient time.

For most Americans, our homes are our biggest single asset. In this book, real-estate and finance adviser Gerri Willis sets out 12 key rules for becoming "home rich". From buying to renovating to selling, Willis tells listeners how to get the best return on their investment.

When Mel Miskimen's mother dies, her tough, retired-cop father withdraws into his sadness, and his broken grief is more than Mel can handle on her own. Enter Seamus: a rowdy, hapless Labrador devoted to chaos. In a spark of inspiration, Mel ropes her father into training the wayward hound for a local contest. As the seasons change, Mel finds herself connecting with her last surviving parent more than she'd ever dreamed.

Too often, when a life crisis hits, a marriage suffers - even a healthy one - and all the personality profiles and couples' therapy in the world won't keep your marriage from experiencing the tough stuff. So how do you and your spouse face the stresses put on your marriage and not only stay together but come out on the other side even more loving and committed? In Staying Power, two longtime couples offer insights, skills, and clear direction so that you can respond to trials in a way that strengthens rather than weakens your marriage.

MSNBC anchor and media maven Greta Van Susteren presents the most practical, thorough, and accessible guide around to living well on social media. From answering basic questions like "What's the best site for you?" to "How to Tweet" and "What does it mean to 'tag' someone?" to addressing important moral and behavioral issues like how to protect your privacy, how to avoid being roasted online, and whether it's okay to get your news from Facebook, this is the essential handbook for anyone who wants to stay up to date with today's changing technology.

In this remarkable culinary biography, Rae Katherine Eighmey presents Benjamin Franklin's experimentation with food throughout his life. At age 16, he began dabbling in vegetarianism. In his early 20s, citing the health benefits of water over alcohol, he convinced his printing press colleagues to abandon their traditional breakfast of beer and bread for "water gruel", a kind of porridge he enjoyed. Franklin is known for his scientific discoveries, including electricity and the lightning rod, and his curiosity and logical mind extended to the kitchen.

Conventional wisdom holds that John F. Kennedy was the first celebrity president, in no small part because of his innate television savvy. But as Kathryn Brownell shows, Kennedy capitalized on a tradition and style rooted in California politics and the Hollywood studio system. Since the 1920s, politicians and professional showmen have developed relationships and built organizations institutionalizing Hollywood styles, structures, and personalities in the American political process.

What does it mean to be young today?

In the summer of 2010, Robin Marantz Henig wrote a provocative article for the New York Times Magazine called "What Is It About 20-Somethings?" It generated enormous reader response and started a conversation that included both millennials and baby boomers. Now, working with her millennial daughter Samantha, she expands the project to give us a full portrait of what it means to be in your 20s today.

An outspoken centrist, Senator Snowe stunned Washington in 2012 when she announced she would not seek a fourth term and offered a sharp rebuke to the Senate, citing the dispiriting gridlock and polarization. After serving in the legislative branch at the state and federal levels for 40 years, including 18 years in the U.S. Senate, she explained that Washington wasn’t solving the big problems anymore. In this timely call to action, she explores the roots of her belief in principled policy-making and bipartisan compromise.

When former Congressman Mark Stedman throws in the towel on his presidential campaign, his only choice is to return to his home state and decide how to spend the rest of his life … until he meets Josiah Stoltzfus, an Amish farmer from Pennsylvania. Stedman learns more from Josiah in a few...

Kathy McNeely, a marine biologist and environmentalist, and a Russian scientist investigate a mysterious oil spill in pristine Antarctica despite storms, tourists, a reporter, and a series of so-called accidents at various research stations.

The noise from both Washington and the media is deafening, the deeds of our lawmakers alarming. America needs a break from the posturing and the politicking. We need information: how we got here and where we are headed. Catherine Crier, one of the most respected figures in television journalism, presents an incisive, unbiased analysis of America's political crisis---delivering a message we cannot afford to ignore.America must move beyond political parties to invest in our nation's future. Not just with money, but with vision, wisdom, and reason.

Is keeping a secret from a spouse always an act of infidelity? And what cost does such a secret exact on a family? The Ryries have suffered a loss: the death of a baby just 57 hours after his birth. Without words to express their grief, the parents, John and Ricky, try to return to their previous lives.

Trade was once an esoteric economic issue with little domestic policy resonance. Activists did not prioritize it, and grassroots political mobilization seemed unlikely to free trade advocates. The passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the early 1990s was therefore expected to be a fait accompli. Yet, as Trade Battles shows, activists pushed back: They increased the public consciousness on trade, mobilized new constituencies against it, and demanded that the rules of the global economy protect the collective rights and common good of citizens.

In separate vignettes, we meet Katherine, who is taking care of her ailing husband; Julianna, juggling with construction paper, scissors, and rubber cement in a room full of high-spirited four-year-olds; Adrianna, struggling with the difficulties of marriage; Cassandra, tending her toddlers; Victoria, searching for a love to call her own; Alexandra, waiting for word from her doctor about an uncertain diagnosis; and Isabella, discovering the gift of motherhood.

The race is on, and Hillary Clinton is looking to transform herself into a candidate that middle-Americans might elect as our first woman president. Can she do it? Positioning herself for her 2008 presidential run, Hillary has put away the trappings of a liberal and wrapped herself in a cloak of moderation. The senator who had been one of the stars of the Democratic Party's left wing is now being packaged as a centrist, which castigates any attempts to expose her real agenda.

For at least a decade, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's leading breast cancer organization, had been dealing with the backlash from pro-life conservatives because of its grants to Planned Parenthood, the world's largest abortion provider. According to Karen Handel, Komen's seniorvice president of public policy in 2011, the two organizations had mutuallyagreed to part ways amicably.

Discover the power of recovery ministry for your church.Churchgoers who experience painful family issues, addictions, abuse, loss, mental illnesses, and other secret sorrows begin to believe they live beyond the grip of God’s redemptive hand. Pastors often feel ill equipped to help with such...