Showing results by narrator "Lauren Pedersen" in All Categories

This acclaimed, accessible, and thoroughly researched biography documents the life of Ann Lee, a controversial, religious leader and early feminist figure. Lee established the Shaker movement in 1770 in Manchester, England. The core principles of the Shakers were radical: in an era when wives were the possession of their husband, Lee proclaimed the equality of men and women. The Shakers were dedicated to beliefs in absolute pacifism, equality of the sexes, absolute celibacy, and the cleansing of sin through dancing and chanting to shake away the past.

Jill’s store, Coffee, Books, and More, is co-sponsoring a charity dart tournament on Thanksgiving weekend with Chip's Bar, where toys and cash will be collected. She and her new husband, Greg, will be competing as well—that is, if Greg's brother and his girlfriend don't ruin the evening. But the event leads to something much worse than a family squabble when the bar owner is found dead the next morning after being used as a human dartboard . . .

We have all heard of post traumatic stress, but few of us think about the possibility of post traumatic growth—the positive ways in which we can be transformed by our trauma. Yet this is precisely what can happen when we face our hurts, struggle through the rubble of our broken relationships, and unearth the ways God wants to use our trials to refine and mature us.

There will always be limits to what you can do for your teen girl. But there are never any limits to what you can pray—and what God can do.

One in four American workers says their workplace is a "dictatorship." Yet that number almost certainly would be higher if we recognized employers for what they are—private governments with sweeping authoritarian power over our lives. In this compelling book, Elizabeth Anderson examines why, despite all this, we continue to talk as if free markets make workers free, and she proposes a better way to think about the workplace, opening up space for discovering how workers can enjoy real freedom.

Many workers believe that to compete with other top talent they must embrace a culture that rewards long hours and constant connection to work. Businesses and society have encouraged this by endorsing busyness, overwork, and extreme commitment as the most valued traits in workers. But more often it's an implicit contract, a buildup of organizational and cultural norms and the adoption of new technologies that increasingly make it easy to tether people to work. Either way, this workaholic behavior is unhealthy and counterproductive for workers and for organizations. It's time to fight back.

Anna Stoltzfus lives a quiet but fulfilling life in Promise Glen. Though she lost her beloved brother in a tragic accident, her family is supportive and close-knit, and her job as a cherished teacher at the Orchard Hill Amish School fills her heart with joy each day. Anna knows one day she'll find someone she can love and marry, but she's perfectly happy with the life she created. Anna's comfort is quickly dashed, however, when the man Anna deemed responsible for James's death returns to the Amish community—Matthew King.

Tough-as-nails Kenzie King has finally earned her place as a tactical medic on a SWAT team. But not everyone on the all-male team accepts her. She has to work harder and longer than anyone else to prove herself. Cole Garrison is a man with deep faith who is finally ready to settle down and build a family of his own—if he can find the right person, that is. Kenzie sure has set off his interest meter, but trouble seems to follow in her wake. Since she joined the team, someone has begun to ambush and pick off team members, one by one.

Jill's wedding to police chief Greg King is just days away, at a historic Spanish mission with a courtyard full of olive trees. But the folks in South Cove are more intrigued by what kind of ceremonies might be going on behind the walls of New Hope. Jill isn't fond of the man, but his followers seem nice, and they buy a lot of books. After a distraught woman stops by at Coffee, Books, and More with a picture of her daughter, who she believes needs rescuing from the suspected cult—and then Matthews's body is found, at Jill's wedding venue of all places—Jill makes a commitment to solve the case.

Detective James Holton has been honorably discharged from the Army Criminal Investigation Division due to wounds sustained when an IED blew up near him. Now with the Lake City Police Department, he's rooming with his good buddy and partner, Cole, while he figures out his family dynamics. Physician Assistant Lainie Jackson is eighteen months out from an attempted murder perpetrated by her ex, which ended when she managed to grab the weapon and shoot him. When he appears to have survived and is back to finish the job he started, Lainie insists it's not possible.

When Leah Beiler pictured returning to Promise Glen, she imagined taking everything she learned from her aunt's business in Upstate New York and starting up a quaint herbal tea shop of her own. What she didn't expect was for Josiah Burkhalter to insist on helping her. Josiah might have been her childhood sweetheart but they've both changed a lot since then and Leah's not sure she can trust the man who once broke her heart.

Jill's family law career is in a rut. Watching a client go back to her abusive husband, yet again—and then learning she's been passed up for a partnership, yet again-finally prompts her to take a break. She'll have to dip into her emergency fund. But after all those long days in her windowless office, subsisting on leftover cake from the break room, it's time to smell some flowers. When she arrives in picturesque South Cove on the Pacific coast, she finds friendly residents, a peaceful beach, and nature's beauty.

How to be human at work. HBR's Emotional Intelligence series features smart, essential listening on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions impact our work lives, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on what it means to tend to our emotional well-being at work.

Executive functioning (EF) can be defined as a person's ability to successfully navigate their physical, intellectual, and social worlds. Interest in EF is expanding within psychotherapy, but like many scientific concepts which are adapted to the consulting room, there is a great deal of confusion and misinformation surrounding EF within clinical and lay communities. In this book, Louis Cozolino—a master of translating complex neuroscientific concepts into digestible, applicable literature for therapists and laypeople alike.

In Words Like Honey, sought-after speaker, writer, and mother of nine Amy Hughes explores specific words and phrases we commonly use when talking to our kids and considers the negative impact they may have. Things like "Hurry up," "Calm down," "Don't be sad," "You should be ashamed of yourself," "God doesn't give you more than you can handle," "You just need more faith," and more.

When life throws us non-stop challenges and curveballs, how can we have any hope of building a fulfilling and intimate marriage? How do we move from stressed and stretched to energized and inspired, finding the strength to transform both our lives and relationship? Robert Paul and Tara Lalonde equip husbands and wives with practical, biblically based tools to transform their personal lives and grow their marriage into something they’ll both love

Some days you're on fire at work; other days you're burned out and easily distracted. How can you maintain your drive, make consistent progress, and expend your energy wisely? This book will help you identify what's behind your flagging engagement and productivity—and provide the expert research and advice on what to do about it.

If you read (or listen to) nothing else on artificial intelligence and machine learning, listen to these ten articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you understand the future direction of AI, bring your AI initiatives to scale, and use AI to transform your organization.

Things are looking up for the owner of Coffee, Books, and More—Jill's finally getting her MBA, and though her wedding to police detective Greg is postponed a few months, she still has plenty to celebrate. A girls' weekend in Santa Barbara is just the ticket. But back in South Cove, someone else's big day has become a big problem. Antiques dealer Josh Thomas and Mandy Jensen were planning a small private ceremony under an olive tree on the historic Jensen farm—until Mandy went missing.

Air Marshal Kristine Duncan is not on duty when a hijacker attempts to seize control of the plane she and her friends are on as they head out on a much-needed vacation. Jumping into action and aided by FBI Special Agent Andrew Ross, Kristine thwarts the attack and the plane lands safely. But as the investigation into the incident gets underway, Kristine and Andrew are confused at every step. Nothing about the investigation goes as it should, and each layer they peel back just reveals another layer of perplexity.