Abide in me as I abide in you. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

In this personal healing retreat from Heather Khym, cohost of the popular Abiding Together podcast, you are invited to break through the barriers that prevent you from trusting and experiencing the deep love of Jesus and be transformed by the freedom that comes when we vulnerably bring our entire selves to the foot of the Cross. Rooted in the teaching of Khym’s Vancouver-based ministry, Life Restoration, Abide shares scripture, essential Catholic teaching, and the author’s personal healing journey to reintroduce you to God as the Divine Healer, Restorer, and Miracle Worker. Khym offers you a compass to navigate your past as you dig into difficult memories that have disoriented your understanding of God and made you afraid to trust him. She challenges you to cast off your self-protective tendencies and to recognize your need for healing so you can be the person you were created to be. Jesus says, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit because apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4–5). We are meant to abide in Jesus, to unite ourselves to him. Yet over the course of our lives, we experience brokenness and loss, which lead us to doubt God’s presence. Khym challenges you to step outside your comfort zone so that you can authentically: recognize God as a loving father who desires your happiness; practice spiritual and emotional vulnerability with Jesus; invite the Divine Healer into your past and relationships; acknowledge that you have an enemy who battles for your heart; and overcome false beliefs about God and learn to trust Jesus as a compelling, captivating, and trustworthy lover of your soul. Each chapter includes practical reflection-based exercises that help you recall troublesome memories, identify the roots of your feelings, and meditate on excerpts from scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You’ll come away with a renewed hope in the power of God to bring freedom to your fearful heart as you start to live a life restored in Christ, one that begins with and is sustained by an intimate relationship with Jesus.

Experience the joys of a small town Christmas in this novel in the beloved Mitford series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jan Karon. Millions of Americans have found Mitford to be a favorite home-away-from-home, and countless readers have long wondered what Christmas in Mitford would be like. The eighth Mitford novel provides a glimpse, offering a meditation on the best of all presents: the gift of one's heart. Since he was a boy, Father Tim has lived what he calls “the life of the mind” and has never really learned to savor the work of his hands. When he finds a derelict nativity scene that has suffered the indignities of time and neglect, he imagines the excitement in the eyes of his wife, Cynthia, and decides to undertake the daunting task of restoring it. As Father Tim begins his journey, readers are given a seat at Mitford's holiday table and treated to a magical tale about the true Christmas spirit.

Abiding Mission presents the discipline of abiding as the first priority of the Christian and the base methodology of mission. Based on an exegesis of John 15, Abiding Mission illustrates the definition of abiding by examining the abiding mission lives of seven key pioneers in mission to Muslims in North Africa, including Daniel Comboni (Catholic), Samuel Zwemer (Presbyterian), Oswald Chambers (YMCA/Pentecostal League), Lillian Trasher (Assemblies of God), Lilias Trotter (Algerian Missions Band), Douglas Thornton (Anglican-CMS), and Temple Gairdner (Anglican-CMS). The work continues by looking at the operationalization of abiding as developed from interviews from current missionaries to Muslims in North Africa.

Abiding in God is the secret of Christian life. It is therefore essential for us to learn how to abide in Him. Both Old and New Testament authors have emphasized the importance of abiding in God; for such is the secret of walking with Him. Indeed, let us notice that Moses, Joshua and Caleb in Old Testament times and the apostle John in New Testament times have laid stress on that fact. How, then, can we abide in God? It is not by our human effort but by the mercy of God. He has made the provision and the possibility of our abiding in Him. First, God gave us His Son, the Lord Jesus, to make it possible to abide in Him. And then He sent His Holy Spirit to abide in us so as to make it possible for us to experience this blessed abiding. Accordingly, we as the recipients of this blessed abiding must continually thank God for the Spirit's blessed abiding in us. It is therefore essential for us to learn the secret of how to abide in God. It requires us to give up our self-life in order that we may experience this abiding life. May all of us be willing to do so.