With the honesty of a close friend, the hilarity of a late-night comic, and the humility of a mom up to her eyeballs in diapers and dishes, Courtney Ellis invites us on a journey to draw closer God amid the joyful, mundane, exhausting days of young parenthood. Probing ancient Christian practices for renewal, Almost Holy Mama chronicles one moms quest to discover an answer to her most pressing question: Can God use the challenges of parenthood to grow your character? You long to spend time with God and catch your spiritual breath, but you find yourself honestly wonderinghow and when? Ellis gets its. Its hard to carve out space for a quiet moment with God, let alone a quiet time! Instead of adding more tasks to your plate, Almost Holy Mama will help you integrate your spiritual practices into your daily life. From studying Scripture in the shower to listening in prayer at the foot of Laundry Mountain, Ellis finds that meeting God in sacred disciplines can breathe new life into one of lifes most joy-filled and trying seasons.

Mama of ten Abbie Halberstadt helps women humbly and gracefully rise to the high calling of motherhood without settling for mediocrity or losing their minds in the process. Motherhood is a challenge. Unfortunately, our worldly culture offers moms little in the way of real help. Mamas only connect to celebrate surviving another day and to share in their misery rather than rejoice in what God has done and to build each other up in hard times. There has a be a better way, a biblical way, for mamas to grow and thrive. As a daughter of Christ, you have been called to be more than an average mama. Attaining excellence doesn’t have to be unsettling but it will take committed focus and a desire to parent well according to God’s grace and for His glory. M is for Mama offers advice, encouragement, and scripturally sound strategies seasoned with a little bit of humor to help you embrace the challenge of biblical motherhood and raise your children with love and wisdom. Mama, you are worthy of the awesome responsibility God has given you. Now it’s time to start believing you can live up to it.

This heartfelt, deeply personal memoir explores how a celebrated filmmaker and activist and his conservative Mormon mother built bridges across today’s great divides—and how our stories hold the power to heal. Dustin Lance Black wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for Milk and helped overturn California’s anti–gay marriage Proposition 8, but as an LGBTQ activist he has unlikely origins—a conservative Mormon household outside San Antonio, Texas. His mother, Anne, was raised in rural Louisiana and contracted polio when she was two years old. She endured brutal surgeries, as well as braces and crutches for life, and was told that she would never have children or a family. Willfully defying expectations, she found salvation in an unlikely faith, raised three rough-and-rowdy boys, and escaped the abuse and violence of two questionably devised Mormon marriages before finding love and an improbable career in the U.S. civil service. By the time Lance came out to his mother at age twenty-one, he was a blue-state young man studying the arts instead of going on his Mormon mission. She derided his sexuality as a sinful choice and was terrified for his future. It may seem like theirs was a house destined to be divided, and at times it was. This story shines light on what it took to remain a family despite such division—a journey that stretched from the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to the woodsheds of East Texas. In the end, the rifts that have split a nation couldn’t end this relationship that defined and inspired their remarkable lives. Mama’s Boy is their story. It’s a story of the noble quest for a plane higher than politics—a story of family, foundations, turmoil, tragedy, elation, and love. It is a story needed now more than ever.

It’s time to get serious about playfulness! When was the last time you felt really, truly happy? If you’ve ever longed to leave your exhausting days and fretful nights behind, look no further. Courtney recounts a courageous—and often hilarious!—experiment in joy and delight as she awakens to the truth that God doesn’t just want us to be holy, but happy, too! A whimsical storyteller who combines witty humor and engaging research with unfettered honesty, in Happy Now Courtney Ellis is a wise guide on an uplifting journey from sad to spirited. You’ll discover there is almost nothing that playfulness cannot make a little bit better, a little bit easier, and a lot more fun. Lift your mood, lighten your load, and renew your spirit with the power of playfulness. Happy Now: Let Playfulness Lift Your Load and Renew Your Spirit is a rollicking, investigative, and thoughtful invitation to open ourselves to the joy and freedom of play all over again. It is designed to invite readers to let go of their most serious selves, grant them permission to engage in curiosity and wonder of all kinds, and delight in the release of its transformative effects: creativity, innovation, delight, rest, and—above all—a more trusting relationship with Jesus. Through wry observations, firsthand experience, Scriptural study, and broad research, Ellis addresses questions like: How does God invite us into play? What does it mean that we are created for curiosity? In what ways can wonder help us love our neighbors more fully? The world can be a serious place. Because of Jesus, Christians don’t need to be. Dive deeply into the waters of whimsy, embracing the joy God offers. Sometimes that looks like welcoming holy laughter. Other times it’s learning to see mistakes as learning and innovation rather than mess-making. Play brings about transformation and rest and praise. And isn’t that just the reason God created us?

Enjoy an engaging, thoughtful, and practical journey packed with humor, compassion, and scripture! Learn to be fully present and “all in,” right where you are and reap the benefits that come with it! Present is an invitation to a deeper, richer, and quieter life with God. So often we sleepwalk through our days, but there is a deep biblical precedent and tremendous gift in practicing awareness right where we are. Present will help you discover: Key reasons you might experience transience How to press in where you’re planted when called to that How to cope and thrive in seasons of pruning and frustration How to know when it’s time to move on And much more! New jobs, new schools, new churches, and new cities. New colleagues and friends that come and go. Life is constantly moving and it’s common to feel uprooted. Your calendar is full, and life is frenetic, but it still feels like something big is missing. You long for a deeper connection with God and those around you, but you’re not sure how to get there. Whether you’re prone to efficiently flit from one engagement to the next like a hummingbird, or you’re more like a majestic Sequoia with the longing to thrive where your roots are, Present is here to help you form more meaningful connections. In a world marked by transience, envy, and rootlessness, committing to staying put is a radical, unusual act. Hungry for rootedness, Courtney Ellis and her family decided to truly commit to a place and a people God had given them for a season, to grow some deep roots and discover what it would mean to be “all in.” Through winsome storytelling, Courtney demonstrates that there is tremendous growth when we stop holding a community at arms’ length and open ourselves to the blessing of stability, the grace of limits, and the joy of presence. This book is divided into three major sections, with chapters devoted to each of the gifts that come with our increased attention to being all in―fully present, right where we are. Key Features of Present: Relatable: Whether you’re starting a new chapter of your life or firmly planted (or somewhere in between), Present will meet you where you are. Packed with thoughtful insights and wit, Courtney condenses solid biblical truths into everyday gems that are hidden all around you. Practical: Rather than just reading, Courtney invites you to dive deeper with thoughtful reflection questions and simple practices to apply these key principles to your own life. Change begins from the inside out and you can start being present now! Scripturally Guided: Enjoy having biblically based guidance on how to connect with others, grow where you’re planted, know when God is calling you to transition, and more! Join Courtney Ellis for a thoughtful, funny, and realistic exploration of stability, limit, and presence as means of grace. Journey deeper into the heart of God that calls us to cultivate community―being present to what God has placed before us―and discovering the gifts of the present. Explore the ways borders and boundaries in our lives are for our good. When we are able to say, “This is my place, and these are my people,” and then, like Ruth, really commit, beautiful things can happen. Present is perfect for: Individual and group study Book clubs Discipleship Bible studies Pastors Church libraries Gifts Counseling groups Parents And more!

Too much stuff. Too much stress. Too much to do. How can we sift through the busyness to uncover the life of freedom God offers? If you've ever desired a simpler life, one filled with love, laughter, friendship, and worship rather than overflowing closets and overfilled hours, look no further. Courtney Ellis chronicles her pursuit of a radical idea: what if LESS really is MORE? A gifted storyteller who combines witty humor with uncensored honesty, Ellis guides us on a journey from excess to success. Uncluttered will help you let go of all that burdens you so that you, too, can follow God's path of joy, deliverance, and yes-less. Book jacket.

Can a barren city lot become a church? This is the story of an audacious journey. It’s the story of what happens when people garden, worship, and eat together—and invite anyone and everyone to join them. In This Is God’s Table, writer and pastor Anna Woofenden describes the way that the wealthy and the poor, the aged and the young, the housed and unhoused become a community in this once-empty lot. Together they plant and sustain a thriving urban farm, worship God, and share a weekly meal. Together they craft a shared life and a place of authenticity where all are welcome. Readers of Nadia Bolz-Weber, Sara Miles, and Diana Butler Bass will find here a kindred vision for a church without walls. As churches across the Western world wither, what would it take to find a raw, honest, gritty way of doing church—one rooted in place, nurtured by grace, and grounded in God’s expansive love? What would it take to carry the liturgy outside the gates? What if we were to discover that in feeding others, we are fed? This is God’s table. Come and eat.