When the Rodrigos are forced to abandon their church and parsonage in Arizona in 1952, the family makes a decision to move to California’s San Joaquin Valley, where fieldwork is plentiful and a rental waits for them. Seventeen-year-old Marta Rodrigo is worried. They’re low on traveling money, the old station wagon is on its last leg, and they don’t know whether the rental will still be available to them. Worse, they are leaving behind Grandmother, who fell during a stroke, and her brother Phil, who is at war in Korea. Marta’s faith is under attack as her fifteen-year-old brother, Julian, has made her life miserable. She sees their Arizona home as their point of contact with God, their cypress trees and terrain serving as her hope. Leaving that normalcy behind, Marta believes life will never be the same; depression leaves her questioning her faith. But when the Rodrigos arrive in Somerville, California, they meet a young man named Henry Barnes who provides Marta with a new hope for the future and helps her reconnect with her trust in a heavenly God who was always faithful and just. Set in the mid-twentieth century, this novel follows a young woman dealing with challenges to her faith when her family moves from Arizona to California.

When the Rodrigos are forced to abandon their church and parsonage in Arizona in 1952, the family makes a decision to move to California's San Joaquin Valley, where fieldwork is plentiful and a rental waits for them. Seventeen-year-old Marta Rodrigo is worried. They're low on traveling money, the old station wagon is on its last leg, and they don't know whether the rental will still be available to them. Worse, they are leaving behind Grandmother, who fell during a stroke, and her brother Phil, who is at war in Korea. Marta's faith is under attack as her fifteen-year-old brother, Julian, has made her life miserable. She sees their Arizona home as their point of contact with God, their cypress trees and terrain serving as her hope. Leaving that normalcy behind, Marta believes life will never be the same; depression leaves her questioning her faith. But when the Rodrigos arrive in Somerville, California, they meet a young man named Henry Barnes who provides Marta with a new hope for the future and helps her reconnect with her trust in a heavenly God who was always faithful and just. Set in the mid-twentieth century, this novel follows a young woman dealing with challenges to her faith when her family moves from Arizona to California.

Welcome to Martha's Place . . . Martha Hawkins was the tenth of twelve children born in Montgomery, Alabama. There was no money, but her childhood was full of love. Martha's mother could transform a few vegetables from the backyard into a feast and never turned away a hungry mouth. Memories of the warmth of her family's supper table would remain with Martha. Even as a poor single mother without a high school diploma, Martha dreamed of one day opening a restaurant that would make people feel at home. She'd serve food that would nourish body and soul. But time went by and that dream slipped further and further away as Martha battled the onset of what would later become a severe mental illness. But the thing about hitting bottom is that there's nowhere to go but up. Martha decided to step into God's promise for her life. Her boundless faith and joy led her to people who would change her world and lend a helping hand when she most needed and least expected one. Martha's Place is now a nationally known destination for anyone visiting the Deep South and a culinary fixture of life in Montgomery. Martha only hires folks who are down on their luck, just as she once was. High-profile politicians, professional athletes, artists, musicians, and actors visit regularly. Martha has proven many times that keeping the faith makes the difference between failure and success. This is the story of how Martha finally found her place. . . .

Many of us believe in miracles, signs, and divine intervention. We are often both knowingly and unknowingly manifesting. Sometimes we get premonitions from our dreams which allows us to have deep connections with the universe. It's comforting for me to know that when I ask God for something in prayer along with a sign to assure me that my prayer will indeed be granted, God always sends me my sign. I also know that in my own life, all of the events that have happened and those still yet to come are being divinely orchestrated to lovingly guide me to where I am supposed to be and when I'm supposed to be there. If you look back at some of the events that have occurred in your life and connect them via "dots" from when the events started, you will see how each event allowed for the next event and how that event in turn allowed for the following event and so on. If you follow along in this manner, you will see why each dot was significantly important for the conclusion of the situation or event to take place as God and the universe intended. These concluding dots now allow for a new series of dots to begin so as God and the universe can once again lead you to the next conclusion. I call this concept "connecting the dots." Let me be clear about something: I believe that there are no coincidences in life, and everything happens to us for a reason. Although we all have free will to make the choices that we make every day, the destination we reach has already been lovingly predetermined by God. Whenever we do anything for the glory of God and which praises him, we will always achieve success, doors will be opened, and we will be blessed with everything good that God, our Father, wants and intends for us to have. God, our Father, wants all of his children to be happy, healthy, and enjoy an abundant life. These are the reasons that he made us in his image. We are all God's children, and he is our Father. Signs are all around us. They are not mere random occurrences that one could relate to any particular event. We only have to open our eyes, mind, heart, and soul to see that this is, in fact, the case. If we open ourselves in this way, it's easy to believe that these signs are real and meant for us. They are there to guide us along on our journey throughout our lives. It is sincerely my deepest desire that as you read the true to life stories of the many miracles granted to SoCrates and our family that you will be filled with hope and joy and be blessed with countless miracles just as we were. You only need to have faith in God and trust in him as I have learned to do. Ask and it shall be granted. Hope Isabella Lenkersdorf Smith

In this first of an epic family saga by Francine Rivers, mother and daughter relationships are challenged, setting their family on a course full of heartache.

With a commitment that God would be first in our marriage, we followed that principle through the adversities and illnesses of our life journey, as we “rose above” the trials. This book is a collection of true stories of our life of trusting God through those times with His comforting Grace. In turn we learned about Compassion, a quality missing in today’s world. This prepared us to be compassionate to others in their times of need and taught us how to comfort them in God’s ways. Be prepared to read and be motivated, no matter what comes your way. An easy to read and must read book, written as a labor of love, filled with many words from the Holy Bible.

If piety, faith, and conviction constitute one side of the religious coin, then imperfection, uncertainty, and ambivalence constitute the other. Yet, scholars tend to separate these two domains and place experiences of inadequacy in everyday religious life – such as a wavering commitment, religious negligence or weakness in faith – outside the domain of religion ‘proper.’ Straying from the Straight Path breaks with this tendency by examining how self-perceived failure is, in many cases, part and parcel of religious practice and experience. Responding to the need for comparative approaches in the face of the largely separated fields of the anthropology of Islam and Christianity, this volume gives full attention to moral failure as a constitutive and potentially energizing force in the religious lives of both Muslims and Christians in different parts of the world.