Showing results by narrator "Lauren Pedersen" in All Categories

Matt heaved a forkful of hay down just as the barn door opened, and a shadowed figure entered. He heard an unfamiliar cry of bewildered irritation that did not belong to one of his seven younger brothers or sisters. This was a woman’s voice - young, and most definitely annoyed. In an instant, Matt was brushing hay off a young woman’s shoulders. She wore a pale yellow dress dotted with yellow and green flowers with stylish puffed sleeves and a nipped-in waist that flattered her petite figure.

Duncan McCammon receives a text for help from his sister. When he arrives at her house, he discovers her gone and her husband murdered. Detective Kennedy Sparks arrives on the scene. As the two investigate, they are drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse where Duncan's long ago rock-climbing buddies are killed off one by one. The killer is following the plot of one of Duncan's books based on an unfortunate accident that had happened years before - a plot that would result in the woman Duncan loved being murdered.

Misty Dawn has inherited her grandmothers old house in Small Town USA. There she meets up with Carl, her new realtor and others who learn that childhood teachings were more than just stories! As a freak lightning storm ravages the city, Misty learns the Rapture has taken place before her very eyes and she has been left behind. The group struggle to survive the End Time as plague after plague is unleashed upon the Planet. Only faith will get them through as they endure the pain and agony of the Apocalypse. Misty mourns loss after loss until she comes to her breaking point.

Mitch Calloway had served as a youth minister at mega-church, White Hills Bible Church for 10 years, and while he loved his job, he longed to pastor his own congregation. So when the opportunity came to interview for the position of pastor of the historic Mercy Fellowship in Shadow Glenn, Massachusetts, he knew it was God's call.

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.

You’re tired. You have trouble sleeping and thinking, you feel down and stressed out, and you worry that you’ve lost your edge. You're plagued by many physical symptoms, too! Your doctor told you that you were depressed, handed you a prescription for an antidepressant, and referred you to a psychiatrist. Your heart of hearts truly believes that you're not depressed, but you don't know what causes you to feel this way.

Tricia Troyer is thrilled when Brandt Massey, her cousin's English friend, joins the Troyers's holiday gathering for the second year in a row. When Brandt asks Tricia to be his girlfriend, they both know she'll have important choices to make about her future. But the two aren't as different as some believe-and with open hearts and understanding, their very own Christmas miracle just might be possible . . .

Shiloh Sloan, the girl from the wrong side of the bridge. The girl shunned because of accusations she’d made against the town’s star football player. Now, she’s returned to teach the children of the people who had turned their backs on her in hopes of showing them how wrong they were.

When Celine Lowry leaves Viewpoint, Virginia for the west with her husband and four children, the last thing she expects is to lose her whole family and be captured by Indians. Thinking that her life might be over, she’s surprised when she gets a second chance at love with a recently widowed man too.

Politics can be infuriating. From unjust policies to unholy politicians, there are justifiable reasons to be upset or walk away altogether. Yet we must stay involved if we are to protect and sustain our fragile nation from the divisions that threaten it. With more than two decades of experience working in the highest levels of government, insider Denise Grace Gitsham offers a remedy to America's dark political reality: Christians filled with light, love, and Christ's heart for unity.

Lucy Lavender loves exploring. After Dad dies, Mom pieces jobs together and struggles to provide for Lucy. When Mom is offered a job in Sea Rock Cove, the coastal town where Dad grew up, Lucy hopes this is her chance to pursue her dream of becoming a marine biologist. On Lucy's first day at her new school, she is excited to go to Sea Rock and see Dad’s beloved sea stars. When Lucy learns the sea stars are dying, she becomes determined to save them. But as Lucy gets involved with the people of Sea Rock Cove, she learns there is a lot more beneath the surface of the town.

Young widow Eva Vestal assumes loneliness is God’s permanent plan for her life. She keeps busy by raising her son and co-managing the Inn at Falls Creek with her elderly father, but her heart yearns for more. Solomon “Solo” Cotter has spent his life working with horses, but he secretly wants to write a book of the children’s stories his grandfather told him as a boy. He barters with Eva’s father for a 40-night stay at the inn, a needed respite from work to get his stories on paper.

American exceptionalism is rooted in the idea that individual rights come from God and government is only in place to preserve and protect those rights. But America's losing sight of that concept. America's turning into a country where the government grants rights and privileges to only those the government deems worthy—and takes them from those it deems unworthy. This is not how the Founding Fathers envisioned the nation; this is not how the concept of inalienable rights coming from a Creator works. Rather, this is how Marxism, communism, and collectivism spread.

With humor, transparency, and biblical wisdom, Elyse Fitzpatrick shows that God uses the challenges of middle age—often the most difficult time in a woman's life—to glorify himself and sanctify us.

Englischer Marcy Sutton flees her home in Ohio when problems caused by her husband Scott’s gambling addiction wreak havoc. She takes her two young children to stay at a friend’s lakeside cabin in Indiana, but on the way, the car breaks down, and they are stranded in a blizzard. Marcy and her children seek shelter with Hester and Gideon’s Amish family, whose simple way of life reminds Marcy of the true meaning of the Christmas season.

Big-hearted Dre Rustin fled her small Nebraska hometown to distance herself from her brother’s troubled past. Texas seemed like a good place to start a new life. Now she’s looking forward to graduating from college, but first she’s got to handle Thanksgiving break. She’ll head home for the first time in years.

A thousand eyes were watching me. Nobody in the room was talking, and the only sound was a muffled cough from the darkness in the back of the auditorium. Why wasn’t everyone whispering to their neighbors? Shouldn’t they be playing on their cell phones or even sleeping—like normal teenagers? I quickly thought back to high school when I was sitting where they were today. I couldn’t tell you the name of one person that came to speak, nor could I recall one subject matter that he or she would have even talked about.

At the time of diagnosis, breast cancer patients are faced with many overwhelming decisions about possible treatments. Living with Breast Cancer provides you with an overview of what to expect from testing and treatment, which cancer specialists you may need to see, and common terms to use to help communicate your needs to your team. This empathetic resource full of relatable stories teaches patients and caregivers how to ask the right questions to get the best possible care.

My name is Kirstin Hill. I'm a simple girl trying to figure out life in a small town. There are a few things you should know about me before we begin. I grew up in the city. I'm a teacher, a first-year teacher (some of you understand that significance). And finally, when it comes to cooking, I'm a disaster. Maybe none of those things seem story worthy, but trust me—I have a story. I call it The Cupcake Dilemma, and it literally changed my life. How? I'm glad you asked. It all started with an extra assignment delegated to me at school right before Valentine's Day.

"What is it," you ask? I tell my friends who are curious about it that mystery shopping is when companies pay you to act like a “normal” customer and evaluate their business. The idea is that companies want to know what’s really happening in their retail stores, restaurants, and other establishments, so they pay mystery shoppers to go in and evaluate their experiences while acting like a regular customer. The “mystery” is that the companies being evaluated don’t know about it.