Showing results by narrator "Ann Richardson" in All Categories

Despite modern medicine's infatuation with high-tech gadgetry, the single most powerful diagnostic tool is the doctor-patient conversation, which can uncover the lion's share of illnesses. However, what patients say and what doctors hear are often two vastly different things. Patients, anxious to convey their symptoms, feel an urgency to "make their case" to their doctors. Doctors, under pressure to be efficient, multitask while patients speak and often miss the key elements.

The opportunity to tour Israel came at a good time. For months, my life has been a mindless plodding through necessary routine, as monotonous as an all-night shift on an assembly line. Life gets that way sometimes, when nothing specific is wrong but the world around us seems drained of color. My weekly worship experiences and daily quiet times with God have felt as dry and stale as last year's crackers. I'm ashamed to confess the malaise I've felt. I have been given so much. Shouldn't a Christian's life be an abundant one, as exciting as Christmas morning, as joyful as Easter Sunday?

Refugia (reh-FU-jee-ah) is a term describing places of shelter where life endures in times of crisis, such as a volcanic eruption, fire, or stressed climate. Ideally, these refugia endure, expand, and connect so that new life emerges. Debra Rienstra applies this concept to human culture and faith, asking: In this era of ecological devastation, how can Christians become people of refugia? How can we find and nurture these refugia in our human cultural systems and in our spiritual lives? Refugia Faith speaks to people securely within the faith as well as to those on the edge.

When a body is discovered in the small, sheltered town of Blackwood Cove, the authorities are ready to write it off as a suicide. But for Jasmine Moore, something doesn’t add up. With nobody to help her but her loyal golden retriever Luffy, Jasmine takes up the mantle of detective to solve the case and find the truth. But Luffy is no ordinary dog, and Jasmine shares a highly unusual bond with him - one that could hold the key to solving the entire mystery.

Living in-between the physical world and the spirit realm, yet feeling a stranger in both, Sherrie Dillard criss-crossed the country by bus, train, and hitchhiking in a search for answers. Along the way, she was led to help the poor and homeless on skid row, install water systems in Mayan Indian villages, live alone in a tent in the mountains, and make art with juvenile offenders.

Wife and mother. Teacher and musician. Marathoner and rock climber. At 66, Dierdre Wolownick-Honnold became the oldest woman to climb El Capitan in Yosemite - and in The Sharp End of Life: A Mother’s Story, she shares her intimate journey, revealing how her climbing achievement reflects a broader story of courage and persistence.

When materials engineer Zoey Butler lands her dream job at Future State Energy, she believes her research in renewable energy will make headlines. Unfortunately for her, she’s right. Zoey is working on her latest experiment when FBI Special Agent Alexis Thompson and her K-9 partner, Waffle, raid Future State and arrest the head of the development for fraud. Zoey helps the FBI find answers in the aftermath, but she soon finds herself jobless and unemployable. Desperate and out of options, she reaches out to Alexis, the one person who knows Zoey was duped like everyone else.

Apparently, I've been slacking on the job as a paralegal, even though the firm doesn't know that I'm secretly working as the area's premier Pet Whisperer P.I. to solve our toughest cases behind the scenes. Now, they've hired an intern to "help" me manage my workload.... But what the partners don't realize is that they've let a nefarious criminal into our offices. Trust me, Octo-Cat can smell this guy's stink from a mile away. The worst part? I'm pretty sure he can talk to animals too...and he most definitely isn't using his talents to solve crimes and defend the innocent.

What if the trials of this life are mercies in disguise? What If Your Blessings Come Through Raindrops contains thirty devotions by Laura Story, whose Grammy Award-winning song "Blessings" has inspired millions. Listeners will be moved by these empowering messages about heartache, healing, and grace.

Lynn Cohick provides an accurate and fulsome picture of the earliest Christian women by examining a wide variety of first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman documents that illuminate their lives. She organizes the book around three major spheres of life: family, religious community, and society in general.

Nan and I discover that someone has been embezzling funds from the local animal shelter. If we can't find the culprit soon, the shelter may not be able to keep its lights on and those poor homeless pets won't have anywhere to go.

If you feel like you're losing your teen to technology, you're not alone. Screen time is rapidly replacing family time, and for teens especially, it is hardwiring the way they connect with their world. In Screens and Teens, Dr. Kathy helps you make sense of all this and empowers you to respond.

Octo-Cat is gone, and all the evidence suggests that he was taken on purpose. With the growing number of people the two of us have put behind bars, it's no surprise that someone's out for revenge. But how will I ever manage to solve this particular crime without the help of my partner? The only other person who might be able to help me just relocated to Georgia. But I'm desperate enough to try anything, including exposing my secret to the whole of Blueberry Bay. Anything to bring him home safe.

Grieving is a highly personal experience and reactions differ from person to person. Feelings of loss are arguably the most unique, confusing feelings with which to cope. Therapist and grief expert, Stephanie Jose, understands this. She created Progressing Through Grief as an interactive resource to gently meet you wherever you are today, as you move through your grief and toward healing.

Just over 150 years ago, in Berlin, New York, 25-year-old Marietta Davis suddenly fell into an unconscious state, from which neither family nor physician could arouse her. When she finally regained consciousness, she described with almost supernatural perception how angels had escorted her spirit to Heaven and Hell. Her vision made her the talk of the community and a legend for generations to come. Nine Days in Heaven brings the story of Marietta Davis to a new generation.

Heathenry is one of the fastest growing polytheistic religious movements in the United States today. In A Modern Guide to Heathenry, listeners will have the opportunity to explore the sacred stories of the various heathen gods like Odin, Frigga, Freya, and Thor, and will be granted a look into the devotional practices of modern votaries.

Over time, the business of life creeps in and even the most deeply committed couples can feel like they're living parallel lives rather than enjoying life together. Their once happily-ever-after can quickly turn into an endless grind of work, chores, errands, and carpool. And the pull of social media becomes more compelling than engaging with one's spouse. In this book, Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley offer practical ways to rekindle the passionate, intimate, heart-to-heart spark of connection between husbands and wives.

Is this nosy trash panda a sleuth or a suspect? Lately my life has seemed pretty perfect-great house, great gig as my own boss, great new boyfriend, and the world's most awesome talking cat. Turns out I shouldn't have let my guard down. Even though my private investigation firm is brand new, I've already got some not-so-friendly competition, and it's coming from the sticky-fingered raccoon who lives under my front porch. I have no doubt he's robbing his clients since he's stealing from mine, too.

From best-selling author Beth Wiseman come four sweet stories centered around celebrations in the Amish community: rumschpringe, baptism, weddings, and Christmas.

In an idyllic Los Angeles neighborhood, where generations enjoy deep roots in old homes, the O’Rourke family fits right in. Miriam and Craig are both artists and their four children carry on the legacy. When their teenage son, Nick, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, a tumultuous decade ensues in which the family careens off the conventional course. Like the 10 Biblical plagues, they are hit by one catastrophe after another: violence, evictions, arrests, a suicide attempt, a near-drowning - even cancer and a brain tumor - play against the backdrop of a wild teenage bacchanal.