Live Hard

We all go through hard times. We can experience moments when life feels like an uphill struggle, leading to unhappiness and stress. Perhaps we are feeling sad, anxious, or struggling to deal with something bigger, such as a bereavement, a loss, a painful ending or a broken heart. It is during these challenging times that we could do with some help with our thoughts and feelings.

"Why me, Lord?" Amid the toddler tantrums, the mealtime melees, and the backseat blowups, have you found yourself asking God that same question? Maybe even screaming it into a couch pillow? You're not alone. Your most trying moments as a parent can quickly spiral into discouragement, hopelessness, and sometimes even resentment toward God or your family. Abbie Halberstadt, author of the bestselling M Is for Mama, shares scriptural wisdom and lessons learned from her own challenges as a mama of ten to help shift your perspective on the hardships of parenting and of life, in general.

After a lifetime of putting his body on the line to entertain his dozens (and dozens!) of fans, the Hardcore Legend is paying the price - physically and emotionally. When the final bell on Mick's career tolls, not in the ring, but in a neurologist's office, his future seems far from merry and bright. Until Mick is given the chance to become Santa Claus - not dress up, not pretend, but become Santa - allowing him to rediscover the joy of performing. Fully committing to his new mission, Mick details the drastic measures he takes to keep the Christmas magic alive.

Life is hard, so choose the kind of hard that leads to freedom. Choose Your Hard blends behavior science with spiritual wisdom to help you make intentional choices around habits, relationships, money, health, and healing. Grounded, practical, and empowering, this book is your guide to living with clarity, resilience, and energetic integrity.

Growing up in the church, Kevin and Melissa Fredericks were taught endless rules and expectations around dating, sex, and marriage, but not a lot about what actually makes a relationship work. There were conversations that they didn’t know they needed to have, deep-rooted fears that affected how they communicated, and seasons of change that put their marriage to the test.

Two years ago, Eric Greitens unexpectedly heard from a former SEAL comrade, a brother-in-arms he hadn’t seen in a decade. Zach Walker had been one of the toughest of the tough. But ever since he returned home from war to his young family in a small logging town, he’d been struggling. Without a sense of purpose, plagued by PTSD, and masking his pain with heavy drinking, he needed help. Zach and Eric started writing and talking nearly every day, and Eric set down his thoughts on what it takes to build resilience in our lives.

Do you ever wonder if the Gospel is truly "good news" for your actual, everyday, often difficult, sometimes painful, and typically crazy real life? Well, it is. But sometimes we all need a reminder that God's faithfulness really does follow us into the face of all that harried, hard, and even humorous stuff of life.

In Life Is Hard, God Is Good, Let's Dance, Brant is at his best—sharing stories from around the world, as well as from his own heart and head, with a writing style that will likely make you laugh, cry, and rethink your outlook on life and the kingdom of God.

He is considered by many the greatest basketball player ever produced by the hoops-crazy state of Kentucky. In two years at the University of Kentucky, he scored over 1,000 points, led the Wildcats to a Sweet Sixteen appearance and was nicknamed “King Rex.” The first player ever drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, he spent twelve seasons in the NBA, dazzling in dunk contests and sinking one of the most memorable buzzer-beaters in league history. But by the end of his career, Rex Chapman was harboring a destructive secret.

When she was 7, Rayya Elias and her family fled the political conflict in their native Syria, settling in Detroit. Bullied in school and caught between the world of her traditional family and her tough American classmates, she rebelled early. Elias moved to New York City to become a musician and kept herself afloat with an uncommon talent for cutting hair. At the height of the punk movement, life on the Lower East Side was full of adventure, creative inspiration, and temptation.

Living Beyond Offense explores Jesus's teachings about forgiveness—what it is, what it costs, and what you gain when you put it into practice. Blending theology, Scripture, and pieces of her own life story, Yana Conner writes not as a blameless expert but as a fellow traveler on the forgiveness journey. Forgiveness is hard work, but you can learn to trust again! Despite the pain you've experienced, you will find ideas and encouragement for rooting yourself in God's trustworthiness and living in shalom once more.

What does it feel like to come back from something hard, to be able to hope again? Hard things are a part of life. Yet they don’t have to have the final word. They can become the keys to our greatest usability in the kingdom of God - that is, if we let God make good of them, rather than running away and refusing the growth we truly crave. Written for those who desperately want to move forward, The Hard Good gives voice to the hard places we all have lived and Lisa’s clear directions as to where to go next.

In Love Thy Body, best-selling and award-winning author Nancy Pearcey takes on the hard questions about life and sexuality. She offers a respectful but riveting exposé of the secular worldview that lies behind trendy slogans and political talking points. A former agnostic, Pearcey is a sensitive guide to the secular ideas that shape current debates. She empowers listeners to intelligently and compassionately engage today's most controversial moral and social challenges.

Life isn’t always easy, but the way we face challenges defines us. In 4:13 Doing Hard Things with Strength, Beth Morrison offers a practical, inspiring guide to embracing challenges, building resilience, and stepping into your full potential.

Are you tired inside and out? Are you trying your best to measure up - yet you still feel as if you're losing ground and missing out on the best parts of life? You are not alone. Jennie Allen understands the daily struggle so many of us face with inadequacy and insecurity and the fear that we are not enough. And she invites us into a different experience, one in which our souls overflow with contentment and joy.

Jesus Christ did not die on the cross so you and I could have a nice day. Ministers and teachers who water down the Gospel of Christ in order to make it more popular and appealing may be leading their fun-loving audiences down the road to eternal punishment. This book is John MacArthur's unflinching, unapologetic treatise on the modern tendency to alter the true message of Christianity in order to meet the whims and desires of a culture hoping for nonconfrontational messages, easy answers, and superficial commitments.

Life is not easy, but it's more difficult when we just put our head down, ignore everything and everyone around us, and try to push through till we get to the other side. Identifying the reasons we don't ask for help is the first step toward making real change and experiencing all that God has for us.

God's strength will carry you through the hard seasons and storms of life. In this beautiful gift book with inspiring photography, God's Strength for Hard Times draws on the words of beloved evangelist Billy Graham and the Bible to offer comfort and hope. When you feel weak or discouraged, you don’t have to face your problems alone! There is infinite power and support awaiting you in Jesus.

Traveling by train from Canada to New York City, Keeler gets stranded in the town of Kitchewan Landing. A blizzard’s coming down with the polar vortex, and an evil wind is blowing through town.

Jefferson Bethke burst into the cultural conversation in 2012 with a passionate, provocative poem titled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” The four-minute video of Bethke’s spoken-word performance literally became an overnight sensation, with seven million YouTube views in its first forty-eight hours (and 24+ million within a year). The message hit like a blizzard on social-media sites and in forwarded e-mails, triggering an avalanche of responses running the gamut from encouraged to enraged.