Minibook eBooks

Caring for aging parents is complex and challenging even under the best of circumstances. How do we help them and remain sane when distance, dementia, depression, disaster, divorce, disintegrated relationships, deteriorating health, and discouragement...

How is your church ministering to children in your congregation who have experienced sexual abuse? Jesus told us that whoever received a child in his name received him (Matt. 18:5). Is this the guiding principle that informs how your congregation cares...

Sadness, depression, anger, fear, anxiety, loyalty conflicts; your children are struggling with at least some of these emotions after your divorce. To make things even more difficult, you are struggling too. How do you help your child cope with the...

Children can experience trauma from a variety of experiences, including neglect, physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, death of a loved one, bullying, racial trauma, and more. Trauma occurs when children are exposed to an experience perceived as...

Chronic pain is different from other kinds of physical pain because it doesn't stop. It is daily, unrelenting, soul-wearying pain for which there is no end in sight. Can you still experience God's grace and help even in the midst of never ending pain?...

Everyone has their own style of dealing with conflict. Some people try to win at all costs and will do or say anything to get their own way. Others hate conflict and will do or say anything to avoid or end it. Sadly, neither fighting nor avoidance leads...

What makes you angry? Sometimes it's small things: traffic jams, a waiter's mistake, or a friend's inattention. And sometimes it's big things: betrayal, injustice, meanness, violence, oppression, selfishness, and lying. How do you deal with your anger?...

You feel betrayed. Someone close to you has hurt you deeply. You want to move past the pain and your obsession with what happened, but how? The usual strategies—trying to get even, trying to forget—just aren't working for you. Perhaps it's...

When your teenager is estranged from you and God and is making unwise (and perhaps downright awful) choices, it's natural to feel hopeless and helpless. Perhaps you have already done everything you know to do—you have talked with them at length,...

It may be your greatest fear coming true or something you never thought would happen to you. Either way, breast cancer has entered your life and turned it upside down. Now you're wondering how you're going to make it through: Are you going to be...

The pain of divorce has many different faces: the end of your hopes and dreams for your marriage; a life full of unwanted changes; and the daily struggle with a mixture of grief, fear, guilt, and anger. Is recovery possible? Winston T. Smith, using...

Are your personal or relational problems overwhelming you, negatively impacting your daily life or relationships? While all of us face the common pressures of living in a broken world, sometimes those challenges become too much to handle alone, and they...

Do you suspect that you or someone you love is suffering from marital domestic abuse? Is there intentional harm happening to you in your home, whether physical, verbal, sexual, or emotional? What should you do? How do you seek help? Heather Nelson...

What started as an innocent diet has turned into a monster. You eat too little. You eat too much. You restrict. You binge. Some days you wish you could just forget about food. Can someone like you ever learn to eat normally? Edward T. Welch describes...

LGBTQ+ identities and their widespread acceptance have produced a host of questions and quandaries for Christian families. How do you help your child navigate a world where a classmate may be transgender and neighbors are a gay couple? How do you...

Is a life-threatening illness, a major life change, or just plain old age forcing you to face your own mortality? Probably, like most of us, you'd rather not think or talk about your own death. But ignoring your death won't stop it from...

You made a commitment to Jesus (or maybe you didn't), but now you are questioning everything. Is there a God? Are you really forgiven and accepted for Jesus's sake? It sounds too good to be true. And if the Bible really is true and Jesus really did rise...

Do you dread family get-togethers and try to avoid your extended family whenever you can? When you see your family, do you sometimes regret the way you talk and act? Why is it so hard to get along with the people we grew up with? Childhood hurts,...

Right now you are probably feeling guilty about one thing or another–what you said to your spouse last night, those unrelenting thoughts, something you did years ago and regret, actual lying and cheating, the places where you are struggling right...

The pain is often excruciating. You feel hindered from being the person you want to be and from doing the activities you enjoy most. Adding to your struggle is the knowledge that your symptoms may never fully go away. How do you find encouragement in a...