Böcker av Lisa Smith

Claire Moretti is the daughter of a mob boss, but has long since moved away from the family to work as a Catholic special education teacher and is about to become a nun. However, these plans unravel when her father is murdered and she must go home to confront the family, attend the funeral, and deal with her alcoholic mother. But the return home also brings up other elements of her past, the unwanted attentions of a psychotic ex-boyfriend, and a challenge to her core beliefs through a lustful attraction to one of her father's men. No longer able to insulate herself from these challenges, she faces the ultimate test. Will she achieve her dream to enter the convent, or will she succumb to the temptations of her father's world? And is she good enough for true love because of her tainted past? While this book has Christian themes, it is not a Pollyanna story. It contains sexual assault, intimate scenes, and some profanity. These elements will challenge readers of faith about whether they should isolate themselves from the world and those of differing beliefs, or if they can enter it and maintain their goodness.

Imagine what your life would be like if your words could change the world. This is what happened to young, spunky Phoebe Jean one sunny afternoon when she caught some neighborhood kids teasing a kitty. Phoebe Jean found her words - and when she found her words, she found her power within. Join Phoebe Jean on her very first adventure, in which she discovers just how important it is to spread kindness and help others.

Restored Innocence is a clarion call to hope and healing for those who have survived a traumatic loss of innocence, or for those who are supporting loved ones on their journey of healing from abuse. This book weaves together scripture study, testimonies and reflection questions to address the tough questions that bring healing and freedom. Shame and disappointment are replaced by security and hope. Forgiveness is explored honestly and practically. Courage and hope are released through these pages. Journey into the narrative of scripture, intertwined with the candid reflections of the author from her own experiences to discover the path to your own "Restored Innocence"."I believe that there is no wound so deep that it cannot be healed by God's love and tender comfort. I believe that the transforming power of Jesus brings beauty, peace and lasting joy from even the most painful places in our lives." Lisa Smith

A transformative love story about two best friends who fall for each other, fall apart, and try to find their way back together in their tight-knit British-Jamaican community.

South London, 1981: Daphne is the only Black girl in her class. All she wants is to keep her head down, preferably in a book. The easiest way to survive is to go unnoticed.Daphne''s attempts at invisibility are upended when a boy named Connie Small arrives from Jamaica. Connie is the opposite of small in every way: lanky, outgoing, and unapologetically himself. Daphne tries to keep her distance, but Connie is magnetic, and they form an intense bond. As they navigate growing up in a volatile, rapidly changing city, their families become close, and their friendship begins to shift into something more complicated. But when Connie reveals that he is "nuh land"-meaning he''s in England illegally-Daphne realizes that she is dangerously entangled in Connie''s fragile home life. Soon, long-buried secrets in both families threaten to tear them apart permanently.Spanning one tumultuous decade, from the industrial shipyards of the Thames to the sandy beaches of Montego Bay, Jamaica Road is a deftly plotted and emotionally expansive debut novel about race and class, the family you''re born with and the family you choose, and the limits of what true love can really conquer.

Today's unfortunate reality, for millions of people, is that work is simply a have-to-do that pays the bills and gets in the way of doing what they really care about. This results in people becoming disengaged and disconnected from their organizations and colleagues. But what if employees could be made to see the big picture, the connection between their own efforts, and the success of their organizations? What if people could be made to feel a sense of purpose at work and to thereby become committed, sincere, loyal, and happy participants in a team effort? Authors Maryann Baumgarten and Lisa Smith know that we all feel engaged when we care and connect to something larger than ourselves. They realize that even though so many of us see work as a time- and energy-sucking drain, a few shifts in organizational behavior and direction can turn that perspective on its head. Their new book, #ENGAGE tweet: How Leaders Bring More Energy into Work and Life, contains 140 actionable pieces of wisdom that employers and senior managers can start using today to make people engaged and connected with their work and workplaces. #ENGAGE tweet focuses on bringing clarity to the work environment by answering several fundamental questions. What needs are being fulfilled through work? Conversely, what needs are as yet unmet? How does any employee be made to feel more balanced and connected to their true motivations? Finally, how can any employee realize that they can indeed change their circumstances to make work engaging, meaningful, and fun? For any employer who has grappled with the issue of discontentment at work, or for any employee who would like to turn around their workdays to make them pleasurable and meaningful, #ENGAGE tweet is an actionable book that will engage mind and spirit, to bring about positive realignment and empowerment. #ENGAGE tweet is part of the THiNKaha series whose slim and handy books contain 140 well-thought-out quotes (tweets/ahas).

Gathering the attention and excitement of American colonists from Boston to Charleston, the religious revival of the 1740s traditionally known as the First Great Awakening provided colonial newspaper printers with their first story of transcolonial importance. At the time of the Awakening, American newspapers had become a vital part of the colonial information network as each major city offered at least one weekly paper. Papers printed weekly reports on revivalist preaching, eye-witness accounts of revival meetings, shocking stories of improper ordinations and church separations, as well as numerous contributed letters praising or denouncing virtually every aspect of the Awakening. No other colonial event of the 1740s, including the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Jacobite Rebellion (1745), came close to receiving as much newspaper coverage, making the First Great Awakening America's first ';Big Story.'In The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers: A Shifting Story, Lisa Smith offers the first scholarly work to examine in detail the printed newspaper record of the revival. This comprehensive, in-depth examination of colonial newspapers over a ten-year period uncovers information on shifts in the presentation of the revival over time, specific differences in regional reporting, and significant transformations in the newspaper personae of popular revivalists such as George Whitefield and Gilbert Tennent. Using original newspaper excerpts and graphs revealing reporting trends, this book presents an engaging, detailed picture of how colonial newspaper printers covered the experience of the First Great Awakening.