Girl Meets God

A young woman invites readers into her personal spiritual journey from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity in a powerful book about religion and identity.

Whether chosen and celebrated--like going off to college or welcoming your first baby--or unexpected and anxiety-inducing--like losing a job or grappling with a broken trust--all change brings stress. Kristen Strong knows about change--especially the kind you didn't choose or expect. What she's fought hard to learn over the years is that change is not something to be feared but something to be received as a blessing from a God who, more often than not, works through change, not in spite of it. Strong has learned to see change not as a grievance but as a grace. In this hope-filled book, she shows women how when we follow God's will, we receive blessings of contentment, purpose, and renewed strength. She encourages women to see change not as the end of their story but as the scenery for this part of life's journey. And she offers practical advice for coping with change in every part of life. Anyone who has struggled to adjust to life's transitions will welcome this warm and personal perspective.

Glistening with the colors of her evolving life as a baalat teshuva with warmth, humor and the sixth sense elicited from an evolving awareness, Joannie Tansky creates an absorbing read for anyone interested in the power of faith and the possibilities that open up to a woman in search of her spiritual self. Her vignettes span more than seventeen years of experiences embracing the feminine point of view of Judaism including Shabbat, kashrut, mikvah, menopause, holidays, and world travel visiting Chabad houses and other Jewish institutions. One goal of her writing is to inspire those who are already Torah observant yet find themselves feeling stale or bored. Another is to allay the fears of women (and perhaps men) who are just beginning their journey, explaining with humor and depth that one does not have to embrace all of Judaism at once.

What happens when an ordinary girl finds the extraordinary love of God? By a well in Samaria, one girl found out when she came face to face with Jesus. Today's young women may be in a different culture, but they have something in common with that girl by the well: Sometimes they go looking for love in all the wrong places. Just as the Samaritan woman carried an empty jar to the well, they carry their empty hearts, looking for that one person, one more award, one glowing accolade, to fill it up and make it whole. True love is waiting at the well. In the eyes of the One, the woman at the well had infinite worth, meaning, and purpose, and there's a secret waiting for girls who take the time to listen to what Jesus had to say to her that day: When an ordinary girl fills up on the love of an extraordinary God, unforgettable things happen.

Lauren F. Winner—a leading writer at the crossroads of culture and spirituality and author of Still and Girl Meets God—joins the ranks of luminaries such as Anne Lamott and Barbara Brown Taylor with this exploration of little known—and, so, little used—biblical metaphors for God, metaphors which can open new doorways for our lives and spiritualities. There are hundreds of metaphors for God, but the church only uses a few familiar images: creator, judge, savior, father. In Wearing God, Lauren Winner gathers a number of lesser-known tropes, reflecting on how they work biblically and culturally, and reveals how they can deepen our spiritual lives. Exploring the notion of God as clothing, Winner reflects on how we are “clothed with Christ” or how “God fits us like a garment.” She then analyzes how clothing functions culturally to shape our ideals and identify our community, and ruminates on how this new metaphor can function to create new possibilities for our lives. For each biblical metaphor—God as the vine/vintner who animates life; the lactation consultant; and the comedian, showing us our follies, for example—Winner surveys the historical, literary, and cultural landscapes in order to revive and heal our souls.

Tadema invites readers to look over her shoulder and observe how she discovered that the heart of her own navigation of life was an essential union of the Holy Spirit with her spirit. (Motivation)

Winner’s original Mudhouse Sabbath has sold 45,000 copies, been translated into three languages, and spawned a successful video study series. After her conversion from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity, Winner found that her life was indelibly marked by the rich traditions and spiritual practices of Judaism. She here presents eleven Jewish practices that can transform the way Christians view the world and God, including attentive eating, mourning, candle-lighting, and Sabbath-keeping. Since first publishing the book, Lauren has earned her MDiv and PhD, and become an Episcopal priest. Her thought has deepened and developed. This new Study Edition incorporates the complete original text plus primary texts from Jewish and Christian sources, and new material on each of the eleven topics. The result is a powerful work for Christians wanting to explore in depth and understand the Jewish origins of Christianity. “At a time when we are so aware of the differences between Judaism and Christianity, Lauren Winner’s book on what we can learn from each other is so refreshingly welcome.”—Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Great Things Happen When Girls Say Yes to God Every Christian parent wants their daughter to make good decisions as she grows into an adult. Wynter Pitts, a mother of four young girls, is no exception and she wants to help your tween daughter, age 8-12, make choices that honor God and protect her heart and soul. Smart choices begin with one word. Yes. When your daughter says yes to God in every area of her life, the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—will take hold in her heart and soul, bringing her happiness and blessing those around her. In her signature conversational style, Wynter teaches your tween girl how God can help her make good decisions and where to find solid examples from Scripture and specifically, from the life of Jesus. When girls say yes to God, He can do amazing things in their life. For more information on this title, visit godsgirlsaysyes.com.

In the critically acclaimed memoir Girl Meets God, Lauren F. Winner chronicled her sojourn from Judaism to Christianity. Now, in Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, Winner describes how experiences of loss and failure unexpectedly slam her into a wall of doubt and spiritual despair: “My belief has faltered, my sense of God’s closeness has grown strained, my efforts at living in accord with what I take to be the call of the gospel have come undone.” Witty, relatable, and fiercely honest, Winner lays bare her experience of what she calls the “middle” of the spiritual life. In elegant and spare prose, she explores why—in the midst of the overwhelming anxiety, loneliness, and boredom of her deepest questioning about where (or if) God is—the Christian story still explains who she is better than any other story she’s ever known. Still is an absorbing meditation combining literary grace with spiritual wisdom. It is sure to resonate with anyone looking to sustain a spiritual life in the midst of real life.

We hear about the "happily ever after" when a woman gets married, but what about the happily ever before she gets married? What are women doing or not doing in their single season that creates the marriages we see today? I searched for years to find the answer to my prayer. I prayed for a man that would not leave me or forsake me. One that brings me happiness, joy, and peace. One that makes me feel safe and secure. A man I can just be myself around. Someone that completes me...fulfills me. Someone that really understands me and knows how to get through to me. I didn't understand why it was so hard to find a man with these qualities. Little did I know, God had already answered my prayer. I pray, as you read this book, God will reveal to you the answer to not only my prayer, but to your prayers.