How to Survive and Thrive in an Empty Nest


Book Description

Parents whose children are leaving home face many conflicting emotions, ranging from grief and loss to relief and even exhilaration. A time of new beginnings, time to enlarge old relationships, expand personal vistas and set new directions for life. This guide offers a step-by-step approach to help readers turn thei6r empty nest into growth and positive change.




Revitalize


Book Description

Church health is measured by more than just numbers, but declining membership is often a key symptom of a church in crisis. The pastor of a dying church doesn't need to be told it is dying; he needs to find the way forward--and he needs hope. Author and pastor Andrew Davis offers readers the lessons he's learned in his own journey of leading church transformation, including - keeping Christ's ownership of the church central - being humble - choosing your battles wisely - empowering godly men to join in leadership - making prayer a priority - focusing on the Word - and more Church decline is not inevitable. Revitalize gives pastors the spiritual support they long for and the practical advice they need to turn their churches around and position them for greater health in the future.




Thrive


Book Description

Thrive explores the purpose of education in a transforming world and how young people can thrive in this unpredictable environment.




Citizens Uniting to Restore Our Democracy


Book Description

The election of Donald Trump in 2016 shocked the American political system, and the aftershocks have widened the nation’s partisan divide and magnified deep tensions in the public sphere. At a time when our political focus so often shrinks to the immediacy of the latest jolt, this book puts these alarming events in a much broader—and more manageable—context. Even as we become more polarized along partisan and ideological lines, author Daniel Kemmis reminds us that authentic conservatism and progressivism are both deeply rooted in genuine human concerns and in the shared history of our democratic republic. Citizens Uniting to Restore Our Democracy is at once a cogent analysis of what ails our body politic and a wide-ranging, deeply informed prescription for healing our wounded democracy. The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission amplified the role of big money in American politics. But, as Kemmis notes, the threats to our democracy long preceded Citizens United. While the influence of big money and relentless partisanship can make ordinary citizens feel powerless in a chaotic political culture, Citizens Uniting to Restore Our Democracy offers a stirring reassertion of the power Americans possess as collaborative problem-solvers—namely, the very homegrown self-governing skills needed to rebuild our democracy. Drawing on several decades of public service—as a politician, activist, and scholar, one of Utne Reader’s “100 Visionaries Changing the World”—Kemmis highlights the transformative potential latent in the everyday practice of engaged citizenship. Leveraged by new mechanisms, such as an effective democratic lobby of the kind his book advocates, that reservoir of active, hands-on citizenship must be mobilized into a twenty-first-century version of the Progressive movement, providing both necessary and sufficient conditions for the renewal of the nation’s democratic institutions.




Recast Your City


Book Description

Community development expert Ilana Preuss explains how local leaders can revitalize their downtowns or neighborhood main streets by bringing in and supporting small-scale manufacturing. Small-scale manufacturing businesses help create thriving places, with local business ownership opportunities and well-paying jobs that other business types can't fulfill.




The Bottom Line for Baby


Book Description

Apply the best science to all your parenting decisions with this essential A–Z guide for your biggest questions and concerns from the New York Times bestselling co-author of The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline Every baby- and toddler-care decision sends parents scrambling to do the right thing, and often down into the rabbit hole of conflicting advice. Dr. Tina Payne Bryson has sifted through the reliable research (including about all those old wives’ tales) and will help you make a manageable molehill out of the mountain of information and answer more than sixty common concerns and dilemmas, including • Breast or bottle? Or breast and bottle? Will that cause nipple confusion? • What’s the latest recommendation for introducing solids in light of potential allergies? • Should I sign us up for music and early-language classes? • What’s the evidence for and against circumcision? • When is the right time to wean my baby off her pacifier? • How do I get this child to sleep through the night?! Dr. Bryson boils things down with authority, demystifying the issues in three distinct sections: an objective summary of the schools of thought on the topic, including commonly held pros and cons; a clear and concise primer on “What the Science Says”; and a Bottom Line conclusion. When the science doesn’t point clearly in one direction, she guides you to assess and apply the information in a way that’s consistent with your family’s principles and meets your child’s unique needs. Full of warmth, expert wisdom, and blessedly bite-sized explanations, The Bottom Line for Baby will help you prioritize what you really need to know and do during the first year of precious life.




Thriving


Book Description

An innovation agenda for tackling our biggest global societal challenges, including the climate emergency Written by a top thinker in sustainability and responsible business, Thriving promotes change through innovation and transformation in nature, society, and the economy. It showcases new approaches in economics, business, and leadership to address a wide range of topics, including ecosystem destruction, species extinction, plastic waste, air pollution, gender equality, social justice, physical health, mental well-being, access to technology, job automation, pandemics, and climate change, among others. Thriving strives to: • Inform about why change is necessary and how it happens in society, as well as counter prevailing despair and pessimism about the state of the world with hope and optimism • Inspire with what change is possible and where it is already happening, showing how we can go from problems of breakdown to breakthrough solutions • Impel by creating a desire to turn information and inspiration into action, adding momentum to the growing regeneration movement ​Thriving is not an exercise in blind optimism in technology or other miracle-cure solutions; rather, it is an accessible approach to systems thinking and an offer of pragmatic hope based on purpose-driven creativity and innovation. Whether you’re a professional in the sustainability field or someone who simply wants to be better informed about ways to take positive action, this thorough guide is for you.




Invent, Reinvent, Thrive: The Keys to Success for Any Start-Up, Entrepreneur, or Family Business


Book Description

In today's uncertain world of business, one rule stands above the rest: If you want to survive--let alone thrive--you must embrace change. Everything else comes after. In Invent Reinvent Thrive Kellogg School of Management Professor Lloyd Shefsky provides the inspiration and insight any entrepreneur or family business needs for long-term success--and he backs it all up with proven models of what works and what doesn't. Shefsky reveals the common thread of all business success stories: reinvention. He explains not just how to reinvent concepts and ideas from the start, but ways to continuously innovate and reinvent your business to meet today's constantly changing marketplace conditions. In addition to his own expert insight, Shefsky provides firsthand advice through case studies derived from dozens of original interviews with entrepreneurs and family business giants, consisting of the leaders of some of today's most successful companies, including: Howard Schultz (founder, Chairman, and CEO of Starbucks) Jim Sinegal (founder of Costco) Chuck Schwab (founder of Charles Schwab & Co.) Tom Stemberg (founder of Staples) The author also gives special attention to family businesses (which account for over half the U.S. GDP) and how to address vexing family disparities, enabling family businesses to last more than two generations. Invent Reinvent Thrive offers all the answers you need to get your business where you want it to be. You'll learn exactly where new and multi-generational business owners fall short and miss incredible opportunities, why they fail to take the plunge or innovate--and how you can rework, revitalize, and reinvent your business not just to avoid the most common perils but to lead your business to the apex of your industry. "Entrepreneurship is not a cataclysmic event," Shefsky writes. "It is a constant process." Follow his advice through every step of the process and you will successfully invent, reinvent--and thrive. PRAISE FOR INVENT REINVENT THRIVE: "If you think business books are boring, this is your chance to prove yourself wrong. Storytelling is an art, and Shefsky brings that art to business. Invent Reinvent Thrive is a treasure trove of valuable lessons." -- STAN KASTEN, President and CEO, Los Angeles Dodgers; former President of the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves, Hawks, and Thrashers "Invent Reinvent Thrive is full of wise and practical guidance for both would-be and continuing entrepreneurs. Shefsky's discussions provide wonderful advice that will aid anyone embarking on or continuing in an entrepreneurial enterprise." -- DAVID RUDER, former Chairman, Securities & Exchange Commission "Our company's direct experience with Lloyd Shefsky . . . inspired us to methodically pursue Brown-Forman's never-ending greatness, and this book can do the same for others. I highly recommend Invent Reinvent Thrive to all businesspeople." -- PAUL VARGA, CEO and Chairman, Brown-Forman Corporation, producer of Jack Daniels, Finlandia, Southern Comfort, and other spirits "Lloyd Shefsky tackles the issues many entrepreneurs face and offers practical advice to defy the odds. If you've had business success, yet need to go to the next level, read this book." -- GINGER GRAHAM, former President and CEO, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and former faculty at the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at the Harvard Business School "This is a very serious study of a critical issue, and no one dealing with entrepreneurship or family businesses should make the mistake of ignoring it." -- ISRAEL ZANG, Professor and former Dean of Business School and Vice Provost of Tel Aviv University




Revitalize to Plant


Book Description

Pastors of established churches everywhere are searching for the secret formula to revitalize their churches. They have paid thousands of dollars for outside consultants only to be disappointed. The answer has been in the very word they preach every Sunday: plant churches. Planting churches results in the church developing a missional mindset that connects them with the heart of God which lies in the process of resurrection and restoration.




The Art of Revitalization


Book Description

This book discusses the revitalization of decayed inner-city neighborhoods. It explores the role of social capital in stabilizing and turning around distressed communities, and it highlights the roles that local actors can and do play in the revitalization process. The Art of Revitalization takes two Chicago neighborhoods, Englewood and North Lawndale, as case studies. Zielenbach discusses them in the context of racial change and urban decay in Chicago since World War II. The account of the changing neighborhoods is fascinating and clear, and the strength of the author's portrayal of Chicago's transformation sets the stage for his detailed analysis.