What do an ex-con, a former drug addict, a real estate broker, a college student and a married mother of two have in common? Nothing, or so I thought. Who would have imagined that God would make a prayer group as mismatched as ours the closest of friends? I almost didn’t even go to the Chicago Women’s Conference—after all, being thrown together with five hundred strangers wasn’t exactly my “comfort zone.” But something happened that weekend to make us realize we had to hang together, and the Yada Yada Prayer Group” was born! When I faced the biggest crisis of my life, God used my newfound Sisters to show me what it means to be just a sinner saved by grace. **

Kat Davies is suddenly wondering if her good deed was a bad idea. Kat may be new in her faith, but she's embraced the more radical implications of Christianity with reckless abandon. She invited Rochelle, a homeless mother, and her son to move into the apartment she shares with two other housemates. And she's finally found a practical way to channel her passion for healthy eating by starting a food pantry at the church.And her feelings for Nick are getting harder to ignore. The fact that he's the interning pastor at SouledOut Community Church and one of her housemates makes it complicated enough. But with Rochelle showing interest in Nick as a father-figure for her son, their apartment is feeling way too small.But not everyone thinks the food pantry is a good idea. When the woman she thought would be her biggest support just wants to pray about it, Kat is forced to look deeper at her own motives. Only when she begins to look beyond food as an issue does...

For the Yada Yadas, gettin' caught up in troubles isn't the problem; it's how to get free. Only weeks ago, we Yadas toughened our prayer knees when one of our own was the victim of a vicious racial attack. Now it seems each household is being thrown into even bigger and badder circumstances. It especially worries me, Jodi Baxter, because I'm a fixer by nature, and the prayer list is getting out of control . . . Ruth and Ben are caught up in an unplanned pregnancy--in their fifties! Chanda is deluded by the glitter of her lottery dream come true. Florida wants to move her family, hoping to leave trouble behind, but it looks like it may catch up to her anyway. And I'm finding that even good things like prayer group can consume me in no time flat. If there is an upside, it's that all this trouble is revealing the subtle lies we Yadas believe about God, ourselves, each other, and life. Maybe our best hope is to catch on to what God's doing--and catch on quick!--before the enemy can take any prisoners. That'd be a freedom worth celebrating. And celebrating is what my spiritual sisters and I do best.

Prayer is a powerful spiritual weapon. And the Yada Yadas are about to learn just how strong it really is. The women of the Chicago-born Yada Yada Prayer Group have developed a strong sisterly bond. TheyÆve had a wild year full of joy, sorrow, and a healthy dose of laughter. Lots of laughter. But just when life gets comfortable, things get shaken up. The sisters donÆt expect trouble to crop up so soon after the exuberant wedding of Yada Yada member Avis Johnson. But it happens, and sorrow meets their joy headûon. ItÆs the kind of sorrow that shakes up their whole town, their whole group, their lives. And itÆs not just sorrowùitÆs fear and hate and a whole lot of tension. A white supremacy hate group targets a local university and viciously attacks NonyÆs husband, barely sparing his life. With their loved one balancing between life and death, the mismatched sisters get toughùreally toughùand their prayer group becomes much more than just a Bible...

A 2 in 1 collection of Yada Yada Prayer books authored by Neta Jackson.

In the last place she ever imagined she'd be, Gabby will discover what she's made of—and for.Gabrielle Fairbanks knew her husband was upset with her. But she never expected him to change the locks on their Chicago penthouse, cancel her credit cards, and disappear with their two boys. Now she's literally on the streets with her elderly mother, her mom's dog...and $220 to her name.Thank goodness she has somewhere to go—Manna House, the women's shelter where she works. But even in the bustling shelter—surrounded by residents and the Yada Yada Prayer Group—Gabby feels more alone than ever. She longs for someone she can really talk to, someone to help mend together the pieces of her broken life. Her warm-hearted lawyer seems ready to offer more than legal counsel...but is he the answer to prayer or just a pleasant distraction?As her fragile plans fall apart, Gabby hits on a possibility so wild and wonderful it has to be one of...

PENNY WISE . . .But does God care about “just pennies”?PENNY WISE introduces us to yet another family in “the neighborhood”—the Jaspers, busy with demanding jobs, busy with church, busy volunteering, parents of three active teenagers, juggling sometimes crazy schedules. All good things. Until all those “good things” feed into a series of crises that affects the whole family. Something’s gotta change!—Welcome to the Neighborhood—The third in the Windy City Neighbors series, PENNY WISE is a contemporary peek at an urban family wrestling with the spiritual and practical challenges of real life. The series employs the innovating storytelling technique of “parallel novels,” each with its own drama and story arc, but whose characters’ lives become intertwined with their neighbors and affect one another. Welcome to Beecham Street—a typical, isolated American neighborhood that is beginning to come out of its shell . . . for better or worse.

Sometimes the person you most need is the one least like you. Kathryn Davies is a bright young woman from a prominent Phoenix family. But after making a leap of faith at a Christian music fest, dropping out of med school, and moving to inner city Chicago, her family has all but disowned her. Kat's enthusiasm for her newfound faith tempers the sting of their rejection.When Kat discovers SouledOut Community Church, she longs to become a part of the multi-cultural church family. But her tendency to say whatever she's thinking and her eccentric ways step on the toes of nearly everyone she meets-especially Avis Douglass, a woman she admires but who seems distant.Avis is known for her mature faith and her reliance on listening to God more than people. Married to a kind and successful businessman, she is the principal of one of Chicago's highest performing elementary schools, and a founding and active member of SouledOut. But the country's economic downturn...

You can only walk forward when you learn how to lean.Just months after her husband threw her out of their penthouse and sent their two sons away, Gabrielle Fairbanks is finally getting back on her feet. She has a job she loves at the homeless shelter, an apartment for her and the boys, caring friends, and even a new love interest. Best of all, an unexpected windfall has given her a brand-new dream—a House of Hope for homeless mothers and their children.Piece by piece, Gabby's new life is coming together—but the old one keeps dragging her back. First her husband Philip hints at a reconciliation...then hits her up for a loan to pay his gambling debts. And when Gabby tells him no, he makes a desperate move that puts them all in harm's way. How can she even think of embarking on a new venture when so much is up in the air?Gabby is realizing that she needs something far greater than her own strength or even that of her friends. That to move...

The Yada Yadas thought they had a handle on forgiveness, but it seems God has them on a crash-course to an even deeper level.After everything the Yada Yadas had been through in the past eight months, I told God I could sure use a little "dull and boring" in the new year! But that was before Leslie "Stu" Stuart moved in upstairs. Ms. Perfect herself and me--Jodi Baxter--living in the same two-flat? A recipe for collision. Then Delores Enriquez's son Jose wanted to throw my Amanda a quinceanera--a coming-out party, Mexican style--and they're only fifteen!At least Bandana Woman, who held up our Yada Yada Prayer Group at knife-point last fall, was safely locked up in prison . . . or so I thought. We visited her, like the Bible says; even sent her something for Christmas. But then she ends up back in our face. I mean, how far is forgiveness supposed to go?I guess I should have realized that with eleven Yada Yada sisters as diverse as a bag of Jelly...

Gabby knows God is the God of second chances.But can she give one to the man who betrayed her?When she was thrown out of the penthouse she shared with her husband and their sons, Gabby didn't know if she'd ever find a soft place to land. But after seeking refuge at the shelter where she works, extraordinary things happen as she is reintroduced to God.From the ashes of her marriage comes the House of Hope–a safe haven for homeless moms and their children.But now those ashes of her destroyed marriage are being stirred again. When her long–gone husband's life hits rock bottom, he reappears and asks for one more chance. And Gabby faces what feels like an impossible choice. Take him back. Or keep moving forward without him. Toward someone new who hasn't betrayed her.Is God redeeming what Gabby thought was gone forever? Or is He leading her down a different path and giving her something–and someone–new?

A devastating fire wakes up the Yada Yadas to a new reality: God is on the move.What I'd like to know is, why does God keep rearranging my comfort zone? It could have something to do with my Yada Yada prayer sisters, who aren't afraid to get in each other's faces and tend to expect big things from God.But to move forward, sometimes we have to let go of what's behind. In spite of the loss of two dear friends. In spite of the breakup of a teenage love. In spite of the curse of HIV. In spite of prison time hanging over the head of a beloved child. In spite of fire consuming the hopes of those who have nothing.Yet out of the ashes, God is doing a new thing! It's time for the Yadas to press on, pray on, and get rolling!

GROUNDED...But Hope May Be Just Across the StreetGrace Meredith is a beloved contemporary Christian recording artist whose career--and personal life--hits unexpected turbulence. She feels grounded--in more ways than one. Grace s fiancé, bothered by her outspoken stance on purity and her near-constant travel, has broken off their relationship. Exhausted and unable to continue her current concert schedule, Grace returns home to Chicago, where she is soon stranded in a major snowstorm. Facing new questions about her future and her faith, Grace finds herself connecting for the first time with the residents of her neighborhood. What she discovers in these unexpected relationships could change everything.Welcome to the NeighborhoodThe first in the Windy City Neighbors series, Grounded is an uplifting, contemporary story about ordinary people wrestling with the spiritual and practical issues of real life. The series employs the innovative storytelling technique of parallel novels, each with its own drama and story arc, but whose characters lives become intertwined and affect one another. Grounded welcomes you to Beecham Street--a typical, isolated American neighborhood that might just be a place of hope.

Sometimes you find hope in the last place you look.Gabrielle Fairbanks has nearly lost touch with the carefree, spirited young woman she was shen she married her husband sixteen years ago. But when the couple moves to Chicago to accommodate Philip's ambition, Gabby longs for the chance to find real purpose in her own life.A chance encounter with a homeless woman suddenly opens a dooor she never expected. The women of Manna House Women's Shelter need a Program Director—and she has the right credentials. Gabby's in her element, feeling God's call on her life at last, even though Philip doesn't like the changes he sees in her. But she never anticipated his ultimatum: quit your job at the shelter or risk divorce and losing custody of our sons.In this moment, Gabby's entire foundation shifts. She must find refuge, as in the song they sing at Sunday worship: "Where do I go when there's no one else to turn to . . . I go to the Rock I know that's able,...

From Thanksgiving and Christmas to rolling in the New Year, the Yada Yadas are "decked out" to celebrate the holidays!Turkey dinners, tree trimming, and decking the halls––it's that time of year again! And I, Jodi Baxter, can't wait to celebrate. My kids are coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then all of us Yadas are getting decked out for a big New Year's party.But God's idea of "decked out" might just change the nature of our party plans. A perplexing encounter with a former student, a crime that literally knocks me off my feet, a hurry–up wedding, and a child who will forever change our family...it's times like these that I really need my prayer sisters.This holiday season, we Yada Yadas are learning that no one can out–celebrate God. So let's get this party started!