Hope and Life Press is proud to announce the release of the nonfiction book titled The Storm: A Time of Mercy, Choices and Hope by the Catholic American entrepreneur, speaker, and Hurricane Katrina evacuee James A. Toups. The Storm: A Time of Mercy, Choices and Hope is a book of 22 stories of faith, intergenerational love, life struggles and storms, from the moment he was born in the Deep South of the United States of America, then as a son, husband, father, and grandfather in Louisiana; needed choices, personal and familial sacrifices, loss, grief, prayer, hope, peace, and joy, in the life of successful Catholic entrepreneur James A. Toups.
Written by a man unafraid to express his true feelings, who has witnessed poverty and known suffering first-hand, and is an evacuee of the deadly Hurricane Katrina, the deep narratives found herein provide readers with a rare kind of insight and lived wisdom in how to survive and thrive in the face of whatever storms may come one's way, including but not limited to the major societal storm that is arising at present in the world and escalating with rapidity both in and across nations. The Storm: A Time of Mercy, Choices and Hope will resonate with the young and the old alike, male and female, across cultures, by illustrating for readers a personal process through which hope can be retained no matter the arising situation or condition, without falling into the depths of human despair and more. The Storm: A Time of Mercy, Choices and Hope is available in paperback and ebook editions from Amazon worldwide, directly from Hope and Life Press, and other booksellers including Acadian Religious in Lafayette, Louisiana.
EARLY REVIEWS"Business thought leader James Toups has penned a fast-moving account of growing up in love and Louisiana. This coming of age speaks to the trials that all young men will remember - and the Biblical solutions. Toups reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses and the protection and accountability that is community. The plot is of loss and near loss and recovery governed by Faith on this side of eternity, in the Hope that is to come. The story of hurricanes and avoiding Hell and high water will help and encourage any reader of any Faith Tradition" - Jack Yoest, M.B.A., Clinical Professor of Management, The Catholic University of America.
"A truly honest book, which is rare . . . especially recommend this book for adolescent boys on the verge of manhood. James's open heart and narrative, the likes of which many Christians keep for prayer and growth, would lead boys into the new world of love, sacrifice, and responsibility" - Marie Ann Dean,author of The Jeweler's Polish.
"Poignant, moving at times to the point of tears, James Toups has provided a rare book of lived wisdom so necessary for people who feel so lost in today's relativistic age. He has written an inspiring and inspired narrative of strong women and strong men unafraid to hold hope, through their faith in God, and do whatever it takes to raise their children to become adults with solid principles and virtue ethics, despite the successes and intergenerational losses and tragedies in their lives. Commencing with the love of women ready to die, if necessary, so that their children can be born and live; through the conflict of interracial tensions in the American South, the allure but emptiness of the fast life, the harrowing pain of stillbirth, the pure witness of refugees from the former Soviet Union and Vietnam, and living through personal, relational, and natural storms, including the deadly hurricane Katrina of which Toups and his family were evacuees, the author has beautifully illustrated how hope, held onto by prayer from the heart and watered by the grace of faith, manages without fail to effectively resolve any kind of situation, interior or exterior, no matter how painful or overwhelming things may be" - Marcelle Bartolo-Abela, author of Deification of Man in Christianity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Educated in Catholic schools and a small, public college in Louisiana, Toups spends much of his time with his large family, motivational public speaking and helping his clients grow, while building up the communities they serve. He has also developed a belief in the economic theory of distributism. Toups finds joy and hope in being called to serve Christ in the simplest ways and has a great love for Him and the Blessed Mother, Lectio Divina, adoration, and praying the rosary. He also enjoys reading the wisdom found in the writings of the great saints of the universal Church. Toups believes that the future of humankind, no matter what it holds and despite the present storm, has the great gift of hope in the salvation brought to us by Jesus Christ.
