The ME Project, Giveaway & Blog Tour

The Me Project is an exciting new book by Kathi Lipp. I'm proud to be part of her blog tour, and give you information about the book and about the giveway. Enjoy!



GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:
To enter, leave a comment by 9 pm EST March 3rd. A name will be randomly selected from my blog and sent to Kathy Carlton Willis Communications, where THEY will draw the prize winner and give away the prize. Your comment here enters you to win a CHANCE to be entered in their grandprize drawing.

Grand Prize Giveaway:
Deluxe Starbucks Coffee Gift Basket
Three 2.5-oz. bags of Starbucks coffee
(Sumatra, House Blend, and French Roast)
Tazo black tea
Starbucks marshmallow cocoa
Almond roca
Almond roca buttercrunch toffee cookies
White chocolate and raspberry cookies
2 Starbucks mugs
Keepsake black bamboo basket
$62 value

The BOOK: The ME Project








The Me Project - 21 Days to Living the Life You’ve Always Wanted
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN-10: 0736929665, ISBN-13: 978-0736929660
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Paperback: 224 pages, Retail: $12.99

Book Summary

(San Jose, CA) Has that rush to make (and break) New Year’s resolutions already waned? According to Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, taking small steps every day will not only help you stay committed to your goal, but will also help you ultimately achieve that goal when obstacles come up. Author Kathi Lipp wants you and your friends to live out those dreams—and have some fun along the way.

As women, we forget the goals and dreams of our younger years. The busyness of everyday life gets in the way. To-do lists replace goals. The Me Project provides women with fun and creative ways to bring back the sense of purpose and vitality that comes with living out the plans and dreams God has planted in our hearts. Kathi Lipp’s warm tone and laugh-out-loud humor motivates women to take daily steps toward intentional goals. The end result? We get back our lives and enjoy living in the confidence of a purposeful life in spite of our chaotic schedules.

This handy guide coaches women to do one simple thing toward achieving our goals each day for three weeks. A woman experiencing the exhilaration of a rediscovered life offers more as a wife, mother, friend, volunteer, career woman.

Finding the balance between living day-to-day with purpose while pursuing the passions God has placed in our hearts is a delicate pursuit. In this refreshing, insightful book, Kathi lays out a doable plan that makes sense and helps make our God-given dreams a reality. Never stop dreaming, because women who dare to dream do make the world a better place.
—Jean Blackmer
author of MomSense: A Common Sense Guide to Confident Mothering
Publishing Manager, MOPS International www.MOPS.org

Author Bio


Kathi Lipp


Kathi Lipp is a busy conference and retreat speaker, currently speaking each year to thousands of women throughout the United States. She is the author of The Husband Project and The Marriage Project, serves as food writer for Nickelodeon, and has had articles published in several magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman and Discipleship Journal. Kathi and her husband, Roger, live in California and are the parents of four teenagers and young adults. For more information visit her website: www.kathilipp.com

You Can't Always Get What You Want

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need.
You Can't Always Get What You Want, Rolling Stones, 1969

We've been studying prayer at church lately. Some of us treat God like a genie, or Santa Claus, presenting him with our lists of "I wants." God does want us to ask for our needs. We know this because Jesus said so when he taught the disciples how to pray. "Give us this day our daily bread," is part of the prayer Jesus used to show the disciples how to pray.

Daily bread. Bread for the day. Why should we only pray for DAILY bread? In Exodus 16, God rained down manna from heaven each day for the Israelites. And he caused it to mold if they tried to save it for more than 1 day. (The exception was they could save enough the day before the Sabbath to last through the Sabbath so they wouldn't have to work on that day.)

Why daily? So they would have to put their faith in him every day. They'd have to keep their eyes on him every day. God wants our attention daily, and our tendency is to look to God when we are hungry and turn away when we are full.

It's been said that God provides for our needs, but not our greeds. It's true that we can't always get what we want. But with God we always, always, always - get what we need.

The Tight Rope Walker

Once there was a tightrope walker. He strung a rope across the Grand Canyon as a large crowd gathered. "Who believes I can walk across the canyon on this rope?" The crowd cheered, "We do!" The man easily walked across on the rope.

Next he asked, "Who believes I can walk across the canyon on this rope, carrying a chair?" The crowd again cheered, "We do!" Again, the man easily walked across the rope, this time carrying the chair.

Next he asked "Who believes I can walk across the canyon on this rope, carrying a chair with another person sitting in it?" The crowd cheered, louder than ever, "We do!"

Then the man asked, "Who is willing to sit in the chair?" The stunned crowd went silent.

It's easy to say you believe in God. But true belief means you are willing to sit in the chair. Do you believe?

Why Dig Deeper?

Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Ruth 1:16

The above verse is one about unconditional love. There is even a new Chris Tomlin song based on this lyrics called, I Will Follow You. It always makes me chuckle when I hear it in weddings, however. I wonder if the bride reciting this verse to her husband,realizes the context of the actual verse. You see, it was said by a daughter-in-law, to her mother-in-law.

Young Ruth had lost her husband. Her sister-in-law (Orpah) and her mother-in-law (Naomi) all lost their husbands too. Naomi told her young daughters-in-law to go back to their own families. It only made sense. The other daughter-in-law returned. But not Ruth. Ruth professed her love to her mother-in-law, and promised to follow her wherever she went.

Before you get the idea that perhaps Ruth had the perfect mother-in-law, listen to this. Naomi told everyone to no longer call her Naomi (meaning pleasant), but to call her Mara (meaning bitter) because her life was so bitter. Would you profess you love to your bitter mother-in-law?

Scripture sometimes has two meanings. The obvious meaning in the passage, and often a deeper spiritual meaning. The literal meaning in the story of Ruth is steadfast love. According to scholars, the deeper meaning Ruth foreshadows the gentiles becoming a part of spiritual Israel, the church; and is a story of redemption. Digging deeper into scripture is important.

To hear the reasons why, meet me over at Titus 2 in Action, where I am a guest contributor today.

Love is Alive, Gary Wright

There's a mirror moving inside my mind
Reflecting the love that you shine on me
Hold on now to that feeling
Let it flow, let it grow, yeah, yeah
Love is Alive, Gary Wright, 1976

In a recently Bible study, the pastor asks how we would describe God's holiness to someone. After some thought I came up with this: We are the moon, Jesus is the Sun; we shine only when we reflect Jesus. You see, even though the moon is the brightest object in the night sky, it does not make its own light. The light we see from the moon is actually sunlight that is reflected from the moon's surface.

Such is the goodness people see in us. When we have Jesus in our life, we reflect his light. There's a mirror moving inside my mind, reflecting the love that you shine on me. Hold on now to that feeling. Let it flow, let it grow, yeah, yeah. The more time we spend growing in relationship with Jesus, by reading the Bible and in prayer, the more we grow, and the more that reflected love flows from us.

Jesus is alive. His love for us is alive. And we should love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We should be singing the chorus, "My heart is on fire. My soul's like a wheel that's turnin'. My love is alive, my love is alive."

With Jesus in your life, your love will be alive. You soul will be alive. And most importantly, you will live. Jesus brings eternal life for us. Love Jesus, and live.

(I have some friends who "need more cowbell" in their Musical Mondays. So today is for them. Watch the video to get more cowbell.) *Those who receive this post via email will not be able to see the video without logging into http://www.chattykelly.com *

Walking Partners

I've started walking a couple of days a week with two different friends. One friend is probably less fit than I am. I encourage and push her on to keep going a few more laps. She's ready to quit at 2 miles, but I can usually push and encourage her to 2.5. My other friend is in better shape than I am. She walks fast, and my legs burn as a strive to keep up. We walk 3 miles in no time, as she encourages me to go farther.

Our Christian "walk" should mirror my fitness walk. We need walking partners in Christ too! We should come along side some people who aren't as far in their faith as we are. We should encourage them in their walk with Christ and help them become more spiritually fit. It's not just a suggestion, but a mandate, "Go, and make disciples," Jesus said. (Matt 28:19,20)

At the same time, we should have Christian mentors who are equally or more spiritually fit than we are, to encourage us and help us deepen our relationship with Christ. Whether it's in our marriages, parenting or daily life, having someone to push us to do what is right is a blessing!

Having someone to walk with makes me more accountable to my exercise plan, no matter what their fitness level. The same is true spiritually. When I'm mentoring someone else, I am careful that I don't have the appearance of sin in my life to lead them the wrong direction. And likewise, when I'm with a mentor, I strive to live the life that they are, doing the right thing.

Who are you walking with in your Christian walk? Don't walk alone.

Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20

I'll Be There, Jackson 5

You and I must make a pact,
we must bring salvation back.
Where there is love, I'll be there
I'll Be There, Jackson 5, 1970

Do you ever wonder if God and Jesus had a conversation about the fall of man, and how they would handle it? Was it before Adam & Eve sinned, or after the fact? Whose idea was it? When I heard this Jackson 5 song the other day, I wondered if the conversation between God & Jesus sounded something like that:

You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back. Where there is love, I'll be there.

The Bible tells us that God IS love. ( John 4:16) Where there is love, I'll be there. Together they agreed (or made a pact) that they would offer mankind another chance at salvation. Jesus would die on the cross to pay the price for our sins.

But a relationship with Jesus offers more than salvation, not that just salvation isn't enough!

Let me fill your heart with joy and laughter
Togetherness, well that's all I'm after
Whenever you need me, I'll be there

We also get a change to have a relationship with Him! He will fill our heart with joy and laughter! The joy of the Lord! (Nehemiah 8:10) Togetherness is what He is after. Whenever we need Him, He will be there! Never will he leave or forsake us. (Joshua 1:5)

I'll be there to protect you,
with an unselfish love that respects you
Just call my name and I'll be there

We can pray to Him, be comforted by Him, learn by His Word in the Bible! He'll be there to protect us, and give us an unselfish love...unconditional love. And He wants us to love Him back. (Deut 6:5, Mark 12:30)

I'm so blessed to have a relationship with Jesus, and he offers a chance at that relationship to all of us. (John 3:16)

Just call His name. He'll be there.