Can you help make someone’s dream come true?

Fiona Robyn is going to blog her next novel, Thaw, starting on the 1^st of March next year. The novel follows 32-year-old Ruth’s diary over three months as she decides whether or not to carry on living.

To help spread the word she’s organizing a Blogsplash, where blogs will publish the first page of Ruth’s diary simultaneously (and a link to the blog).

She’s aiming to get 1000 blogs involved – if you’d be interested in joining in, email her at fiona@fionarobyn.com or find out more information at http://www.fionarobyn.com/thawblogsplash.htm.

 

An anti-dieting plan for weight loss: THE EDEN DIET

NOTE FROM CHRISTA: The simplicity of what Dr. Hancock teaches is the absolute “secret” to a life where you eat to live, not live to eat.  At first, it seems too good to be true. How is it I can eat whatever I want and still lose weight? Nothing to measure, weight, calculate, total, dance around, stand on one foot and jump…? Did God really create brownies to torture me?

Eat when I’m hungry? What a notion! Hunger? I eat by the clock. My lunch at school is 11:15. I eat whether or not I’m hungry because, if I don’t I can’t eat again until after 2:41. Horror of horrors! The most challenging aspect of this mind set is being aware of hunger pangs, the pangs God gave us…not our emotional hunger pangs, our physical ones. In the beginning, that kind of obedience requires patience and attention to your body signals. What’s amazing, though, is that once you begin to recognize the rumblings as true hunger, you realize how much food you DON’T NEED to be satisfied.

This plan is about obedience to God and trust in Him. If he meets all my needs, I don’t think the Blue Bell Creamery is going out of business because I eat less ice cream than before!

 

THE EDEN DIET

In The Eden Diet, Dr. Rita M. Hancock teaches you how to lose weight by attuning to and harnessing the power of your hunger pangs—by using them as a compass to tell you when and how much to eat. On this plan, you get to eat any

food you enjoy, even cheeseburgers, pizza, desserts, and junk food—but in smaller portions than the world would have you believe is normal, and only when you’re actually hungry.

Through the book, Dr. Hancock exposes food industry and advertising and marketing tactics that lead you to eat when your body doesn’t need food. She teaches you how to reject those misleading messages and rely on the only information you can trust—the hunger signals that God programmed into you in the beginning.

The Eden Diet: Weight Loss Through God’s Love, Not Through Dietary “Works” (from Dr. Hancock):

For some people, losing weight can be an unconscious attempt to achieve validation. They think, “If I lose weight, I’ll show God (and myself and those around me) that I’m a good Christian-that I’m more together and obedient-and that I’m finally good enough.” In a way, it’s a form of spiritual perfectionism-or bondage-feeling that you have to redeem yourself with weight loss “works” to earn His approval.

But obedience is supposed to flow naturally out of love, according to 1st John 5, not hold you in bondage or make you feel guilty. The way you eat should not be a tool through which you try to manipulate God. “If I eat properly and lose weight, then God will be pleased with me and give me an easy life.” When you think that way, your obedience (or failure at obedience) becomes a tool that Satan uses against you.

That’s why the concept of eating properly as a demonstration of your obedience to God is potentially harmful. It can help you or it can be twisted around and used against you by the Accuser to cause guilt and shame, which, in turn, cause you to feel separated from God.

God doesn’t want you to eat properly for the sake of obedience. He doesn’t want you to feel guilty and shameful, and He doesn’t want you to feel separated from Him. He primarily wants you to be closer to Him in relationship. He looks at you through the eyes of mercy and love, not condemnation and blame.

After you overeat, God wouldn’t even mention the word “obedience.” He’d say, “My heart breaks for you, child. You had a deep need for Me and you tried to medicate your void with food. I wish you could receive My deeper healing instead.” He would NOT say, “I’m angry because you disobeyed Me.” The latter statement reflects self-centeredness, not love. Therefore, it can’t be from God.

God is not a whip-cracking overlord who cares about minutia like what you do or don’t eat. In the New Testament, the Lord said to not worry about what you eat and drink (Matthew 6:25). Worrying about such trivial things distracts you from God and makes you even more vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. God is all about love. He is love. But, He won’t love you extra if your obedience helps you to lose your unwanted fat. He won’t love you extra if you break out of bondage to food. He won’t even love you extra if you draw closer to Him through your weight loss. He loves you the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, no matter how much your weight fluctuates.

Likewise, failure at weight loss won’t bring an eternal penalty. If you’ve asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you are saved by His grace once and for always, again, no matter what you weigh or how you eat.

In summary, if you’re seeking to improve your eating habits, stop trying to force the change through obedience. It often backfires and becomes a tool that Satan uses to cause guilt, shame, and condemnation.

Instead, relax, let go of the pressure, and lose weight in the flow of God’s will through The Eden Diet. You will feel so good emotionally that you won’t even want to overeat anymore. Voila! Weight loss the more joyful way-through love!

About Dr. Hancock’s Personal Weight Loss Experience

Rita knows first hand what it is like to overcome obesity. Being Italian, she had access to the world’s most delicious food when she was growing up. Unfortunately, she ate too much of it. By the time Rita was 17 and was 5’1” tall, she weighed 207 pounds and wore size 20 jeans.

Prior to leaving for Cornell University to study nutrition, Rita lost 75 pounds. And she did it by including occasional treats in her overall low-calorie diet, and by eating less and exercising more.

At Cornell, Rita minored in nutrition, participated in original nutrition research, and completed a thesis on the control of body weight. Through these studies, she was mentored by a world-leader in obesity research.

Apart from temporary fluctuations in her weight related to having children, Rita has now maintained her weight loss for 25 years.

About Dr. Hancock’s Medical Training

After completing her nutrition studies as an undergraduate at Cornell University, Rita attended medical school at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she was awarded a research fellowship to study gastroenterology (digestive diseases) at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She was also awarded the prestigious National Institute of Health’s Medical Student Research Training Fellowship, which allowed her to continue her studies in nutrition for two years at the Center for Human Nutrition in Dallas, Texas.

Upon graduating from medical school, Dr. Hancock completed an internship in internal medicine at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, and went on to her residency in rehabilitation medicine at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, and to subspecialty board-certification in pain management.

Sometimes the only thing perfect about perfect is that it isn’t: WHITE PICKET FENCES by Susan Meissner

WHITE PICKET FENCES

Amanda Janvier’s idyllic home seems the perfect place for her niece Tally to stay while her vagabond brother is in Europe, but the white picket fence life Amanda wants to provide is a mere illusion. Amanda’s husband Neil refuses to admit their teenage son Chase, is haunted by the horrific fire he survived when he was four, and their marriage is crumbling while each looks the other way.

Tally and Chase bond as they interview two Holocaust survivors for a sociology project, and become startlingly aware that the whole family is grappling with hidden secrets, with the echoes of the past, and with the realization that ignoring tragic situations won’t make them go away.

Readers of emotional dramas that are willing to explore the lies that families tell each other for protection and comfort will love White Picket Fences. The novel is ideal for those who appreciate exploring questions like: what type of honesty do children need from their parents, or how can one move beyond a past that isn’t acknowledged or understood? Is there hope and forgiveness for the tragedies of our past and a way to abundant grace?

Note from Christa: Susan Meissner was on my radar even before The Shape of Mercy, which I think isn’t just a breakout book…it’s a break through book. In that novel, Susan breathed life into the Salem witchcraft trials and the events surrounding them. And, in doing so, created characters that poignantly brought that time in history alive for readers. What I found interesting was that the essence of White Picket Fences is captured on the novel’s cover. That idyllic American dream of the perfect family, the house, the white picket fence and the notion that, even if we’re not living that life, someone is. But between those posts on Meissner’s cover is a delicate, gossamer spider web, as perfectly deceiving as the secrets we keep. Secrets that have the potential to break us or the lives of others. In her latest novel, Susan uses events from the Holocaust to bring her characters to face tragedies in their own lives. Don’t miss this one.

TO PURCHASE FROM RANDOM HOUSE, CLICK HERE

Susan Meissner cannot remember a time when she wasn’t driven to put her thoughts down on paper. Her novel The Shape of Mercy was a Publishers Weekly pick for best religious fiction of 2008 and a Christian Book Award finalist. Susan and her husband live in Southern California, where he is a pastor and a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves. They are the parents of four grown children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multnomah provided a copy of this book.

Meet Jennifer Kennedy Dean and discover how to live the “Set Apart” life

Note from Christa: I heard Jennifer speak over five years ago when my church invited her to one of the women’s programs. I was touched by her honesty and challenged by her call to seek a relationship with Jesus through prayer. Since then, I’ve purchased each one of her books and through them learned more about myself and about the God who loves me. Don’t pass this one up.

Jennifer Kennedy Dean is Executive director of The Praying Life Foundation and a respected author and speaker. She is the author of numerous books, studies, and magazine articles specializing in prayer and spiritual formation. Her book Heart’s Cryhas been named National Day of Prayer’s signature book. You’ll find articles and daily quotes from Jennifer at the National Day of Prayer website. Her book, Live a Praying Life, has been called a flagship work on prayer.

 Jennifer was widowed in 2005 after 26 years of marriage to Wayne Dean, her partner both in life and ministry. They are the parents of three grown sons. Jennifer makes her home in Marion, KY.

An Interview with Jennifer Kennedy Dean

Jennifer Dean

 You are known for your extensive research and your fresh insights. Do you have a method for gleaning new concepts?

 Of course, the truths are not new, but I think I sometimes am able to frame old truths in new ways. I always find that when I put the words of Jesus into their original Hebraic setting and experience the scene through the viewpoint of His real-time audience, some new little fragment of truth finds its way into my thinking. I like to let the Scripture breathe. To let it sit in my heart until its full aroma has time to emerge. There’s the hard-core research, and then there’s the marinating. Turn your imagination loose and unfurl your curiosity, and listen to the living Word.

 You have a series of Bible studies in the format of Set Apart, designed to be interactive. This series of studies has video series and leader’s kits available. What is the advantage to this kind of format?

 I try to produce a new Bible study with video series every year. I like the interactive format because I like to pull the reader into the Scripture to experience the Word. I like to challenge the reader to interact with the thoughts and ideas and to take the time to absorb them and apply them, rather than just to read. The other thing I like about this format is that it can be done by an individual, or as a group. In the video series, I like to be able to teach the main points of the material and set the learners’ up for a productive week of personal study. I love feeling like I get to be part of your Bible study group! The kits have lots of other resources for leading a small group in the study.

 Several of your studies have theme songs that go with them, as Set Apart does. How do these songs come about?

 I have developed a song-writing relationship with a talented musician named Roxanne Lingle. I write poems, we turn them into lyrics, Roxanne composes and arranges the music, and Roxanne records the songs. For Set Apart, we have the theme song in the form of a music video, which is a new addition. In the leader’s kit you have the audio track, accompaniment track, lead sheet, and the music video. The theme song becomes an important and worshipful part of the study experience.

About the Book:

 (Marion, Kentucky) – In a world of self-love and materialism it’s reassuring to know that God’s Word has a better plan for living. Renowned author and speaker, Jennifer Kennedy Dean, provides insight to the life of Christ, specifically the Sermon on the Mount, in her new book, Set Apart: A 6 Week Study of the Beatitudes.

Set Apart

 Through careful study of the Hebrew traditions of biblical times, Dean leads participants into a deeper awareness of this early ministry sermon series by Christ.

 Jennifer guides readers to a heightened understanding of each beatitude, correlating the Ten Commandments with the Sermon on the Mount to tie these Old and New Testament principles together. Dean shares how living the Set Apart Life is an exciting and life-changing spiritual journey. Participants surrendered to Christ will see a total transformation: outward actions of holiness as well as inward attitudes of joy. Believers following along in this workbook will experience the life God intends. This blessedness comes from seeking and knowing God. Anything outside the realm of Jesus Christ results in emptiness–the ultimate opposite of blessing.

 Each chapter includes interactive questions for readers to answer, emphasizing God’s desire to reproduce the character and attitudes of Jesus in each Christian’s life. Along with the Bible study book, there is a Leader Kit that includes six DVD sessions and a CD with bonus material for small-group leaders. Jennifer’s website, www.prayinglife.org, provides opportunities for previewing the Set Apart materials and extra resources for pastors and leaders.

Adapted from Set Apartby Jennifer Kennedy Dean
 
“I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:9-10).
 
My weakness is my greatest asset in the Kingdom. My weakness is where God meets me. My weakness is where Christ’s power is most clearly displayed in me. Only when I am confronted with my own helplessness can I experience the power of Christ in me.
 
“Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas. He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness.” (O. Hallesby, Prayer)
 
I recently had the tiniest glimpse of how powerfully helplessness speaks. A few years ago, I lost my husband to brain cancer. During the final months of his illness, he became utterly helpless. The man I had leaned on for 26 years, whose strength I counted on, was now dependent upon me for his every need. During those weeks, my ear was tuned to his every sigh, his every restless movement, every change in his breathing pattern. If I had to be out of his room for even a few minutes, I had a monitor with me so I could hear him if he needed me. When he was strong, I was not so attentive. His needs did not fill my waking moments, when he could meet them himself. His helplessness spoke louder than any word he might have spoken. Because of his helplessness–because I knew he could do nothing on his own–I was on watch day and night.
 
My experience is but a pale shadow of the reality of the Kingdom, but still it helps me understand how my weakness is the opening for His strength. The fact of my helplessness is the only prayer I need. It speaks louder than eloquence.

 Let your helplessness and your weakness be the offering you bring to Him. He is not waiting for you to be strong. He is waiting for you to recognize that you are weak.

 Jennifer Kennedy Dean provides an informative video commentary to introduce Set Apart content.  
http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=7a2a32c15229df5a5359
  
 
You’ll be encouraged by the music video produced especially for Set Apart. http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d155726c8c57d0b6f7a8
 
GRAND PRIZE DRAWING
 Please leave a comment to be entered in a drawing to win the following items from Jennifer. If you are a leader (small groups, book club, Bible Study, Women’s Ministry), please note that you are–you will automatically be entered in the contest. If you are a member of one of these groups at your church or community, mention that you are a group member.
You will be entered to win:
A Set Apart Leader’s Kit (video and leader resources and a student book) retail $79.99
A copy of Fueled by Faith (retail $19.99)
Jennifer will have a live web event just for your group
THIS BLOG TOUR COORDINATED BY KATHY CARLTON WILLIS COMMUNICATIONS. A COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF THE BOOK, SET APART, WAS GIFTED TO ME IN EXCHANGE FOR RUNNING THIS TOUR ON MY BLOG.

 

Under the influence of alcohol or parents? You choose.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of MADD.  A donation was made to MADD in my name to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

As a high school teacher for over twenty years, I wanted to participate in this blog campaign because I’ve taught students who died because of their own drinking or because of being in a car with someone who’s drunk or being hit by someone drinking. Kids at every grade level, freshmen just entering high school, seniors on the verge of graduation…robbed of opportunity by disability or death.

What’s enraged me even more than kids drinking are the parents who provide the alcohol for them. Their rationale? “Well, they’re going to drink anyway. I’d rather them drink here where I can watch them.” Really? Where you can watch them get drunk, then attend prom in a limo where there’s more alcohol? If they’re going to engage in sex “anyway,” will you let them do that at your house as well?

I live close to New Orleans, and some students think that getting smashed on Bourbon Street is a rite of passage. For far too many, it’s followed by the last rites.

Check out these sites, don’t be afraid to be honest with your kids. Take a stand to shape a generation, not bury one.

• MADD Blog: http://maddparents.blogspot.com/
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/maddparents
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MADDs-Power-of-Parents-Its-your-influence/131838435851
• Safety Quiz: http://www.madd.org/parents/highschool-drinking2.html
• Support 21 Survey: http://support.madd.org/support21

Roughly 6,000 people will die this year in direct correlation with underage drinking—a statistic that can be greatly reduced with parental intervention.

Underage drinking has emerged as the number one youth drug problem. By being an informed, caring parent you can strongly impact your teens decisions regarding alcohol. In fact, 74% of kids will turn to their parents for guidance on drinking. And research shows that as moms we are the number one influencers in dealing with this issue. For teens, alcohol is an illegal drug—and a zero tolerance policy is the best policy to have as a parent.

On October 27^th, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) will be launching The Power of Parents: It’s Your Influence (www.thepowerofparents.org). This program has been designed to help provide us as parents with key tips, information, and tools to help us at home reach our teens and communicate the real life danger of underage alcohol use.