Book Review & Giveaway!!

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Oh! I am so excited to be doing a giveaway!  I received a book to read and review and post on my blog, and I never expected it to be such an encouragement to me! WOW!  So below you will see the review.  But keep reading! Because there you will see the giveaway info as well!  And a bonus!  Amy has a book club Breaking Up With Perfect that will start on August 1. Check out her website http://www.amycarroll.org to receive more info on the book club!  I’ve already signed up 🙂  You can also be added to the Facebook closed group page by clicking here

Breaking Up with Perfect by Amy Carroll

I just finished reading this book, and I am sitting here wondering how Amy crawled inside my head and wrote a story about my life.  Coming to grips with my propensity to perfection has been such a lifelong journey, and it wasn’t until after I was married I realized how very deeply entrenched my perfectionistic tendencies were.  Amy describes the Good Girl list so perfectly and I instantly identified with this idea.  What I was surprised by though, was the way she included the Never Good Enough girls.  I had never thought about this group of women in this way.  My heart has always longed to encourage and many times, the women I find myself encouraging could fall onto that list.  I had never connected the perfection problem for them as well since it’s looks different then the Good Girl list.

Her insights on friendships and dealing with conflict are needful and while I had assumed I had made such progress personally, she highlighted some needs I still have to deal with.

The added benefit of going deeper is such a nice bonus.  While my initial reading has been fairly quick, I am looking forward to going back and going deeper and using my highlighter throughout many of her pages.  Friends – if your perfectionism is keeping you from living a joy filled life, you need to take a look and consider what she has to say.

She writes not as someone who has all the answers, but someone who has been in our shoes, and still fights the battle.  She’s given it to God and she’s learned from her past mistakes and shares with us what she learned.

So here’s the deal – I have one free copy of Breaking Up with Perfect by Amy Carroll to give away to you my sweet readers and friends!

To be eligible for the giveaway I need you to do only 3 things:

#1 – like the Encouraging Women Today Facebook page here .  If you want to see what happens more regularly, you need to check the box under the like menu to see first, or to receive notifications, otherwise you might miss out on some good encouragement!

#2 – share either the link to this blog post, or the link to the Encouraging Women Today post on Twitter or Facebook or both

#3 – comment on the Facebook page that you have completed the steps. If you also want to comment here on the blog that’s wonderful too.. 🙂  All the comments help!

The winner will be chosen randomly from the people who tell me that they followed the steps!  Winner will be selected on Friday!

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Be all there

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www.encouragingwomentoday.com

Today, it was like the above message was on repeat!  First I found this meme while searching for good content this morning for the Facebook Page.  It reminded me of the saying to “bloom where you are planted.”  I love that one too.  I’m a visual person, and so when I see the things you are seeing as a picture, it stays with me.  So my morning started with the reminder to be all the way there wherever I was today.

This afternoon, I was doing some edits on some devotions I am writing, and happened to catch a live podcast by Brendon Burchard.  He talked about prioritization being key to not living a life out of balance.  It was really a motivating talk.  But he also mentioned one thing that stuck with me since then.  He said if he had only one hour to spend with someone that would be totally fine, as long as they were completely in the moment with him.  That would be far better than to have several hours, but not have their full attention.

So this all the way grabbed my mind..intentionally living out this message means that we need to be sure to be available to the people we care about the most.  This is a challenge for me because I am so completely GOAL driven.  As we live out our days looking to encourage and love others, we have to be all in.  Be present.  Be available.  The littles are only little for so long.  The bigs leave soon enough.  The dishes get washed eventually.  The laundry gets folded..or does it?  I’m not really sure, but I do know that in the midst of working to live intentionally to encourage others to love and care for those around them, I must also heed my words and be all there!

Be encouraged!  You are loved and cherished!  You are valuable and you are enough!

The GIFT of encouragement

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Good morning!  Hope you are all having a beautiful morning!  The sunrise was really pretty here today as I thought about what it was that I needed to share with y’all today.  I wrote a post a couple months ago on the GIFT of encouragement and so instead of trying to reinvent the wheel I’m going to have you check it out over there.  I’m mulling over how the daily blog will be structured so bear with me while I work out the kinks and if you have suggestions I’d love to hear them.  My thought is that each day could apply to a certain season of life for us women.

Anyway – here’s the link to the post on encouragement – just click on “encouragement” and it will take you there.

Also another little project that may be of interest to you is a daily download coloring page regarding the “fear nots” of the Bible.  You can check it out here.  It’s been a blessing to search for the Scriptures that tell us not to fear, and to share them each day!  If you enjoy coloring, I think it’s a great way to meditate on Scripture and do something you enjoy also.  Here’s todays page – if you like it just go to the website to download. isam1224

 

Kind Words

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Here’s what I envision friends – a community of women who build each other up, not tear each other down.  Finding opportunities to encourage each other in each season – reaching up to those who have travelled the path we are on already, and reaching back to bring someone along with us who isn’t where we are yet.  Arm in arm, hand in hand, not merely surviving this journey of life, but thriving!  Our words have so much power and we can do so much good, if we will be conscientious, yes intentional with them.  Look for opportunities to bless and to do good!  I hope you will connect with us not just here on the blog, but also on Facebook.  I look forward to providing content that gives you a boost whenever you need it and pray that God will use it to fulfill His purpose in each of us!  IMG_5188