I Want to Take YOU Out to Dinner!
Today’s the big day! My new book 9 Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage launches!
I feel as if I’ve just had another baby. But this pregnancy was WAY longer. I’ve been working on the book for about two and a half years–wrote the proposal, then waited. Wrote the book, then waited. Edited the book, then waited. And now it’s finally here!
Sending off the first round of edits–June of 2014
Touring my publisher’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, October of 2014
But really the road’s been even longer. I’ve been struggling with a lot of the concepts in this book for years, because I’m saying what I believe are some new things.
When I started this blog in 2008 I was scared to say some of the things I thought about conflict resolution and marriage because it went against what all the other blogs were saying, it seemed like.
Sometimes “letting him make the decision” isn’t what God wants us to do. Sometimes “letting him lead” doesn’t work. But it’s not just that–sometimes “just take it to the LORD” doesn’t work, either, because it insinuates that WE don’t have a role in fixing our marriage.
And that was my problem with so much marriage advice. It made women so passive! Either we wait for husbands to change, or we wait for God to change our husbands. Everyone has to do something except for us. So then, when we have real problems, what do we do?
Or, perhaps even more common, when we have just everyday problems, what do we do?
If there’s nothing practical to do except “pray” or “let it go”, then those everyday problems can become awfully big problems.
(by the way, there’s nothing wrong with prayer. Prayer really is our lifeblood! But if we’re praying to change something instead of doing our role to change it, we misunderstand what God wants from us).
So much advice has to do with “love him through it”, or “let it go”, but it doesn’t just address the root issue.
Sometimes the root issue is with us.
That’s why my first few thoughts that can change your marriage focus on what YOU’RE thinking about your husband’s role. Just be kind. Your husband can’t make you happy. And by the way–you don’t actually HAVE to get ticked off all the time. You have some control over what you think! And if you’re not happy with your family, maybe the answer isn’t just to take it to God. Maybe the answer is to ask God what He wants you to actually DO.
We are not just powerless creatures flowing downstream. We can get an oar out and paddle!
But all of that was scary to say. I was afraid I’d lose readers. I was afraid that people would blacklist me.
And to a certain extent that has happened.
But I’ve gained even more of you, and I’m so grateful for the encouragement you all give me and for the fact that you come back here, day after day, and read these things that I’ve written!
So today I’d like to ask you something.
I’d like to ask you to buy my book.
That may seem rude, and a little pushy, but I’m serious. I really LOVE this book. It strikes at the heart of who we are as women: we were made to be strong for God. We weren’t made to sit back and wait for other people to make our marriage work.
And when you buy the book today, you push my Amazon ranking higher. And the higher it is, quite frankly, the more likely stores are to carry the book. So when you buy it, you actually help other people to see it on the shelves. I’d be grateful if you bought it next week, too, but the greatest bang would be if we all jumped in and bought it today!
Buy it from Amazon
Buy it from Christianbooks.com
Buy it on Kindle
Buy on Nook
Buy it in Canada
Buy it in the U.K.
But it in Australia for Kindle
And so I’ve decided to throw a bit of a party.
When you buy the book, just email me your receipt.
Then I’ll get you a link where you can download a bunch of freebies AND enter a contest.
Your Freebies
36 Ways to Bring Sexy Back to Your Marriage
Another Reality Check–90 of my favourite “Erma Bombeck” style columns
The Mean Mom’s Guide Social Media Contract, courtesy of Joanne Kraft, author of The Mean Mom’s Guide to Raising Great Kids
25 Quick and Easy Real Food Meals courtesy of Gaye at Calm.Healthy.Sexy
A Godly Home couples’ one month devotional from PromiseKeepers Canada (I wrote a few of these devotions!)
20 Things To Say to Encourage Your Husband from Rachel Wojo
PLUS you can get a free audio download of mine worth $2.99.
Your Chance to Win–Me Taking You To Dinner, or Speaking at Your Church
I’m also running a contest for those of you who purchase before midnight PST TONIGHT.
First Prize: I’ll come and speak at your church–for no fee–sometime before December 31, 2016! I’ll give my Girl Talk–straight talk about sex and intimacy. It’s a lot of fun, and it works great as an outreach! Plus you’ll also receive a gift pack of four of my other books: The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex; 31 Days to Great Sex; How Big Is Your Umbrella; and To Love, Honor and Vacuum.
Second Prize: I’ll come and take you and a friend out to dinner–sometime before December 31, 2016! Plus you’ll also receive a gift pack of four of my other books: The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex; 31 Days to Great Sex; How Big Is Your Umbrella; and To Love, Honor and Vacuum.
Third Prize: My publisher, Waterbrook, is offering a gift pack of 5 of their most popular books: Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs; For Women Only by Shaunti Felhahn; How We Love by Milan and Kay Yerkovich; Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers; and Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver.
Fourth Prize: 5 Waterbrook Multnomah New Releases: Hiding in the Light by Rifqa Bary (WHAT a story!); Through a Man’s Eyes by Shaunti Feldhahn; It’s Good to be Queen by Liz Curtis Higgs; I’m Happy for You by Kay Wills Wyma; and Let’s Pretend We’re Normal by Tricia Lot Williford.
Fifth Prize: A gift pack of four of my other books: The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex; 31 Days to Great Sex; How Big Is Your Umbrella; and To Love, Honor and Vacuum. Then you can say you’ve got the Complete Pack!
And the neat thing is that the book is heavily discounted right now–it’s only $7.49 on Amazon. Buy 2 and give one to a friend! 
So it doesn’t cost much to enter–and your chances of winning are actually pretty good.
Buy it from Amazon
Buy it from Christianbooks.com
Buy it on Kindle
Buy on Nook
Buy it in Canada
Buy it in the U.K.
But it in Australia for Kindle
And then email me your receipt!
What Are People Saying?
Here are just a taste of some of the testimonials:
Read the rest here.
I’m still looking at how to get a chat session going on Facebook, and how to get more interaction, so stay tuned! But for today: if you haven’t already, pick up the book! If you like this blog, you’ll love the book, because I let you in on a lot of my personal struggles, too.
And I do thank you tremendously!
Don’t forget to email me your receipt! The contest closes tomorrow!
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