The Humidity Makes My Hair Frizz Book Launch Giveaway

To celebrate the launch of my book, The Humidity Makes My Hair Frizz and It's Really Starting To Stink in Here and to say thank you to everyone who helped and encouraged me in this journey, we're hosting this awesome giveaway. 

I'm quite certain you don't want to miss this so be sure to fill out the widget at the bottom of this post. 

All of the items in the giveaway are in some way connected to the book. You'll have to read the book to find out how they connect. The giveaway runs till July 10,2018 at midnight and includes:  

• a signed copy of The Humidity Makes My Hair Frizz and It's Really Starting to Stink in Here. 
• a $25.00 Amazon gift card
• an adorable bracelet with fire themed charms (have you been refined by fire?)
• an even more adorable giraffe
• a beautiful blank journal with Psalm 37:4 on the cover

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From one reader:

"Through scripture, Shelley proves God is with us in dark valleys. Her life experiences are not ones we all have experienced but are ones in which we can translate to our own trials and gain comfort exampled from the "angels" in her trials. We see God's provision for her and her family and relate it to our own. Through study questions, Shelley shows us the strength we find through scripture. In her directives for prayer, she guides us in HOW to pray and WHAT to pray during our particular trial(s). In this book with the hilarious title, you will laugh, you will cry, and you will be blessed!"

To enter the contest:

$25 Amazon Card and Other Great Stuff

To purchase Shelley's book go here, it is currently at a limited time sale price for the launch. You can get the Kindle version for only $.99. 

Join My Book Launch Team

About the Book:

“Your book has a funny title, what’s it about?” 

Yup, it's the book with the long funny title. “The Humidity Makes My Hair Frizz and It’s Really Starting to Stink in Here” is a bible study about learning how to surrender to God in the midst of Trials. It is also a parallel to the story of Noah’s ark and the title is a quote from inside the book. (I lovingly call the book "Humidity"). 

It has moments of laughter and moments of tears but is an easy read. It has study questions at the end of each short chapter. The book and it’s chapters were intentionally kept brief to enable the reader to complete the reading and questions without feeling overwhelmed by a lengthy study. 

Launch Team Benefits

As part of the launch team, you will get:

• An electronic advanced reader copy (PDF) of “The Humidity Makes My Hair Frizz and It’s Really Starting to Stink in Here”  once accepted as part of the launch team.
• Membership into the private Launch Team Facebook Group. In this group we will be sharing ideas for promotion/marketing so if you are planning to launch anything at any time in the future (book, course, etc.) you may find this beneficial.
• A free paperback copy of “The Humidity Makes My Hair Frizz and It’s Really Starting to Stink in Here” once it releases and once your review is posted. (The paperback copies can only ship to the US and Canada due to high shipping costs).
• I will be sharing what I am doing for marketing and promotion as well as my timeline for the launch and you will have a “behind the scenes look” at what I am doing. You may be able to use what I learn through this launch, or what I find works and what doesn’t for your own launch in the future. I am willing to share any launch information with you which you are interested in gleaning from.
• Links to your site and a thank you on my social media profiles and on Faithful Bloggers.com if you host me as a guest post, interview, etc. on your blog. This gives you opportunity to expose your site to the Faithfulbloggers.com audience of readers. 
• A special THANK YOU post on Faithful Bloggers.com after the launch. This post will include links to your blog or website.
• For participating on my launch team, if in the future you will be launching anything (book, course, etc.) and you need launch team members, you can count me in.

Your role as part of the Launch Team

• First and foremost, this launch team will be made up of prayer warriors. It is my desire that my work be used of the Lord for His glory and for Kingdom growth. As with all my work, I give this book to the Lord for Him to do with what He will and I leave the results up to Him. Each email update to the Launch Team will include a prayer request.
• If you like the book, write a book review on Amazon before or during the book’s launch period (between June 15-26, 2018). If you don’t like the book, you are not required to do anything (and…we can still be friends). I would never want you to promote something you do not believe in. 
• Help spread the word any other way or time you feel led. (Facebook, Twitter, your blog, direct people to my website, etc.)
• Interact with the rest of the launch team in the private Facebook group and share ideas for promotion/marketing for the launch.
• If you are a blogger, please consider interviewing me or allowing me to guest post on your blog.
• Do at least ONE social media post to help get the word out about the book. 
  • Mention it on Facebook
  • upload a photo to Instagram
  • Tweet about it with a link
  • Pin the cover or other graphics I provide to Pinterest
• Of course I also won’t object to other things such as:
  • Buying copies of the book for your study group at church or for your friends
  • Booking me to speak at your church

A book launch takes tons of time, effort, and planning; it is a LOT of work. I ask that you prayerfully consider being a part but please do not sign up if you will not take the time to post a review before or during the launch (June 15-26, 2018)

The launch team will be kept to a certain number of participants in order to keep the book launch manageable. If you want to join the launch team, fill out the form below. You will be notified by May 5th, 2018 if you will be a part of the launch team.

How to Get Unstuck in 3 Steps

My friend Yvette asked me how things were going with my ministry and blog.

"Ummm....I'm stuck."

With all the trials I have gone through (as you may have read in my prior post) I have found my writing to be at a standstill. I understand this is to be expected as I have needed to go through a period of healing. But as I began to take steps to normalcy, I felt as though the mire was holding my feet so strongly I couldn't even figure out how to take the first steps. 

When I told her "I'm stuck", guess how she answered..she said,

"Then write about that." 

Now, I love my friend dearly, but I wanted to say to her was,

"Yvette, that is no help at all."

I mean, really, people don't want to know what it's like to be stuck. Lot's of people are stuck. If you're not, trust me, stuck stinks!!!!  

I also thought, "I certainly can't write about how to get unstuck because if I knew how, I'd just do it."

I had been stuck before but somehow this stuck was bigger and more daunting. I'm unstuck now, or at least well on my way, and here's what I've learned. Bigger stuck and little stuck require the same solution. Bigger stuck just requires MORE of the solution, and it has three parts. 

1) Embrace the Stuck. 

I know this may seem contrary to where you are trying to get to but really, sometimes you just have to embrace the stuck.

I'm not talking about embracing the stuck indefinitely, I'm talking about embracing God's plan.

If God has you in a period of being stuck, examine your situation and see if He is asking you to take time off for renewal. Fallow ground is mentioned many times in scripture.

The definition of fallow is: “(of farmland) plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation or to avoid surplus production.”

We think of fallow ground as cracked, dry, and lacking growth.

But under that dry ground rest and renewal is happening. When a farmer has a fallow field it is intentional. Fields are left for a period of rest because the farmer knows that if he plants in that field when all the nutrients are depleted the crop will not produce well.

We are like that field. Without a period of rest and renewal, we too are not capable of producing good fruit.

Just trust me on this… embrace the stuck.

2)  Pray

During your fallow ground period spend tons of time in prayer. Don’t focus on getting unstuck, focus on God. Let Him do the unsticking and let Him do it in His timing. If you attempt to push something forward before God’s perfect timing, things are bound to not go well.

Pray about everything. Ask God for guidance and wait patiently for answers, and don't act until you have them.

During your prayer time there are a couple things you should also consider

• Confess sins: 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
• Forgive others: Service and ministry is a gift to God. Matthew 5:23 says “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

3) Step Out in Faith

At the end of your fallow ground period, you'll eventually have to step out in faith. There are two accounts in scripture of times when God parted water for the Israelites to walk across on dry ground. One is in Exodus and one is in Joshua. One involves Moses leading, the other involves Joshua.

Both times the men were asked to do something before God parted the water.

Exodus 14:16 “But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”

Joshua 3:8 “You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.”

Both men were asked to do something in faith, Moses had to hold out a rod, Joshua had to get in the water. Both would have looked silly to those present if nothing had happened. Both only knew what to do because they had heard from God

We hear from God through spending time with Him. You should never jump to step 3 with out completing step 2 (Prayer).

After you spend time in prayer, what is God asking you to do to step out in faith? What is the first step He is asking you to take in order to get unstuck?

Take that first step. Get in the water.

The second and third steps will shortly follow and you will suddenly find you are no longer stuck.

UPDATE:  Yvette called...she said "The blog post is great but you forgot something."

"What's that?", I asked.

She said "You forgot to say, 'Yvette was right'".  

So here you go... Yvette was right!

How to Write Your Testimony - and a Giveaway

WOO HOO!!! We have a new resource available which we think you are going to LOVE!!!

And it's FREE!  We all love free right? It can be found in the members area.  To access the members area fill out the form below. 

To launch this exciting new resource we have a giveaway going on. Details on how to enter are down below

HOW TO WRITE YOUR TESTIMONY is our latest resource to help you share your God story.

HOW TO WRITE YOUR TESTIMONY will walk you step by step through the process of writing your testimony.

It comes with worksheets and ideas for what to do with your testimony once you have it written. 

We're so excited to hear about your testimony getting written and your plans for sharing it with the world. 

If you just want to access this resource and are not interested in joining the giveaway, simply fill out the form in the sidebar, you will be emailed the current password to our member area where you can access HOW TO WRITE YOUR TESTIMONY as well as other resources.

How To Write Your Testimony..(ooops, in the video I call our resource "How to Share Your Testimony", but that's not correct). How to Write Your Testimony will help walk you through the process of getting your God story written to share with the world.

Now for the giveaway:  

Watch this video to see the giveaway items: 

This giveaway includes a box of beautiful cards to color One is Psalms to color, the Other is Proverbs to color. Two winners will be chosen, each will get one box plus a variety of items perfect for art or mixed media journaling. 

UPDATE:  This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to our winners. Dianna and Elaine...enjoy your goodies.

To Enter the Giveaway: 

• giveaway closed. 

Thanks to everyone who helps us get the word out about our new resource HOW TO WRITE YOUR TESTIMONY. We are very excited about it being used to help people tell their God story. 

50 Devotion Topics and Ideas

As bloggers and writers we all face it eventually, the blank computer screen or paper.

Devotion topics can sometime be difficult to come up with when we're in a dry spell and the words just won't flow. 

We have heard from many of our readers that having some resources to help with overcoming writing block would be helpful. 

As part of our ongoing quest to encourage bloggers, writers, and anyone else who is passionate about sharing their Christian message, we have a brand new resource available, and it's FREE!

50 Devotion Topics and Ideas

This resource will help you brainstorm devotion topics in those times when you just seem to be coming up dry. We hope you enjoy it and it is a blessing to you. Please let us know in the comments what you think and if you would like more resources like this. 

For the next four days this resource will be available here for download. After that time, the first page will be available in our "freebies" area and the entire resource will be available for free (along with other free resources) in our members area which you can access by signing up using the form below. Once you submit the form you will receive a password. 

Are You Using a Blog Post Checklist?

Last week I wrote a post called "Why You Need A Blog Post Planner". Today I'm going to tell you about the second tool you need for publishing a blog post, it's the 'blog post checklist'.  As I mentioned in the other post, a planner is your tool for planning your post, but the checklist is used to make sure you included everything in your post prior to publishing. It also helps to ensure you complete all the tasks you need to complete as you publish your post. The checklist helps you to remember all the things like, adding meta tags or descriptions to photos, publishing to social media, resizing photos for quicker load times, etc.

Both the planner and the checklist are tools you can use in your blog planning. Watch for our planning tool called 'Write a Yearly Plan' to be released soon which can help you in planning all areas of your life including your blogging ministry or business. 

Watch the video for more information on blog post checklists. Fill out the form below to join the list and download the checklist.

If you missed the post on the blog post planner go here: 'Why You Need a Blog Post Planner'

A Blog Post Checklist helps you remember to include in your blog post all the things which are necessary to make your post engaging as well as for it to rank well for SEO. It also help you to remember all the task you need to complete before you publish your blog post.

When you submit the form below, you will receive a password to access our member area where you will find the blog post checklist and other helpful resources. 

How to Write a Devotion: Be Prayerful

Writing on a regular basis isn’t always easy. Coming up with the words you want to use to convey your message isn’t always easy. Sharing God’s Word and His message of salvation and love isn’t always easy. When you put writing and sharing God’s message together through devotions, it isn’t always easy.

How to Write a Devotion- Be Prayerful

Writing devotions is a very precious and important task. Anyone who reads your devotional should be able to find the love of Christ of in it and reading your devotional might be the only time they see an example of that kind of love. That is why we must be prayerful when writing devotions!

Before you put pen to paper, or rather, start typing, pray. Ask God to tell you what He would have you to write about. What message does He want you to impart? Be mindful of what comes to mind as you are praying. Does a particular person come to mind with a specific issue? Does a specific verse pop into your head?

Listen. He will tell you what to write.

Praying before you start writing a devotion will make it so much easier to actual write the devotion. But that is not where you stop praying.

You need to be prayerful throughout the entire process – before you write, while your write, during the editing and proofreading stage, throughout marketing, etc…

Remember that once you publish your devotion, whether it is on your blog, as an ebook on Kindle or in PDF format, or as a physical book, your job isn’t done.

Be prayerful for your readers. Pray that your readers will receive the comfort, love, and encourage that you intended when you wrote the devotion. Be prayerful that your devotion will touch at least one life for the glory of God.

Being prayerful is something so simple that is it often the one step that is forgotten. Next time you decide write a devotion, don’t forget!

Seven Tips on How To Write a Devotion

Writing a devotion can offer hope to your readers and inspire them in a way that lectures or plain articles, may not. A devotional is a very well thought out piece about one very minute topic usually focusing on a particular spiritual lesson.

Writing devotionals does not have to be difficult, there are many steps you can take to calm yourself down, get centered and write what God wants you to write.

Yes!  There is something already inside you that God wants you to say. You just have to open your heart to the Holy Spirit, and listen.

1. Be prayerful -- Before you put pen to paper, or rather, start typing, pray. Ask God to tell you what He would have you to write about. What message does He want you to impart? Be mindful of what comes to mind as you are praying. Does a particular person come to mind with a specific issue? Does a specific verse pop into your head? Listen. He will tell you what to write.
2. Pick one topic -- After intensely praying about what to write, pick one topic that comes to mind and be very focused on that one topic. It is easy to get carried away writing with all the ideas that will come to you!
3. Keep it short -- Your devotional should be no more than one page, or 500 words. But it is even better if it's less than 500 words, shoot for 250 words to keep yourself focused on one small laser targeted topic.  This will also help to keep your reader interested and with you.
4. Know your audience -- When you have your topic, write it to a specific audience, this is known as your "target market" in business, but here, this is your audience. Ask yourself the question:  Who is going to read this devotional? If it helps, write your devotional as if you're writing it to a dear friend.
5. Check your facts -- Make sure, if you are quoting biblical scripture that you not only check the scriptures to make sure you are not taking something out of context, and that you are quoting it correctly, but make sure you are using a relevant verse to support your devotional.
6. Inspire action -- Ask the readers to do something at the end of your message in your closing paragraph. That action will depend on what your message was about. You can end with a very short prayer if you wish, but keep it related to the message.
7. Be yourself -- Remember to be yourself. You're not perfect -- no human is -- and that is perfectly okay. Grammar isn't as important as your message. Do check your spelling with the spell checker, and have someone else read it if you wish, but the message is the most important thing here.

Ready To Learn How To Shape & Share Your Message?

God’s Word + Your Experience & Creativity = Amazing Personal Impact!

Check out Creating Powerful Devotions to learn a simple formula for penning devotions that make an impact in just five steps!

When you think about a devotional, you probably visualize a small, pocket sized book. That’s still a popular format of course – but oh the options we have today!

• You can publish your devotional on Amazon’s Kindle.
• You can offer your devotions as an email subscription.
• You can publish your messages as blog posts.
• You can record your devotions as a podcast via iTunes.
• You can deliver your messages on video and publish to YouTube.
• You can design your message as a graphic to be shared on social media channels.
• You can mesh your written devotions with blank pages and publish as a Prayer Journal though a service like CreateSpace.
• You can even blend your devotions with coloring pages – that’s a hot trend!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CREATING POWERFUL DEVOTIONS!

Also:   Check out our guide "How to Write Your Testimony". It is available for free in the members area. Simply fill out the form below and you will be emailed the current password to the members area. Let us know if you get your testimony written, we'd love to read it. 

Looking for more ideas for writing devotions? Check out this other post:

• How to Write a Devotion, be Prayerful

• 50 Devotion Topics and Ideas