is the randomly drawn name from all of our WONDERFUL entries for the first every Dory Contest. (I’m so glad that the winner was not picked by who was trying the hardest. I would have had to buy a couple dozen Dorys…)
However, I want to make sure that all of you stay encouraged, so…
I just got my spiffy new bookmarks for my new book, THE ME PROJECT with the super spiffy Eleanor Roosevelt quote.
If you were one of the people who sent in a Dory submission this week, go ahead and email my assistant, Sunnie at Sunnie@kathilipp.com with your mailing address, and we will get one in the mail to you.
And if you didn’t? Leave a comment below about how you just keep swimming this week – even when things get hard – and email Sunnie – we will get one in the mail to you, too.
One of the things I love about my publisher, Harvest House, is that I am their own personal lab rat.
And trust me, I say that with a lot of affection.
When Abby – Harvest’s Queen of all Things Social Media – saw this new film maker from Google – creating your own snappy commercial – she decided to make me her guinea pig.
It’s only 35 seconds, and at the end you can make your own commercial. If you do, be sure to link it here so I can see it.
I’ve been thinking about her motto, “Just Keep Swimming” when it comes to almost every aspect of my life.
My ministry.
My marriage.
My parenting.
My writing.
And it seems that some of you have Dory on the brain as well – I’ve heard from several of you that the motto, “Just keep swimming,” has been a theme for you as well.
So it seemed natural that when I was at World of Disney on Saturday, I bought up all the stuffed Dorys they had.
(OK, it seemed natural to everyone except Darla from Oklahoma who was cashing me out, “What do you need with all those fish?!?)
Here is what I need with all those fish.
Once a month, I want you to tell me, in the comments, a time this month when you just kept swimming. A time when you were working towards something, a goal you have, a dream you want, and when something came up, you just kept swimming.
I will put all your names in a hat, pick one, and will send you one of my 13 stuffed Dorys.
I want to do this because it ties in so beautifully with my new book, THE ME PROJECT.
I want to do this because it’s important to let the world know that you did something huge, (even if huge is walking 4 blocks instead of the 3 you walked last week.)
I want to do this because it’s important that I get to cheer you on to be all that God created you to be.
So tell me – when did you keep swimming?
(I will pick a winner on Thursday at noon PST and announce it on Friday’s blog post.)
First off, I have had so much fun reading your comments from Tuesday’s blog post – I have had to restrain myself from hopping on to Ebay and ordering everything that you recommended… More on some of your obsessions next week.
Now for today. When my blog posts dwindle down to just a couple a week, you know that one of two things is happening:
I have a book due in days, not months
I’m traveling
And right now? It’s both.
I am in rewrites of THE “WHAT’S FOR DINNER?” SOLUTION and on the road.
OK – don’t feel too sorry for me. We are at Disneyland right now. At the Disneyland Hotel. In their renovated suites. Pictured below…
Yes – the headboard lights up.
And plays the song, “A dream is a wish your heart makes.”
If it wasn’t so cool, it would make me gag a little.
So Roger is happy to be in Disneyland, and our daughter Amanda is here too. We are meeting our girl Kimber for a wedding on Saturday. Everyone is happy.
Except me.
Because in order to take this little road trip, we had to board our puggle, Jake. And that just makes me all kind of sad.
It’s like taking your kid to preschool. Will he get along with the other kids? Will he eat his food? Does he miss me?
So my wonderful husband, knowing the puppy anxiety I have around leaving Jake, did something that only a rock star of a husband would do. He paid the extra five dollars a night to have the webcam activated in his sleeping room.
When people ask me “Is that your natural hair color?” I always tell them the truth – “Yes, but now I have to pay for it.”
You see, I’ve always been a redhead – as a child I cursed it, (in THE ME PROJECT I have a whole chapter dedicated to my red-hot hate of my red-hot curls,) and now I pay big bucks for it.
There’s only one problem – my gray hair demands that I get it colored every two weeks – my budget says once a month.
That’s two weeks of frightening small children and woodland creatures…
But now, my hair guy, Franc, (yes, really) introduced me to this “Tween Times stick. All you have to do is find a willing husband to color inside the lines on your head and you’re good to go.
Love.
And yes – they have different colors to blend with yours. I stockpiled the red stick just in case.
My dad has been a collector of all things junk my entire life. Now I finally see the mentality of this put to good use.
This show is like validation for everyone who should be on Hoarders – two guys – Mike and Frank – stop by random houses and go “picking” through people’s stuff. The have an antique business and resell this stuff to dealers, collectors and decorators.
It is my most anticipated hour of TV.
Jamba Juice’s Peach Blackberry Smash Frozen Bar
70 Calories
100% addictive
Must. Go. Get. Now.
Now it’s your turn – anything you would like to share with the rest of the class?
Before I became a writer, I thought that the whole Christian writing world was a whole lot of kumbaya, lollipops and unicorns.
And then I realized that even though I had a real live book contract, I still wanted more.
But hey, I’m not the only one...
If you are interested in writing, you absolutely should be reading my agent Rachelle’s blog and specifically Thursday’s post by my fellow author Marla. It is the funniest true confession I’ve read in a long time.
And definitely go enter the drawing over at Marla’s blog to win The Husband Project and Is That All He Thinks About. Tell her I told you to stop by.
Do you ever have that reaction? You see the name on that email, and your heart just sinks. Ugh.
And of course, the email was jerky, pushed buttons, and made me ticked. I’m sure that was the desired response. So of course, I had my equally jerky response all written in my head.
“The next time you want something from me, perhaps you should choose discussion instead of declaration.” That was the nicest sentence in my reply.
I knew it would feel good to hit send. It would feel oh so good. But I also knew that sinking to their level would ultimately just let them win.
And I didn’t want that to happen.
So here is what I’ve did to not sink. (This advice is hard won after sending too many emails impulsively…)
Wait. Yes – it feels great to send off that nasty response in the heat of the moment, but it will feel even better to send a thoughtful response – or perhaps no response at all.
Pray. the reaction I have is out of the flesh – I want it to be out of The Spirit. Prayer is the only way I’m ever going to do that.
Consult. I wanted to send the nastygram. Roger talked me out of it. Roger was the one who reminded me that I needed to act Christlike even if I didn’t feel Christlike. I sent him the email and he congratulated me for taking the high road (this time.)
Any additional suggestions to not being a jerk?
Update as of 3:13 (about an hour and half after I posted this.)
OK – said person said something super-jerky in a follow-up email. And I ignored all the advice above and sent something back super-snotty. Sigh.
I am no longer engaging in the drama. This is officially being moved over to the Crazy File (a file that Roger reads before I do so that I do not escelate crazy discussions.) Sigh.
I will do better next time. I can’t promise. But I can pray.
OK – I don’t even know what to say. I am so overwhelmed.
Until someone reads your book it’s like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it out on the waves – will anyone else understand? Do we speak the same language?
Adelle is the first person outside of my family and the people I’m working with in publishing, to read the book.
And she gets me – she really gets me.
This is the first review of The Me Project, and Adelle was able to say things that an author just can’t say about her own book.
But really, she gets it.
So if you were wondering what this really self-centered sounding book is about, do me a favor and head over to Adelle’s blog.
Harvest House Publishers is doing a giveaway of my book, The Me Project. To enter, go to the Harvest House Publishers facebook page and comment on one of their posts about the giveaway. They will randomly select 15 winners on Friday, January 14th!
Way to blow sales Harvest.
They will be unleashing it on the public soon, but I wanted my peeps to hear about it first.
