Thursday, December 2, 2010

TILT: Shauna Niequist (& Giveaway)


Today I am thrilled to introduce you to my friend and author, Shauna Niequist. :)

When I first met Shauna in 2003, my life was "full" to say the least!

I was 9 months pregnant, wife to John and mom to Jake and Benj, as well as overseeing a children's ministry of 2700+ kids and 1000 volunteers. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about life back then!

Shauna's husband joined the church staff where I was working, and Shauna and I became fast friends. She was going through an emotional season of change, and I was adjusting to baby #3 while working full time.

Shauna and I spent many hours sharing, hoping, crying, and adjusting to our "new normal". Her friendship was a very special gift during an extremely challenging season.

As friends do, Shauna and I would talk out our hopes and plans for the future. We both shared a similar dream of writing a book. For me, I desired sharing
God's transformational work in my life with others. And for Shauna, she dreamed of writing a book of essays on life and celebration and so much more.

I can still remember when Shauna e-mailed me her first essay to read. (I still have it!). It was obvious that God had given Shauna a special gift with words and writing. It was no surprise (to us anyway!) when Shauna signed her first book deal. And I cried tears of joy when I held her first book,
Cold Tangerines in my hands!! Her dream had become a reality!

Although our paths don't connect like they used to (I stopped working at the church, and Shauna and her family have since moved back to Chicago), I love watching God use Shauna and her amazing gifts to make a difference around the world!
She recently released another new book Bittersweet: thoughts on change, grace, and learning the hard way. It is a powerful, reflective, authentic, amazing book. Here's a brief excerpt...

"...This collection is an ode to all things bittersweet, to life at the edges, a love letter to what change can do in us. This is what I've come to believe about change: it's good in the way that childbirth is good, and heartbreak is good, and failure is good. By that I mean that it's incredibly painful, exponentially more so if you fight it, and also that it has the potential to open you up, to open life up, to deliver you right into the palm of God's hand, which is where you wanted to be all along, except that you were too busy pushing and pulling your life into exactly what you thought it should be.

So this is the work I'm doing now, and the work I invite you into: when life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow."

Here's Shauna sharing more...



And now, for the GIVEAWAY of a copy of Bittersweet...

To Win my Giveaway: Leave a comment in the comment section answering this question:

Why would you like to win a copy of Bittersweet??

RULES: Starts today, Thursday, December 2nd and ends Sunday, December 5th at 9 PM. Winner will be posted on my blog the week of Monday, December 6th.

Extra Entries
•Follow *She Sparkles*
•Subscribe to *She Sparkles*
•Add my *She Sparkles* button to your blog
•Tweet about this giveaway including a link to this post

Please be sure to leave me a comment to let me know your extra entries.

If your email address is not connected to your ID, please leave your email address with your comment or email it to me at
cindy.bultema@gmail.com with the subject "Giveaway".

Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*. Have a wonderful, joy-filled day!!


P.S. For more Things I Love Thursday ideas, hop on over to my real-life neighbor Jill at The Diaper Diaries. She's also a fan of Bittersweet ~ and you can read more of Jill's thoughts about Shauna and her latest book here :)

9 comments:

erica said...

i have been meaning to check out her books! many friends really love them! :)

thanks for the chance to win!

erica.simpson1@gmail.com

erica

Jen said...

I would love to read this book! I enjoyed her first book that I bought when she visited our MOPS group many years ago. Thanks, Cindy!

Suzanne said...

In 2007, my husband was diagnosed with double lymphoma. In 2008, after he was declared to be in remission he was let go of his job. Here in 2010, we are still unemployed and soon to be facing foreclosure of our home if we don't have a job by the year's end. I want to count everything JOY, even if we lose our house. We have seven children and I want them to see their mom praising The Lord for all the blessings he has given this family. When I want to go cry in my bathroom, I want to sing with PRAISE:)

This is a 'shortened' version of why I would love to win this book. I want to grow in what appears to be darkness at the moment!

Nana's Nuggets said...

Hi! Cindy, I loved this little video! It was short but full of wisdom, it really makes me want to read her first book as well. And I am always open to learning more of how to respond to this thing we call "Life." and just being Human! Thanks again for the give-a-way! I do follow, and I do have your cute button!! Blessings for a Sweet Day!

Heidi Pocketbook said...

I would love to win this, as it sounds very relevant to my season of life right now.

Hope your entire household is well very soon.

Cindy in PA said...

I have Shauna's book "Cold Tangerines" and actually purchased it on the recommendation of another blogger. It was a winner!

I'd love to read this book too. Thanks for the opportunity to win it.

Cindy in PA said...

I also am a follower of your blog and enjoy reading your posts as they roll in.

Thanks again!

Art From My Table said...

Because I was just looking at this in Barnes and Noble yesterday, and wouldn't buy it for myself so close to christmas.

Sharla Fritz said...

Cindy, love your blog! Shauna's book sounds great. What an important topic. God is always leading us through seasons of change.

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