A Wonderful Book and Giveaway

UPDATE: WINNER!
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Timestamp: 2011-01-14 14:34:53 UTC
Congrats to Joyce! Email me your address, Joyce, and I'll send the book your way!
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Made to Crave:
Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food
Lysa TerKeurst
(Zondervan)
ISBN: 978-0-310-29326-2
January, 2011/192 pages/$14.99

Google "weight loss" and you'll get 220,000,000 hits. That's 220 million. I can save you a lot of time by pointing you to the one resource that will fulfill your cravings while helping you break the endless cycle of failed diet attempts. And it's not even a diet book. In fact, if food is no issue for you but shopping is your Achilles heel, this book will help you as well. Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa TerKeurst is an amazing book that will change your life.

I was always the skinny girl that everyone wanted to be like. Girls in my dorm who were gaining "The Freshman 10" (pounds) were totally disgusted that I could eat bread and dessert at every meal and not gain a pound. In fact, I was often frustrated that I couldn't gain weight!

It has been a new and surprising development in my 40's as age and a couple of medications have apparently joined forces to allow me to see what unwelcome weight gain is like. I have been excited as I have read Lysa's blog each day and known that she was writing this book. The timing is perfect as I have determined to become healthier and shed as many of these extra pounds and attain a healthier body, and yet it has kept my focus where it should be. It has completely changed how I view dieting and weight loss.

Your issue may not be food. It may be shopping. Shoes. Alcohol. S*x. Whatever you crave, as Lysa says, "You were made for more." You were made to crave. But the only way you will satisfy your cravings is to fill yourself, not with the object(s) of your desire but with God Himself.

ABOUT THE BOOK (from the publisher):
Have you ever thought to yourself, “If only I could put on those skinny jeans, my whole world would fall into place and put a permanent smile on my face”? In her new book, Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food (Zondervan,
January), popular author and speaker Lysa TerKeurst calls this the curse of the skinny jeans. Just because we’re wearing smaller-sized jeans doesn’t mean we are happier, more content or more fulfilled. And when those cupcakes and chips start calling our names with their promises of sugary highs and salty pleasures, we gain the weight back and the vicious cycle of gaining, losing and gaining again continues.

Made to Crave is the missing link between a woman’s desire to be healthy and the spiritual empowerment necessary to make that happen. The reality is we were made to crave. Craving isn’t a bad thing. But we must realize God created us to crave him. Many of us have misplaced that craving by overindulging in physical pleasures instead of lasting spiritual satisfaction.

“God made us capable of craving so we’d have an unquenchable desire for him, and him alone,” says Lysa. “Nothing changes until we make the choice to redirect our misguided cravings to the only one capable of satisfying them.”

Women struggling with unhealthy eating habits can break the “I’ll start again on Monday” cycle, and start feeling good about themselves today. Lysa, in her conversational style, helps women learn to stop beating themselves up over the numbers on the scale. “We need to define ourselves by our obedience, not a number on a scale,” says Lysa. “The scale does help measure our rogress, but it can’t tell us everything.”

Readers will discover that weight-loss struggle isn’t a curse but rather a blessing in the making, and will learn how justifications that lead to diet failure can be replaced with empowering go-to scripts that lead to victory. Made to Crave plus a healthy diet plan will lead to a healthy weight goal—and growing closer to God in the process.

This is not a how-to book. This is not the latest and greatest dieting plan. This book is the necessary companion for women to use alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan they choose. This is a book to help women find the "want to" in making healthy lifestyle choices.


Food can fill our stomachs but never our souls.
Possessions can fill our houses but never our hearts.
Sex can fill our nights but never our hunger for love.
Children can fill our days but never our identities.
Jesus wants us to know only He can fill us and truly satisfy us.

Beginning tonight and continuing every Monday night through February 14, Lysa will host a webcast live from 8:00 to 8:45 pm EST. Find out more here.

You can purchase a signed copy of Made to Crave here.



ABOUT THE AUTHOER:

Lysa TerKeurst and her organization Proverbs 31 Ministries help over 300,000 daily email subscribers live an adventure of faith through following Jesus Christ. Lysa is the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries (www.proverbs31.org) and the award-winning author of 12 books, including Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl and What Happens When Women Say Yes to God.

She speaks to nearly 100,000 women a year at national conferences, drawing each listener into a unique adventure with Jesus.

Her message enables women to:

• Discover how small acts of trusting God can
  lead to unexpected joy.
• Distinguish his voice and direction with
  confidence.
• Experience God’s activity in parenting,
  marriage, and overcoming struggles.

Her personal faith has also captured national attention from The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America and Focus on the Family. Lysa resides with her husband and five children near
Charlotte, North Carolina. Visit her website at www.lysaterkeurst.com.





GIVEAWAY!!
Lysa has graciously provided me with two copies of this book, one for my review and one for me to give away to one of you! Just leave a comment on this post by 8:00 pm CST Thursday (1/13) and I will draw a winner. US Residents only, please.