7th Day of Christmas Giveaway with Shannon Primicerio
Published December 7, 2010Sorry to those of you who hopped on earlier and the comments were closed & half the post was missing!!! My WordPress has had gremlins lately and has done this to me three times now in a week. I had no idea and was away from my computer!!! Sorry!!!
Christmas Sale: If you’d like info on getting any of my books (tax-free & with no shipping costs!) for you or as a personalized gift for someone, click here.
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Welcome to the 7th Day of Christmas Giveaway!!
Each day, December 1-12th, I am featuring a fellow Proverbs 31sister and an aspect of Christmas. You’ll get to know her and she, in turn, will offer a fabulous giveaway! Simply leave a comment on her post to be entered in the drawing.
And, one soon-to-be-very-giddy gal who comments on all 12 posts will win the GRAND PRIZE! You may comment on all posts until Monday, December 13th at 5:00 pm EST when the winners will be announced. (to see the grand prize and get caught up on the posts click here)
Although all my guests this week are so dear to me, today’s holds a special place in my heart as she was in the speaker evaluation group I led at our P31 She Speaks writer’s & speakers conference two years ago. (That endearing truth cancels out the fact that through this post I find out she is a New York Yankees fan!!! This Detroit Tiger gal forgives her 
) Now, here’s our seventh P31 gal……the engaging Shannon Primicerio !!
From the moment she learned to talk, author and speaker Shannon Primicerio has been engaging audiences with her wit and wisdom. For the last eight years she has traveled the world teaching teenage girls how to apply the Bible to the drama of real life.
An author of ten books to teens, Shannon began partnering with Proverbs 31 Ministries in 2009 and expanded her audience by helping them reach the 20-something woman through their She Seeks division.
Although not parents yet, Shannon and her husband Michael are proud sponsors of several children through Compassion International. In August they traveled to Bogota, Colombia to see Compassion’s work up close and meet one of their sponsor children. To read Shannon’s thoughts on the trip you can read her blog posts from Bogota here: http://beingagirlbooks.com/blog/my-trip-to-colombia-with-compassion/
When she isn’t writing or speaking, Shannon can be found relaxing at one of Southern California’s beautiful beaches or watching her beloved Yankees play baseball on TV. Or, in the wintertime, you can usually find her curled up by the fireplace with a good book and a chai latte in hand.
Favorite Christmas Memory
When people ask about my favorite Christmas memory I have an unusual answer. In 2005 I was getting ready to celebrate my first “married Christmas” and I couldn’t have been happier. My husband and I decorated our humble apartment with plenty of hand-me-down decorations and a few inexpensive new editions. But three weeks before Christmas my grandfather, whom I was very close to, was in a tragic accident.
Doctors asked my family to come and say their goodbyes as he laid there in a coma. For sixteen days he clung to life in the hospital unaware of our presence. My happy holiday had quickly become clouded with grief. December 2005 was one of the darkest months my family had ever known.
I was under deadline for a book at the time, and after taking a week off to stand vigil with my family, I decided to return to writing in an attempt to find some normalcy in the midst of the chaos. Several weeks prior, before the accident, I had finished a section on the names of God. The point was to teach teenage girls to examine who God said He was in the Bible and then to look for Him to show up in similar ways in their own lives.
There, on my list, was the name for Christ found in Isaiah: Immanuel which translates “God is with us.” When I looked at the words I had typed weeks before, waves of emotion washed over me. On the first Christmas Jesus Christ came to literally be God with us. Yet, thousands of years later—in the midst of a truly tragic Christmas—He wanted me to know He was specifically God with me.
I knew then that my family and I were not going to have to walk alone through the dark days ahead. That Christmas God showed Himself to me as Immanuel in an entirely new way. It was one of the most powerful experiences I’ve ever had in my walk with God. And for that, my first married Christmas did turn out to be merry after all.
If anyone reading this is experiencing a tragedy this December I offer this encouragement:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Just as certainly as He came to be God with us on the first Christmas, He will reveal Himself to you as Immanuel this Christmas. He is with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Even in the midst of tragedy you can know God—and He will carry you through.
If you have a specific prayer request, please leave it in the comments section below. I will stop by and pray through all of the requests. Today, December 7th, would have been my sweet grandfather’s birthday. I can think of no better way to spend it than praying for you.
Shannon’s Giveaway
Two signed copies of Shannon’s book for teens The Divine Dance and a $10 Starbucks gift card.
Moms of teen girls can use this gift to read through the book with their daughters and talk about it over a cup of coffee. Or teen girls can use this prize to read through the book and talk about it over coffee with a friend.
Simply leave a prayer request or comment telling us the best gift for a teen. Or, if time is tight, simply say, “I’m in!!”
Blessings,
188 Responses to 7th Day of Christmas Giveaway with Shannon Primicerio
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My Family
Please pray for my teens – son and daughter that they would cherish and live out their relationship with Christ.
Prayer request
My dad passed away on July 27 of this year…
Its been a tough few months since… I was very close to him.
He had a stroke back in Dec 1995 and had been living in a long term care facility til this July when his heart gave out…
Please pray for closeness as a family and salvation for my brother as well as all other unsaved family. None of his siblings are saved….
I would love this book to share with my 2 teenage daughters. Please pray for them as they try to find their way in their walk with Jesus. Thanks!
A great gift for a teenager would be something I saw just recently called journibles.
Please pray for my son. He gave up his good job becasue he did not have “a social life”. I just cannot fathom such thinking. He did not have to work weekends or nights early mornings yes,. He has no ambition, drive, and does not care. What is going on in his life? He lives in a house with 5 other people and they just want to work the bare minimum so I guesss he feels slighted that he has to work. I know he has to get OUT OF THAT environment. He is not teenage either. Please pray for him.
Today is my momma birthday, too! I do not have a teenage girl yet, but I know it will be here before I know it. My daughter will turn 8 in January and the days go faster each year!
I have a prayer request for a girl named Mandi. Mandi will be joining myself & 20 other team members for a mission trip this Christmas. My prayer for Mandi is that being around other strong Christians will be encouraging, uplifting, and peace-giving for her. Mandi is an 18 yr old living w/ her grandparents – her mom is around but apparently not a good presence for Mandi – both of their lives is constant drama. Mandi has a decent sense of direction for her life and she is a Christ-follower to the extent she understands what that means, but her life will never be easy. I lift Mandi today and thank you for joining me in prayer for this child of God.
My favorite Christmas memory is my mama. She ALWAYS made sure that we had lots of presents under the tree even though she was a single mom. Although I realize (even then) that presents were not the real meaning of Christmas, it made me know that she loved us tremendously. She worked hard to make sure each gift was wrapped so “prettily”. The gifts may have come from the Dollar General or Kmart but there were LOTS of them for each of us four kids. She would watch so eagerly as we unwrapped each gift. She would grin so big! I love my mama!
I’m in
O how i’d love this book to share with my 17 and 21 yr old daughters….please please pray that the Lord will continue to bless and strengthn my girls relationship with their Heavenly Father.
I’m in!
Thank you for all that you do.
(I’m in!)
I would love to share this book with my niece who is 14.
I’m in.
I would love this book for my 16 year old daughter. She is an avid reader and so often will take her cue from books rather than from the adults in her life. It would be wonderful to have such a passionate and Christ-like influence in her life.
I would request prayer for my three teens, 15, 15, 17 and for myself that God would give me the wisdom in raising them in this materialistic world to have selfless hearts for serving Christ and realizing the importance of salvation. When they are in their elementary years it is so easy to read Bible stories and do Advent projects and devotions–but when double digits come along those things “aren’t cool”.
The whole article didn’t show up on my browser–just part of it down to “Although”, but I’m in!
I’m in! Though I don’t have teenagers, I am involved with many, and it is such an important time to capture their hearts!
I’m in
I had the same trouble as Leona Briggs.
But I’m in, too!
I’m in too.
I have a preteen daughter and just got involve with our middle school ministry at church. I’m in!
I am definitely in as a mother of teenage daughter …. and helper with teenage youth at our church….
Praying for all …
I’m in.
I am a mom to a teen son!!
My son is a teenager…pray for him. He is under a great deal of stress at school and just struggles between being “cool” and being Godly.
I’m in!
I’m in!
Prayer request – please pray for health in our family for the coming year. My husband has been sick and on disability from work since last Christmas. Although the doctor’s haven’t determined a cause, I continue to pray that he will be healed.
I would like to share these books with my teenage nieces.
I’m in. Thanks.
What a opportunity! A prayer that the pain in my daughter’s back will disappear. A prayer for a job for my husband. It will be 3 years this month.
I would love to have these books for my great niece, who gave her heart to the Lord this summer and is loving it! She is precious!
Please pray for my daughter Hannah. She will become a teenager this March. She’s my oldest, so I’m trying to keep my head and heart in God’s Word about this time in her life.
I’m in
For my friend’s teens who are straying and making poor choices.During this Christmas season may His Truth and Grace break the strongholds that bind them now!!!
Prayer request ~ that God will reach the hearts of family members who have chosen to draw away from Him, and bring them back to Himself, and back to our family. I miss them so very much! Thank you!
I’m in!
Yippee! I’m so excited to see Shannon here! Yay!
I LOVE HER & HER AWESOME MINISTRY!
Thank you Shannon for your sweet love for teens/girls/chicks!
I’m a mama with 2 teen daughters (and a college age son).
My girls are experiencing some trials at school that have put an enormous strain on both of them.
We feel out of place and satan knows it. He’s pulling out all the tricks to keep us ineffective.
Our family really needs direction and the courage to step out and GO!
I’m in!
My prayer request is for the members of my church to stand up and fight the enemy and not allow the enemy to take control and try to bring our fellowship to destruction. Thank you for the prayers and the giveaway. God bless and Merry Christmas!
koinonia572001@yahoo.com
I’m excited to read some good ideas for teens. I have one now and it’s getting harder to buy things for him. Everything he wants is hundreds of dollars.
I would also like to ask for prayer for discernment…for where our son should go to high school next year, or if I should continue homeschooling.
It means a lot that you’re praying for all of us today. Thank you.
I’m in.
I’m in!
I’m in!
My prayer request is that my young adult son of 20 who will transfer from community college to somewhere away in the next fall to college will draw closer to God and rely on Him in a world whose culture pulls on our young people towards secular living. I also have a friend whose 19 year old daughter is away at college flirting with sexual temptations and we pray that God draws her in and breaks satan’s stronghold of lustful desires and that He, our Mighty God becomes her God-confidence, God-esteem, and God-worth. Thank you for your prayers.
Please pray for my Dad. he’s in stage 2 of 4 of lung cancer
Please pray that God will give me the grace to forgive my mother of some things.
I’m in!
I’m in…
As a mother of two teenage daughters (17 & 19) I would love to have these books for them. I will also tell them about the “She Seeks” website. Teens need all the help they can get these days.
I’m in! Thank you!
My husband and I are taking over as youth leaders at our church. Please pray that we will show Jesus to these young people…
Shannon…What a tender memory–thank you for sharing with us…I am going to look into that book for my 13 year old granddaughter, Ashley..Thank you
Love the idea of the book for a gift, have friends with teen girls…I am ordering! Good Bless you!!
“Money” is simply what my teenage son would say is the “best” gift for teenagers. This mama has certainly benefited from the “Bank of Blake” from time to time. But I must say just giving money seems, well, not so personal and I always like to give a gift that’s more personal to the teens in my life. By listening and spending time with them it really doesn’t take long to figure out what they like. And knowing you took the time to listen and figure that out and wrap up that special something just for them – well the look on their face is absolutely priceless!
Prayer request, a teen in crisis, my sweet Daddy’s birthday tomorrow and 4 years ago I lost him on Dec. 20th after loosing my husband on March 21st that year as he lost his battle with cancer. Pray that in this beautiful, difficult season, God will reveal himself in a mighty for our family.
Blessings,
kareng
I don’t have daughters but will have granddaughters one day!! I am always filling my aresnal with ammunition for my family.
My first married Christmas I ended up with a kidney infection and was so sick, getting shots in my hips and not at all how I thought I would spend my first married Christmas. My sweet husband put pillows in the car and drove me to some beautiful beaches here in CA and just passed the time of day with me. He made a lovely dinner and filled wine glasses with cranberry juice for his sick wife…wow, that was 20 years ago, I better go tell him how much that meant to me then and still does now!!!
I’m in
Thanks, Shannon. I would love to meet you someday, you are so very interesting!
I’m in. What a wonderful ministry to reach out to teen girls- I would love the book to read with my much younger, 13 year old sister-in-law :0)
Great Post! I’m glad to see that the post is up and comments are available now!!
I think the greatest gift you can give a teen is simply not a material one.. just having the love and understanding for when they need it and even when they don’t feel like when they need it just being there. That’s what I needed when I was a teenage girl.
Ladies: I have just read through (and prayed over) all of the prayer requests that have been posted so far. Keep them coming. Please know I am praying for all of you.
Tomorrow, December 8th, is the one year anniversary of my husband’s nephew’s death. I was with him, our niece-in-law (his wife), their two month old son, my mother-in-law (his grandmother), sister-in-law (his mother) and our nephew (his brother) one year ago.
I ask for prayers of continued healing for all of his family. Please pray for comfort and God’s presence and love to be felt during this time.
And thank you.
The best gift to give your teen is praying for them daily! I am so thankful for my parents prayers for me through my teen years.
I’m in.
Pray for the ones that have lost loved ones reasonly and in the past. Holidays are such hard times for them to go through, since you have all the past memories and are not sure how to move forward with new ones. As you said Shannon, God is with us!
I’m in! I’m in! I write for a Christian Teen Webzine called Lily Mag. If I won a copy of this book I would read it to write up an article and review and then pass it along to a reader!
http://lilygirlsmag.com/
I’m in!
I’m in.
I’m In!
I ask for prayer for all of us who have unbelievers among family and friends who will attend our holiday festivities. Let’s pray that we would be loving witnesses of the God we serve. Let’s pray for their salvation. What better time to be saved than during the Christmas season.
I’m in. God bless you!
I am 18 days pregnant. I lost two babies at 17 days in the last year. I’m a bit nervous about being able to keep this doodlebug. Thank you for being willing to pray!
Im in
My prayer request is that the hearts of my children will be truly for the Lord, that their faith will be theirs (not just what they’ve seen us do), and that they will desire and seek after Him with all their hearts, all the days of their lives.
Thank you for sharing that Christmas story and for your prayers for all of us here, Shannon! I lost my grandfather (whom I was very, very close to, as well) this year, and this will be our first Christmas without him.
Thank you for another kind gift opportunity!
I think a gift card to Delia’s or Barnes and Noble is the best gift for a teen! At least I used to love those a few years ago before college. Thanks so much for this lovely chance!
Deanna, I will play for you as well
I think one of the greatest gifts you can give a teenager is time. Being there to listen and really hear them during what can be such a tumultuous time. of course, the book looks like a great gift, too!
Thank you for this post! Our 21 year old son has been near death several times this year and is currently hospitalized out-of-state. Travel out there this Christmas is cost prohibitive and the thought of a second year without him at home with the rest of the family for Christmas is so hard. But my prayer request is for him … that he will truly experience Immanuel.
this book sounds like a great gift for a teen! thanks for introducing Shannon to us!
It’s late but I’m in:)
I appreciate your offer to pray for those who have a sad heart this month. My children lost their dad 6 years ago tomorrow. He was only 42 years old. He knew the Lord, but I know my kids still have heavy hearts around this time. I think it is amazing you had this written for today. Thanks for sharing your Christmas story – very uplifting!
The gift of time. Teens love to be listened to – so just hanging out with them provides plenty of opportunities for that.
And this was such a lovely post – I felt as if Shannon was in the room, talking to me!
I remember the first Christmas without my cousin. She died suddenly at age 34 several years ago and was more like a little sister to me. Words just can’t express that void but when I learned of her death, my eye caught a calendar in our kitchen which had these words from Isaiah 66:13…”As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” And He has. Thank you God! I’m in for the drawing.
I’m in!
Christmas 3 years ago was flying home unexpectedly as my brother fought for his life in the ICU. Pray specailly for my parents as they grieve for him and this season is never easy for all of us.
I’m in!
I’m in.
I’m in. I would give these away to friends with girls – since I have boys
I’m in!
My pray request is that God will provide a way for me to be a stay at home mom. I work full time and have 4 children. I know the desire to be at home was put there by God and he will provide a way!
Please pray for the teens in our church in South Carolina – Merry Christmas!
I’m in!!! I am soon to have a teenage daughter in the house as I can already see the signs of her maturing. I pray God gives me strength during these times.
I’m a mom of 2 preteen girls and look forward to reading this book with them. Thank you for reminding us to focus on our Immanuel.
What a touching story….my heart aches for all of you who are missing loved ones. I can relate as my beloved grandma is in heaven now….this will be our 3rd Christmas w/o her.
Best gift for teens-gift cards!
Thanks you for your story…. Thanks for reminding us that God is with us.
Merry Christmas!
Lol! I still can’t see the post… but I’m commenting anyway and maybe I’ll get to read it later:)
I have several prayer requests: for my soon to be 20 year old daughter who seeks to do God’s will in her life; for a lady named Ethel that crossed my path yesterday (it was a God thing!) and her brother Chet who is very ill in the hospital; and for the unbelievers in our family. The best gift for a teenager (besides cold, hard cash) is spending time with them to do something they would enjoy. My daughter (the one mentioned above) loves it when I spend time just with her without her siblings. Lunch at Olive Garden, a walk in the park, baking cookies together, – really anything where SHE is the center of my full attention.
What a precious story, thank you for sharing about your grandfather. Emmanuel has always been so precious to me. And throughout my pregnancy of carrying an incompatible with life child, He was Emmanuel more than ever!