It’s No Secret Giveaway with Rachel Olsen

Note: If you are a Weight Loss Wednesday gal, please click here to locate our cyber accountability group now called His Weigh Wednesdays and lead by Lindsey Feldpausch. We’ve been talking about it for a few weeks but it officially kicks off TODAY!!!! New comers always welcome! See ya over there!

_____________________________________________

Pssst….

I have a secret!

A dear friend and fellow Proverbs 31 sister of mine, Rachel Olsen, is releasing her new book today.

You are gonna love it! Read on for an interview and giveaway with this fabulous writer, powerful teacher and gifted girlfriend! Here she is:

Rachel, as the editor of the Proverbs 31 Encouragement for Today devotions and a university professor, you have lots of experience in writing and editing, but this is your first full-blown solo book. What prompted you to write it?

One verse. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 13:11 there are secrets in the kingdom of God, and His followers can grasp them. That statement astounded me, and excited me. I was captured by the notion that God had secrets He was willing to share. I wanted to find out what they were.

I’d been operating with the assumption that the Bible was hard to understand, unless you were gifted to be a pastor or went to seminary. But in that passage Jesus said all you have to do is follow Him and He will supply the understanding. So I prayed for wisdom and dug into the Bible.  I’ve since realized God never hides truth from sincere seekers. In fact, He came to earth in the person of Jesus to ensure that we’d learn His secrets and understand His ways.

With this book I wanted to share twelve of the divine secrets I’ve found, so they can empower others’ lives just as they have empowered mine. And I included Bible study sections at the end of each chapter to get my readers digging into the Bible for themselves.

The book is titled It’s No Secret. Can you give us a glimpse into a few of the secret topics it covers?

Sure, Karen. I uncover the Secret to Responding to God, the Secret of Interdependence, the Secret of Handling Conflicts Biblically, the Secret of Living Generously, the Secret of Perfection in God’s Eyes, and the Secret to Growing Through Trials, just to name a handful. The whole list can be seen online in the table of contents when you “look inside this book” at Amazon.

To put it more succinctly, this book will help you:

* Overcome the competitive urges that leave you lonely

* Grow spiritually despite life’s setbacks

* Discover how to make what you give away ultimately return to you

*View rest not as a have-to, but as a get-to

*Handle conflicts and criticism with grace

*Relax unrealistic expectations in favor of emotional stability

*Discover a key to increased spiritual vitality

*Find adventure as you yield wholeheartedly to God

Your subtitle talks about revealing divine truths every woman should know. What importance does truth play in a girlfriend’s life?

Truth is crucial. Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So it matters where you get your truth from. I hold to the conviction that if God created life, He alone gets to define it.  He is the Reality Maker. And His Word, the Bible, is our reliable source of truth. When we dig into it and follow it, our minds are renewed, our lives are transformed, and we grow in freedom.  I’m confident It’s No Secret contains biblical truth that can do that for you.

Jesus, by the way, is the Word Made Flesh –  He is truth in action! That’s why knowing truth always begins with following Him.

What is your greatest hope for gals out there who read your book?

My hope echoes the apostle Paul’s. I started the book with a blank page before the introduction with his words from Colossians 2:2-3, “I want them to have full confidence because they have complete understanding of God’s secret plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

My goal for my readers is that they would become God’s secret-keepers and His secret-revealers – that they would embrace the “secret way of living” revealed in the Bible and this book, and show others this empowering way to live as well.

You are offering a fabulous giveaway to our readers today. Tell us about it!

If you look at the cover of my book, you’ll see one of my favorite things: coffee! Specifically, I’m a decaf latte or frappe girl. :-) What I really wish I could do is meet each of my readers weekly for 12 weeks over cups of coffee and talk through the contents of our lives and of this book.  But I can’t do that – I don’t have that many frequent flier miles! So I’m offering the next best thing in a giveaway: a free copy of the book and a $10 Starbucks gift card.

Thanks Rachel, for stopping by to visit and share your secrets with us!!

My pleasure, Karen. I am praying for each and every reader of It’s No Secret to encounter something life changing between the pages of this book!

Okay, now for the giveaway: Leave a comment on this post that names the topic(s) in the book you are most interested in reading.  Or tell what drink you would order at the coffee shop if you could meet Rachel there. If you do both, your name will be entered twice!

This post will be left up until Friday morning when the winner will be announced and when we’ll have ANOTHER giveaway in conjunction with an Encouragement for Today devotion I’ll have running. It also involves a book and TWO gifts cards! See you then!

91 Comments

  1. I think the topic of growing spiritually while experiencing setbacks would be helpful. This sounds like a great book. I love Starbucks and can never get enough gift cards. I love blueberry frappucinos and caramel, vanilla lattes.

  2. Relax unrealistic expectations in favor of emotional stability sounds like something I really should read up on! :) I’ve never had a Starbuck’s drink (I know, I know…) but I’ve heard good things about the frappucino, and I’d love to try one.

    Blessings to you all!

  3. Ooh, I’m excited about his book!! I need the Secret to Responding to God, the Secret of Interdependence, the Secret of Handling Conflicts Biblically, the Secret of Living Generously, the Secret of Perfection in God’s Eyes, and the Secret to Growing Through Trials…..lol I need a LOT of help!! :) I would have a Coconut Mocha. Yummm.

  4. Happy Thursday! All of the topics are appealing to me. However, I would like to dig into handling conflicts and criticism with grace.

  5. I honestly am interested in all the topics listed. Hard to pick one but:
    Grow spiritually despite life’s setbacks
    This seems like one that will help everything else!
    Sorry to say that I am not a coffee drinker! Gasp! But I do drink a hot chocolate every morning instead so that would

  6. Thank-you for all your “give aways” you are so generous.
    I need this book to understand what I am reading in the Bible…I cannot do it alone. Somedays the Holy Spirit speaks to me, but most days He does not and I know it is my fault that I cannot translate or understand.

  7. For me the first chapter I would read would be the Secrets of Handling Conflicts Biblically. I know this is a weak area for me.
    If I were at a Starbucks right now i would order a white chocolate mocha. Yum Yum, that and a good book, Rachel’s, would be a great way to start the day!
    Thanks for the chance to be a winner!

  8. Oooh, I would order a white chocolate mocha. mmmm
    I need to read about increasing my spiritual vitality. Can’t wait to read the book.

  9. wow, all the topics cover me! But here are the ones that really are in need:
    •Grow spiritually despite life’s setbacks
    •Handle conflicts and criticism with grace
    •Relax unimportant or unrealistic expectations in favor of emotional stability

    Life’s setbacks seem to be my theme this year, unfortunately!

  10. I’ve never been to Starbucks even though there are several near us. I’d love to try the chocolate or strawberry smoothies!

  11. I’m interested in “Find adventure as you yield wholeheartedly to God” because He’s whispering loudly to me about pursuing a writing career. That’s something I haven’t tried since college–9 years and three kids ago!

    And since I don’t like coffee, I’d order a decaf earl grey tea with honey.

    Blessings to you on your first solo book, Rachel!

  12. I would love to sit down with Rachel at the coffee shop and sip on my favorite, a caramel latte with extra caramel of course as we discussed how I would grow spiritually despite life’s setbacks. let’s face it, no matter how strong of a christian we claim to be or think we are there are times in our lives that we lose it some more than others.

  13. I would concentrate on Handling Conflicts and Criticisms with Grace.

    And I don’t know what coffee I would order because I’m still developing my tastes but I’m sure it would have some form of chocolate.

  14. The most interesting topics to me are Overcoming Competitive Urges and Viewing rest as a “get to” instead of a “have to”. I read Rachel’s article in the P31 Magazine and totally loved it! Oh, and I would order a Grande Mocha, Hot, with whole milk and whipped cream. My absolute fave anytime of year. And as far as the milk and cream… why not. You only live once!

  15. The chapter that sounds just right for me is: Revealing the Secret to Handling Conflicts Biblically, also Revealing the Secret of Interdependence.

    I would order a caramel macchiato, hot or iced depending on the weather.

    Karen, please tell Rachel I can’t wait to read her book.

    Blessings to you both!

  16. I’m going with:

    1) Adventures in Yielding. I feel like I’ve just been going through the motions of life for a long time.

    2) Pumpkin Spice Latte!

  17. I too have a desire to learn as many of the Bible’s “secrets” as I can. I have definitely found that the more I seek, the more my eyes are opened. Praise God! Your book sounds so interesting! I wish I could sit down and enjoy my Biggby Butter Bear with you so you can tell me all about it. :-)

  18. I am most looking forward to the chapter, “Handle Conflicts and Criticism With Grace”. My favorite coffee drink is Starbuck’s Caramel Frappachino. Thanks for the opportunity to win your new book and a gift card! :)

    Blessings,
    Amanda Cable
    Kannapolis, NC

  19. Oh boy…here goes!

    Dealing with conflict !!!
    and
    Growing through trials !!!

    I need some good pointers….seems I just can’t deal with stressful stuff these days!
    Maybe it’s the hormones.
    Also….Rachel, I’m a decaf gal too. And bring on the frappe’s!! YUM!

  20. I would love to read the part about handling conflict and criticism with grace…not my strong suit. As for the drink, I’m not really a coffee gal. I do love me a double chocolate chip frappucino every now and again, though!

  21. I so need to read

    1.View rest not as a have-to, but as a get-to
    2.Handle conflicts and criticism with grace
    3.Relax unrealistic expectations in favor of emotional stability
    and of course
    4.Find adventure as you yield wholeheartedly to God.

    And I would drink my usual starbucks drink:
    Iced Raspberry Latte with nonfat milk

  22. I would read the section about accepting criticism gracefully because at my job they call it positive feedback and sometimes I dont feel it is vey positive. I also read Encouragement for Today everyday I get it emailed to me it is part of my routine for my AA program.

    I would order a Iced Venti vanilla latte with nonfat milk

Leave a Reply to Kay Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *