Lisa Colón DeLay

Dr Brené Brown’s insights have the power to be life changing because she articulates and deciphers some of our most damaging obstacles with clarity that we can understand. This is how we start positive transformation.

After you watch the video, tell me what had the biggest impression on you.

Find more at Brené Brown’s website.

My recommendations of Books by Brené

YEP. Good news about free stuff!

Right after we feast like mad and express our gratitude and thankfulness we charge out to buy and shop! I’ve always thought this was the strangest thing…But, the sales do seem unbeatable, right?

Confession: I can’t handle the bustle. I grow weary so fast from shopping, let alone doing it amid crowds and while fighting chock-a-block traffic. What about you?

Perhaps Cyber Monday is a different kind of bustle?…nevertheless….

I have some things for you. It won’t cost anything. And you don’t have to get “malled” or drive anywhere.

Click  ”Kindle Bookshelf”. (4 FREE books)

On Monday 11/26/2012 all four of my digital (Kindle) books are free for the taking. ONE Day only. (One of the four has not been offered for free until now, and it won’t happen again anytime soon.)

Here’s a secret! If you DON’T have a kindle or a kindle app, you can still click to buy, and Amazon houses them for you, for whenever you want them, on which ever device you choose. So, if you’re getting a kindle for Christmas, click to get them now, and enjoy them later.

I do hope you enjoy them.

If you would please leave an Amazon review, I would be most grateful! I have lots of people reading, but hardly anyone leaving reviews yet. So, I need your help!

Season’s Blessings!

-Lisa

P.S. Spread this good news with a Tweet or two, please?

(If you miss your chance, don’t fret. Each is only $3. Way less than a latte at Starbucks. Amazon lets you read sample pages. Try each one and see what you like!)

Are most leaders mature?

“whaa WHAH!”
(That’s the “nope” sound from Sesame Street in case you’re wondering.)

A deeper leader leads from a place of integrity and maturity.

I’m very happy to be partnering with Evangelical Seminary to bring greater awareness and dialogue to the topic of Leadership and Spiritual Formation. Their new (part distance/part in-person cohort learning method) under 2 year graduate studies program prioritizes spiritual maturity in leadership training, and in our culture, it’s sorely needed.

I’m looking into getting a second masters degree. That’s how good this program is.

Are spiritually mature leaders important to you?

If so, there is an excellent opportunity to associate with the leadership resources launching at ES, and participate in promoting and nurturing spiritually formed leaders through a new variety of approaches. First of all you can help spread the word by sharing the information and resources you find at ES, and through their social media outlets. Articles, events, forums, go-to resources, guest writers, and more is coming.

Also, a synchroblog is in the works for the 2nd September (soon!) on the topic. Learn more on the Evangelical Facebook page or their website this week and next. (I will also post updates here.)

You can join in and be a part of something BIG.

If you are a leader and have a tribe or a blog, you can submit articles for consideration for a featured guest post spot at the Deeper Leader blog sponsored by ES. (Use the contact form on the right to express your interest.) This will pair you with some amazing professions in the the field of leadership, spiritual formation (sometimes called discipleship), leadership studies at the graduate level, and help nurture a whole new generation of better equipped leaders.

The first featured guest writer in this new phase is unveiled today! It’s none other than prolific author, the “living uncaged” Mary DeMuth. Read her contribution on leadership here.

Mary DeMuth is Living Uncaged!

Dan Tentler via Compfight

Thanks to those who sent in some questions!

I’ll feature two today.

From Cassy:

I’m not really sure how social media can help me. I’m trying to get a small “Startup” in the craft industry going, and it seems like a lot of people just tweet links to news or blog posts. And sometimes just random stuff. It seems like a waste of time, but maybe not. I’m not sure what to do. Is it worth investing my time in twitter and stuff like it?

Thanks, Cassy.

I would have to say, “yes and no” to the time investment question. You need to balance your time between getting your ducks in a row with your startup and making progress in social media. That said, don’t count out the usefulness of social media for your business. Many have found that it leveled the playing field and got them great exposure for cheap.

Done well, social media builds relationships, creates interest which leads to loyalty, and the best part….it’s FREE for message distribution (except for what your time is worth obviously).

The other piece of useful info I’ll mention here and now is that you must think of using things like Twitter and Facebook, etc. as a beacon-in-the-night, instead of a flare-in-the-air.

A beacon is regularly visible; It’s a planned signal. A flare is randomly shot and occasional. A flare can get you attention, but it won’t send out the kind of consist message (a.k.a. “branding”) that you need to keep your business moving onward.

Some planning is needed to create a congruent message or ongoing campaigns that will spread the word. You’ll need to be specific, stay on topic, and use the best channels to maximize efficiency.

This is where consulting may be of help to you. (I’ll be releasing a few free guides to help Startups soon–especially helpful if you’re a Do-It-Yourselfer. Check back soon!) If D-I-Y isn’t you, I’m available for personalized consultation as well. Check out the bottom part of this post for that.

From Joey:

I just listened to a webinar where the dude said it was super important to create attention in the Social Media universe with controversy, emotion and being shocking. It didn’t sit well with me, but I can’t deny the results he mentioned. What are your thoughts?

Joey, this is a good question.

I think your own convictions and personality play into making your decision. With each entry into the fray of Social Media, you are building your reputation. Your platform. Your legacy. Once it’s published and viewable, it’s trackable. Indefinitely.

Here’s a controversial word picture to help you understand. You can be a Shock Promoter on the interwebs or you can be a Herald. A Herald is a messenger, mainly. Like a lovely and charming girl you’re proud to bring home for mama to meet. A Shock Promotor is like the girl with the absent father who will do anything for attention. Cute as she might be, she still seems desperate and sleazy. That’s my take anyway.

Keep the questions coming, folks!

(To order up some valuable consultation, select a Package Option in the drop down menu, and then click the Social Media Consulting image)

OKAY!
This is my favorite ebook review so far…

Lisa – Great work! It isn’t often that a writer can encourage the creative spirit, facilitate engagement with the Holy Spirit, and bitch-slap a mogul of the Christian writing industry all in one book!
-Dr. Doug Jackson

Well, my reader friends, that’s quite a synopsis.
See if you can best that one!

Bitch-slap may be a bit profuse…I’d say noogie.

The great thing about my (LIMITED TIME read for FREE) ebook is that it’s MUCH cheaper than a McLobster Meal and much better for you, especially in swimsuit season!

(It’s just $2.99 NOW FREE HERE and I’m not sure if the McLobster is still available.) 

Want to read the first 20 pages before you click or sign up? Here you go!

(Click here to order.) 
But Remember, Subscribers get a discount. For that, go here:

What are others saying…

Creatives and givers and you, the one who needs to refill your [creative] mojo. Check out this sweet deal.    

-Jenn Luitwieler

Frustrated? Writer’s Block? Creativity Stifled? Lisa has solutions.
-Thom Turner

This is incredible- a huge weight off my shoulders. So thanks, Lisa! Soul Care V1 is phenomenal, can’t wait to see the rest :-)
-Ally Clendineng

Download Lisa’s Soul Care for Creators today. Beautiful design and wise words:
-Ed Cyzewski

Thanks Lisa, too, for all you do to pull together good resources & encouraging stuff for people.
-Kathy Escobar

Bravo! So thrilled to have these resources for creatives and communicators from Lisa.
-Sarah Bessey

…NOW the question of the day…
Would you eat a McLobster sandwich?

I’ve saved the best volumes for last. If you liked the others, you’ll be the happiest May 10th. If you haven’t read the others, you’re in for a treat, and soon.

Here’s more about Volumes 4 & 5:

VOLUME 4: Slumps, Burnouts, and Frustration

This details the instigators, root causes, and symptoms of our 3 big foes as Creators and Communicators. Some symptoms are so insidious or camouflaged that you haven’t noticed them. You’ll be surprised. An audible gasp is a distinct possibility.

You’ll be challenged. You’ll be shown how to take a special kind of inventory that’ll take the teeth out of these monsters that stand like obstacles to our calling and abundant life.

Beyond that, we’ll cover jump start action steps to keep you encouraged and progressing. It’s like sucking down pure Oxygen. mmm!

VOLUME 5: God’s Grand Story

This is the piéce de résistance for Creators and Communicators.

Risking some scorn among zealous Donald Miller’s devotees, I ask readers to look beyond our individual micro-stories.

We’ll uncover the Meta-Narrative of God’s Grand Story witnessed in the whole council of God, the stories therein, and within our unique life experiences. Here God, not us, is the Star….and in every scene.

(Note: I too loved Blue Like Jazz and other non Religious Christian Spirituality stuff Don’s written, just like everyone else. But I’ve sense a change with Miller’s approach. I’m not convinced that life-mapping strategies, tracking software, and yearlong Storyline memberships get to the marrow of what it is to be human.)

Absorbing the 4 themes explained in Volume 5 gives much-needed perspective, comfort, encouragement, and hope to meet our needs better than formulas ever can.

Note that the 4 adjectives in bold harken to the 4 themes, but do not yet reveal them! A blatant gambit to arouse you. Please, I have to let this thirst build, okay? Listen to me. You’ll love this volume.

The Launch Pad of Vol. 5:
To those of you who’ve combed 500+ page theological tomes, it follows the canonical-liguistic theological approach with one crucial amendment.

To those of you who have not trudged through the tedious works of scholar theologians…most of you…I unpack some heady academic treatise material into snappy language and keen usability that even Sarah Palin could understand and apply, before she shoots her morning Elk. You bet ‘cha!

Any questions? What are you curious about? Let me know.

Buy it at AMAZON for KINDLE. (There will be some days that you can get it for free. Nov 12&13 are the first days for that)

We need each other!

95 pages of goodness!

VOLUMES 1-3
This collection reads fast…like tv…and covers the topics:

• “What is the Soul? & What is Soul Care?”

This premise-building volume gets us to track from the same point onward. That fact is you and I need Soul Care, and we need it now. I’ll explain why.

•  Identity and Belonging

We deal with core needs. This targets how to find your place in this world and in your calling of creating and message-bearing. Without our bearings we’ll get off-track and discouraged. This important message is one you don’t want to miss.

•  The 8 Paths of Learning 

• Utilize the paths for your own growth. Progress faster and better.

• Guide others in a well-rounded process of knowledge and development

• Fresh insights and information on the learning paths you already use

• A potent approach to synthesizing and assimilating learning to produce transformation

Written in a way to amuse and designed in a visual format that reads as fast as tv. You won’t get bogged down and it’s all.

Find it at AMAZON here.

The season before Christmas is a special one, and not because of great shopping deals. It’s not because we make gifts, or sing carols, or decorate, or bake special things, visit with family or light candles at the Christmas Eve service. It’s not even about giving more to others. Well, that’s just the tip of the Christmas iceberg.

Advent is about anticipation and hope. As Christians, we celebrate the things God has done and is doing in various seasons of the year. Creating a special time of year for focus on particular spiritual truths allows those truths to gain more weight and more meaning in our everyday lives. Advent lasts four weeks, and it’s a holiday season full of introspection, reflection, hope, and divine mysteries.

Rituals and traditions often cement social and relational bonds, ready our hearts for worship, and create the vital space and time for better adoring our Creator. Not only does memory solidify our perceptions of reality now, but it prepares us for future love, service, and devotion, to God and others.

In these four weeks of Advent I’ll feature meditations, reflections, art, and more (from me and others) interspersed among typical posts to focus our spirits on the good things of God, and the time we celebrate the most amazing gift of grace from our Living God, Jesus, the Incarnation. Our Redeemer, Savior, and King.

To participate in a richer way, view the Artists Advent Project page.

Blessings this season.

(Must be a dog blog. hum. Could this just be a kitty laughing, or must it be a freak out?)

In a previous post, I promised I would review some blogs and give a report on my favorites.

First, bear in mind that I read probably 20-30 blogs regularly, and others occasionally. For this reason, I won’t cover all of the ones I like, today. Now, don’t feel offended if yours, or one you dig, didn’t make it in. Instead, submit links of up to 3 of your favorite blogs in the comments, and we’ll visit them. I’ll consider them in a future “Blogs I Like” blog in January.

Also, I won’t cover blogs from super well-known people (think: kickin’ Alexa Rating), especially if I’ve already mentioned them in past posts.

Here are some new blogs I’ve started reading quite recently because of reader recommendations, or other connections:

Students of Jesus: Taking the Yoke of Discipleship Ray Hollenbach’s blog has a rich meditative vibe. Good content and thoughtful.

Teh=The Warwick Fuller is a bookish, 25% hipster, and an active dad and husband, who pens some worthwhile stuff. He’s fairly random with his topics, but I’m a fan. I also have a personal preference for his “Nana Stories” which are offbeat and charming.

Between the Sheets: A Novelist’s Adventures Heather Webb’s blog post are often delicious. Although I wish she posted more often, when she does she will often include amazing recipes.

Telling Stories Courtney Walsh is a scrappy author and scrapbooker whose site is awash in great visuals (photos, art, etc.), plus stories, and stuff on food, parenting, domestic diva/homemaking themes, rural life, and such. Likable!

Mom to 5: Full Time Mom, Part Time Sanity Sherri Jason has a great sense of humor, and she needs to, she’s be pregnant for years (if you add it all up). This reproductive quality is sort of a family tradition. Her sister Ginny also has 5 kids, and does guest posts on some Fridays, called Funny Farm Fridays. The antics of busy family life abound here, and many a busy parent can relate, or just be contented to know they don’t and won’t have enough children for a basketball team.

Awake My Soul Laura Crosby’s blog is insightful, honest, and nicely written. It’s a fairly recent venture (Feb 2011), but her welcome page made me realize that we’ve had the same sorts of thoughts about bloggers and blogging. So far, so good, Laura!

5 Personal Favorites:
Blogs and Bloggers for whom I make time to read…who are also not in the category of  ”widely famed”…yet.

These authors post with predictability (most of the time) and have high quality content. Two musts for me to be a loyalist. (Yes, the list ought to be much longer, but I’m setting myself a limit…5….because I’m told this is healthy behavior.)

Ed Cyzewski Blog - In a Mirror Dimly is one of those blogs that is just consistently top notch. Ed posts frequently, and his installments can deepen your thinking, encourage you, and offer great insights. He focuses on spiritual things, practical theology, and writing. He’ll also write on other things he likes, gardening/canning, the outdoors, and rabbits.

Caleb Wilde‘s blog Confessions of a Funeral Director: Working At the Crossroads of This World and the Next might sound, well…dark and morbid, at first blush. Death is after all macabre. What is surprising and winsome about this blog is that Caleb offers hope, as a matter of course. His unique insights on living and yes, dying, are worth the read.

Christopher Cocca: Chris is funny, quirky, and interesting–all stuff I like. He’s sort of a hippie, too, in a nice way. This makes me feel young and “with it”. I’m hooked. Another great thing about Chris is that he’s generous, and regularly shares the love by promoting other writers.

Thom Turner Writer, editor (for GENERATE magazine), poet, and soulful guy, Thom has a blog called Everyday Liturgy. It’s a perfect read for a short and potent spiritual shot in your day. Lately he’s also been blogging about Food and Christian ethics. A weird mix, you say? Maybe, but it gets you thinking. And think you should. (sorry..got a wee bit yoda on ya’ll) I’m looking forward to Thom’s prayer book project as well.

Brett McCracken This hipster-esque writer is under-rated. Though he’s written for some big outfits The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN.com, The Princeton Theological Review, Mediascape, Books & Culture, and Christianity Today, to name a few, plus a very enjoyable book…

…I get the sense that he’s not receiving the props or reader traffic he truly deserves at his Still Searching blog. It’s like a “best kept secret” type of thing. Well, not on my watch, peoples. Not. On. My. Watch. Brett writes about culture, film, art, books, and stuff you’d expect to overhear at a college coffeehouse, if erudite students were hanging out…ya know, chillaxin’ and sh–tuff (Whoops, no one says chillaxin‘. It’s long “over,” dudes.) So. Right. Brett is pensive and interesting.

Who did I miss?

Ta DAA!

I really enjoy some blogs out there. I’ll limit my recently read, recommendation  list to 10, but I assure you, many more could make the list. In no particular order:

1. Stuff Christians Like.

2. Jesus Needs New PR

3. Wineskin in the Smoke

4. John Lee Saddington

5. Brett McCracken

6. Captain’s Blog

7. Ed Cyzewski

8. Thom Turner

9. http://www.passengerblog.net

10. Christopher Cocca

Who did I miss?

Gosh…I just realized I haven’t included any women bloggers. That’s seems so odd to me. It’s true that over 75% of my readership is male. I’m kind of like “one of the guys”… but I have a working uterus.

If you are a blogger, promote your blog today. About 1,500 people read this per week. So, it’s some good exposure. Explain what you write about a bit, and include a link.

What are your favorite blogs to read? Tell us.

Thanks for sharing!