considerable grace

As is quite normal for my blog, we’ve only had around TEN entries in our current WIN FREE STUFF giveaway. This means that your odds are GREAT to win, so why not join in the fun?! (There’s something to be said for having lots o' lurkers ... makes giveaways statistically way more fun for those of you who participate.)

I also just found out last night that our family can afford to include the BRAND-NEW Peacemaker Ministries resource (that they are going to roll out at their Conference next week in D.C.). So that means that for merely giving ol' Tara a little encouragement, you could win the $169 Resolving Everyday Conflict (church version) DVD series (sorry that there is no link yet):



Or the $189 Leadership Opportunity, $99 Small Group Study or anything else from the Peacemaker Bookstore other than the $200 peacemaking church resource set (sorry! can’t quite swing that as a giveaway).

Just share an encouraging word and leave a comment on this post letting me know you’ve done so, and you’re golden! You’ll probably win (statistically) and remember—I’ll NEVER give your contact information to anyone. Ever. So no worries there.

The giveaway ends 5:00PM Sunday night (September 12, 2010, Mtn. time). Hope you’ll join in the fun! Our family really likes to give away good (biblical, practical) stuff.

Blessings and love,
Tara B.

I just found out that my latest book proposal ("Redeeming Church Conflict", co-authored with Dave Edling) is being reviewed by the acquisitions committee at Baker on September 14. This will be the thumbs-up or thumbs-down for the project, at least for this publisher. (And it’s a HUGE honor to even get this far of course.)

Towards that Big Date, I was wondering if any of you would be willing to PRAY (that’d be super!) and/or do something to promote the web presence of my first book (Peacemaking Women), my video series (Living the Gospel in Relationships), and/or any of the speaking events I’ve done over the years. Perhaps you’ve been encouraged even a tiny bit; maybe you’ve learned something or remembered something important. Maybe you laughed at the struggles of life and faith I’ve been willing to share in different forums.

Whatever the case, if you might consider leaving some feedback on AMAZON, friending me on FaceBook, following this blog on NetWorked Blogs, doing your own blog post or Twitter-Whatever-Thingy (sorry I’m a non-twitterer so I don’t even know the lingo), or what about even just contacting Peacemaker Ministries, CE&P (PCA Bookstore), or BakerBooks themselves to let them know that the resources have been helpful to you.

I’d be very, very grateful. And if you leave a comment on this post by 5:00PM Sunday night (September 12, 2010, Mtn. time)—letting me know anything you’ve done, I’ll enter you in a drawing for ... ummm ... what do you want? How about anything from the Peacemaker Bookstore other than the $200 peacemaking church resource set (sorry! can’t quite swing that as a giveaway)? Does that sound like a nice giveaway?

* * * * UPDATE * * * * I just found out what it would cost our family to offer you the BRAND-NEW Peacemaker Ministries resource (that they are going to roll out at their Conference next week in D.C.) and we can afford it! So that means that, in addition to the $189 Leadership Opportunity and the $99 Small Group Study, the brand-new $169 Resolving Everyday Conflict (church version) DVD series IS included in this giveaway too:

I’ll give you extra entries for as many times as you’ve done something encouraging and promote-y. Just be sure to specify. Oh, and be sure to check back on Sunday night and see if you’ve won! If I don’t have contact information from the winner within 24 hours of announcing the prize, I’ll give it to the next person.

I can’t imagine I’ll have anything like a groundswell of responses to this request. My usual prize giveaways have like 20 entries, so the odds are GREAT for you to win.

Thanks for even considering this, friends. And thanks mostly for your prayers!

BTW–today my fever is only 101. Feels like a vacation.

Thanks again,
Tara B.

PS
If all of that techie stuff feels WAY overwhelming to you, please feel free to simply email me your story (or you could even write me a snail-mail letter if you’d like!). Please just let me know if you’d like your story to just stay between us two or if you’re comfortable with me sharing it. I’m happy to change the names/facts if you prefer—whatever you think is best will be great with me. Thanks much! – tkb

I just sent “Heather P.” an email letting her know that Random.org chose HER for our most recent WIN FREE STUFF Giveaway. Ed Welch’s “Running Scared” will be heading her way before too long.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and for the happy birthday wishes too.

Completely off-topic ... but just to give you a giggle ...

Can you say DESTRUCTO-BABY? This is Ella’s way of “helping” Fred to clean up the kitchen after dinner:



And I wanted to show you our latest Grandma Chris dresses on the girls. I know I’m biased, but talk about adorable!



Hope your day is going well—

Yours,
Tara B.

I just returned home from our women’s study on Ed Welch’s “Running Scared” and I’d like to send one of YOU a free copy of this great book.

(Ed Welch is truly my favorite contemporary author! But I have to say, Kevin DeYoung is quickly gaining ground. I really love his books too.)

For now, though? I’m doing a WIN FREE STUFF GIVEAWAY on “Running Scared.” Here are the specs:

1. Leave a comment on this blog entry sometime before 5:00PM next Tuesday (June 8th). You don’t have to say anything or do anything beyond that—but if you’d like to wish me a happy 40th birthday, June 8th is the day.

2. Be sure that I have your snail-mail address. (You may want to email me privately so that your personal information isn’t publicly available on the web.) If I don’t have a way to mail you the book, I’ll pick another winner.

Hope you enjoy this WIN FREE STUFF GIVEAWAY!

Yours,
Tara B.

I know my blog has to be in the running for one of the top LURKER-LADEN blogs. Ever.

(I know this because of the thousands of hits I regularly and consistently get. But my readers are apparently a quiet bunch, not prone to prattling on as it were.)

And even when I give away great Peacemaker Resources (like the brand new $149 Leadership Opportunity), I usually only have 30 or so entries.

But for my current giveaway (that ends tomorrow), I only have FIVE entries. Five. And I don’t mind, no siree. Especially because I know all five entries. (Hi friends!)

Still ... if you’d like a chance for me to send YOU (or someone you love—a missionary? pastor? friend?) ANY one item from the Peacemaker Ministries Bookstore EXCEPT the $199 Peacemaking Church Box or the combo church box/leadership opportunity, all you have to do is:

Leave a Comment HERE by 5:00PM (Mtn) Wednesday 1/20

Hope you’ll join in the fun!

Happily,
Tara B.

Wow. Only TWO entries to my current WIN FREE STUFF giveaway? Seriously?

Good job, Anita & Deb, telling me about Gospel Relationships in your churches because WOW! a 50% chance of winning. Ya gotta like those odds.

But maybe a few more people will leave a comment here and enter our family’s current WIN FREE STUFF giveaway. I really hope so. Not because I want your odds to be longer, dear friends, but just because I was REALLY looking forward to learning from my 1,000+/week lurkers as to how gracious, winsome, loving, patient, forgiving, forbearing relationships (gospel relationships!) are developed, nurtured, and maintained in various churches.

I have to be honest. Maybe it’s just my exhaustion and pain levels talking, but the dark-Tara-side-of-me is wondering WHY so many of us can so quickly and easily describe common church CONFLICTS. But it’s harder for us to describe grace in our churches.

(Kind of reminds me of the survey I did years ago on relationships among women in churches and for over a YEAR, not one respondent described the relationships among women in her church as “grace-based/gospel relationships.” Then, finally, I received ONE respondent who described them that way. This was out of hundreds.)

Anyway, I’m hoping it’s just because my blog readers like to lurk and never post comments. No problem for me. I just keep chugging along.

But if you’d like to win your choice of pretty much ANY resources off of the Peacemaker Ministries website ("pretty much" meaning any except for two because our family just couldn’t quite stretch to reach the $199 and $319 resources. Yeep!):

Please Leave a Comment Here and Enter Today

Thanks, friends!
(And yes, you can be a friend and be a lurker. )

Yours,
Tara B.

Thanks for all of the (very descriptive!) ideas re: church conflict. Now I’d like to ask you:

What do GOSPEL relationships look like in your church?

You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?

- You blow it; really blow it. And your friend forgives you and STILL wants to be your friend.

- The one older woman in your church who just radiates calm, gentle, merciful love. She truly, actually, really does care about you!

- You’re a woman with a strong personality. People are often frightened by you; you overwhelm them. But then ... but then ... one godly, faithful, forgiving person (man or woman) doesn’t give up on you. Doesn’t just judge you and reject you. Doesn’t run away; but instead moves toward you and helps you to change through redemptive confrontation, instruction, and discipleship.

- A men’s accountability group that is REAL. Pastors who are humble and lead from their weakness. Children learning what real forgiveness is and modeling it in their relationships.

I could go on and on ... but I’d really rather hear from YOU.

And to entice you? Let’s start the new year with another BARTHEL FAMILY SUPER FUN WIN FREE (BIBLICAL & PRACTICAL!) STUFF GIVEAWAY. Here are the specs:

1. Leave a comment on this post by 5:00PM (MTN) Wednesday, January 20 describing what gospel relationships look like in your church (and please tell us HOW they grow and are maintained in your church); and

2. Be sure that I have some sort of way for me to contact you or check back by noon on Thursday, January 21. (If I can’t reach you, I’m going to pick another winner.)

I will use a random number generator to select one winner and as your prize you can choose ANY one item from the Peacemaker Ministries Bookstore EXCEPT the $199 Peacemaking Church Box or the combo church box/leadership opportunity. (Sorry that our family just can’t swing those resources as giveaways. But the $149 Leadership Opportunity and the $99 Small Group resources ARE included.)

Hope you’ll participate and tell a friend too! I love to give stuff away.

Blessings to you and yours!
– Tara B.

PS
Did you know that you can now get Spanish, French, and even CHINESE versions of Peacemaker Resources? Those are included in the giveaway too—so maybe you have friends overseas or a missionary that you’d like to bless with a peacemaking resource. Be sure to enter!

PPS
The project I’m working on, Martha, has to do with church conflict and gospel relationships in churches.

Congratulations to Marcy! YOU WON the $179 Peacemaker Leadership Resource.

Please just email me your mailing address by November 18 and it’s yours! (And if you get me your address by this Tuesday, I’ll send it out this week. Otherwise, I won’t send it until after the 18th.)

Congratulations again and thanks to everyone who joined in the fun!

G'nite and God bless,
Tara B.

Are we really going to have only 28 entries in our family’s little WIN FREE (biblical & practical & gospel-focused!) STUFF GIVEAWAY of the brand-new ($179) Peacemaker Ministries Leadership Resource? Wow! Ya' gotta like those stats if you’re hoping to win.

But if you haven’t yet entered and you’d like a chance to win, you still have a few more days:

Enter Here to Win the Brand-New Peacemaker Ministries LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY Series

(And don’t forget: Our family will never give your name or contact information to ANYONE, so you can enter without fear of SPAM or annoying mail or anything like that.)

Hope you’ll join in the fun!

Just a quick reminder that you still have ONE WEEK to enter our family’s little WIN FREE (biblical & practical & gospel-focused!) STUFF GIVEAWAY:

Enter Here to Win the Brand-New Peacemaker Ministries LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY Series

All you have to do is leave a comment—and currently there are only SIXTEEN comments, so if you enter, you’ll probably WIN!

(And don’t forget: Our family will never give your name or contact information to ANYONE, so you can enter without fear of SPAM or annoying mail or anything like that.)

Hope you’ll join in the fun!

If you are signed up for the Peacemaker Ministries e-publications, then you already know that Peacemakers recently unveiled their brand-new leadership resource: The Leadership Opportunity: Living Out the Gospel Where Conflict and Leadership Intersect.

And you also know that my husband, Fred, announced this new resource by creating a table comparing the arrival of our little Ella with the arrival of The Leadership Opportunity. (Isn’t he clever? )

I can’t recreate the table in my very-non-user-friendly-blog-software, but here are just a few of the entries:

VS.

Birth Date

-The Leadership Opportunity: 9/24/2009 (at the Peacemaker Conference)
-Ella Marie: July 27, 2009

Weight

-The Leadership Opportunity: about 6 lbs
-Ella Marie: 8 lbs 8 oz

Length

-The Leadership Opportunity: 14 DVD-based lessons, each about 30 minutes in length
-Ella Marie: 20.5 inches

Conception

-The Leadership Opportunity: A focus group at the 2007 Peacemaker Conference noted, “We need a resource specifically for our church leaders.”
-Ella Marie: None of your business (though I will say it was more fun than a focus group)

Contents

-The Leadership Opportunity: DVDs, 5 detailed Study Guides, Leader’s Guide, 40-day devotional book on shepherd leadership and more…
-Ella Marie: Sugar and spice and everything nice

One Interesting Feature:

-The Leadership Opportunity: A set of model forms and other documents to help churches implement sound policies in membership, discipline, and risk management
-Ella Marie: A sweet little tuft of hair that sticks up on the back of her head

Ultimate Purpose

-The Leadership Opportunity: To bring glory to God
-Ella Marie: To bring glory to God

It’s a great resource (the video series, I mean ... Ella’s also great, but in a different way!) and I encourage you to visit the Peacemaker website and learn more about it.

To (hopefully) entice you to do so, our family has purchased one copy of The Leadership Opportunity (retail value $179!) and we want to give it to one of YOU.

All you have to do to enter to win is:

1. Visit the Peacemaker website and read about “The Leadership Opportunity” (and hopefully consider telling your church leaders about it too!);

2. Leave a comment on THIS BLOG POST no later than 5:00PM (Mtn time) Saturday, October 31 (indicating that you’ve at least clicked over and read about the resource—I trust you 100%!) and I’ll use a random number generator to select one winner; and

3. Check back after 10/31 and see if you’ve won. (And if you have, be sure that I have your contact information because if I don’t hear from the winner with a mailing address by November 18, I’ll choose another winner.)

Sound like fun?
Want to win a $179 resource?

Leave a comment soon!

(Oh—and remember ... I will NEVER share your contact information with ANYONE. So feel free to join in the fun without fear of SPAM. I really do think that people who give/share/sell contact information are BAD PEOPLE. So c'mon you lovely lurkers (people who read blogs but never post comments)—I know there are around 1,300 of you a WEEK! Today’s a good day for you to join in the fun.)

Blessings on your day—

Yours,
Tara B.

Thanks, everyone! We’re over 100 followers on Facebook now, so that is just great. I’m thrilled!

And congratulations to Wendy (who posted her comment on Aug 15) ... you are our winner!

Please, Wendy, by next Sunday Aug 30:

1. Let me know which video series you would like (either my video series ("Living the Gospel in Relationships") OR The Peacemaker Small Group Study).

2. Email me your mailing address.

(If I don’t hear from you by next week, I’ll choose another winner.)

Hope this was fun for everyone!

Sending my love,
Tara B.

Seriously. When have you had a 1 in 15 chance of winning something worth either $99 or $59? Now you do! (Because only 15 people have signed up for our current WIN FREE STUFF GIVEAWAY.)

To sweeten the pot a bit and tempt the last NINE PEOPLE I need to follow this blog ("Considerable Grace") on Facebook (in order to have enough “followers” to have my feed pulled every hour), I’m adding in this OPTION:

If your name is drawn this Sunday (Aug 23) and you win the prize, you can CHOOSE either my video series ("Living the Gospel in Relationships") OR The Peacemaker Small Group Study.

I know that most of you already HAVE my study, so I thought this might encourage you to sign up. And if you already have both? Maybe you can share the series with a friend, pastor, or missionary?

Anyway ... here is the post that you need to SIGN UP ON in order to be in the drawing:

Follow This Blog on Facebook and You Could Win a Free DVD Bible Study

Hope this is a blessing to you!

I’m excited that we’re only NINE people away from our goal! Hooray!

And thanks again for all of the encouragement and prayers—

Yours,
Tara B.

Hey! Aren’t these GREAT ODDS? Only 7 people have signed up for our family’s little drawing to win a free copy of my video series ("Living the Gospel in Relationships"), so if you sign up, you’ll probably win.

Here are the details and the post to sign up on:

Follow This Blog on FaceBook and You Could Win a FREE COPY of My Video Series

Even if you already have the series, maybe you can think of a friend, church library, or missionary who would be blessed by it. I’ll send it anywhere you’d like, so do please consider joining in on our fun.

My day went pretty well. I managed to get our family’s “Christmas letter” (hah! what DO you call it when you send it in August??) mailed off alone with Ella’s baby announcement. So that actually felt like I was accomplishing something.

I am VERY disappointed in the grouchy heart I had when I finally made it out of bed and began to work on all of the piles of chaos around the house. I absolutely KNEW it was going to be this way—even with the STELLAR job Fred did of keeping things going (and he really DID do a great job!), there’s just no way that things could stay orderly with me pretty much out of commission for an entire month AND with constant guests AND a new baby (hooray!) and the additional week of medical emergencies we’ve had this week.

And I really REALLY wanted to tackle the beast of chaos with a beautiful, calm heart. But I failed miserably. Grouch central. How grateful I am that God, Fred & Soph are so forgiving and merciful to me. (And how I pray that I will GROW and CHANGE even more in this sanctifying journey of life.)

Now it’s time for Fred to get a little “nap” while Ella and I tackle organizing and sending photos and photo albums out to grandparents and aunties and uncles; put laundry away; pay a few bills; send out some cards; and then, after her midnight/1AM feeding, get a little sleep. (Fred has graciously offered to take the 3AM shift as needed. What a middle-of-the-night-Papa-hero he is! )

I did something really stupid today—shifted my weight onto my bad knee when getting out of a chair while holding Ella in her Maya wrap. Doesn’t sound that major in the retelling but OH! My knee was not ready for bent-knee-weight-bearing. It was a dumb mistake and I’m paying for it now. But a gracious mistake, too, because now I have a constant reminder that I can’t do everything and I MUST slow down.

A few more days of a chaotic and dirty house is not a big deal, right? (This is what I keep trying to tell my subconscious mind.)

Last note: We sure enjoyed our visit with Fred’s mother. Soph was particularly blessed by the “Nifty Knitter” craft Chris brought and Ella got to enjoy ...



AND they made a super fun patchwork quilt/pillow out of some of Sophie’s favorite fabrics from dresses and hats and PJ’s Chris has made for her over the years:





OK. Fred needs to get some sleep, so I need to scoot.

Hope your weekend is a blessed one!

Sending my love,
Tara B.

Baby is here.
Knee surgery is over.
So much to celebrate!

Don’t you think it’s time for another WIN FREE STUFF FROM THE BARTHELS GIVEAWAY?! Sounds like fun to me.

(Plus, I only need 25 more of you 1,000+ weekly readers to follow my blog on FaceBook to be able to have content pulled every HOUR, so that’s another motivation. )

Here’s the scoop / lawyerly-Tara-fine-print details for how you can win one free copy of my video series ("Living the Gospel in Relationships"):

1. SIGN UP to follow this blog ("Considerable Grace") on Facebook;

2. Leave a COMMENT ON THIS POST by 5PM (Mtn) Sunday, August 23 letting me know you’ve done so; and

3. CHECK BACK by Sunday, August 30 to see if you’ve won and if you have, make sure I have your mailing address. (If I don’t have your mailing address by August 30, I’ll choose another winner.)

(Or, in the alternative, if you ALREADY follow this blog on FaceBook, just leave a comment on this post by 8/23 and check back by 8/30 and I’ll enter you in the drawing too. No way I would want to fail to include you in the fun!)

Hope this is a blessing to you, dear blog friends.

Back to resting now—

Yours,
Tara B.

PS
Just to remind you ... I HATE SPAM and I will never, NEVER give your contact information to ANYONE or bug you with garbage emails. So even if (like me!) you hate to enter drawings and giveaways because you guard your email address/contact information carefully, you really can enter without fear. No one will ever see your contact information except Fred and me. Well, and Ella if she peeks over her Maya Wrap.

PPS
I am still VERY fuzzy from my pain meds, so if these instructions don’t make sense or I need to clarify something, would one of you pretty please let me know? Thanks much!

PPSS
Since we only had 7 people signed up as of Friday, I went ahead and extended the drawing by one week. More fun for more people that way, I hope.

PPPSSS
It’s Wednesday now and to sweeten the pot a bit and tempt the last NINE PEOPLE I need to follow this blog ("Considerable Grace") on Facebook, I’m adding in this OPTION:

If your name is drawn this Sunday (Aug 23) and you win the prize, you can CHOOSE either my video series ("Living the Gospel in Relationships") OR The Peacemaker Small Group Study.

I know that most of you already HAVE my study, so I thought this might encourage you to sign up. And if you already have both? Maybe you can share the series with a friend, pastor, or missionary?

Hope this is a blessing to you!

I’m excited that we’re only NINE people away from our goal! Hooray!

"Ann" (who posted a comment on June 27) won the free books!

Please, Ann, email me your shipping address by July 10. If I don’t hear from you by then, I’ll pick another name.

Thanks, all!

Yours,
Tara B.

Just a reminder that you only have two more days to enter to WIN FREE BOOKS and/or take advantage of our HUGE SALE on my women’s study materials.

Both offers will come down at midnight (Mtn), June 30, 2009. And while I assume that I’ll give away more free stuff in the future (because I love to do so!), I can’t imagine that I’ll EVER have permission to sell the women’s study for these prices EVER AGAIN.

So please don’t miss out if you’re planning to participate!

How fun!

In addition to having the joy of ENDORSING Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson’s new book, now I get to GIVE YOU A FREE COPY too!

Counsel from the Cross: Connecting Broken People to the Love of Christ

And since I love to give away Christ-exalting, biblical and practical resources, how about if I give you a free copy of Nancy Guthrie’s new book too?

Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow

Just leave a comment by midnight (Mtn), June 30, 2009 and we’ll draw one name at random to receive the free books.

Here’s the fine print ... (I’m such a lawyer ...)

- Please be sure that I have some way to reach you or check back on July 1 to see if you’ve won.

- You can share your contact information with me with confidence because I HATE SPAM and I will never give your contact information to ANYONE.

- If I can’t reach the winner by July 10, I’ll give the books to the next name drawn.

And also please note that our HUGE SALE on my Women’s DVD Study ("Living the Gospel in Relationships") will end at the exact same time (midnight, June 30). So if you’d like to save BIG BUCKS and have FREE USA SHIPPING too, please be sure to get your order in by June 30.

Hope you enjoy the free books!

G'nite and God bless,
Tara B.

PS
Unlike the really popular/big-name blogs, I hardly ever have ANYONE enter my little drawings for free stuff. So if you do leave a comment and join in the fun, you have a very high likelihood of winning. I think our last giveaway only had like 20 entries. Pretty good odds for winning free books! I really hope they bless whoever gets them. Love & blessings — tkb

PPS
Wasn’t it kind of Ed Welch to give this winsome endorsement of my video series?

"Here is a one-stop guide for relationships. It is filled with Scripture. It will point you to Jesus at every opportunity. It is very practical. And Tara’s style makes it uniquely for women. As a man, I might not seem authorized to recommend something by a woman and for women, but I appeal to my years of being surrounded by women – a wife, then two daughters, and now a granddaughter. Tara speaks clearly to them, and I’m sure she doesn’t mind that I learned some things, and felt some conviction, as I sneaked around watching the videos." —Ed Welch, faculty and counselor at CCEF

Congratulations, Chrissy D! You won our free stuff giveaway!

Please drop me an email to confirm your mailing address ("Contact Tara" tab at the top of my website) and I’ll have your goodies right out to you.

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your counsel with my friend and me.

I just learned that a friend of mine is leaving her (beloved) church to join a new one that is significantly closer to her home. No conflicts or theological disagreements, just a great opportunity to save a ton of driving while still remaining in the same denomination, involved in the same outreach and mercy ministries, etc.

Her question for me was something to the effect of, “How do I make this move in the most loving and gracious way so as to AVOID causing any conflicts?”

She asked if I had any personal experience, recommended articles/books, advice, etc. And I thought that this question sounded like a great one for YOU ALL, my wonderful blog readers. (I still can’t really believe that there are 1,000+ of you a WEEK! But those are the stats anyway. Wow!)

If you have just a few minutes, would you please share your thoughts/counsel? I am interested in hearing from everyone, of course, but particularly from church leaders who have had the OPPOSITE happen (someone leaves and CAUSES a lot of hurt/conflict) ... how can we learn from the past and do better in the future?

Thanks, friends!

Oh–and if it helps to entice you, how about if I throw in a little INCENTIVE? If you leave a comment with advice/thoughts on this topic by 5PM (Mtn.) Sunday night, May 10, I’ll enter your name in a drawing for ALL OF THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES:

- Women’s Ministry in the Church (by Ligon Duncan & Susan Hunt)

- The Peacemaker (by Ken Sande)

- Judy’s and my book (Peacemaking Women)

- One set of ALL SEVEN of my individual audio CDs

- A bunch of CCEF booklets on various topics

Sound like fun? We’ve haven’t had a giveaway for awhile ... let me send you FREE STUFF! (Plus I really would like to hear your counsel.)

Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom—

Yours,
Tara B.

PS
Don’t forget that I NEVER share your name/email/contact information with ANYONE. So if you enter this drawing, you don’t have ANY risk of SPAM coming from our family.

Fred and I just did a little random-number-generation and Kathy W. is our WINNER of FREE biblical peacemaking materials from the women’s leadership conference where I am currently speaking.

I’ll drop Kathy an email now to let her know–but please note that I might not get to email the rest of you until after my service at the NEXT conference is over and I (Lord willing!) make it home around 1AM Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Congratulations, Kathy!

And much love to all–

Yours,
Tara B.

Congratulations, Pat MacG!

Using the random number generator from random.org, you won the free marriage materials!

Please just drop me an email with your contact information/mailing address and I’ll have them in the mail to you tomorrow – oops, Monday is a Federal holiday – so, Tuesday.

Hope they are a blessing to you!

Love,
Tara B.

Just a quick note to remind you that you can still enter our little GIVEAWAY for free marriage materials–but you have to leave a comment by midnight tomorrow, Valentine’s Day (2/14/09):

Leave a Comment HERE to Win Free Stuff!

Only 20 or so people have entered, so you have a HIGH likelihood of winning. And I NEVER give your contact information to ANYONE–so why not enter?

Hope it’s a blessing to you.

Your friend,
Tara B.

A very honorable woman just returned a brand-new copy of When Sinners Say I Do: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage to me (because she was accidentally sent two copies), and rather than hold onto it, I thought I’d give it away to one of you in a giveaway!

Plus, in addition to the book, I’ll add in my two marriage audio CD teachings: “Mediating the Miserable Christian Marriage” and “But How Can I Submit When I Know He’s Wrong?!”

(Yes, yes, the titles might not be initially appealing ... but if you’ve ever tried to help a couple that loves the Lord, loves their children, and HATES EACH OTHER, you’ll relate to the first one. And I’ve never done a church intervention, marriage mediation, or even just visited with a large group of people for very long without the second question coming up. Of course, submission is not a gender issue–men are called to submit to authority too. So the principles apply both ways.)

Are you interested in learning more about how the gospel applies proactively (to engaged couples and happily married couples)? AND how the gospel helps when we are going through hard seasons and facing difficult (DIFFICULT!) challenges?

All you have to do is leave a comment below by midnight, Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2009).

(Sure, you COULD say something encouraging if you wanted to, but it’s not necessary. )

Oh! And to all of your hundreds and hundreds of lurkers–wouldn’t this be a great time to DE-LURK and join in our happy little “we comment on Tara’s blog” family? We’d love to meet you.

(There’s your shout-out, Pat from Georgia! Thanks for de-lurking at my event last weekend. You blessed my socks off.)

Back to my zillion loads of laundry–

Love and blessings,
Tara B.

Just a quick note to let you know that I drew another name for our Radical Womanhood giveaway (because I never received a mailing address from one of the people).

So Jessie V., be on the lookout for your free book!

Don’t forget, you have until midnight today to leave a comment on THIS POST and sign up for a FREE Trudy Poirier CD!

Oh–and if you want your CD faster, please take 30 seconds and email me your mailing address.

(Really. Pretty please send me your address. I have thousands of names and emails that I try very hard to keep straight–even though only a handful of you actually comment on this blog, 1,300+ people visit every single week–so if you want your CD, please don’t say, “Tara’s given me TONS of free stuff over the years, I’m SURE she has my address.” Just drop me a quick note with your mailing address. This will make us BOTH happier. )

Thanks, friends!

Yours,
Tara B.

Would you like a free copy of Trudy Poirier’s audio CD, “Living the Gospel in Relationships”? (This is the CD that accompanied the original version of my DVD series.)

Just leave a comment by midnight on this Friday (December 19, 2008 ) and I’ll have them in the mail to you next week. Trudy is sharing some copies to give away too–so please accept this little gift from the two of us.

Happy Wednesday!

Yours,
Tara B.

Rather than that fancy-schmancy-random-number-generator-thingy that Joe recommended, we decided to practice CUTTING. So I printed off all of the comments and Sophie cut them into strips.



Then we chose seven names–and happily, 6 of you wanted “Radical Womanhood” and 1 wanted “Running Scared.”

(Hmmmm ... doesn’t sound very random. But I promise it was!)

Here are the winners:

Running Scared: Anita T

Radical Womanhood: Lauri, Marcia, Megan, Diana, Susan J, Emily

All winners? PLEASE be sure to EMAIL YOUR ADDRESS TO ME (even if you’re “SURE” I already have it).

I’ll send out “Running Scared” and one copy of “Radical Womanhood” today and the other five copies as soon as I receive them from Moody.

Thanks, everyone, for participating! I loved hearing from you all.

Happy Saturday!

Yours,
Tara B.

How fun!!

Our dear, wonderful RadicalWomanhood author Carolyn McCulley read about my little giveaway and wanted to join in the fun–so she has donated an additional five copies of her book to be given away.

6 free copies to be given away! All you have to do is leave a COMMENT.

Thanks, Carolyn (& Moody press too)!

Happily,
Tara B.

Well THIS is fun! I love getting to share great books with people ... so howabout another GIVEAWAY?

This time for Ed Welch’s (WONDERFUL!) book, Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest.

Just leave a comment between now and midnight (Mtn. time) Friday, November 7 and make sure that I have some way of contacting you. We’ll generate a random number, pick a winner, and send this great book on its way to a happy new owner.

(And don’t forget–I will NEVER give your personal information to ANYONE, so you can join my FREE STUFF GIVEAWAYS with no worries about SPAM or junk mail.)

Happy Saturday to you all! Ours started with a family jaunt through Sophie’s baby book (in bed) and Saturday Cereal–Lucky Charms! (in bed). Sweet on so many levels.

Blessings,
Tara B.

Do you remember my rave about Carolyn McCulley’s new book?

Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World

Well ... I was surprised and blessed to receive an author’s copy from her publisher today. And since I’ve already purchased my own copy (and devoured it), I thought I would offer it to you guys!

Just leave a comment between now and midnight (Mtn. time) Friday, November 7 and make sure that I have some way of contacting you. We’ll generate a random number, pick a winner, and send this great book on its way to a happy new owner.

(And thanks again, Carolyn, for your ministry!)

Happy Commenting!

Yours,
Tara B.

PS
Fred wanted me to ask you to leave some interesting note in your comment like “one thing you like most about being a woman”. But I responded that what would my legions of male readers do? (All three of them. Including Fred.) He said, “They could say one thing that THEY like about women.” But I thought that could get a little personal, so please feel free to just leave a hello.

BTW–If you asked for one of my Free Favorite CCEF Booklets and haven’t yet received it, you should drop me an email and let me know. I sent them a long time ago and some of you didn’t confirm your address with me so I might not have had a current address for you.

(Hint, hint if your first initial is an “M” and you live in Texas because I just received your booklet back in the mail today as having a wrong address. Oops! Please email me your address and I’ll resend.)

Just as a little FYI–in general, I don’t track snail-mail addresses for y'all because I just can’t imagine our family having enough $$$ to ever do a “real mail” mailing. I just keep your email addresses in our little family address book (NEVER to be shared with ANYONE of course!) ... so even if I’ve sent you things in the past, if you want to actually receive something from me and I say, “Please make sure I have your mailing address,” I mean it.

Must scoot now! Big ol' writing project due today and there are only a few more hours in today left.

Blessings!
– Tara B.

I have a number of copies of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation ("CCEF") booklet:

Pleasure (by David Powlison)

... and I’d like to give them away FOR FREE to YOU!

All you have to do is leave a comment letting me know you’re interested by midnight Saturday (August 16), and I’ll pop a copy in the mail to you. (Oh! You might want to be sure that I have your snail-mail address too. You can email it to me at info@tarabarthel.com.)

Let me tempt you with just a snippet from the notes I took as I was reading this rich, encouraging, and convicting booklet:

"Have you ever heard this? “The Christian life is a wonderful union between duty and desire.” True! But too often, we hear this as, “Do what you are supposed to do and by the way enjoy it!" But pure pleasure was created “very good” and pleasure is being recreated by Jesus as “very, very good.”

Remember the distinction between INNOCENT pleasures and GUILTY pleasures:

INNOCENT PLEASURES
- What gives you pure and simple pleasure?
- What truly refreshes you?
- What helps you to lay your cares down and get a fresh perspective on life?
- What enables you to step back into the business and hardship of life with a new joy?

The innocent pleasures come because the greatest pleasure—God himself—is in his rightful place. Innocent pleasures don’t pretend to save you or protect you. They don’t promise you meaning and identity in life.

Innocent pleasures don’t take life’s fragility, pain, frustration, disappointment, and uncertainty and wash them away. They are not the giver of every good and perfect gift; they are just gifts you enjoy.

GUILTY PLEASURES
- Leave a residue; an oily stain
- Contain a quality of obsession, residual guilt or anxiety
- Recreations bring disappointment
- Amusements tend to hijack you—promising to make you feel good, but then failing

Guilty pleasures often arise as a restless escape from troubles; something in life is hard and we want a break. Guilty pleasures promise good things but never deliver them; they leave you with queasy feelings.

There are three broad categories that tempt you towards the guilty pleasures:

1. You are bored, lonely, with nothing to do.
2. You are stressed, frustrated and worn out.
3. You are hurt, betrayed, and treated unfairly. Perhaps you’ve lost someone or something you loved.

These temptations tend to lead us away from innocent pleasures to the stained and guilty ones. We grab for anything that will protect, soothe, comfort, or save us.

The crucial question is ...

And I’ll leave you there!

Don’t you want to read the end?

Our family’s gift to you all (until I run out, that is)! Just be sure to leave a comment by midnight Saturday.

Happy Tuesday!

With love,
Tara B.

Congratulations Megan, Jenny, and Kirsten! You won!

I’m going to go pack up two DVD series to send to Megan & Jenny. (Megan are you still at the same address–that starts out “406A ...”?? I looked on the link you sent me but couldn’t find a real/snail-mail address.)

Kirsten–what would you like? If you email me REALLY fast, your goodies will go out today. Otherwise, I’ll ship on the 24th.

Love to all!

Yours,
Tara B.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I was blessed last weekend in Florida to meet a woman who said that she enjoys this blog–but her name was not familiar to me. (She had never yet left a comment.)

I thought of her this morning when Karen left her “Hi, Tara! I met you at an event a few years ago / just wanted to say hello!” comment and I wondered ... How many more “lurkers” are out there??!!

(A blog “lurker” is someone who READS but never leaves a comment on a blog.)

Lurkers are ALWAYS WELCOME!! But since I just received a HUGE order for lots of copies of my DVD Series & Study Guide (fun!) ... I have to go to the post office tomorrow anyway ...

So howabout we give away some free stuff?

You don’t even have to review my book on Amazon.com (although that would SOOOOOOO bless me if you would!) ...

All you have to do is leave a COMMENT on this post BY NOON TOMORROW (6/12/08, Mountain Standard Time).

(Nothing fancy. Just say, “Hi!” if you’d like.)

I’ll draw out three names and send you whatever resource I currently have that you might like. (Books? “When Sinners Say I Do”, "Depression–A Stubborn Darkness," “Peacemaking Women.” Any of my CDs (biblical hope for women with powerful personalities, peacemaking for preschoolers & their mothers, etc.). Hey! If you talk me into it, I’ll even consider sending the $20 5-CD Set or $50 DVD Series. I’m a soft touch. )

OR, if you prefer, I’d be happy to get you a Peacemaker Ministries resource too:

- Peculiar People DVD of The Peacemaking Parables
- Peacemaker Workbook (or Husband & Wife version of the Peacemaker Workbook)
- Memory Stick (super cool resource to help you with your peacemaker memory verses)
- Young Peacemaker (parent & student)
- The Peacemaker, The Peacemaking Pastor, The Student (Teen!) Edition of the Peacemaker

Please let our family bless you! I LOVE giving away free stuff.

I’ll draw names right at noon tomorrow, pack up your goodies, and send 'em off before we hit the road.

Hope to hear from a few of you who have thought in the past, “I could never leave a comment!” To quote my daughter, “You can do it! You can do it! PERSEVERE!”

OK. No more procrastinating. Back to work now.

Love and blessings,
Tara B.

I’m just about to box up my 5-CD sets ("Women and Peacemaking–A Journey of Grace") and send them off.

But I still have a few copies available. Wouldn’t you like to send them to a missionary or friend or donate a set to your local Crisis Pregnancy Center or Homeless Shelter?

Well ... all you have to do is review “Peacemaking Women” on Amazon.com.

The first 12 of you who do so and who drop me an email so that I know where to send your gift will get a totally free 5-CD Retreat Set. Our family will even pay the shipping!

Sound like fun?

I hope you’ll consider writing a review. For most of the 30 women who have already reviewed our book, it was the VERY first time they’d ever done something like that. They were brave! And I think they’d all tell you that it only took a few minutes and it wasn’t even scary.

“Peacemaking Women” is regularly holding in the Top 10 or Top 20 “Christian Counseling” books on Amazon. (This is a great privilege!) And I know that customer reviews greatly help people who are evaluating books–especially from unknown authors like Judy and me.

So THANKS and I hope you win a free CD set!

Love ya lots,
Tara B.

I’m just about to box up my 5-CD sets ("Women and Peacemaking–A Journey of Grace") and send them off.

But I still have a few copies available. Wouldn’t you like to send them to a missionary or friend or donate a set to your local Crisis Pregnancy Center or Homeless Shelter?

Well ... all you have to do is review “Peacemaking Women” on Amazon.com.

The first 12 of you who do so and who drop me an email so that I know where to send your gift will get a totally free 5-CD Retreat Set. Our family will even pay the shipping!

Sound like fun?

I hope you’ll consider writing a review. For most of the 30 women who have already reviewed our book, it was the VERY first time they’d ever done something like that. They were brave! And I think they’d all tell you that it only took a few minutes and it wasn’t even scary.

“Peacemaking Women” is regularly holding in the Top 10 or Top 20 “Christian Counseling” books on Amazon. (This is a great privilege!) And I know that customer reviews greatly help people who are evaluating books–especially from unknown authors like Judy and me.

So THANKS and I hope you win a free CD set!

Love ya lots,
Tara B.

(THIS IS REVISED AS OF WED. MORNING! I added another way to enter.)

OK, I think it’s WAY overdue time-wise for me to GIVE AWAY SOME FREE STUFF!

- I have a few biblical peacemaking resources that someone might like ...

- A TOTAL steal on a TJ Lynde painting has JUST come my way from his ebay store ...

- AND I have a bunch of new CDs too!

(Plus ... honestly? I really want to see some NEW REVIEWS for our book and also some CURRENT DATES on our PeaceGals Discussion Area. I’m sick of seeing posts on the main page from like 2005 ... OK, not really. There are actually some cool new posts on there! But before we do our big “DVD PROJECT IS DONE” mailing, I’d love to see a little ministry/encouragement/helping-ness on there. Might actually bless some people! )

So here’s the scoop:

1. Start a new conversation OR post a new REPLY on PeaceGals; AND/OR

2. Review our book, Peacemaking Women, over on Amazon.com (don’t be afraid! you can do it! even if you’ve never reviewed anything on Amazon, I know you can do it!); AND

3. Email me to let me know (AND to be sure I have your contact information)

... and you could win an original TJ Lynde painting OR some peacemaking materials OR even some groovy Tara CD’s (why does that last one sound like the consolation prize??? ).

Let’s run this thing for a WEEK, shall we?

Post a new discussion or comment by MIDNIGHT, SATURDAY 2/9/08 (and email to let me know!) and you’re in the drawing.

The fine print:

- Of course, I will NEVER give your name or contact information to ANYONE.

- Post as many discussions or comments as you’d like, but I’ll only enter your name UP TO TEN TIMES, OK? (So if you do eleven posts/comments, you’re only entered ten times.)

- I couldn’t care less if you’ve won something from me in the past ... COME ON IN! The water’s warm! Enter again and hopefully you’ll win something.

- Who knows? If we don’t get much action, I may even let you PICK the resource you’d like. (I can get most of the Peacemaker resources at a significant discount, so this could be a big win for you and/or your church if I buy you the exact one you want!)

Hope this is a blessing to you all. I truly appreciate you!

Happy day from this Home-in-Montana-Momma,
Tara B.

PS
I’m going to try to remember to keep moving this to the current day ... so please know that I originally posted it on Saturday night (2/2), but I’ll try to have it new on each day this week. If I remember.

I ordered some crafts for our church’s little pre-K co-op class and one of the items was actually a “grab bag” of a TON of little crafts.

I’ve combed through them for the ones that I think are appropriate for pre-K (lots of gluing involved!) and I’m left with six or so SETS (most make 10 or 12 items) of crafts that make ornaments, beads on pins, cross-stitch ... or are just too detailed/small for pre-k children.

I’d be happy to throw them in a box and ship them off to any of you if you think they might be fun for your Sunday school class, group, or just for bigger kid playdates. (Maybe they could keep your children occupied AND provide a ministry for them for Advent–giveaways to nursing homes, homeless shelter, etc??)

Just email me and let me know!

Happy Tuesday,
Tara B.

Hooray for #1731 on my little poor-man's-software-ADDRESS-spreadsheet! That randomly chosen number means that MARTHA F. from my women’s event this past weekend wins a PRIZE.

'Course I’m not home so I can’t send anything out until next week ...

But congrats & I promise to ship you something as soon as we get back to Montana.

Love ya,
Tara B.

OK–I know it’s a silly little thing ... but I am REALLY wishing that even just two or three of you would take FIVE minutes and pop on over to Amazon.com and review my book, “Peacemaking Women.”

We’ve been holding at only 21 reviews for a LONG time now ...
And if any of you think our little tome is, well, fairly decent or even OK, it would be GREAT to have your comments in the review section.

I’d be happy to BRIBE you if there is some peacemaking resource you’d like that I have! Please just email me and let me know.

(Oh–but of course I don’t mean bribe you for a “good review” ... whatever your honest review, I’d just bribe you for your time. )

OK. Back to work!

Love ya,
Tara B.

Just a quick note to send my THANKS and LOVE to all of the women of Mountain View Community Church for the wonderful conference this past weekend!

I am hoping to send out an email this week to you (and to my Florida ladies from last week too! sorry I’ve been so delayed with that ...) and I truly hope that we will stay in touch.

By the way–after I entered all of your names into my little spreadsheet, Fred picked #1680 for the prize ... so congratulations to T.R. for winning the peacemaking stuff! If I don’t get your prize mailed off before I leave for North Carolina on Thursday, I promise to do it ASAP next week.

Eek! What a week.
(Oops–didn’t mean to rhyme that.)

One day at a time, right?
The Lord is good and mighty! And He is to be praised.

God bless!
– Tara B.

Well ... I emailed Fred from (Minnesota? Michigan? Florida?) ... somewhere yesterday and asked him to pick a number between 1616 and 1663 and THAT person on my little (poor man’s database) Excel spreadsheet would win, you know, THE PRIZE for my Florida event this past weekend.

And Melissa B., YOU WON!

(In case you’re curious, you were #1644. !!)

So, Melissa B. from Florida ... if you have any “I wish I had a ...[specific peacemaking resource]” desire, please let me know ASAP. Otherwise, Lord willing, I’ll pop something (biblical & practical!) in the mail to you before I leave for California Thursday morning.

(Oooooooh! I love giving stuff away!)

Thanks again, Florida gals!
I was blessed to get to be with you all–

Yours,
Tara B.

PS
Here is a super fun photo of one of the Florida event hosts (Nancy L.) and me ...

UPDATE! Everything is gone. ZIP ZIP ZIP! I posted and it went bye-bye. How FUN is THAT?! I’m definitely going to do this again when I’m cleaning out my books and teaching tapes/CDs in the future. (And you know I will be! )

I had a lovely day of cleaning/organizing today and I thought I’d offer some of my old, but excellent, training materials on Christian conciliation to the first person who says they would like 'em.

If you’re interested, please just email me your snail-mail address and I’ll pop ‘em in a box and send ’em on their way. (Oh–and I’d REALLY like to just send them all out as a GROUP so that I don’t have to package up individual boxes over and over again. If you’d like ‘em and you’re the first person to write me and ask for the conciliation materials, you get ’em all.)

These are a combination of audiotapes and CDs:

- Christlike Dialogue (J. Rosenau)
- From the Inside Out: Reflections of a Party in a Christian Conciliation Dispute (R. DiCianni)
- Marriage and Divorce Conciliation in the Church (K. Sande)
- Understanding the Legal Issues of Divorce (C. Gans)
- Dynamics of Polity in Church Conflict (D. Reiter)
- God Will Judge Men’s Secrets as the Gospel Declares / No Condemnation (A. Poirier)
- Conciliation in Sexual Abuse Cases (P. Tripp & K. Sande)
- How to Apply Scripture Effectively in Conflict (E. Welch)
- Spiritual Disciplines of a Conciliator (D. Reiter)
- Building Bridges Not Walls (J. Rosenau)
- A Blindness that Begs for Jesus' Touch (A. Poirier)
- Writing Arbitration Decisions (B. Bowdre)

Oh–and I also found some great WIC (Women in the Church–my denomination’s women’s ministry) CD’s that I thought someone might like too. (I’d like to keep these as a GROUP too, so the first person who emails me and asks for the WIC materials gets 'em all.):

- Evangelistic Bible Studies (D. Balch)
- Titus 2 Ministries (S. Hunt)
- Biblical Philosophy of Women’s Bible Study (S. Hunt)
- Knowing Scripture Inside and Out (C. Ruvolo)
- The Heart of a Teacher (B. Juliani)

(And I’ll throw in a CD of the Book of Romans as read/narrated by Max McLean on the Book of Romans from the ESV.)

First come, first served!

I hope these materials will find a nice home somewhere.

Love to all!

Yours,
Tara B.

UPDATE! Everything is gone. ZIP ZIP ZIP! I posted and it went bye-bye. How FUN is THAT?! I’m definitely going to do this again when I’m cleaning out my books and teaching tapes/CDs in the future. (And you know I will be! )

E.G. has won the $99 Peacemaker Group Study from my Tennessee event last week! Congratulations and God bless you!

Yours,
Tara B.

PS
Did anyone else have a horrible night of sleep last night? My cause was worry–which is so ungodly, I’m ashamed to even admit it. Tried to pray. Mostly just laid in bed wanting to sleep, but unable. Bummer. Now I feel BLECH heading into my day. Oh well–some days are just like that.

Good to know that this will not last forever. And hoping that you all slept MUCH better! Happy Tuesday–tkb

Just a quick note to say HELLO and THANK YOU to my Wintersburg, CA friends! I’m still amazed that you invited me back again–it was so great to be with you last year and this year too.

Thank you again for sharing your hearts and lives with me–I truly appreciate AND enjoy you all.

Also ... I wanted to remind you that if you join our online discussion board (PeaceGals!) in the next week and email me your snail-mail address to let me know, I will enter your name in a drawing for a $99 Peacemaker Group Study!

(Plus, I would just truly love the opportunity to get to stay in touch with you all.)

Thanks again for the privilege of serving–

Your sister in Christ,
Tara B.

Just a quick note to say HELLO and THANK YOU to the ladies I just met in Memphis today! It truly was a joy to be with you all.

Also ... I wanted to remind you that (since I didn’t get to bring a resource table to your event), for ONE week only, my 5-CD Retreat Set is available for only $15 and NO SHIPPING.

Also: if you join our online discussion board (PeaceGals!) in the next week and email me your snail-mail address to let me know, I will enter your name in a drawing for a $99 Peacemaker Group Study!

(Ooooooh! I love getting biblical & practical resources into the hands of women.)

Thanks again for the privilege of serving–

Your sister in Christ,
Tara B.

Congratulations “MowHouse”! You won the Hawaii event drawing for the $99 Peacemaker Group Study!

Hope you enjoy–

Yours,
Tara B.

PS
I still have some FREE copies of The Peacemaker and When People are Big and God is Small to give away! I hope that you’ll consider joining our “new & improved” PeaceGals discussion board and then email me your snail-mail address to let me know you’ve joined PeaceGals and POSTED SOMETHING. The first 10 people who join and participate will get a free book!

(Don’t forget–I NEVER give your contact information to ANYONE! I think people who do that are just awful.)

Don’t forget! All it takes to win a FREE copy of one of my all-time favorite books EVER (Ed Welch’s When People are Big and God is Small) is to join our “new & improved” PeaceGals discussion board and POST A COMMENT/QUESTION/PRAYER REQUEST/WHATEVER and then email me your snail-mail address and let me know!

AND ... to entice you even more (and hopefully get some LIFE going on the board!) ... once the 10 copies of When People are Big and God is Small are gone (as of 2:30 Thursday, they’re almost gone!), I’ll add ANOTHER giveaway for the NEXT ten who join ...

I’ll send you a FREE copy of the CLASSIC biblical peacemaking book, Ken Sande’s The Peacemaker!

(Ooooooh! I love getting biblical & practical resources into the hands of women.)

Happy Thursday–

Yours,
Tara B.

Fred and I have been working on my website, blog, and our little PeaceGals discussion board too.

I just finished an hour of CATEGORIZING my blog entries. (Oh why oh WHY was I so lazy to not categorize them as I went? It takes two SECONDS to do it right the first time and a minute per entry to have to go back. UGH! What a good reminder to turn away from my habitual temptation to SLOTH.)

AND I really hope you’ll check out the “new & improved” PeaceGals discussion board!

It’s JUST getting started and we hope to do more improvements and a big “relaunch” some time this summer (when my DVDs are ready for production), but in the interim, what can I do to entice y'all to register for PeaceGals??

How about this:

(Since I know most of you already have my book and CDs) ... I’ll send a FREE copy of one of my all-time favorite books EVER, Ed Welch’s When People are Big and God is Small, to the first TEN newcomers to the board who email me their snail-mail addresses and let me know they’ve joined PeaceGals and POSTED A COMMENT/QUESTION/PRAYER REQUEST/WHATEVER.

(Don’t forget–I NEVER give your contact information to ANYONE! I think people who do that are just awful.)

Sound like fun?
I hope you’ll join PeaceGals and let your friends know too.

Happy Wednesday!
–Tara B.

Just a quick note to say hello to any of Char Binkley’s listeners who might be visiting after our radio interview this morning ... Hi & Aloha! I’m still awake (even though it’s like 4AM here) because it was so much FUN to get to be with you all.

I hope you won a copy of our book, Peacemaking Women, in Char’s giveaway!

How about a giveaway of our own?

The first three women who heard the interview this morning and email me to let me know will win a free copy of my 5-CD Women’s Retreat series.

(Oh–and I’ll NEVER give your contact information to ANYONE! I hate it when people do that. )

The women’s retreat where I am speaking starts tonight, so I think I’ll try to get a little more sleep now. (My alarm was sent for 2:45AM–how funny is that?)

God bless you all and much love to you,
Tara B.

Just a note to congratulate M.S. from Indiana–she is the latest winner of the $99 Peacemaker Group Study (for joining our discussion board).

I’m REALLY hoping to have some changes and improvements to the board soon (!!) ... sorry that it’s taken so long.

Happy Monday and love to you all!

Yours,
Tara B.

Hey Pennsylvania! I did your DRAWING for the $99 Peacemaker Group Study and S.G. won!
Hooray!

!!

I hope that we continue to hear from ladies in South Carolina! I’ll do their drawing next Monday morning–so be sure to join our discussion board and email me by then if you’d like to be included.

I’m ALMOST home right now. One more flight.
I’m actually sitting in COLORADO because my second of three flights was canceled and I was re-routed on a different airline through different cities. Ahhhhh–air travel.

Hope you’re all doing well!
Oh–and THANK YOU for the encouraging blog comments you’ve posted in the past few days. They were incredibly encouraging to me when I got home from the dvd taping last night. I was tired (but happy). Content (but eager to be home). And all of your words were truly a BALM for my heart.

Love to you!
God bless you–

Yours,
Tara B.

THANK YOU to all of the wonderful Pennsylvania (and other east coast state) ladies who hosted me this weekend! I was truly blessed to be with you all and I do hope that we will stay in touch via the (hopefully soon to be revamped/improved) discussion board.

If you decide to join the board in the next week–please be sure to drop me an email and let me know so that I can enter you in the drawing for a $99 Peacemaker Ministries Group Study.

We just went for a family walk with Sophie on her bigwheel.
Grace abounds!

Love to all,
Tara B.

Just a note to congratulate R.C. from VA for winning the $99 Peacemaker Group Study for joining our discussion board and emailing me.

And also to let R.C. AND the two reviewers who reviewed my book on Amazon know that their goodies are en route.

Don’t forget! The next EIGHT women who review my book on Amazon can have a prize too! Fun fun. I love giving away free / good / biblical stuff.

Happy Wednesday, all!

Yours,
Tara B.

Ooooooooh! THANKS so much to the two reviewers who already reviewed my book on Amazon. How fun to hear from you both! Please be sure I have your snail-mail address if you’d like one of the prizes.

(And remember! The next EIGHT women who review my book on Amazon can have a prize too! Fun fun. I love giving away free / good / biblical stuff.)

And thanks to the TWO women from my Virginia event who have already joined our discussion board and emailed me. If no one else joins and emails me, you each have a 50% chance to win the $99 Peacemaker Group Study! Now THOSE odds are definitely better than the lottery, eh?

I hope you’re all having a great Friday. I’m cranking–overwhelmed by the size of the task, but resting in God’s grace.

Sophie prayed for me TWICE this morning:

"Please, God, help mommy to get her big project done."
“Please help her, God.”
And when Fred prayed for me, my little muffin-tater said a quiet, “Yes, Jesus!” as he asked God for help for me too.

Now THAT’S a great way to start the day!

Blessings to you–in Christ our Hope,
Tara B.

Hooray! Hooray!

At long last, Amazon.com has (finally!) added the “Search Inside” feature to our book, Peacemaking Women.

I’m psyched and I hope it is a blessing to people.

Hey–to celebrate ... how about a little giveaway?

The next TEN people who review my book on Amazon.com AND email me to let me know can have their pick of a THANK YOU GIFT:

1) One of my 5-CD Retreat Sets;
2) A copy of Ken Sande’s book, The Peacemaker; OR
3) All three of my other CD’s (Oceans of Emotions–Effectively Ministering Peace to Women; Healing the Conflicts Between Mothers & Daughters; and The Grace of God that Brings Shalom (my testimony)/A Woman of Peace Amidst Holiday Strife.

Sound like fun?

I hope to see your reviews soon!

Thanks friends and God bless–

Yours,
Tara B.

Hello to all of my new friends in Texas! And thanks again for granting me the privilege of serving at your event this weekend.

I hope that you’ll consider joining our online discussion board.

Remember! Everyone from your event who joins by next Monday (11/20) and emails me to let me know, will be entered in a drawing for a $99 Peacemaker Group Study.

Fun stuff!
Hope you’ll participate!

With love and blessings,
Tara B.