Surprised by Worship, Not Snow (A Giveaway)
Y’all are some thoughtful girls. Just loved reading your responses about the things God is working out in your hearts and the fabulous books you are reading to prepare your mind for some action in 2011.
Which is a perfect segue into my telling you about yet one more book that I’ve had for a while and haven’t yet mentioned. It’s called Surprised by Worship by Travis Cottrell. (You may have heard of him. He leads worship for this chick named Beth that I hear is a decent Bible teacher.) His marketing group sent this book to me a couple months ago and truth is, I just got busy and didn’t read it for a while. But as God frequently proves, His timing is always right on and it turns out I was able to work through the theme of this book during a season I needed it most.
Travis talks about worship and how we find it in the most unexpected places. How we can learn to praise when the thing didn’t turn out like we had hoped. How we can not freak the freak out while we are waiting on Him. How we can trust God’s good thoughts toward us when the future feels incredibly uncertain. And perhaps the most important thing, the bursting forth of joy that comes when we finally catch up to the place where God has gone before us.
The part of the book that resonated with me the most is Travis and Angela’s processing of the call as worship pastor at a church in Jackson, TN. I laughed out loud when he talked about the ‘coincidental’ things that confirmed the oughtness of their pursuing this mode of ministry because Luke and I totally get how God does. He’s just hilarious up there laughing when He gets to toss out some random thing that means nothing to anyone but us. Ain’t nothing like having an inside joke with Jesus.
So as my first little gift to you in 2011, I have a copy of Travis’ book that is up for grabs. Simply leave a comment telling us if you are getting any snow right now. Our schools are already cancelled and we haven’t seen the first flake. We might be surprised by worship but no Severe Winter Weather will be catching me without bread and milk. Or orange sherbert ice cream and a box of sugar cones.
I’ll leave the post open until Wednesday and announce a winner Thursday.
Good luck!!
Not getting any snow but it sure feels cold enough for some! I remember reading Travis’ blog awhile back about him writing a book. Didn’t know it was out yet so if I don’t win, I think I’m headed to the bookstore to pick it up!
We are not getting snow, but are under a Sever Winter Weather alert. our schools are closed tomorrow (Monday) because they are predicting ice on the roads. Very much appreciated since I am a teacher!! :)
i’e been meaning to read the book, so I would love to get the chance to win it!
~Sarah
No snow yet here in SE Ga. but school’s cancelled so that’s all that really matters! And yes I went to the store to get the staples, milk, cheez its, cheese dip and chips, dr. pepper. Don’t judge, there’s a BCS championship game and we can’t be without proper football watching snacks!!
Love you!
Nothing. Not yet, anyway. yesterday, the forecasters spoke of sleet today. I spread the news like high school gossip. And nothing.
But we’ve had rain off and so who knows? The weather is as unpredictable as the times we live in.
It would be so AWESOME to have that book to read should a winter storm hit soon. ;)
Hi Lisa,
Supposed to snow here Wednesday, but the low tonight should be about 2 degrees……………brrrr
Thanks,
karen :)
No snow here in San Diego….definitely wish I had some :)
Very little here in central IL….and none in the forecast. A bummer deal for this Minnesota girl!
No snow here in Florida :( though it is getting rather cold here.
We’re in Florida visiting my husband’s family. The plan was to leave tomorrow morning and head home to Pennsylvania, but with the pending snow storm we may stay another day or so…did I mention I was at my in-laws? Pray for me. :)
Girl, it is snowing so hard here! And we’re only an hour or two away from you. We already have more in an hour on the back deck than we got all of Christmas Day!
Kids are ecstatic.
Girl we are GETTING SOME SNOW here in Atlanta! It is coming fast and hard :) I was almost tempted to wake the 4 year old up and go play in it at 11:00 tonight but my husband stopped me!
We will be getting snow any second now! Supposed to get a foot of it! Whooppppiiiiiieeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have some snow on the ground, but none coming down as of right now. :)
No snow yet. Flurries likely tonight, but snow south of us. Snow north of us tomorrow, but only an inch or two for us is likely:( If it’s gonna be this cold, I’d prefer the snow!
Cold enough for snow, but only days and days of fog. The fog finally lifted today and we had a sunny but still very cold day.
No snow here in NC yet. It is suppose to start tonight.
I was going to buy his book but I will try to win it. ;)
Yes, we are getting snow, so much so that everything is closed and even the interstate is a white mess. The Smokies, another foot of snow today. Thinking I need to head to Gatlinburg to ski. lol
Miss you and love you,
Patty
Yes ‘mam….Texas has an official snowday today:)
Yep!! Several inches on the ground here in PA…..we actually just got back from visiting family in FL…talk about a shock to the system! =)
I’m in Trussville, AL and right now the sleet and snow have stopped but we are iced in. Well, iced in by Alabama standards. All the major roads and highways have been shut down! So weird for our state! Great giveaway!
No snow here… south Texas. We got some much needed rain, but the white stuff stays away from here as much as possible!
The Mississippi Delta has snow and lots of it! Snow Day today…this teacher is enjoying her day off!!
I’ve been wanting this book for awhile!
No snow here in Central Florida.. it’s gonna be 78 degrees today!!
~C
It’s Monday morning, school is cancelled, and we have about 6-7″ here. It’s like God’s version of fluffy frosting! All of us bundled up and went outside at midnight, with the dogs, and ran around in the snow for an hour. Wonderful!!!
Adrienne
Soggy but not snowy in windy west Texas.
Even if I don’t win the giveaway, I totally need to add this book to my “to read” pile. I need anything that talks about “how we can not freak the freak out while we are waiting on Him!” :)
Lisa @ The Preacher's Wife Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 11:03 am
Are you a Victorious fan?? lol
SNOW has been the theme for the last month in the mountains of ETN. My kids missed a whole week of school before Christmas break started and have only gone two days since school should have resumed. Now I LOVE snow days….but Im about to get over them for a while. So many things have been cancelled that we’ll be going to school and playing basketball in July. UGH
It is what it is, so today Im thankful for another day at home and white as far as I can see. It is beautiful :)
I have read the book and loved it! My favorite part was when he talks about the LPL Lexington event. That was my first event ever, and I so vividly remember what Beth spoke on (El Olam) because I had just lost my dad. I actually lent my book to a friend and she lost it. So if I win, I’ll put it in our church library so we can both read it …LOL
Sitting here in West TN with about five inches or more of snow on the ground. Looks beautiful on the trees and piled up. The book sounds great…know someone who goes to the church where Travis just relocated…it’s about an hour and a half down the road from us. I don’t have a blog,so just in case I might be blessed enough to win, here is my email address so that you can contact me..must be prepared just in case…lol….Mary Lou dlowan1(at)comcast(dot)net
Thanks Lisa for the giveaway. Love to read your posts.Thrilled to see that you are going to be teaching the pastors wives at the conference in Jacksonville.
Blessings on your day and your ministry.
No snow here in Florida but we are getting ready for a pretty bad rain storm! I know, now quite the same…..
Blessings!
Jennifer
We have snow!! And homeschool has been canceled for the day!!! Woo-Hoo!
YES, WE HAVE SNOW IN NORTH CAROLINA! It’s really amazing because we’re good to get snow once a year where I live, much less three times! Headed out to create our very first Frosty the Snowman together and our girls can’t wait! We missed it the day after Christmas’s snowstorm so I made a promise we’d surely make him if we got anymore. WE GOT IT and a promise is a promise! ;) One Frosty coming up with a side of snow creme after lunch, brrrr! but yummy! :)
girl – we got the snow! Oh we did! And talk of more and more ice and school being closed ALL WEEK! Oh my!
We got SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! About 7 inches of it and now the sleet is falling as icing on the cake, but hopefully not on the power lines! Thankful to have power. The snow is SO beautiful and it’s amazing how God quiets everything while it snows! It’s easy to worship Him for the gorgeous sights He creates!
And the funniest thing: I was at Publix yesterday with the rest of the free world getting my bread and milk (and $200 worth of who knows what else). They were out of chicken! The whole case that usually is crammed full of every kind of chicken had only a few packages of legs left!
Love me some Travis worship too!
It is NOT currently snowing, although we have snow on the ground and we’re supposed to get absolutely WALLOPED tomorrow! I’ve got to run to Kroger now and see if there’s any milk left…..
no snow here just yet, but a chance for flurries through out the day. =0)
We have a light snowfall and a good snow covering on the ground. It is beautiful.
We are in-between snows. It snowed all day on Saturday, but only left about 3 inches on the ground, and it is supposed to snow Tuesday night into Wednesday, with an undetermined amount predicted.
We’re expecting a total of 5-7 inches in Kansas City, and the kids are out of school today. They’re expecting hot chocolate. I am totally prepared in the kitchen, but I already made a run to Target for snow boots.
Got about 6 inches here in North Georgia
In Western North Dakota, we are not getting snow this moment! The sun is even shining! But over the weekend, we got another 4-5 inches. Our city has gotten record snowfall already this winter and we’re quite tired of it!
North Little Rock, AR got about 6 inches yesterday. A day at home today!
Hi Lisa! I am brand new here and am just now reading your book and am eating it all up! Great words…I have pretty much highlighted everything so far (middle of chapter 5).
I am looking forward to connecting with the online discussion groups. I am not in the healthiest place right now (church wise and therefore emotionally and spiritually).
Regarding snow…we are in central Ohio and we are supposed to get slammed this week which I am excited about bc everything will get shut down and I should be able to get caught up in my house stuff this week. No snow right now though…
Blessings!
Michele
No school here in central Mississippi. We have a little snow, but lots of ice!!!! I have also been looking forward to reading this book. Hope I win!
Love in Christ,
Kim
No snow! :( Just some cold rain here in southern Louisiana.
No snow yet, but it is suppose to start here in IL tonight.
So…no snow in NY….some on the ground but none in the air….I was given your book yesterday at church by one of our deacons wives….I am 3/4 of the way through. I have barely put it down so needless to say my chores are waiting until tomorrow….My husband and I followed Gods calling to a worship & family pastor position mid way through 2010 and God is teaching us a ton….I know Im learning alot from your book today and im sure my husband and I could learn alot from Travis book!!! I hope to win but if not we will def. have to pick it up!!! Looking forward to following your blog…you have already been an encouragement to me!!!
We have seen snow falling all day here in our neck of SW Missouri. Schools are still in session but more snow is on the way so tomorrow may be a different story. Would love to read the new Travis Cottrell book. I’ve been looking for some new books for the new year. Thanks for the giveaway!
We had a bit of snow on this past Sat but it rained Sunday night and now it is almost gone. Not much more in the forcast for this week. Can we say Global Warming!!!!
YES! the kids made snow “cream” yesterday :). snow + milk + vanilla + suger.
We had 7 inches this morning when we measured….it has snowed off and on all day…it is beautiful, but I can already tell I will be ready to leave this mountain before the kids go back to school!!!
Anyway, here’s hoping I win the book, as the only thing I’ve ever won was $5 at a Farm Bureau meeting I attended with my grandparents when I was a little girl ;)
Big snowstorm coming tonight at midnight in Indiana!
3-6 inches will keep us home from school! Can’t wait for the call to cancel!
And you’re so right…..love those inside jokes with Jesus!