TOMORROW on Kitchen Chat: Dr. Lew Sterrett

Welcome to this week's Kitchen Chat - Be sure to tune in on Friday at 11:00AM Central! To listen, follow the link and click on the player in the upper right hand corner.

Not just for horse lovers! Join me on Thursday as I interview Dr. Lew Sterrett - a fascinating man who has been a positive influence in the lives of many through his Miracle Mountain Ranch.

ABOUT THE BOOK!
Distributed by Kregel Publications: A champion trainer and true horse whisperer, Dr. Lew Sterrett has used patience and a firm but gentle hand to earn the trust of more than 3,500 horses. In this book, Lew tells the stories of his work with these horses and the lessons each one has taught him.

Sometimes heartbreaking and often uplifting, Lew has condensed his lifetime of learning into messages for the Christian life. Today, Lew shares these messages with more than 50,000 people each year through horse training presentations at Miracle Mountain Ranch and nationally through his Sermon on the Mount Ministry.

The author's engaging style and adroit mixture of well-tested anecdotes and thoughtful instruction make this a winning read-and not just for horse lovers. Read an excerpt!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lew Sterrett (Ph. D) had little idea that his boyhood interest in horses would open doors internationally for speaking and training. During his years in 4-H, he savored many opportunities to train and show horses and earn national recognition. As a student leader at Penn State University he benefited from many mentoring relationships from which he received valuable training, experience and honors. This foundation provided a basis for an extensive horse career with a unique emphasis on training youth and community leaders.

Lew has served as the Executive Director of Miracle Mountain Ranch Missions, Inc. (MMRM) since 1977. MMRM, located in northwestern Pennsylvania, is home for a summer youth camp, and a leadership training center for youth, adult, and family groups. He has also promoted safety in public riding programs, serving as President of the Certified Horse Association for 7 years. A licensed pastor, certified Youth, Marriage and Family Counselor, he earned his PhD from North Tennessee Seminary in 2007. For more about Lew and Miracle Mountain Ranch visit his website.

Win a copy of Lew's book by leaving a comment {HERE}. We'll randomly select one winner. The winner will be notified by email, please be sure to include your email address.

TOMORROW on Kitchen Chat: Kristen Jane Anderson

I'm so excited to share my guest with you this week - she's an AMAZING woman who has radically reoriented her life to be a source of encouragement to those who have lost all hope. Kristen has shared her story on Oprah, the 700 Club, and all across the country. Her Reaching You Ministries is a vital outreach to those considering suicide. Don't miss this show!

About Kristin: Kristen Jane Anderson has been featured on Oprah and is a popular speaker at colleges, women's and youth events, churches, and suicide prevention outreaches. A graduate of Moody Bible Institute and the founder of Reaching You Ministries, Kristen seeks to help those who are hurting, hopeless, lost, suicidal and depressed.

About Life, In Spite of Me: Co-written with Tricia Goyer After her fatal choice… extraordinary hope.

Kristen Anderson thought she had the picture perfect life until strokes of gray dimmed her outlook on life. Once a happy child, Kristen’s world darkened after three friends and her grandmother died within two years. Still reeling from these losses, she was raped by a friend she thought she could trust. She soon spiraled into a depression that didn't seem to have a bottom.

One January night, the seventeen-year-old made a decision: She no longer wanted to deal with the emotional pain that smothered her. She lay down on a set of cold railroad tracks and waited—for a freight train to send her to heaven…and peace.

Amazingly, Kristen survived her suicide attempt… but the 33 freight cars that ran over her severed her legs. Now she not only had to deal with depression; she also had to face the physical pain and life without legs.

But Kristen's story didn't end there. After her darkest days Kristen discovered a real purpose for living. Now, in her compelling book Life, In Spite of Me, Kristen shares her journey from despair to hope.

Includes letters from Kristen that share messages she wishes someone would have told her—when she was depressed and struggling with loss, shame from sexual abuse, and suicidal thoughts.

To win a copy of Kristin's book leave a comment {HERE} along with your email address. One name will be drawn at random to receive Life, In Spite of Me. The winner will be announced here and be notified via email.

About Reaching You Ministries: Depression and Suicide are an epidemic in our culture today.

These are the Sad Facts:

19 million American struggle with depression and two out of three people with depression never seek help.

More than 800,000 people attempt suicide every year in America and more than 32,000 of them die. That's 89 lives lost every day!

8 out of 10 teenagers think about suicide, 1 of those 8 tries. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for those aged 24-34.

Our Mission:

Our mission is to reach the hurting, the hopeless, the lost, the suicidal and the depressed with the life transforming hope and leadership offered to us in Christ.

Our History:

In 2003 Kristen Jane Anderson was asked to share the story of her transformation with the high school youth group in her church. More speaking requests soon followed. In response to the many reaching out to Kristen who were struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts, Kristen started Reaching You Ministries in December of 2004. Quickly, Reaching You grew beyond Kristen's wildest dreams. God opened doors for us to reach and help thousands with the love, hope, healing, and leadership of Christ through Kristen's story. With the publication of her book “Life, In Spite Of Me” in May of 2010, Kristen is praying that Reaching You's impact will be bigger than ever before, that lives would be saved, and that God's goodness would be made known to many. Find out more at www.reachingyouministries.com

Robin Jones Gunn interview rescheduled

Just a quick note to let you know that Robin's interview is being rescheduled. The server is down at Toginet and they are not broadcasting today.

Thanks for understanding and have a great weekend!

God fascinates me by Madeline Robison

It seems that He reveals something new about Himself almost daily. And although I should have been sensitive to that all my life as a professing Christian from early childhood on, I simply wasn’t. It took a curly-haired, bespectacled little angel born six days before Christmas to open my eyes and heart to see God in a new and deeper way. Her mighty mind and spirit eclipsed her broken body, and her smile and laugh could melt ice. God gave her the fight that sustained her nearly four times longer than she should have survived, proving that He gifts His children with what they need, pointing to His remarkable, detailed nature. And then one April day, God called her Home. She was four-and-a-half. Her name was Amelia. She is my daughter.

Amelia came to earth chock-full of personality. Only five pounds, one ounce at birth, she had lungs that sounded like cannons. And although she never spoke more than four words in her life, she could certainly make her wishes known. I’d be pushing her in the swing, and I’d stop singing to her long enough to talk to someone nearby; and Amelia, also affectionately known as Pooter Bear, would let me know that that was not a popular idea and that I was to continue singing that instant, thank you very much. So I would break into another Sam Cooke tune or a VBS song, and she would pat herself on her chest and make her characteristic ‘aack-aack’ noise to let me know I was back in her good graces. She went wild over Dr. Seuss books and would pat the book to let us know when to turn the page. And since feedings were not pleasant for her through her stomach tube, we let her watch TV during them, which is when we learned that she loved NASCAR and the Dallas Cowboys.

In the twenty-six months since she died, I have realized some of God’s attributes that I fear I never soaked into my soul and spirit. In the earliest months of our grief, my husband, Brian, and I experienced the wonderful “trench” quality of God, by which I mean that we worship a God who, in the person of Jesus Christ, gets in the trenches with you and NEVER LEAVES YOUR SIDE … except maybe to take a step or two in front of you, offer His hand, and say, “It’s time now, child. Come with Me and I will help you move forward in this grief.” In those early months, I could almost feel Jesus stroking my hair, sitting next to me, reminding me that He would never leave.

As time progressed, God allowed me to reflect on Amelia’s dying process through a lens of profound gratitude. She had lived longer than we could reasonably hope would be the case, especially knowing what we know now: what claimed her life was a metabolic disorder of which she is the only known victim in the world. Literally. The fight that God put in that precious little body was the reason; it was also the reason why she lived ten days from the day we knew she was dying to the day she died. And I cannot but be deeply grateful for that time; each of those final days was a gift.

In more recent months, I look and see that God has been weaving an inexpressibly beautiful tapestry since long before Amelia’s birth. During the last week of her life, I heard very clearly a whisper in my ear that after she died, I was supposed to record a CD of hymns in her memory. Having basked in the powerful beauty of the traditional hymns all my life, it seemed a fitting way to honor Amelia and the One who created her. But it was almost immediately a moot point because my grief housed itself in my throat and robbed me of my singing voice for almost twenty months. That was a devastating loss, a dimension of the grief I had not foreseen. It had been hard enough to lose her, but then to lose one of the most profound gifts we shared – the love of music and my virtually constant singing to her – accentuated my grief almost daily. I would go to sing to our other children, Amelia’s younger siblings who were suffering greatly over the death of their big sister, and nothing would come out. I could speak, but the singing voice I had effortlessly had since I was two years old was gone.

But God showed me a way out of that, all for His glory. He had given me my singing voice at my creation, He had given the love of music to Amelia and me that we might share that all her life long, through very thick and very thin, and He had plans for me that I could never have fathomed. In May of this year, Amelia’s Gift was released. It is a CD compilation of twelve traditional hymns set to updated, engaging arrangements. The proceeds will go to charity to save the lives of children worldwide. (To learn more, visit my website, www.madelinehymns.org.) What a legacy … and one that only God could orchestrate.
And so God has revealed, among all the other attributes He has shown me to this point, that He is a textile artist, weaving tapestries out of the scraps of fabric of our lives, providing warmth and beauty that we could never have dreamed up on our own.

I wonder what I will learn next about our phenomenal Master. He fascinates me, absolutely fascinates me, and I will be ever grateful to Amelia for widening the lens through which to see Him. Well done, Pooter Bear, well done.

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Madeline Robison is a singer, writer, and public speaker. She is the founder and owner of Madeline Hymns Music, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to use the power of hymns to minister to believers and to fund charitable, life-saving projects world-wide through established, respected Christian humanitarian organizations. She is also a wife and a stay-at-home mother of four who is actively involved in her church and community.For more about Madeline, please visit her website: http://www.madelinehymns.org

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Tomorrow on Kitchen Chat: Pat Williams, Robert Beeson, & Stephen Kendrick

Welcome to this week's Kitchen Chat - Be sure to tune in on Friday at 11:00AM Central! To listen, follow the link and click on the player in the upper right hand corner.

We've got an exciting lineup today! A few weeks ago I attended the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis, Missouri where I had the privilege of interviewing several wonderful authors - three of which will are being featured today.

Pat Williams: Professional Sports Team, Orlando Magic Co-Founder --Pat Wiliams, senior vice president and cofounder of the Orlando Magic, author of The Leadership Wisdom of Solomon (Oct. 2010). Williams' book applies King Solomon’s ancient insights to the high-speed world in which we live. He is the best-selling author of more than 55 books, and a sought-after motivational speaker, and the senior vice president and cofounder of the Orlando Magic. Pat and his wife, Ruth, are parents to nineteen children. For more about Pat, visit his website: http://www.patwilliamsmotivate.com/

About The Leadership Wisdom of Solomon: King Solomon transformed the tiny tribal nation of Israel into an economic and military superpower. His brilliance as an international financier made Israel the wealthiest nation of the ancient world. He led Israel into its Golden Age.

And he did it with integrity.

King Solomon left us twenty-eight profound leadership strategies—as valid today as when the proverbs were written. The same extraordinary wisdom that transformed Solomon's world can revolutionize every aspect of leadership for any CEO, manager, pastor, coach, military strategist, or government leader.

In The Leadership Wisdom of Solomon, Pat Williams, senior vice president of the NBA's Orlando Magic, applies Solomon's ancient insights to the high-speed world in which we live. The study sections promote discussion and prompt immediate action.

Robert Beeson: Robert Beeson grew up in South Africa a son of missionaries. He returned to the USA as a teen and lauched Christian record label Essential Records in Southern California in 1992. After selling the rock/alternative music label to Brentwood Music/Zomba Records (which eventually became Provident Label Group, a unit of SONY) a few years later, he relocated to Nashville where he served as the label president, developing artists as diverse as Jars of Clay, Third Day, Caedmon’s Call, Bebo Norman and FFH. Beeson was promoted to Sr. VP of A&R for Provident Label Group in 2003, where he oversaw the careers of Casting Crowns, Michael W. Smith and Leeland, among others. Though all was going exceptionally well, he eventually decided to step down and create a music/multimedia ministry geared specifically towards the tween marketplace - and in 2008, iShine was born. More about Robert here! http://robertbeeson.com/?page_id=153

ABOUT ISHINE:
iShine is a faith-based entertainment company that develops products and properties specifically for the tween market. iShine impacts tweens through music (iShine Records), television (iShine KNECT), concerts (iShine Live tour), the web (iShineLive.com) and additional resources for parents and tweens. Since 2008, iShine has taken it’s tour nationwide, launched 16 CD/DVD releases and they just completed production on season two of the Saturday morning TV series iShine KNECT, which reaches an estimated 1 million viewers each week on TBN. The iShine Records (Provident/Sony Distribution) roster includes singer/actor Luke Benward (How to Eat Fried Worms, Because of Winn-Dixie), The Rubyz, Mission Six, Kylie Jean, Paige Armstrong and Jasmine – winner of Radio Disney’s Next Big Thing! iShine has partnered with The Salvation Army, Make a Wish Foundation, American Heritage Girls, World Vision and more. For more information, visit www.ishinelive.com.

Learn more about Robert’s vision for the next generation by watching the short but powerful video “Am I Your Child?” here: http://robertbeeson.com/?page_id=136.

Stephen Kendrick: Stephen Kendrick is a senior associate pastor of preaching at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. He helped establish Sherwood Pictures in 2003 and has served as co-writer and producer for each of its films: Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof. Stephen has spoken about his work on ABC World News Tonight and CNN and in The Washington Post and American Profile magazine among others. Currently earning a master of divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he lives in Albany with his wife and three children.

About The Love Dare: In the movie FIREPROOF, a couple dares to rescue their choking marriage from the flames of divorce and temptation using The Love Dare book as a guide. Now you can take the experience of the film one step further with your own copy of The Love Dare book. This daily devotional steers you through the fiery challenge of developing a strong, committed marriage in a world that threatens to burn it to the ground.

The Love Dare personally leads you through daily devotionals, records your thoughts and experiences, and ends each day daring you to perform a simple act of love for your spouse. This 40-Day journey equips you to melt hardened, separated hearts into an enduring love that can withstand the flames of fear, pride and temptation. The Love Dare book will help you reinforce and enrich your marriage, earn back a love you thought was lost, and hear more about the One who not only designed unconditional, sacrificial love—He illustrated it.

In a world that attacks, devalues, and redefines relationships every day, learn how to rescue and protect your marriage from the firestorm. http://thelovedarebook.com/

Margaret on DayTime Alabama!

Guest Blogger ...Charissa Steyn

The Tearful Dance

I never, until recently, associated beauty with tears.

When the rainstorms of pain cloud our lives what does God see? Does He see something that I cannot?

Although, from the outside my life looks like a thrilling adventure of faith, people may be surprised to see what’s on the inside. I still have that “newlywed glow” {going on 10 months!} and a big teethy grin, but what they don’t see are the numerous times I am curled up in the fetal position crying like a baby. My life, like everyone else’s is not free from pain. In fact, the challenges of living by faith have made me feel more like a blubbering mess, rather than a beautiful new bride.

It is not necessary to list all the difficult situations of my life in the past year, but getting married, moving to South Africa, and walking away from a fulfilling ministry, were all enough for me to have tear-soaked pillows and handfuls of wet tissues on many nights. {I didn’t know our bodies were capable of producing such a waterfall from our eyes!}

Ever since I was a little girl, my first reaction to difficult and painful circumstances has always been tears. Crying is a normal response for any hurting or frustrated child. But how do I justify my tears as a grown, mature, adult woman who trusts God?

Tear-stained cheeks and a snotty nose are no longer acceptable, but embarrassing, especially when accompanied by streams of mascara running down my face.

I have never been able to find the beauty in my tears. The brokenness in life always seems to be more ugly than beautiful.

Have you ever wished there was a shortcut to getting through difficult circumstances in our lives? If we could escape them we would! The older we get, the more intimately acquainted we get with seasons of grief, disappointment, loss, pain, and sickness. But do we allow teary eyes to get us more intimately acquainted with our Savior?

It is more natural for us to think, “God can’t be here…or I wouldn’t be experiencing this!”

Refusing to let him wipe our tears, we’d rather focus on the pain. In these moments we are found crying out, “Will I make it?” “Will I ever feel whole again?” “How long will this all last?”

Like a baby taking its first breath between their shrieks and tears, we too long to go back into the womb, when life gets difficult, to the place where we were assured of safety, warmth, and security.

But how easily we forget that the same God who created us, also sustains us?

In the past year I have become familiar with pain in my life on many levels- physical, spiritual, relational, and emotional. Instead of inviting God into my pain and messiness, I usually tell Him,

“I will go through this alone God.”

God is longing for us to invite Him into the midst of our pain. He wants to hold us and wipe our tears.

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, …nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(Romans 8:35, 37, 39)

Whether our tears come in the form of a rushing rainstorm, a raging flood, or a trickle of dewy drops, God sees our hurt through the eyes of the cross…But do we?

God sees our tears, but He is even more excited about what we can’t see- the rainbow. He endured all the pain, so that it would never overwhelm us, “…a man of sorrows” Isaiah prophesied, “acquainted with the bitterest grief… Yet it was our weakness he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.”

God delights in wiping our tears.

The other night, late in the evening, while my husband slept soundly, God romanced me…in my pain.

I asked him hard questions. Questions about the suffering I see in my life and probably more so in others’ lives.

How does He really work all things together for good? Why is there a time to cry? Why can’t life always be just laughter? How come we are not healed instantly? Why do we have to get sick? How comes life is filled with pain?

I carried on, until His finger touched my lip. He hushed me.

What happened next surprised me. Rather than a lengthy discourse, or harsh rebuke, he whispered a little phrase,

“I want to dance with you, Charissa. Take my hand. Let’s dance through this.”

So at 1am in my bathroom God and I danced. My big questions were answered as we swayed to and fro. Although I could not see Him, I could feel His strong arm around me, and His hand leading me.

In tears and in pain, He lifted my head to see the cross, and I heard Him say, “I am with you. I am right here…leading you in this dance.”

As I attempted to smile and moved my feet to dance, I found beauty in my tears, where they once only signified brokenness, change, and pain.

Never though beauty and brokenness could unite?

Look again!

As we fix our gaze on His, we need not be ashamed of our tears. They’re a sign of the beauty to come. When we let God wipe our tears, a rainbow begins to appear, even if all our questions don’t get answered.

Do the mysteries of life still make you stumble?

Grab a hold of His hand. He is asking you to dance….Right in the midst of your pain.

What messiness or pain is in your life, that you need to invite God into? He wants to dance with you through this time of difficulty and make all things beautiful.

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Charissa Steyn lives in awe of God’s love. After searching desperately for her identity – in work, relationships, outer appearances-she has finally found her heart at home in Jesus Christ. While doing ministry in Austria for four years she met her South African sweetheart, Michal. They fell in love {several times!} and finally got married in August 2009. They now reside in South Africa. Charissa is currently working on her Masters degree in counseling. When she is not studying for school, or taking care of her new hubby, she can be found running, baking fattening {but yummy! }cookies, and writing about life’s unique little lessons on her blog, Everyday Adventures. She believes that everyday God draws us closer to His heart.

Tomorrow on Kitchen Chat: Jennifer Degler and Madeline Robison

Welcome to this week's Kitchen Chat - we're thrilled to be interviewing two fascinating people. Be sure to tune in on Friday at 11:00AM Central!

Don't miss this diverse show on Friday. Jennifer is the author of No More Christian Nice Girl and Madeline is the founder of Madeline Hymns and a child ambassador for World Vision.

About Jennifer: Jennifer Degler, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and life coach with degrees in clinical psychology and business administration. A frequent speaker at women's events and marriage retreats, Jennifer is known for her entertaining and engaging presentations that make audiences laugh while they learn. Her extensive background in theater and teaching, coupled with her quick wit and willingness to "get real" with audiences, make her a dynamic speaker. She also maintains a counseling practice in Lexington, Kentucky, seeing adults, children, and couples for psychotherapy. She has served as the Ethics Chair for the Kentucky Psychological Association and is also a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors.

Jennifer is the founder of Creating Christian Change, a life coaching enterprise that works with clients across the United States helping them to create lives they love. She has been interviewed by Psychotherapy Finances, the Lexington Herald-Leader, and local NBC and CBS affiliates as an expert in life coaching and mental health issues. Jennifer and her husband, Jeff, live in Lexington, Kentucky, with their two teenage children. For more about Jennifer and her work, please visit her website: http://www.creatingchristianchange.com

About No More Christian Nice Girl: When passivity and false niceness don't bring the abundant life Jesus promised, some Christian women try even harder to hide behind a fragile façade of pleasant perfection. Paul Coughlin and Jennifer Degler give women the empowering message that they have options far beyond simply acting nice or being mean--if they will emulate the real Jesus Christ and face their fears of conflict, rejection, and criticism. Brimming with enlightening information, thought-provoking questionnaires, real-life stories, and biblically based teaching from both the male author of the pioneering No More Christian Nice Guy and a female clinical psychologist, this book will motivate women to allow God to transform them into authentic, powerful women of loving faith.

From the Back Cover

Be the Strong, Confident, and Caring Woman You Were Meant to Be Tired of doing all you can for others while your relationships remain stuck in neutral--or headed in reverse? Paul Coughlin and psychologist Jennifer Degler show how being nice can harm you and drain the life out of your relationships. They explore the keys to fulfillment at home, work, church, and even in the bedroom. You'll discover that emulating the real Jesus is the key to transforming from a Christian Nice Girl into an authentic, powerful woman of loving faith.

"What's wrong with being nice? Paul Coughlin and Jennifer Degler make a strong case that women need to be bold and assertive rather than people pleasers who try to do too much. I recommend this book to you." --Dr. Kevin Leman, Author of The Birth Order Book and Have a New Kid by Friday

"This refreshingly practical book is a must for any woman who yearns to move from the entanglements of being nice to the freedom of being real." --Georgia Shaffer, PA Licensed Psychologist, Certified Life Coach, and Author of Taking Out Your Emotional Trash

"As a Christian counselor, I see many women paying the high price of being too nice: depression, anxiety, stress-related physical ailments, as well as difficult and destructive relationship patterns. Finally there is a book I can recommend that gives women the reasons why nice isn't always good and the tools to help them stop." Leslie Vernick, Licensed Counselor, Speaker, and Author of The Emotionally Destructive Relationship and Lord, I Just Want to Be Happy.

About Madeline: Madeline Robison is a singer, writer, and public speaker. She is the founder and owner of Madeline Hymns Music, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to use the power of hymns to minister to believers and to fund charitable, life-saving projects world-wide through established, respected Christian humanitarian organizations. She is also a wife and a stay-at-home mother of four who is actively involved in her church and community.For more about Madeline, please visit her website: http://www.madelinehymns.org

About her music project: Hymns are sung prayers, and they have gripped me and caught my attention since early childhood. From Christmas songs that remind us of the majesty and mystery and origin of the season to perennial favorites for children like “Jesus Loves Me,” many of the best-loved Christian songs are actually hymns. It brings me pleasure beyond words that this CD will be placing into the ears of its listeners the beauty, praise, and vulnerability of these hymns … AND that with the sale of each CD, we will be funding clean water wells in Africa (as we partner with World Vision) and the freeing of young girls from brothels in India (as we partner with International Justice Mission).