Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate by Debora M. Coty

About Book

Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

  ~Debora M. Coty~

Are you ready to strip fear’s power over you and become the confident woman you were meant to be? Have you found that tolerating your personal fear monsters only makes them growl louder?

Okay, sister – take my hand and let’s boldly step up and yank the masks off those shadow-lurking, anxiety-churning, worry-generating beasts.

With her own brand of off-beat wit and wisdom, inspirational humorist Debora Coty addresses heart needs of women worn down by everyday fears – financial, health, relationships, loss, pain, the unknown, the what ifs …

With fresh spiritual insight, Debora shares hope, true life stories, scriptural lifelines, and a few LOL’s along with simple, practical tips for sidestepping fear with faith. And a fistful of chocolate!

Purchase a copy here.

Tour schedule here.

About Debora

Debora Coty is an occupational therapist, a piano teacher, and a freelance writer. She’s also involved in the children’s ministry at her church and is an avid tennis player. Debora began writing to fill the void when her last child left for college, and it has since become a passion. Debora has a real knack for getting across sound biblical concepts with a refreshing lightheartedness as attested in her monthly newspaper column entitled “Grace Notes: God’s Grace for Everyday Living.”

Celebrate the release of Fear, Faith and a Fistful of Chocolate with Debora Coty by entering her Kindle Fire Giveaway and RSVPing to the March 7th Author Chat Party on Facebook!

One "sweet" winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire
• A Debora Coty Library (Fear, Faith and a Fistful of Chocolate, More Beauty, Less Beast, Too Blessed To Be Stressed, and Everyday Hope)
• Chocolate (Every good thing begins with chocolate!)

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends 3/6/13. Winner will be announced at Debora's "Fear, Faith and a Fistful of Chocolate" Facebook Party on 3/7. Debora will be hosting an evening of chat, fun trivia, laughter, and encouragement - bring your friends! She'll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, and a book club prize pack! (Ten copies of the book for your small group or book club and a live chat with Debora via Skype.)

So grab your copy of Fear, Faith and a Fistful of Chocolate and join Debora and friends on the evening of March 7th for an evening of fun. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun, RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 7th!

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My Thoughts

How can fear be humorous?  In this book it does make you look at the funny side of dealing with fear, what ifs, the unknown, pain, and loss in your life.  Your imagination can be an enemy sometimes causing us to fear the unknown.   

At age sixty-two with prayer and faith in God I am able to control most of my fears.   When my daughters were still at home I felt as if I was responsible for what everyone did or should do, ,yet I felt like I had no control over the situation.  Well I learned the hard way that I can advise and set rules but it was still up to the individual to follow through with what was right hopefully. If not then we would deal with it the best we could.  It would have been helpful to have had this book back then.

The author writes that you will end up making a nervous wreck out of yourself.  It can cause sleeping problems, anxiety and insecurities.  More health problems than I wish name.  Humor is one her antidotes, but most important is having faith in God's and His Word.  Putting on God's Armor.  You will love the authors interpretation of God's Armor. 

Chapter 15, This Helmet Is Worth Hat Hair

(Helmet of Salvation: Grace)

God's grace has set us free.

Romans 6:15

In Chapter 6, Who Wants to Be a Worry Wart?

(Curbing worry)

Don't worry about anything, 

instead, pray about everything, 

tell God what you need, 

and thank Him for all He has done.

Philippians 4:6 NLT

I would love to share so much more of her book with you but then you wouldn't have to read the book yourself, would you.  Grrrr!  There I go again trying to control.

You should check out some of her other books, too!

I highly recommend this book!

I rated this book a 5 out of 5.

Disclosure: 

I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse Publicity Group/Barbour Publishing for review

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Learning the Art of Self-challenge by Jason Jaggard

Learning the Art of Self-challenge by Jason Jaggard

Through taking healthy risks that make you a better person or the world a better place, you begin to develop a deeper appetite for good. At first it might not be very tasty. Taking even a small risk can be more difficult than it sounds. And that is why we have to practice. We have to develop the skill of challenging ourselves.

We want the act of making healthy choices to become a natural and authentic part of who we are. But before something can become a habit, it often is a hassle. Put another way: if we want new habits to become instinctual, then they must first be intentional. And in order for that to happen, we have to practice the sacred art of self-challenge.

I don’t want to freak you out, but what we’re really talking about is obedience. Obedience to God is the path that leads to Life. It’s the path that transforms you into the person you long to be.
And obedience always requires risk.

What’s amazing is that much of our obedience is instinctual. In at least some areas of life, we naturally make healthy choices. We naturally smile at a stranger, or perhaps we have a great work ethic or are naturally curious or easygoing.

Yet we can’t define obedience solely in terms of what comes naturally. Often our greatest moments of obedience come when it is least natural. Perhaps our natural tendency in certain situations is unhealthy or hurtful. Or perhaps what we naturally want to do is nothing, to avoid taking action when action is called for. In these moments we have to choose something else, something we don’t want to do, something that, most likely, will move us into the space of the unknown.

I want to be a person who is able to act—who is able to obey—even when it’s unnatural.

Intentionality and risk are the ways we develop a greater capacity to obey. When we say, “I’m going to do this thing that I wouldn’t normally do,” we are developing the capacity to grow into the people we were meant to be.

When Jesus invited people to follow Him, He was inviting them to obey Him. There are parts of you that already reflect God’s character, parts of your uniqueness that are expressions of something God wanted to say when He created you. Those are already consistent with following Jesus.

Maybe it’s your smile.
Maybe it’s your way with people.
Maybe it’s your work ethic.
Maybe it’s your sense of right and wrong.
Maybe it’s your intelligence or your curiosity for life.
Maybe it’s your sense of responsibility or your flare for fun.

These things are good just the way they are. It’s easy to obey when God calls us to things we naturally love. When God calls us to the stuff we already like (which happens a lot more than we realize), it’s one of the great pleasures of life.

Risk is the central narrative of the scriptures. When I do Spark Group trainings with faith communities, I always have participants do this exercise:

1. Pick any person in the scriptures that comes to mind.
2. Identify the risk God called that person to take.

This is surprisingly easy. And once people get going, it’s hard to get them to stop. Abraham: stopped living with his parents at age seventy and moved into no man’s land to start his own nation. Moses: even with a speech impediment, he stood up to the most powerful man in the world to liberate an enslaved people. Mary: endured the shame of people assuming she had been unfaithful to her fiancé. Joseph: remained committed to a teenage girl, his fiancée, who in the eyes of their neighbors and extended family was almost certainly an adulteress.

Samson.

Ruth.

The apostle Paul.

Rahab.

The twelve fellas who quit their jobs to follow Jesus, most of whom were later killed for doing so.
The people whose stories are recorded in the history of the scriptures all took risks—often huge risks—to be a part of what God was doing in the world. It seems like a prerequisite for being mentioned in the narrative of the movement of God is the willingness and courage to risk.
Like God’s people throughout history, we can jump into life in ways that only we can so that God can move in ways we cannot. Call it faith if you want, but in terms of everyday life, it’s risk. And it’s through risk that God can change our lives.

Faith. Love. Hope.

Risk. Compassion. Optimism.

When we begin to live out these values, we create a context that is thick with potential. When we have the courage to take risks of compassion that produce optimism in others, we create space for God to move and work. We begin to form our souls into the kind of textured lives that gives God traction to guide us into the future He dreamed we could participate in. And we become fully alive.

This is what Jesus did two thousand years ago. He assembled a team and spent three years with them, throwing them into the deep end of serving humanity. Coaching them. Teaching them. And then He kept saying weird things, such as “Have faith in me and you will do greater things than what I have done.”

And then, before He turned His followers and friends loose to serve humanity on God’s behalf, He said: “Go, create cultures of servant leadership, of risk, compassion, and optimism out of every society.”

He looked into the eyes of folks like you and me and said, “Go.” Risk. Care. Create.
Just like the people you’ve read about in this book, you have ideas that need to be set free. God has placed potential inside you, potential for creative joy and love, strength and peace. And all of that needs to be unleashed.

So risk. Choose something. Do something. Partner together with God and others to pull off something beautiful that serves humanity. It will be hard. You will experience failure. But I promise, you will never regret it.

As Steven Ma put it: “It’s definitely a challenge. It’s definitely a risk. But most important: it’s fun.”
This is the way the world heals. It is the way God has chosen to move through the contours of history. He has chosen our hearts, our feet, our fingertips. Some people will hear God’s voice only if it sounds like ours, inviting them into the adventure of hope that we have been invited into.

This is how we spark our world. When we begin to realize that learning is a verb and that life is the best classroom. When we begin taking risks of compassion in the context of community. When we start intentionally leaning into our relationships, our careers, our faith. When we step outside of our comfort zones and experience a life that can exist only if God is with us.

Our world will begin to change.

One small risk at a time.

Adapted from Spark by Jason Jaggard with permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Guest Post - Bennett Gavrish author of Secrets to Losing Weight in College

About Bennett

Bennett Gavrish is a 24-year-old author and software developer from Massachusetts. He graduated from Boston University in 2010 with a degree in journalism. Bennett lost 120 pounds when he was in college, and this month he released a weight loss book for college students who are struggling with obesity and want to find the path to healthiness.

About the Book

Bennett Gavrish has delivered a powerful and engaging guide for college students struggling with their weight. Learn the diet strategy, exercise routine, and mental approach that Gavrish used to lose 120 pounds in 12 months.

Gavrish provides helpful tips for every part of the college experience, with plenty of laughs along the way. Discover healthy ways to tackle dining halls, grocery stores, restaurants, and parties. “Secrets to Losing Weight in College” also includes a number of nutritious suggestions for each meal of the day.

Whether you are a freshman or an alumnus, don’t wait any longer to start taking care of your body. With Gavrish’s guidance and motivation, you can do more than just reverse the Freshman 15. A happier and healthier life is within your reach.

Available now on Amazon. Just $1.99 for the Kindle version or $6.99 for the paperback edition.

Where to Buy:  Amazon
Amazon 4 star rating Permalink
Goodreads Ratings: 4.33 rating details

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Bennett,
Thank you for being a guest on  It's Time To Read Mamaw to share your book Secrets to Losing Weight in College with all that visit my blog.  It has been more than a pleasure!  I wish you great success with you book! 
Congratulations! 
Patricia