Tuesday, November 24, 2015

My New eBook is now available!

The cover of my new book
"Silly Stories and Sentimental Stuff"
 
Hello!

I just wanted to touch base with an update regarding the "Thanksgiving Challenge" I mentioned in my last Blog post. I've stayed true to writing down ten things per day that I'm thankful for, and I think I'm going to continue this exercise past Thanksgiving day. It's quite beneficial, in my opinion.

And the other thing I wanted to announce is that I have released my new book, "Silly Stories and Sentimental Stuff." Right now it's an eBook, but a paperback is in the works. It's a compilation of some of my favorite writing pieces - both the lighthearted as well as the heart-felt. Early reviews are telling me that my stories are "relatable," and "fun," and one nice woman told me the writing is "clever," which I loved hearing! :) 

Here is the link to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Silly-Stories-Sentimental-Kolberg-Memmel-ebook/dp/B0188F48VA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1448041202&sr=8-2&keywords=Katie+Kolberg+Memmel

I hope that all who are celebrating Thanksgiving have a wonderful weekend. I can't wait to see how mine plays out, and share some of the details with you. Until then...

Happy Reading (and eating) (and shopping?) (and conversating with fam & pals) (and...) Well, you get the picture!

Katie

Thursday, November 19, 2015

A Thanksgiving Challenge...


Hello, and a Happy Thanksgiving week to all! 

I’m writing today with a challenge for all of you – all of us. Yes, I definitely felt challenged when I heard about this challenge and decided to challenge myself to fulfill this particular challenge. (Silly, I know… ANYway… 

By now, I’m sure you’re dying to hear what in the world I’m talking about, so here we go…   

I’ve attended my Tuesday morning Bible Study for about 25 years now. Every Tuesday, with no break in the summer, about a dozen women (give or take) in my church’s congregation get together to share our joys and sorrows, pray for each other and many others, and study something Biblical that has the potential to change our minds, hearts and (hopefully) our lives.  

I started attending when Megan was only one year old, and to be honest, my initial attraction to it was that it was during the day and offered child care. But, since Megan just celebrated her 27th birthday, and I’m still going, you can see that the group grew to be very important to me. In fact I now grieve the times when I can’t attend.  

We’ve always tried to approach the week of Thanksgiving with thankful hearts. Even when one of us has gone through something terrible, we still always try to approach God with a thankful heart for some greater good. I’ve found that approach to be a super way to live life. Do I ever fail? Yes, I do. Sometimes I/we, in our human-ness, don’t feel grateful for much of anything, am I right?  

So two days ago, (on Tuesday the 17th) the woman who has lead our group all of this time challenged each of us. She said, “I’m asking each of you to think of ten things that you’re thankful for, every day, between now and Thanksgiving. If you can, I want you to write them all down. By the end of this period, you won’t believe how differently you’ll feel. ” 

Hmmm… I’ll be honest, my initial reaction was, WHAT? TEN? That seems like an awful lot! I’ve heard that “Oprah” only suggests writing FIVE! But when I got my bearings, I realized that ten is really nothing at all, not even a drop in the bucket of things in my life for which I’m grateful. I got out my notepad and got busy. 

My List so far - Day 3 is on the back - and that's Millie, the cat...

Today was my third day already. I make a list on a sheet of paper – nothing fancy – and write the numbers one through ten, in list form. I decided to start my challenge with each member of my family, and think of ten things that I love about them, and for which I’m thankful. I decided (just in case you were wondering if I forgot) to thank God Himself next Thursday. On that day, I may even seem repetitive, because I’ll be thanking Him for each of the things I’ve already mentioned. After all, He’s provided me with the means to obtain and nurture all that I have, right? At least that’s how I view it.  

I also realized that by Thanksgiving Day, I won’t likely be anywhere near done, and I’ll need to continue doing this exercise every day – maybe even forever. Probably not a bad way to greet each day.  

For me, I think – I believe – it’s going to make a good difference. When I live my life with a grateful attitude, there’s nowhere near as much room for the doubts and worries to creep in. Will they ever creep? Yes, unfortunately, they will… but I think that on those days, I’ll whip out my list, and start reviewing all of the ways in which all of my doubts and worries have (thankfully) gone to waste in the past, and focus on the good again.

Are you with me? Will you take my study leader’s challenge? Let me know if we’re in this together, okay?  

OH! And if we don’t connect before next week, have a Happy and very Blessed Thanksgiving!
 
Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of "Five Fingers, Ten Toes - A Mother's Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference." For more information, visit her website at www.katiekolbergmemmel.com