Listen, Love, Repeat by Karen Ehman | book, Bible study, & DVD feature + giveaway

Difference makers understand the call to look outside of ourselves. We do our best to be other-centric, but know we could always do it better. Enter Listen, Love, Repeat, which contains dozens of tips to help women become even more intentional in our relationships. And with hospitality season just around the corner, what could be more timely? Plus, for those who like to do their learning in a group, there’s also a Bible study and DVD. All are up for grabs today, thanks to the generosity of the publisher. Read on.

Listen, Love, Repeat: Other-Centered Living in a Self-Centered World by Karen Ehman

The book: (from the publisher) Our culture is self-obsessed – in our schedules, relationships, and especially online. (Can you say selfie?) But in this near-narcissism, people are less content than in decades past. Why? Because we forgot the joy that comes from putting others first. Doing so requires us to live alert, listening for “heart drops,” hints from those in our lives who need a helping hand or a generous dose of encouragement. Living alert lifts our own spirits, showing us that blessing others blesses us even more.

Listen, Love, Repeat offers biblical teaching and suggests doable actions that are simple, heart-tugging, sentimental, even sneaky and hilarious. This message:

• Presents scriptural examples of those who lived alert, including Jesus, who noticed those who least expected to be seen.

• Explains the role of good works for followers of Christ. They aren’t our ticket to heaven but they are our marching orders on earth.

• Gives creative ideas for showing love to friends and family, and suggests practical ways to reach out to the lonely, the marginalized, the outcast, and the odd duck. Additionally, it helps you comfort the grieving, showing what you can do when you don’t know what to say.

• Provides inspiration for blessing the “necessary people” in your life, those often-overlooked souls who help you get life done every day, and teaches you how to hug a porcupine by genuinely loving the hard-to-love.

As we scatter love, we create a safe space where we can openly share the gospel. We get to see lives changed right before our eyes. Most importantly, Listen, Love, Repeat will enable you to live a life that is full of kind deeds, not to selfishly shout, “Hey! Look at me!” but to humbly implore, “Will you look at Him?”

The author: Karen Ehman is a Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker, a New York Times best-selling author, and a writer for Encouragement For Today, an online devotional that reaches over one million women daily. She has written seven nine books including KEEP IT SHUT: What to Say, How to Say It & When to Say Nothing at All and LET. IT. GO: How to Stop Running the Show & Start Walking in Faith. Married to her college sweetheart, Todd, and the mother of three, she enjoys antique hunting, cheering for the Detroit Tigers, and feeding the many teens who gather around her kitchen island for a taste of Mama Karen’s cooking. Connect with her at www.karenehman.com.

Genre: Non-fiction/Christian Living/Spiritual Growth

[Tweet “What does a heart drop sound like? Let @Karen_Ehman show you @TheBlogSpotCom @Zondervan”]

Reflection: I have often been helped by the gracious, practical advice offered by the Proverbs 31 ministry team. I particularly appreciate their solid, biblical grounding and relational approach geared specifically to women. So when I learned one of their ilk had a new book out — and, greater still, a book that might help me do relationship even better — naturally I was interested.

In Listen, Love, Repeat, I like how Karen weaves in plenty of personal story along with God’s story (Scripture), both of which are non-negotiables in my book. The first reveals the heart of the author, the second reveals the heart of God.

Target audience? I’d say suburban, middle-class Christian women tilting to the millenial. Karen’s style is upbeat and conversational, but for those who have been around the block a time or two, some of the content will feel familiar. Not that it may not come as a welcome reminder.

The greatest gift of Listen, Love, Repeat is the lessons it offers in listening for someone’s heart drop — that point in conversation in which a careful listener can catch a glimpse into someone’s soul. We become witness to how Karen makes this part of her calling — to listen, and then to act on what she hears — which then of course encourages us to do the same. When we do this with great intentionality, it’s one of the most immediate ways we can make a world of difference.

Thanks to BlogAbout and Zondervan for providing me this copy free of charge. All opinions are mine.

After words: Can you think of a time when you heard a heart drop? What did you do about it?

Giveaway: Enter to win a print copy of Listen, Love, Repeat + Bible study guide + DVD through November 10th at 11:59 pm. Must be 18 or older to enter. Winner will be chosen at random and notified on November 11th. U.S. entries only please. (details on the Bible study below)

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Listen, Love, Repeat: Other-Centered Living in a Self-Centered World (Bible study and DVD package)

In this six-session video Bible study, Karen Ehman, New York Times bestselling author of Keep it Shut, helps you rediscover the life-changing joy that comes from putting others first. In a culture that tells us a me-first, you-second way of living is the key to happiness, Ehman explains that the key to moving forward in almost every facet of your life is to embrace backward living.

Becoming a person who thinks about others first takes effort. It requires you to live alert. To be on the lookout in conversations for “heart drops”—hints of kindness you might grant to the person right in front of you, right where they are.

But it is worth it.

Listen, Love, Repeat gives you both the encouragement and practical, daily ways you can reach out to others with both planned and random acts of kindness. Topics include loving your family and friends, encouraging coworkers, reaching out to the lonely, blessing the “necessary people” who help you get life done every day but often go unnoticed, and many others who could use an act of thoughtfulness. An additional focus on modeling for your children a lifestyle that listens and loves is accompanied by doable ideas for you and for your family.

The Listen, Love, Repeat Study Guide includes video notes, group discussion questions, individual activities, Scripture memory verses, and between-sessions personal studies.

Sessions include: