WARNING: If you are going to tell me about your latest diet and how I should be following your rice-free goat cheese-enhances food plan just stop your skinny rear end right here. I mean it. You will be in the same category as people who tell me that I should throw out my TV or that I’m harming my kids (who BTW are all over 18) by letting them read non-Christian fiction. I haven’t had a decent treat in three days and I’m in no mood for such silliness. You have been warned.

I got myself back to the big WW. (All you girls above a size 6 know what I’m talking about.) And let’s just say I’m not loving it.

I just saw a whole news item about how “Dieting Doesn’t Work”, right next to another article about how if I don’t lose 10% of my body weight RIGHT NOW I should just resign myself to being an invalid by the time I’m 45.

What is an overweight girl to do?

I have tried so many times. I have lost tons of weight, gained tons of weight, and generally been miserable about it all the time. And I have to say, I’m getting tired.

• I’m tired of people who have never struggled with their weight making it seem like those of us who struggle with their weight are fat just to annoy them.
• I’m tired of Jay Leno and his fat jokes.
• I’m tired of only seeing perfect people on TV unless it’s the first six episodes of The Biggest Loser.
• I’m tired of being told “Diets Don’t Work” and then being shamed because I am having a very hard time making a diet work.

I bet some of you are tired too.

I am trying to pray a lot about this. I am praying until God’s truth becomes a reality for me:

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

So, I’m asking you, my cybery friends – would you pray for me?

Would you pray for me, just today, that I would believed those verses and be transformed by them?

And friend, I would love to do the same for you. You can either leave the prayer in the comments, or e-mail me at kathi at kathilipp.com (I write it like that so spammers won’t grab my address. You know what it really is ) I would be honored to pray for you.

Take a look at video trailer for my new book, THE ME PROJECT (coming out February 1st, 2011.)  I mean, come on – how cute is this?!?

The Me Project by Kathi Lipp

Really quick -

The winners from this week of giveaways are Amberly and Pam. Please send your mailing addresses to asst@kathilipp.com and we will get those books out to you!

Also – if you are the praying sort (and I know that many of you are ) I would love your prayers this weekend.

First – Friday night and Saturday during the day, I will be in Monterey CA speaking at the Monterey Bay Resort (I know, I’m sufferin’ for Jesus) speaking to the women of Cornerstone Church of Dublin. I’m doing a retreat called Woman Interrupted - all about understanding the interruptions that God brings into our lives and how we respond.

Then, the amazing Roger is driving me straight to Antioch CA where I will be doing a Night of Comedy for the women of First Family Church. I will be featuring The Husband Project in a talk called Understanding Men and other Modern Day Miracles.

It is going to be a crazy weekend with lots of speaking, lots of driving, and lots of ministry. I would love your prayers. I will give you a mini-update on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

I love behind the scenes stuff in people’s lives (some people would call me nosy, but since I’m a writer, so it’s research…) So I have asked some of my favorite authors to tell me some of that behind the curtain stuff. Plus, being extra pushy, asked them to give away my favorite one of their books to one of my readers.

I start off the series with Susy Flory.

Kathi: When and why did you begin writing?

Susy: I always wanted to be a writer but because books and words were so important to me, I felt inadequate and intimidated and didn’t dare to give voice to my dream. I grew up not ever knowing a real living writer and so I felt intimidated, that writers were an elevated, highly evolved race that I could never be a part of. That changed in my late thirties when I went to my first writers conference at Mount Hermon. I will never forget my very first meal at the conference; I sat with an editor of a major Christian magazine and he was wearing a teeshirt and jeans. Moreover, his hair was messy and he seemed completely normal in every way. I was terrified but he chatted us all up and was very warm and friendly. He wasn’t that different from us after all. At that conference, as I came across more friendly editors, literary agents, and working writers, the idea of becoming a writer finally seemed doable. I could finally voice my dream.

Kathi: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I began to see that my words, sentences, and paragraphs touched people. Just recently, I visited a local group that was using So Long Status Quo as a group study. One woman came up to me before the study and told me a story; she had been reading chapter 1, where I wrote about being inspired by Harriet Tubman’s life of sacrifice and service and deciding to sell my jewelry and use the money to fund village water wells in Africa. This woman shared that she loved to travel and everywhere she went she bought a ring as a souvenir. After reading this particular chapter, she had counted her rings and found that she had accumulated 105! “I only have 10 fingers,” she told me. “I don’t need 105 rings.” She started selling her rings, and some other things, on eBay and so far she’s accumulated over $500 for well projects. When your words begin to make a difference in people’s lives, it’s time to trust yourself.

Kathi:Tell us about what you are working on now.

Susy: I’m collaborating with a blind 9-11 survivor named Michael Hingson on his book THUNDER DOG: A Blind Man, A Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero. It’s an amazing and inspirational story and will be released next fall by Thomas Nelson. I also have a book of true dog miracles called DOG TALES out next June with Harvest House. It’s all dogs for me right now and I don’t mind a bit!

Susy’s newest book is So Long Status Quo: What I Learned From Women Who Changed the World (Beacon Hill, 2009). So Long Status Quo chronicles Susy’s journey when, inspired by nine amazing women such as Mother Teresa, Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mary Magdalene, she decided to get up off her comfy couch and try to change the world, starting in her own backyard.  Adventure and self-discovery ensued, ranging from a secret humanitarian mission to Cuba to learning how to weld, and from going on a fast to trading her jewelry for water.www.susyflory.com

To enter to win Susy’s book, just comment below by Thursday at Midnight and we will announce the winner next week.

I love a meal that is 95% shopping and 5% prep!

My Labor Day gift to you. Plus – if you have a great, easy no-cook meal you want to share, put it in the comments and I will enter you in a drawing for THE FROZEN GOURMET COOKBOOK. Post your recipe by Tuesday at midnight to be entered.

I’ll pick the winner with and announce it on Thursday.

And I hope it’s the hardest thing that you have to do on Labor Day.

Asian Chicken Wrap Ups

Prep 20 Minutes

Start to Finish 25 Minutes

Skill 1

Cost 3

Serves 4 as appetizers, 2 adults as a main course

Ingredients

2 cups chopped cooked skinless chicken breast (chop up strips from pre-packaged chicken breasts)

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1-1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1-1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup crispy rice noodles

Seasoned salt and pepper

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup shredded broccoli slaw

Four to six butter lettuce leaves

1/3 cup Peanut sauce (store-bought)

1/3 cup Asian salad dressing for dipping sauce (store-bought)

Directions

In a medium glass bowl, combine chicken, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, , green onions, and almonds. Mix well. Season to taste with seasoned salt and pepper. Cover and let set in the refrigerator for an hour.

Add small containers each of peanut sauce and Asian dipping sauce to platter.

On platter, arrange lettuce leaves. Divide up the chicken mixture and place a mound of it on each leaf. Top with crispy noodles, carrots and cabbage. Roll up the leaf and dip in one of the sauces.