Kathi Lipp's The Me Project - A Review

The Me Project - 21 Days to Living the Life You’ve Always Wanted
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers 
ISBN-10: 0736929665, ISBN-13: 978-0736929660
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Paperback: 224 pages, Retail: $12.99

If you have reservations about beginning Kathi Lipp’s new book The Me Project, let me tell you that you’re not alone. However, after you’re done with it, if you’re not filled with a desire to truly live the life God wants you to live – with all the gifts with which He has blessed you – then you’re going to be very lonely indeed. I, too, was apprehensive about starting because, really, I like Kathi. She has blessed my family with her earlier book The Husband Project; I was probably more terrified than her that I would not like this book. I worried that it would unwittingly follow in the ranks of “me time” and other popular culture ideals I have come to hate with a feeling bordering on vengeance.

So, let me be the first to assure you this: it’s not. Yes, that’s right. You can breathe. Whew! Okay, now that that’s out of the way…

What the book holds is so much more meaningful than platitudes about getting things right once and for all by following a five point program. As Kathi says herself,

I never want to buy (or waste time reading) another book that says, “I have done this perfectly. If you want to do it perfectly, do what I say.” Rarely, if ever, does life work out perfectly in a neat, three-point outline for the people I know who are living out the plans God has for them.

Kathi insists that “God has not made a mistake with the gifts and talents He has given specifically to us.” Our job then is to find out what to do with those gifts and talents – and the twenty-one exercises in this book (twenty-two if you count first making a list of fifty dreams) help you do just that. One step at a time. (Those of you doing The Fly Lady routine, would call these "Baby Steps.")

Personally, this book freed me from chains I didn’t even know I had around me. Kathi Lipp, with The Me Project has taken God out of the box in which we keep wanting to put Him. Her testimony through it ultimately becomes that He is big enough, capable enough, creative enough and, ultimately, patient enough to see us through. And when we do live the life He has called us to live, He feels genuine pleasure. Sometimes, I tend to forget that. I forget God is infinitely wise, unceasingly creative and eternally loving. I forget that God is not opposed to my desires. He only seeks to be glorified in them. This book reminded me of that very important detail.

The Me Project gave me the liberty to dream and desire things for myself while still placing them under the will of God. And that to me is true freedom.

Plus, as Kathi puts it, it’s just fun!

Book Summary Has that rush to make (and break) New Year’s resolutions already waned? According to Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, taking small steps every day will not only help you stay committed to your goal, but will also help you ultimately achieve that goal when obstacles come up. Author Kathi Lipp wants you and your friends to live out those dreams—and have some fun along the way. As women, we forget the goals and dreams of our younger years. The busyness of everyday life gets in the way. To-do lists replace goals. The Me Project provides women with fun and creative ways to bring back the sense of purpose and vitality that comes with living out the plans and dreams God has planted in our hearts. Kathi Lipp’s warm tone and laugh-out-loud humor motivates women to take daily steps toward intentional goals. The end result? We get back our lives and enjoy living in the confidence of a purposeful life in spite of our chaotic schedules.  This handy guide coaches women to do one simple thing toward achieving our goals each day for three weeks. A woman experiencing the exhilaration of a rediscovered life offers more as a wife, mother, friend, volunteer, career woman. Finding the balance between living day-to-day with purpose while pursuing the passions God has placed in our hearts is a delicate pursuit. In this refreshing, insightful book, Kathi lays out a doable plan that makes sense and helps make our God-given dreams a reality. Never stop dreaming, because women who dare to dream do make the world a better place.  —Jean Blackmer     author of MomSense: A Common Sense Guide to Confident Mothering      Publishing Manager, MOPS International www.MOPS.org Author Bio

Kathi Lipp Kathi Lipp is a busy conference and retreat speaker, currently speaking each year to thousands of women throughout the United States. She is the author of The Husband Project and The Marriage Project, serves as food writer for Nickelodeon, and has had articles published in several magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman and Discipleship Journal. Kathi and her husband, Roger, live in California and are the parents of four teenagers and young adults. For more information visit her website: www.kathilipp.com

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