A&E "Dogs of War," New Books (!!), #ENFP Problems and Other Happy Cornucopias coming your way this week!

When we adopted our rescue pit bulls, I completely underestimated how much love and joy they'd bring into our lives. We couldn't imagine our family without them! This week, we're especially excited to watch a new show on A&E called "Dogs of War," premiering on Veterans Day. It's about a combat veteran who returns from war struggling with PTSD. Once he realizes how expensive it is to get a service dog, he decides to start his own non-profit. He rescue dogs from high-kill shelters, trains them and provides them to other vets at little to no cost. I got tears in my eyes just watching the previews! The show premieres THIS TUESDAY, 11/11 on A&E. I dare you not to cry happy tears!  A&E, you have my heart.

This week I'm also celebrating my love of books with TWO book giveaways!

On Tuesday, you'll have a chance to win Karen Swallow Prior's new book, "Fierce Convictions."

And on Thursday, I'm featuring Ashley Linne's new book, "Inseparable."

Be sure to come back on Tuesday & Thursday to read posts by these wonderful women and enter to win a copy of their new books!

Speaking of new books, my friend Rob Carmack—the pastor who hosted me at "Collective Church" this past September—has written an eBook called "Lost in the Flood." I was honored to help Rob edit his book and now, it's available on Amazon. Even better? Proceeds from the book are going toward an adoption fund so he and his beautiful wife, Caroline, can adopt a child from the foster care system. LOVE THAT. Rob's book is a lively, easy-to-read and informative exploration of the Biblical flood narrative. READ IT!

Well, well. Look what we have here.

Yep, yep. That is the opening sentence of my second book. My editor said, "Just send a messy draft. No deadline." He gave me permission to be imperfect. And that's how I was able to find my words. This past week I emailed him 10,000 words. YOU GUYS. SECOND BOOK IS HAPPENING OMG.

My all-time favorite podcast is "On Being" with Krista Tippett. This past week I listened to her October 23 episode featuring everyone's favorite Sarcastic Lutheran, Nadia Bolz-Weber.  I was listening to the podcast while taking a brisk morning walk and kept fist-bumping the air and shouting YES! YES! so many times that I figured I'd better go home and quit making a scene. Seriously, you guys. This episode was amazing. Some favorite lines: "This is Western individualism run smoke: it's not YOUR creed, it's the Church's Creed" and "I try to preach from my scars and not my wounds." If you're looking for a laugh-out-loud and inspiring preacher, listen to this podcast. Wow. Just so happy!

Sooooooo, this is Jorai. One 30-second conversation, about 30-million facial expressions. Think she's my kid? :)

Lastly, thanks to fellow ENFP Megan Tietz of "Sorta Crunchy," I've been thinking about problems unique to ENFPs. And guess what—there's a blog for that!  I started compiling a few of my own #ENFP Problems and here's a few from last week:

ENFP PROBLEM: While taking a walk, I felt bad for some LEAVES. Yep. They'd fallen on the ground so prettily and a Mean Gardener was just blowing them AWAY like trash.

ENFP PROBLEM: I wonder if the pool toys feel lonely now that summer is over and nobody plays with them.

ENFP PROBLEM: I think I'll sit down and write a to-do list for today—oh, look at all these pretty pens I have for coloring! *Doodle, doodle, doodle*