Fun Friday- Two Months of Giveaways, Titus 2 Book review and Giveaway!

It is week seven of our now three months of Fun Friday giveaways!  Having fun?  I am!  If you are looking for a way to brighten your day, try blessing others!  You will be blessed in return, I promise!

Speaking of blessings, I want to tell you about a family that has blessed mine beyond words!  Meet the Maxwell Family from Titus 2.  I know, I have mentioned them before, but I am teaming up with them again for a brand new book they have released.  If you are not familiar with Titus 2 and all they do, I encourage you to visit their website and take a look.  I have been privileged to do reviews for them on their Managers of Their Schools book, as well as their IT OnRamp computer class.

This time up, Making Great Conversationalists, the newest release of the patriarchs of this amazing family, Steve and Teri Maxwell.  From their numerous books on parenting to their monthly articles, Dad's and Mom's Corners, on their website,  Steve and Teri have a heart for the Lord and families and it shows in all they do.  I was thrilled when they asked if I would take a peek at this new book and see what I thought.

Making Great Conversationalists is a 217 page book aimed at identifying what makes a good conversation and then how to improve ours and those of our families.  Who doesn't need a little improvement in that area?  I know we do!

Each chapter of Making Great Conversationalists is packed with valuable information and activities to help you implement the things talked about in that chapter.  I love that!  In 12 chapters, not only do Steve and Teri tell you their thoughts on conversations and how to improve them, backed always by Scripture, but then at the end of each chapter they have three sections to help you help your family put the words into practice.

  

In real life gives encouragement and some examples of how other families have implemented these strategies.

Boiling it Down reviews the most important take-away's from the chapter.

Making it stick are assignments for your family to try.  Ideas like conversation starters, practicing how to meet someone, and how to steer a conversation in a different direction are concrete ways of learning new skills.

One of my favorite chapters of the book was How Do We Handle Roadblocks?  

What are some roadblocks we can face?  Childish excuses such as not understanding or remembering facts, using filler words  (right, so, um , like!), anger, pride, interrupting, gossip, and many more!  By walking though scenarios with our children we can better equip them to be able to handle anything that is thrown their way.  More importantly-

"Encourage your children that The Lord will help them with the right words when they need them.  It is okay to feel inadequate.  We all feel inadequate at times.  However, these are opportunities to trust The Lord, allowing Him to work in and through us."  (p. 160) Amen!

I will have to say that conversation is one area that I thought our family pretty had down pat, but in reading this book I realized that there were still plenty of areas we could improve greatly in.  Like turning our conversations towards Jesus and what He has done in our lives just for starters.  From our 19 year old to our 6 year old and even dad and mom (that's me!) we all could use some fine tuning in the art of conversation.  And after all, isn't that an art that we should all be good at?

You can order Making Great Conversationalists from Titus 2 for $12.00.  I think it would make a great family gift for Christmas!

The Maxwells have generously offered to give a copy of Making Great Conversationalists to one of our readers.  Enter for your chance to win by entering the rafflecopter below.

Blessings, 

a Rafflecopter giveaway