Secret Keeper Girl

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

Johanna DH won our random giveaway! Congratulations Johanna! And thank you to everyone who provided feedback. Watch for the results of the title when we unveil the cover soon!

Best of all, this is the kind of two cents that’s not made of copper. We just want your thoughts on two title options. We asked you a few weeks ago, but we’re still stumped. We’ve narrowed it down to your two favorite titles, and we need you to break the tie. Here’s the scoop in case you missed the summary last time: In spring of 2011, Dannah Gresh will release her next book for older teens and college-aged women on the subject of sexual purity. This gritty look at the challenging questions that today’s young woman face is something Dannah has been praying over and working on for eight years. During that time, she has been tracing the Hebrew word for sex from Genesis through to Revelation where we see its Greek equivalent. This has provided some amazing insight into God’s thoughts about sex. It promises to deliver powerful biblical truth to a confused generation. As Dannah finishes up the manuscript, she is working with her publisher to find the right title to draw readers  in.  We need your opinion. If you are a teen, college-aged woman or the mom of one, she needs your opinion by Thursday morning to provide some feedback to her team at Waterbrook/Multnomah. On Thursday, we will randomly select one winner to receive one of every single one of Dannah’s books—that’s fifteen books valued at between $9.99 and $19.99 each. To be included in the drawing, you need to answer each of these questions thoroughly in the comments section below. Thanks for your help.

• 1.) How old are you? (If you are the mom of a teen or college aged girl, note that fact along with the age of your daughter.)
• 2.) Which title below do you like the most? Why?
• 3.) Which title below do you like the least? Why?

Known: The One Thing No One Ever Tells You About Sex

What a day we had here at True Woman in the teen track. Entitled, Lies Young Women Believe Live!, it is formatted to be a talk show/game show day of fun, in which we connect deep Bible teaching on common lies young women believe with a whole lot of fun. Erin Davis, host of liesyoungwomenbelieve.com, led the charge with rounds of “Let’s Make A Deal.” Together we hosted “celebrity guests” for talk show interviews such as Keith and Krystin Getty. The Getty’s, who bring us modern hymns like “In Christ Alone” and are a beautiful Irish couple, shared some of their very engaging and very pure love story with us. Want some scoop? He flew her to New York and took her to Tiffany’s to propose. They got married on the 16th of the month, so every 16th they celebrate. They have MONTHLY anniversaries. When asked, “How did you protect her purity?”, Keith answered: “I married her quickly!” All the fun aside, my favorite time of the day was watching teen girls on their knees weeping in sweet repentance before God. Second only to the sight of them standing on their chairs to shout, “Yes, Lord” to the call to embrace purity, modesty, true beauty, and the roles of one day being wives and moms. Sound a little un-P.C.? It is. And it’s very freeing! Since I froze my toes off in my cute shoes in last nights main session, the girls provided fuzzy socks for me tonight which I was happy to wear on stage! My feet nice and warm, I was able to soak in the amazing Bible teaching of Pastor James McDonald who managed to teach though very sick and then the lovely Kay Arthur. God created quite a collision of truth in my heart through those two powerful messages. An amazing day and we have one half day left to stay warmed by the presence of our loving God (and a good pair or two of fuzzy socks!) Makes plans to join us this fall in Indianapolis or the Dallas area.

Suitcases, giggles and gangs of women filled every corridor of the Marriott by mid-afternoon. The elevator has become an interesting excursion since their arrival! I’m not complaining…not really, but it didn’t take forever to get one before they were here. Then again, we didn’t have fun playing a New Millenium’s version of the 1950’s telephone cramming fad. That game has nothing on a True Woman elevator stuffing! It’s a planned method of bonding, I’m told by the True Woman planning team. There are women from 34 countries and five nations represented here in Chattanooga at our first True Woman 2010 event. (The two this fall are in Indy and the Dallas area! Join us!)My day started with a very peaceful solo ride on the elevator to join my dear friend from the Southern Baptist Convention, Karen Cole. She interviewed me for their big convention in July. What an honor that I’ll be addressing the Southern Baptist Convention by way of video as they seek to address the issue of sexual brokenness in the Church. This turned into a flurry of interviews in the media hall, in which I began to find my formerly vacationing self awakening to the task at hand. (I even used a few big words here and there.) Then, it was off to meet the team and get our hearts ready to greet the Elevator Stuffing Crew. Something that I love about Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s leadership is that what happens behind the scenes is so much more important to her than what happens on stage. Today before all the women arrived, there was hardly any place I went where I did not see heads bowed in prayer. The hostess team was gathered in the foyer praying. The media guys were praying. And this afternoon the entire teaching team convened to seek God’s heart and pray for two hours. What drives this? Nancy read a quote from Hannah Whithall Smith that said, “The evaluation of everything in your ministry should be: was God there?” I guess that brings me back to elevators: if we send a fervent prayer up, God is certain to bring His Spirit down in a very real and tangible way. (If you do not believe this, test Him in it. Ask him for something and see. What to really get blown away? Ask Him to feel him. You may be surprised.) More than we are crafting great speeches and presenting motivation videos or world-acclaimed songs, we are praying here in Chattanooga. We want God to be here. So our elevator prayers are ushering him in. Pray for me as I prepare my heart for tomorrow as I host and teach during Lies Young Women Believe LIVE!, our teen track. I would ask you to ask God to be here, but He already is. So, let me ask you to do this. Ask Him to be near you tonight. Let me know how that goes.

Maybe the word “bust” isn’t the best choice of words for me today. I have a cruise under my belt…LITERALLY! In two hours, I’m headed to Chattanooga for True Woman. I don’t know if you can identify with this…but none of my pants fit. Goodness, one of my skirts doesn’t even fit and it takes a lot to offend the forgiving spirit of a free-flowing skirt, but I have succeeded. That cruise food from last week apparently DID have calories in it. (And that concierge told me that cheesecake smothered in raspberries and chocolate sauce was calorie-free! Never mind the fact that I was fairly sure the Lobster smothered in butter was not.) So, in a last minute attempt to maintain modest standards (and my seams)…I’m headed out to buy a quick pair of larger dress pants and a skirt. (This, I might add, is great for a woman’s confidence!)My travel partners for this trip are Eileen King (my wonderful assistant) and Lynn Nold (one of my board members). Both are dear friends and prayer warriors. Pray for all three of us as we travel today. (And I won’t mind if you pray that there’s a good smoothie bar during my flight stop so I can go liquid today!)The irony of this all is that part of what Erin Davis and I will teach to the teen girls Friday, is that the world’s standards of beauty are vain and unforgiving. Could it be that the  Lord is letting me remember just how very frail our female emotions can be when it comes to weight (something I’ve not struggled much with), skin problems (something I have), and clothing. Oh, Lord….let me feel what you need me to feel so I can reach these precious girls with truth!If you are praying, and I  hope you are, consider praying for these girls to begin to believe God’s standards of beauty and value.

Posted by Dannah Gresh, Creator of Secret Keeper Girl Hey Secret Keeper Girl moms and daughters! I just got home from two weeks of much needed vacation time in the Caribbean. It’s been nearly three years since our family took a real vacation, so we made this one a long one. While I spent most of two weeks time doing nothing, I am very proud to say that I took one afternoon in St. Marteen to “captain” the Canada II America’s Cup Sailboat in a Regatta. My boat won! I have photos of some very ugly black and blue marks to prove it!

 Other than that day of activity, I was lazy to the end. My favorite day was sitting on the cruise ship and soaking in the beauty of the British Virgin Isles. Imagine two hours of this…

To say I am relaxed doesn’t quite touch the level of numbness that I feel. The whole world around me is in a scurry and I’m not sure why, though I am much aware that I left State College two weeks ago I too was on full-steam ahead.Why am I telling you? Because tomorrow morning I depart for Chattanooga, where I will join up with some great women of the faith like Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Kay Arthur and Mary Kassian to bring the first of three True Woman 2010 events into being. What an honor it is for me to work with the teens in forming their view of womanhood as it is bombarded in a crazy culture! And in between I’ll get to hear the keynote addresses of these women who I have grown to love all the more as I get to know the inner-workings of their lives and hearts. It’s generally a bit much for this central Pennsylvania girl who struggles all-too much with an overdose of insecurity. (Though captaining my first sailboat team to a victory was good for the soul!) I have to say that this time it’s a little bit more overwhelming for me than usual. The thing is, I wasn’t captain of my spirit last week. It wasn’t like I was doing insane and crazy things. I was dining with the dearest people on earth each night and making new friends, reconnecting with my husband, and resting. But I wasn’t digging into God’s heart and so I feel….a little unprepared as I pop open my powerpoint and begin to mull over my notes. If I’ve learned anything in ten years of ministry it is this: stay close to God and he’ll do the rest. I’m not far from him, but I’ve not cuddled near as I normally do. (Do you do that on vacation, too?) I’m a little full of lobster and cheesecake as can be attested by the fact that I could not press myself into my pants today (which is always good for one’s confidence), but very starved for some worship and Truth in the very center of my being. So, I’ve decided to recruit you to be my prayer partners. Pray for me as I minister, and I’ll keep you updated directly from Chattanooga. (Who knows! Maybe I’ll tell you what Kay Arthur orders for lunch or what Nancy Leigh DeMoss has to say in our behind-the-scenes prayer times! I’m just newsy enough of a girl to do that!) Stay tuned…(and it’s not too late for you to join us for our fall events in Indianapolis or Fort Worth. Today you can pray that the Lord will give me favor in multiplying my time as I try to catch up from vacation emails and get myself packed for tomorrow!

Posted by SKG Intern, Melanie Cherland  WOW, thank you so much First Baptist Church in Elgin for inviting us to the Hemmens Cultural Center for a show this week! They say good help is hard to find, but it seems that each stop on our tour we find more and more incredible volunteers. When our SKG team arrived to begin setting up, volunteers from First Baptist already had the lobby transformed into a swirl of balloons and flowers in magnificent SKG colors (you can see a sample in the pictures below).

We had an auditorium full of ladies of all ages show up excited to hear more about what it means to be a Secret Keeper Girl. Throughout the evening they discovered that being a Secret Keeper Girl is about knowing that true beauty doesn’t come from the mall, but it comes from spending time with God! These Secret Keeper Girls and moms found out that they were designed to be captivating, but only to ONE guy!! They also found out that the moms are much better at tossing a helium flyer than the girls are : )

By far the best part of MY night was watching over 30 girls, and moms, decide to change their lives and become one of God’s princesses. The angles were rejoicing in Elgin Thursday, let me tell you!!!

Posted by SKG intern, Melanie Cherland I was thrilled to have a chance to see the sun in Florida this week, but I wasn’t the only excited one. The folks at First Baptist Church of Weston were so excited about our arrival that they had decorated the whole church in true Secret Keeper Girl fashion. Flowers and butterflies hung from the ceilings and popped out of flower beds, tables sparkled, even the bathroom mirrors were decorated! It was truly a welcome reception for us and as you can see below the girls LOVED it too.Some special guest stars were able to escape the snow up north and join us in Florida for an INCREDIBLE night including former intern and amazing vocalist Cali Ledger, as well as the one and only creator of Secret Keeper Girl, Dannah Gresh!!Personally, I was blessed beyond belief by the moms and daughters that I was able to connect with at intermission and after the show. So many of them were able to identify with my struggle to like the way I looked growing up. I’m so glad that they were encouraged by my story. I was definitely encouraged by theirs! But by far the best part of this night was being able to see the lives of 12 young girls changed forever as they stepped forward to ask Jesus to be their Lord, Savior, and Friend!!

In spring of 2010, Dannah Gresh will release her next book for older teens and college-aged women on the subject of sexual purity. This gritty look at the challenging questions that today’s young woman face is something Dannah has been praying over and working on for eight years. During that time, she has been tracing the Hebrew word for sex from Genesis through to Revelation where we see its Greek equivalent. This has provided some amazing insight into God’s thoughts about sex. It promises to deliver powerful biblical truth to a confused generation. As Dannah finishes up the manuscript, she is working with her publisher to find the right title to draw readers  in.  We need your opinion. If you are a teen, college-aged woman or the mom of one, she needs your opinion by Wednesday morning to provide some preliminary feedback to her team at Waterbrook/Multnomah. On Wednesday, we will randomly select a winner to receive ten copies of either And the Bride Wore White or Lies Young Women Believe. To be included in the drawing, you need to answer each of these questions thoroughly in the comments section below. Thanks for your help.

• 1.) How old are you? (If you are the mom of a teen or college aged girl, note that fact along with the age of your daughter.)
• 2.) Which of the titles below do you like the most? Why?
• 3.) Which of the titles below do you like the least? Why?
• 4.) Do you have any title ideas you want to suggest?

What Are You Waiting For? The One-Word Answer to the Love Your Soul Longs For 

A Lotta Yada: The One Thing No One Ever Tells You About Sex 

 ONE: The Surprising One-Word Answer to Your Questions About Sex

Known: Discover the Hidden Beauty of Pure Sexuality 

Revelation Sex: What Are You Waiting For? 

THE WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY HAS BEEN RANDOMLY SELECTED. IT WAS MOLLY! YOU CAN STILL FEEL FREE TO LEAVE YOUR FEEDBACK CONCERNING THE TITLE. DANNAH WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR OPINION!