Anne Marie Miller

Category: Books

  • Beating Burnout Interview with Dr. Thom Rainer #3: When Do You Quit?

    It’s a short one but a good one.

    How do you know if you’re supposed to leave serving at your particular church?

    How do you know if you should stay?

    How do you deal with the expectations others have on you?

    How do you keep an attitude of joy even when you’re faced with tough challenges?

    Check out today’s interview with Dr. Thom Rainer of LifeWay for Beating Burnout: A 30 Day Guide to Hope and Health (which is on sale at Amazon for just 2.99 through Friday or you can preorder the paperback here!)

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    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7FBJOjzNvU&feature=youtu.be

  • Struggle with Shutting Other People Out?

    “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

    Stress and burnout can cause us to project our pain and exhaustion on others — usually those closest to us. Some people respond to burnout by lashing out in anger and storming around in a rage as their lives are falling apart.

    Exhaustion can cause us to shut down and stop communicating with our spouse or our friends. And by “communicating,” I mean both talking and listening. We no longer feel connected to those around us, and we begin not to care about nurturing those relationships that God has placed in our lives.

    After not communicating for a while, resentment can develop. Our spouses or friends may not feel comfortable opening up to us anymore, and bitterness can be formed and directed toward us, toward the church, and even toward God.

    Photo Credit: VinothChandar

    Reflect:

    In Matthew 5:9, Jesus directs us to be “peacemakers.” It will take effort and intentionality on our part to bring balance back into our relationships. We are to make peace and strive for unity.

    Have you cut off communication with people because you’re feeling burned out? Write down their names and a trait you admire about each one of them. Then write down a date you will contact them, making amends if necessary.

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    The above post is an excerpt (Day 9) of my book Beating Burnout: A 30 Day Guide to Hope and Health. It releases next Tuesday, and I’m crazy excited to share it with you!

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  • What Questions do You Have about Church Burnout or Staying Healthy?

    beating-burnout-bundlemad-church-disease-new

    As many of you know, the next month or two promises to be exciting!

    I’m releasing a thirty-day devotional called Beating Burnout: A 30 Day Guide to Hope and Health (which will be an eBook, a paperback, and a free audio book) in addition to releasing an expanded edition of my first book, Mad Church Disease: Healing from Church Burnout (as an eBook and a paperback).

    It’s been so great (and yet, so heartbreaking) to write the new material.

    I continue seeing how burnout is affecting sons and daughters of God.

    In no way are either of these books focused on church bashing, negativity, or cynicism.

    It’s my hope that they’re full of light, practical steps, and overflowing with how much God loves you and you don’t need to earn His love.

    The expanded material includes:

    • new chapters
    • an expanded study guide
    • a more in-depth burnout assessment
    • plans you can print to help you get healthy
    • …lots of fun things!

    If you’d like to find out when Beating Burnout and Mad Church Disease are available to buy, just sign up here! (use the link if you don’t see the form below).



    *(I won’t use your email address for anything else!)

    As part of the resources I’m providing, we’re shooting video interviews with pastors and leaders (and not just the ones who speak at conferences!) but local pastors here in Nashville and the surrounding area. If you are a pastor or have served in a church and have a story about burnout and health, we’d love to chat and potentially interview you, if you’d like to share your story. I married a professional videographer (lucky!) so we can come to you or you can come here, whatever works best! Just contact us.

    We have a couple of interviews this week, including one with Dr. Thom Rainer, who’s the president of LifeWay Resources and has often shared about staying healthy in ministry in his own communication.

    If you have a question about church burnout you’d like to have answered, or have questions about getting or staying healthy (spiritually, relationally, emotionally, or physically), it would be great if you’d leave your thoughts in the comments here.

    I realize it is not easy to talk about burnout, but here’s the thing. If you’re close to it or in it, you need to talk to someone. If you know someone who’s close, you need to talk to them, support them, offer help. It’s amazing to me how, when I go somewhere to talk about burnout, people come up to me before or after my session and say, “I can’t come to your session. I’m here with my team and I don’t want them to know how close I am to losing it.” 

    burned-out-man

    As Christians, we feel like we have to have everything together in order to be effective for the Kingdom. This is not the case.

    If we had everything together, we wouldn’t need the Cross. We wouldn’t need Jesus. When we say, “I need help,” we’re inviting in more of His love, and we’re reaching out in faith for others to help carry us.

    I need you to help set this example.

    May you have an amazing day and just know how much our Lord loves you!

    ***
    Want to share this?

    [Tweet “I continue seeing how burnout is affecting sons and daughters of God.”]

    [Tweet “God loves you and you don’t need to earn His love.”]

    [Tweet “We feel like we have to have everything together to be effective for God. This is not the case”]

    [Tweet “When we say, “I need help,” we’re inviting in more of His love”]

  • We Need Your Story! The Un-Fine is God Beautiful

    A few months ago, sweet Lisa-Jo Baker sent me an email asking to share my story that would be compiled with other women’s stories for the (in)Courage (in)RL 2014 – (in) Real Life Conference.

    Why does anyone need to hear my story? 

    In filming for this, I got to meet so many women. Hear so many stories. I needed to hear theirs. They needed to hear mine.

    Who knew?

    Here’s the thing. We need to hear YOUR story.

     

    The conference is free. You don’t have to travel anywhere. Get your girls and snuggle up with some tea and coffee and watch and share.

    Registration begins today. And again. It’s FREE. Over 6000 women participated last year from 20 countries.

    A little bit about (in)RL…

    Born out of two years spent listening to women in the comments here at (in)courage craving local, real life community, (in)RL is an invitation to share what we’ve learned about community and encourage women with stories and suggestions for connecting deeper in real life.

    (in)RL is the combination of outstanding online content that encourages, moves and inspires women as they watch in the comfort of their own homes and local meet-ups where small becomes the new big and women connect, in person, beyond the comment box.

    This year we’re unpacking the power of story. No matter how much life you’ve lived or what you’ve walked through, you have a story.

    And we, as a community, are less without your story.

    So, please register and join us. I can’t wait to hear your story.

  • Is Burnout Beating You?

    I’ve been in the process of adding some helpful stuff to the 5th Anniversary Expanded Edition of my first book, Mad Church Disease which launches next month (woot!)

    In that journey, I realized people were needing something NOW. Something to help NOW.

    The emails I get daily show me that burnout is still epidemic in ministry and in the church world and if anything has become more taboo in the last five years, which breaks my heart.

    Over Christmas, I sat down and wrote Beating Burnout: A 30 Day Guide to Hope and Health that covers

    • rest
    • spiritual health
    • emotional health
    • relational health
    • physical health
    • and prayer.

    Rinse and repeat for five weeks and you’ve got yourself a 70-something page book.

    Beating Burnout Mad Church Disease Anne Marie Miller

    Beating Burnout: A 30 Day Guide to Hope and Health releases as an eBook this week! (The print will follow shortly!)

    Each day has

    • scripture
    • a short and meaningful reflection
    • and a section for practical application and a page for notes.

    It reads fast because I know you don’t have much time, but I pray it takes you directly to the heart of our Father with no fluff, only grace, and gives you enough action when, after thirty days are over, you find yourself in a healthier and more intentional place than you are now.

    Can you do me a favor?

    If this book sounds like something you need, can you give me your email address so I can ping you when it comes out? I won’t bother you for anything else. And, if you’d like to spread the word ahead of time, I’ve made some tweets to help you do that!

    You can sign up for the email notification here!

    Share about it below!

    [Tweet “Burned out? THIS > @girlnamedanne’s “Beating Burnout: A 30 Day Guide to Hope & Health” #BeatingBurnout”]

    [Tweet “Had enough? > @girlnamedanne’s”Beating Burnout: A 30 Day Guide to Hope & Health” #BeatingBurnout”]

    [Tweet “2014 = HEALTH! @girlnamedanne’s “Beating Burnout: A 30 Day Guide to Hope & Health” #BeatingBurnout”]

    I am SO GRATEFUL for your support and I truly pray this devotional can help you find hope and health!

     

  • Give Someone the Gift of Speaking Freely (Book & Bracelet Bundle!)

     You know, it’s time to do Christmas shopping.

    We all know.

    Let me help make it a little easier for you!

    Permission to Speak Freely Bundle Anne Jackson Anne Marie Miller

    Do you know someone wrestling through a difficult season? Who maybe needs some encouragement and needs to know they aren’t alone? Or just enjoy a good story?

    It just so happens that I have a lot of these books, and I’d like to make them a little bit gift-able for you.

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    For $25, you get two autographed copies of my book Permission to Speak Freely, with two “Gift of Going Second” bracelets, and a cute little ribbon to boot.

    And I’ll even ship them to you for free.

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    If you haven’t read this book, the poetry, or seen the crowdsourced art in it, maybe now’s the perfect time. You get one and you can give one to a friend!

    Or maybe you just want to give a couple copies away.

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    Just click the button below, and these books will be on their merry way!

    In the voice of an engaging but battle-scarred friend, Anne Jackson questions a church culture that “sacrifices the beauty of confession and brokenness for religious trappings and the malady of perfectionism.” Read through the poems, essays, stories and confessions in this book and join Anne on this journey. It’s time to face our fears. It’s time to live in a community of healing confession. It’s time to move past shame and into hope. It’s time we had permission to speak freely.

    [add_to_cart item=”FBB” quantity=”user:1″ text=”Get it Now!” ]

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  • Vote on my New Book Cover!

    Sign up for the list here.

    Vote on your favorite cover here (it will take you less than a minute!)

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    Well, it’s not really my new book cover (that’s over here!) but early in 2014, I’ll be re-releasing a revised and expanded edition of my first book, Mad Church Disease: Healing from Ministry Burnout. It will release on its fifth birthday (happy birthday, book!) and it’s insane to think each and every week, I hear from pastors or church leaders and volunteers who are still giving this book out and sharing what it has meant to them. I’m was asked to keynote the Shelby Conference on this topic next June!

    Since this book was listed out of print by the publisher and all the rights were reverted back to me, I’m so glad I get to add some content, update some more, and provide not only a book, but study guides, custom health plans, and more.

    Mad Church Disease

    We are working on the final pieces of it, including the cover. I had a design contest at 99Designs and have narrowed it down to eight finalists. Your vote and comments will help so much. Please hop over to the voting page, cast your vote, and make sure you sign up for the email list that will notify you when Mad Church Disease is available to purchase again. (Hint, if you sign up for the list, you’re gonna get some crazy pre-sell offers and freebies exclusive only to that list!)

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    Sign up for the list here.

    Vote on your favorite cover here (it will take you less than a minute!)

     

     

     

  • Can We Love Others Without Loving Ourselves?

    The following is a revised excerpt from my first book, Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic. I’m in the process of updating the book and expanding it with study guides, team workbooks, coaching, and custom plans to stay healthy (emotionally, relationally, physically and spiritually). I’ll be self-publishing it in the next few months. If you’d like to be notified when it’s available for pre-order (and get some freebies), you can sign up here.

    When a Code Blue is issued in a hospital, any available medical personnel run to the room of the person who’s coding. It’s a matter of life and death. Milliseconds count. Politics, personal beliefs, hang-ups, grudges, and pride are put aside as the life of a fellow human lies in their hands.

    It’s an emergency.

    ambulance

    Since the beginning of time, mankind has been facing a life-and-death emergency. We are separated from our Creator. All he wants is for us to be reconciled to him. He sent his own flesh and blood down to earth to restore us. And we?re to help guide others to that restoration.

    The greatest commandments are what? To love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. I can’t (and don’t) question our love for God. The passion and intensity with which we go about our lives are small indicators of our love. But we are guilty of not loving ourselves.

    The statistics on burnout and stress, – not only in America, but specifically in the church – don’t lie. And even if they did, I’m sure you could conclude from your own experience that, quite frankly, we’re pretty terrible at loving ourselves. I know I am.

    Here’s my question to you. If we can’t love ourselves fully, can we love others wholly?

    We can care for others and can want the best for them, but to love them in the godliest ways is impossible until we can obey this great commandment.

    We are in the midst of a crisis that needs our full devotion of mind, body, and spirit.

    In Mark 12:30, Jesus declares, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

    Notice Jesus doesn’t say “love others with all your strength”; he says to “love the Lord your God.”

    By loving God, we’re faithful to his commandments. When we’re obedient, God carries out his work through us. I once heard a pastor say the Holy Spirit will always accomplish his work in us, but why do we make him work so hard to do so?

    Satan is out to annihilate hope and light, both in our world and in us, the body of Christ. He’s well aware of the crisis of the human race, and he will do anything and everything in his power to obliterate our efforts.

    As the church, we need to take a good, hard look around and ask ourselves if we are ready to fight; to fight for our own love relationship with God through Christ, and for the world around us as well.

  • Lean on Me: The Book Cover!

    Even though it won’t be shipping until October 2014, that doesn’t mean my team at Thomas Nelson isn’t hard at work getting ready for the big day. Today, we finalized the cover for the new book, Lean on Me: Finding Intentional, Committed and Consistent Community.

    Lean on Me by Anne Marie Miller

    The first question out of some peoples’ mouths is, “Wait, is this a chick book?” Pink flowers, girly font…come on, Miller. What are you thinking?”

    That was the same question I had as well when we reviewed the first round of book cover designs. Is the book a “chick book?” Not at all. However, the way books – well, my books – have been purchased, shared, and talked about, as well as some other demographics we’ve considered, a vast majority of them have been carried by women.

    Generally speaking, a man is online or in a book store and is browsing books. He most likely purchases a book written by another man…especially in the faith-based market. Women, however, buy from both genders and increasingly more from female authors. And men generally buy more electronic books than women, so a cover doesn’t really apply.

    Regardless of if or how or when you buy this book (I’ll let you know when it’s available for pre-ordering), I am thrilled  with this cover. Knowing the content of the book, the metaphor really captures the message.