Overwhelmed: How to Quiet the Chaos and Restore Your Sanity

by Kathi Lipp, Cheri Gregory

Overview

"I Don't Even Know Where to Start!"

Feeling overwhelmed? Wondering if it's possible to move from "out of my mind" to "in control" when you've got too many projects on your plate and too much mess in your relationships?

Kathi and Cheri want to show you five surprising reasons why you become stressed, why social media solutions don't often work, and how you can finally create a plan that works for you. As you identify your underlying hurts, uncover hope, and embrace practical healing, you'll become equipped to...

• trade the to-do list that controls you for a calendar that allows space in your life
• decide whose feedback to forget and whose input to invite
• replace fear of the future with peace in the present

You can simplify and savor your life—guilt free! Clutter, tasks, and relationships may overwhelm you now, but God can help you overcome with grace.

Foreword by Renee Swope, bestselling author of A Confident Heart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780736965385
Publisher:	Harvest House Publishers
Publication date:	01/01/2017
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	948,051
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

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 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.

Through Scripture and storytelling, Cheri Gregory delights in helping women draw closer to Jesus, the strength of every tender heart. She is the coleader of Sensitive and Strong: the place for the HSP Christian woman to find connection; the cohost, with Amy Carroll, of Grit ’n’ Grace—the Podcast; the founder of Write Beside You communicator coaching; and the coauthor, with Kathi Lipp, of You Don’t Have to Try So Hard and Overwhelmed. Cheri speaks locally and internationally for women’s events and educational conferences.She and her college sweetheart, Daniel, have been married for more than three decades and live on the central California coast.

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Our Stories 13

Part 1 When You're So Over Being Overwhelmed 21

1 How Did I Get Here?: 5 Ways You Become Overwhelmed 27

2 The Mystery of Me: Understanding the Past and Present You 39

3 Sometimes I'm My Own Worst Enemy: How to Be True to the Future You 53

4 Building Up Others While Tearing Down My Overwhelm: Creating a Team Where Everyone Wins 65

5 When It's All Just Too Much: Practical Steps to Get to the End of Your Day 75

6 Overcoming Overwhelmed: Increasing Your Capacity for Joy 87

Part 2 Oh, the Solutions We've Tried! vs. Real-Life Remedies That Rock 99

7 "Just Try Try Again" vs. Making Peace with Past Failures and Climbing Out of Your Rut 105

8 "Just Let It Go" vs. Managing Your Stuff and Surroundings 123

9 "Just Go with the Flow" vs. Personalizing a Well-Defined Work Week and Day 135

10 "Just Clear Your Calendar" vs. Creating a Calendar That Works for You 147

11 "Just Put Your Big-Girl Panties On" vs. Practicing Self-Care (in a World That Couldn't Care Less) 157

12 "Just Wing It" vs. Cultivating Peace with a Plan… 169

13 "Just Don't Take It Personally " vs. Choosing Input to Invite and Feedback to Forget 181

14 "Just Get Over Yourself "vs. Dealing with Crisis Creators and Finding Your Peeps 191

15 "Just Quit Making Such a Big Deal Out of Nothing" vs. Negotiating Big Deals and Deal Breakers 201

16 "If It's to Be, It's All Up to Me" vs. Resting in Sabbath Restoration 215

Conclusion 227

Notes 231

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"You were made for more than living a stressed-out, guilt-ridden, always-behind existence! This book rescues you from being stuck in crazy mode and provides a road map for finding peace and joy in the middle of your everyday life."
—Crystal Paine, founder of MoneySavingMom.com and New York Times bestselling author of Say Goodbye to Survival Mode

"In a culture where overwhelmed is not only accepted, it seems to be the norm, (Don't believe me? Just scroll through your Facebook feed!) this helpful book helps you dare for more. Kathi and Cheri don't just tease you by dangling the promise of peace in front of your eyes, they gift you with this practical tool that will help you discover a deeper relationship with the Prince of Peace. Loaded with measurable steps and memorable stuff, this is one book you'll want to re-read every year in order to regain your perspective and reclaim God's peace."
—Karen Ehman, Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and New York Times bestselling author of Keep It Shut and Listen, Love, Repeat

"For many years, my business card could have read, 'Glynnis Whitwer, Chronically Overwhelmed.' Oh that I had read Kathi and Cheri's book back then...my family (and soul) would have thanked them! In Overwhelmed, Kathi and Cheri address the drowning cry of this generation with honesty, humility, and hope that speaks to the depth of my heart. This isn't a 'pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps' approach, but the kindest most encouraging look, with innovative solutions, at a problem that plagues women everywhere. I loved this book!"
—Glynnis Whitwer, Executive director of communications Proverbs 31 Ministries; author of nine books, including Taming the To-Do List and I Used to Be So Organized

"Wow! What a practical resource! We all experience feelings of being overwhelmed but often don't know what to do about it. Kathi and Cheri provide practical wisdom to dissect the feelings, determine the causes, and help us discover new strategies and healthy habits. My stress level decreased just reading these pages!"
—Jill Savage, Founder and CEO of Hearts at Home, author of Better Together

"In a culture that measures success according to crowded calendars and impossible commitments, Kathi and Cheri promise rescue. No more flailing about in the Ocean of Overwhelm. No more panic and empty promises to 'slow down' and 'say no.' Instead, a practical and personal plan to escape the chaos and come up for air. Hang on, my friend. Help is on the way."
—Michele Cushatt, author of Undone

"If you've picked up this book, you're probably in over your head. Take courage—Kathi and Cheri have been there. Boy, have they been there! And they have hard-won, hands-on, priceless advice on finding your way to calmer waters. The best part is: They know that everyone has a different life and show exactly how to tailor their advice to suit your personality and your own set of ongoing challenges. Don't miss this. Overwhelmed is a quick read, but an invaluable one for every woman."
—Shaunti Feldhahn, Social researcher and bestselling author of For Women Only

"Although we live in a world that views busyness as a virtue and overwhelmed as our trophy, Kathi and Cheri gently lead us with humor, personal stories, and powerful practical steps into a life of more order, peace, and space to breathe. They're the girlfriends extraordinaire who let us know we're not alone but won't let us stay on the crazy treadmill we've been pounding. I'm off to apply their awesome applications!"
—Amy Carroll, Author of Breaking Up with Perfect and Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and writer

"Warning! This book might just mess up your maxed out, emotionally overloaded life...if, and only if, you take the suggestions seriously and choose to move toward the mentoring offered by Kathi and Cheri. Their help is pragmatic...practical, possibly even painful at times, but always purposed. Overwhelmed is page after page of the motivation and inspiration you need to progress beyond your body-mind-and-soul stress."
—Gwen Smith, Author of I Want It All and Broken into Beautiful and cofounder of Girlfriends in God

"I can't stop reading and rereading this book! When a woman feels overwhelmed, sometimes she just needs someone to look at her and say, do this. That's how I felt as I read the words of Kathi and Cheri, friends just telling me, here's your next step. They both normalized all my 'overwhelmed' feelings and gave me so many practical tools to help me find my next faithful step. Every woman needs this book!"
—Nicki Koziarz, Proverbs 31 Speaker and author of 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn't Quit

"Feeling overwhelmed is more than a passing emotion. It can become a pattern, a state of mind, and a spiritually sticky place where you cannot move forward. To flourish in the freedom God promises, you need to find a way out. Kathi Lipp and Cheri Gregory's Overwhelmed is that way out. These two close friends will bring you into the fold of their friendship and share their own overwhelmed stories, help you begin to think about yours, and then walk you through what it means to be overwhelmed and how to break the cycle of staying stuck in that frustrating and hopeless place and moving to a place of living free and brave."
—Susy Flory, New York Times bestselling author or coauthor of eleven books and director of West Coast Christian Writers Conference

"This book isn't one person's system fit to their personality—the personality you don't have. Instead, from the very first chapter, Kathi and Cheri provide 'micro-steps', steps I've begun, that are already removing the weight of overwhelmed."
—Lynn Cowell, Author of Magnetic, Proverbs 31 author and speaker

Editorial Reviews

"You were made for more than living a stressed-out, guilt-ridden, always-behind existence! This book rescues you from being stuck in crazy mode and provides a road map for finding peace and joy in the middle of your everyday life."
—Crystal Paine, founder of MoneySavingMom.com and New York Times bestselling author of Say Goodbye to Survival Mode

"In a culture where overwhelmed is not only accepted, it seems to be the norm, (Don't believe me? Just scroll through your Facebook feed!) this helpful book helps you dare for more. Kathi and Cheri don't just tease you by dangling the promise of peace in front of your eyes, they gift you with this practical tool that will help you discover a deeper relationship with the Prince of Peace. Loaded with measurable steps and memorable stuff, this is one book you'll want to re-read every year in order to regain your perspective and reclaim God's peace."
—Karen Ehman, Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and New York Times bestselling author of Keep It Shut and Listen, Love, Repeat

"For many years, my business card could have read, 'Glynnis Whitwer, Chronically Overwhelmed.' Oh that I had read Kathi and Cheri's book back then...my family (and soul) would have thanked them! In Overwhelmed, Kathi and Cheri address the drowning cry of this generation with honesty, humility, and hope that speaks to the depth of my heart. This isn't a 'pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps' approach, but the kindest most encouraging look, with innovative solutions, at a problem that plagues women everywhere. I loved this book!"
—Glynnis Whitwer, Executive director of communications Proverbs 31 Ministries; author of nine books, including Taming the To-Do List and I Used to Be So Organized

"Wow! What a practical resource! We all experience feelings of being overwhelmed but often don't know what to do about it. Kathi and Cheri provide practical wisdom to dissect the feelings, determine the causes, and help us discover new strategies and healthy habits. My stress level decreased just reading these pages!"
—Jill Savage, Founder and CEO of Hearts at Home, author of Better Together

"In a culture that measures success according to crowded calendars and impossible commitments, Kathi and Cheri promise rescue. No more flailing about in the Ocean of Overwhelm. No more panic and empty promises to 'slow down' and 'say no.' Instead, a practical and personal plan to escape the chaos and come up for air. Hang on, my friend. Help is on the way."
—Michele Cushatt, author of Undone

"If you've picked up this book, you're probably in over your head. Take courage—Kathi and Cheri have been there. Boy, have they been there! And they have hard-won, hands-on, priceless advice on finding your way to calmer waters. The best part is: They know that everyone has a different life and show exactly how to tailor their advice to suit your personality and your own set of ongoing challenges. Don't miss this. Overwhelmed is a quick read, but an invaluable one for every woman."
—Shaunti Feldhahn, Social researcher and bestselling author of For Women Only

"Although we live in a world that views busyness as a virtue and overwhelmed as our trophy, Kathi and Cheri gently lead us with humor, personal stories, and powerful practical steps into a life of more order, peace, and space to breathe. They're the girlfriends extraordinaire who let us know we're not alone but won't let us stay on the crazy treadmill we've been pounding. I'm off to apply their awesome applications!"
—Amy Carroll, Author of Breaking Up with Perfect and Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and writer

"Warning! This book might just mess up your maxed out, emotionally overloaded life...if, and only if, you take the suggestions seriously and choose to move toward the mentoring offered by Kathi and Cheri. Their help is pragmatic...practical, possibly even painful at times, but always purposed. Overwhelmed is page after page of the motivation and inspiration you need to progress beyond your body-mind-and-soul stress."
—Gwen Smith, Author of I Want It All and Broken into Beautiful and cofounder of Girlfriends in God

From the Publisher