A sneak peek of my next book – and I need your help!

I’m really excited to give you a sneak peek of my next book and ask for your help (see below).

The Next Book and How it Happened

Here’s the amazing backstory. Many of you know that in January, as a fun New Year’s initiative we issued the 30-Day Kindness Challenge on social media and it EXPLODED. So many people tried to get involved that it crashed our server! That morning, everyone saw a huge need for this — and not just in marriages but in our whole culture. But what most people don’t know is that at noon that same day I “happened” to be scheduled for a major call with my publisher to discuss “what is Shaunti’s next book?” And I’d been really anxious about it. Because after months of thinking, brainstorming, praying, and discussing ideas with Jeff, my team and others, I did not feel an sense of leading from the Lord about any of the book ideas on the list.

So suddenly, here we are putting out this 30-Day Kindness Challenge as just a fun idea…. our server kept crashing, people kept wanting to sign up … and a member of my prayer team emailed one line: “Maybe this should be your next book.” And it clicked: This feels right. This cannot be a coincidence. I never would have thought about doing a book and research study on this, but this is absolutely what needs to happen. And when I started the call with my publisher, I said “Let me set aside the list of book ideas we were supposed to talk about, and tell you what happened this morning.” He said that the moment I said the words “The 30 Day Kindness Challenge” – before he heard anything else — he instantly felt a sense of leading, too.

So we started doing test groups, doing more research, and decided that yes, this is my next book! It is basically an application of a lot of the research that I’ve done over the years in one simple package. Below this blog are the three things we challenge everyone to do with their spouse or significant other during 30 days, and which we have seen to make a truly amazing, life-changing difference – starting 10 years ago when Nancy Leigh Demoss gave me the initial starting point ideas for the Challenge in the first place!

We Need Your Help – To Test 30 Days of Kindness in ANY Relationship That Needs It!

But here’s the next thing we need to test: romantic relationships aren’t the only need. Intentionality, kindness, and positivity can transform all SORTS of relationships. In one church testing the regular 30-Day Kindness Challenge, some single folks informally did the Challenge too. One woman had a troubled relationship with her daughter’s fiance. She did the 30-Day Kindness Challenge for him and it tremendously improved their relationship. Another woman described having a lot of strife with her boss, but 30 days later the environment was dramatically different. You get the idea – there are so many other needs in our culture today.

I also feel a real sense of purpose because of the timing: it is coming out New Year’s 2017, immediately after a presidential election that is almost sure to see even more divisiveness, confrontation, and unkindness than usual. Our country, our culture, our relationships will need to heal. I feel like we can be a part of that healing. But we need to know more about how non-romantic relationships can be affected by the Challenge.

So here’s our request for you: would anybody be interested in being a part of a test group to informally test the 30-Day Kindness Challenge with someone other than a spouse or significant other? Do you want a better relationship with your co-worker? Your in-laws? Your neighbor, your kids, your siblings… ?

Email us at [email protected] – we’d love to include you in this group and get your feedback to be part of the next book.

***Sign up for the current trial of the 30-Day Community Kindness Challenge is now closed! Thanks to everyone who decided to join us. If you’re interested in taking part in a future challenge, sign up for updates here. If you’d like more details about running the Challenge for your church, Bible study, or other group, please contact Caroline at [email protected].