As a
wife, mother of two children,
and co-pastor of Lakewood Church
in Houston, Texas, Victoria
Osteen loves her life. Through
Lakewood, she and her husband,
Pastor Joel Osteen, reach one of
the biggest audiences in the
U.S. and across the globe—over
40,000 people attend Lakewood
church every week, tens of
thousands attend worship events
across the U.S., and millions
more tune in by television. To
say her life is busy would be an
understatement. And yet, she
strives to balance the demands
of her commitments with joy,
faith, love, and passion.
In her first book, LOVE YOUR
LIFE: Living Happy, Healthy &
Whole (Free Press; October 14,
2008; $25.00), Victoria
Osteen presents a powerful plan
for women to help them embrace
and more fully enjoy their lives
as she has done with hers.
Victoria encourages women to
strike a balance between the
pressures of the modern family
and the modern world with their
own happiness. In this book, she
shares the eleven foundational
truths that will inspire readers
to tap into their own treasures
within to live happy, healthy,
and whole.
LOVE YOUR LIFE
helps readers to love themselves
first so that they can be of
service to others. Victoria
Osteen writes of nurturing her
children to remind them of their
greatness, and challenges
readers to find their own
greatness, too. Victoria weaves
together Biblical wisdom with
personal stories and messages to
empower women to love
themselves, love others, and
commit fully to an engaged life
of passion and action.
Victoria Osteen
also shares the keys to her
loving marriage and reinforces
the importance of forgiveness,
support, and reasonable
expectations within
relationships. Study the people
in your life and make the
necessary adjustments to have
healthy relationships. Look for
the common ground that unites
you in your relationships, and
honor it. Encourage the people
around you with words of love,
praise, and support. Keep the
connections strong.
“Ultimately,” she
writes, “loving your life is
about discovering the greatness
that’s inside of you and the
influence you have on the world
around you. You will be amazed
at the impact you will have when
you tap into the treasures
within.” We hope you will study
the attached with feature
suggestions for a story on
LOVE YOUR LIFE, or consider
a timely review of Victoria
Osteen’s new book. I look
forward to discussing this
inspiring new book with you
soon.
**Also this fall, LOVE YOUR
LIFE will be published as a
Spanish edition—AMA TU VIDA:
Cómo Llevar Una Vida Plena
Sana y Feliz (Free Press
Paperback; $16.99)
and in January 2009, Little
Simon Inspirations will release
UNEXPECTED TREASURES
(LSI; January 6th, 2009; $16.99),
the first of many upcoming
children's books written by
Victoria Osteen. Subrights
information: Featured Alternate
in Doubleday, Doubleday Large
Print, Literary Guild,
Crossings, Black Expressions,
and BOMC2.
LOVE YOUR LIFE: Living Happy,
Healthy, and Whole
Victoria Osteen
Women’s Magazine Feature
Suggestions
v
Confidence is a
process – how past experiences
are preparing you for where you
are right now, and how your
experiences today will prepare
you for your future, and why
getting out of your comfort zone
is important to reach new levels
and successes. How Victoria’s
own mother stretched her to
build her confidence by taking
an active role in the family’s
fine jewelry business at age 13,
even when she was terrified to
interact with customers.
v
A working mom’s
perspective – How it became
stressful for Victoria to
constantly be on the road
traveling with the ministry,
with many sleepless nights
stressing over what they had
packed and whether they’d
remembered everything. Finally,
she took a step back and
realized how out of character
her thinking had become, that
her worries and concerns had
distorted her perspective. She
decided right then and there
she’d never be stressed about
packing for trips ever again.
She decided to let herself off
the hook – it wouldn’t be the
end of the world if she forgot
her son’s socks or her
daughter’s toothbrush – and it
released her from an enormous
load of pressure. Now she
doesn’t get trapped in
self-defeating thoughts of worry
and, instead, switches gears and
moves forward – allowing herself
to enjoy her future experiences.
How you can do the same.
v
Enjoy the people
you love - Don’t put off
important things because we make
them bigger in our minds than
they already are – keep your
attention on what matters. Often
times we think we can’t do
something because we think we
need to schedule it too far in
advance, or we don’t have the
right clothes. Maybe you feel
like you can’t invite your
friends or family over because
the dining room needs painting
or the gutters need fixing.
Stop. Find perspective and make
your relationships a priority by
finding simple ways to enjoy the
people you love.
v
Cultivate rich
relationships – Learn to have
realistic expectations and let
people off the hook. Give people
room to be human and avoid
heartache. It’s not up to anyone
in our lives to keep us happy
and content; that is our own
responsibility. Depend on our
God-given inner strength as a
source of fulfillment.
Disappointments are for a
season, relationships are for a
lifetime.
v
He said, she said – Love your
husband by understanding his
communication style. Adapt to
him to have a better
relationship. For example;
Victoria communicates
differently by only sharing the
most important details of the
story. She knows when Joel is
going on “detail overload” and
adapts to his style of
communication to have a better
relationship with him.
v
Speak words of
faith and victory into your
family – Recognize the weight
your words carry and the
influence you have on those
closest to you. Understand the
power of encouragement, take
time to identify specific
strengths in people and build on
those strengths with our words.
v
More is caught
than taught – be careful in
front of children. They are like
little sponges, absorbing every
word that comes out of our
mouths and imitating our every
action. By living our life with
purpose and resolve we can
challenge those around us to
rise higher, using our words to
paint pictures in the hearts of
those we love, creating
masterpieces with every stroke.
For more information please
visit:
www.victoriaosteen.com