I am very honored today to have the opportunity to chat with pastor & best-selling author Mark Batterson about his new children’s book, The Blessing of You, co-authored with his daughter Summer Batterson Dailey!
Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. One church in seven locations, NCC owns and operates Ebenezers Coffeehouse, The Miracle Theatre, and the DC Dream Center. NCC is currently developing a city block into The Capital Turnaround. This 100,000-square-foot space will include an event venue, child development center, mixed-use marketplace, and co-working space. Mark holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Regent University and is the New York Times best-selling author of seventeen books, including The Circle Maker, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Wild Goose Chase, Play the Man, Whisper, and, most recently, Double Blessing. Mark and his wife, Lora, live on Capitol Hill with their three children: Parker, Summer, and Josiah.
You can connect with Mark on his website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
THE BLESSING OF YOU
GENRE: Inspirational Children’s Picture Book
PUBLISHER: Multnomah
RELEASE DATE: October 26, 2021
PAGES: 40
Through engaging rhyme, pastor and bestselling author Mark Batterson and his daughter encourage young children to discover the joys of both counting their blessings and being a blessing to others.
Count your blessings two by two— and bless the world with the blessing of YOU!
God’s blessings can be found all around us, and even young children can learn to see and appreciate these gifts—from the smell of freshly baked cookies to the joy of climbing a tree! But God doesn’t just intend for us to receive blessings; He also wants us to bless others.
With whimsical rhyme and delightful illustrations, The Blessing of You helps young children recognize signs of God’s generosity and goodness in their everyday lives and encourages them to pass on those blessings by being their own wonderful, God-created selves.
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Hi Mark! Welcome to the blog!
Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?
Mark: I’m not sure if it’s a superpower, but I love making people laugh. The happiest, healthiest and holiest people on the planet are those who laugh the most. By the way, if I’m eating chocolate, there is a good chance some of it will end up on my front teeth followed by a big smile. It usually results in a laugh!
Carrie: i love that answer – it’s my husband’s superpower too! And laughter is a great uniter of persons, no matter what language they speak.
Q: If you knew you were only going to be allowed FIVE books for the rest of your life, besides the Bible, which five would make the cut?
Mark: The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer; The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard; My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers; One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp; How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
Carrie: what a great list! I would definitely be including One Thousand Gifts on my list too.
Q: What is “flip the blessing” & and why is it an important theme for you and your family?
Mark: Whenever I’m on the receiving end of a blessing, I try to take careful inventory. Then I “flip that blessing” for someone else by returning the favor. If you give me a smile, I’ll pay it forward. If you give me a gift card, there is a good chance it’ll get regifted to someone who needs it. We are meant to be conduits of blessing. And when you flip the blessing it turns into double blessing! After all, it’s more blessed to give than to receive.
Carrie: so important in today’s world, where too often the opposite is practiced.
Q: My readers know that I’m not a mom – ‘just’ an aunt. How can ‘cool aunts’ and uncles and other non-parental adults bless the children in our lives and also help them understand that THEY are the blessing too?
Mark: God gives us two families—biological and spiritual. I’m grateful for my mom and dad, but I’m also grateful for spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers who have invested in my life. Following Jesus is a team sport! In the same way that Jesus invested in his disciples, we need to invest in spiritual nieces and nephews. There isn’t a study to back this up, but I think we become the average of the twelve people we spend the most time with. In other words, it takes an entire church to disciple a child.
Carrie: i love this. In fact, my own spiritual aunts & uncles are passing through my mind & heart even as I type this – so thankful for the spiritual heritage of those who love Jesus and that they too invested in my life, along with my own parents & grandparents.
Q: There are so many feelings that we all have to deal with lately, thanks to the world’s circumstances… How can The Blessing of You help kids process feelings as well as blessings?
Mark: Feelings are hard to filter for adults and children. The goal of the book is to help kids identify sad and mad, as well as, glad. Along with flipping the blessing, we can flip our feelings with our focus. We don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are. Our goal is to help children exercise their gratitude muscle. In doing so, we’re able to “count our blessings” and “be the blessing.”
Carrie: that’s great!
Q: What is something God taught you while you wrote The Blessing of You?
Mark: The biggest blessings are usually the “small” blessings. Jesus said, “Consider the lilies.” It’s the ancient equivalent of that old axiom: stop and smell the roses. If we open our spiritual eyes, there are blessings all around us all the time. One of those blessings, by the way, is the simple joy of reading a book to a child.
Carrie: amen to that!!
Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂
Multnomah is offering a print copy of The Blessing of You to TWO of my readers! (US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.)This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.
What about you? What makes you want to read The Blessing of You by Mark Batterson & Summer Batterson Dailey with a child you love?
My granddaughter would love it.
Sounds really great
What fun. I never win anything, so I don’t expect to win, but II’m entering anyway because the book would be an asset to my Little Free Library.
What a constructive, delightful sounding book! I’d love to put it in the library at the learning center where I work.
This sounds like a fun and sweet book that I would enjoy reading to the little ones.
How nice.
Cover looks great! Excerpt sounds interesting.
My grandson would love it!
What a great story!