How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I'm Surrounded by Loose Cannons?: Proverbs 31 Discoveries for Yielding to the Master of the Seas [Paperback]

Kathi Macias (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2009

With humor and relevance, Kathi Macias shares her journey and struggle with Proverbs 31, ultimately discovering the natural progression of growing in grace. The course of our lives and growth in grace may lead to a different destination than originally planned. In the process, we can relinquish the dream of perfection and give up trying to control all those loose cannons threatening the tight ship we are determined to run—but can’t—and instead learn to trust the Captain of our ship to steer us safely home.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Award-winning author Kathi Macias has written more than 17 books, including Beyond Me, the best-selling devotional A Moment a Day, and the popular “Matthews” mystery novels. Her most recent novel, Emma Jean Reborn, is currently being put into script form by playwright Barry Scott. She has written commentary for Thomas Nelson’s Spirit-Filled Life Bible (Student Edition) and was part of the devotional writing team for Zondervan’s New Women’s Devotional Bible. She has ghostwritten for several prominent individuals including Josh McDowell, former NFL player Rosey Grier, and the late chaplain of the United States Senate, Richard Halverson. Kathi has won many awards, including the Angel Award from Excellence in Media, fiction awards from the San Diego Christian Writers Guild, and the grand prize in an international writing contest. With women’s ministry as her primary interest, Kathi is a popular speaker for women’s retreats, conferences, and churches. A mother and grandmother, Kathi and her husband, Al, call California home.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: New Hope Publishers - Arise (January 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596692049
• ISBN-13: 978-1596692046
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #932,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It sinks in slowly, but so worth the read!, October 26, 2010

By 

Nicole - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I'm Surrounded by Loose Cannons?: Proverbs 31 Discoveries for Yielding to the Master of the Seas (Paperback)

As I was reading the book, I think I was looking for some specific "How to's" and was initially a little disappointed when I didn't find them. But throughout the book, I laughed, I cried, and when I finished I thought "It was okay." Then over the following week, I caught myself in countless conversations starting a sentence with "Well, in this book I just read..." And as I spent more time thinking about the stories she told and the journey she shared, I finally started to "get it." It's a great lesson in how God can make us more like the Proverbs 31 woman...despite ourselves! I definitely recommend it, just make sure you spend some time thinking it over afterward!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The model woman is closer than you think., April 15, 2009

By 

Michelle Rayburn (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I'm Surrounded by Loose Cannons?: Proverbs 31 Discoveries for Yielding to the Master of the Seas (Paperback)

In this book, Kathi Macias has captured the insecurity of so many women and fleshed it out in words. It's that secret desire to discover a magic formula for perfection that hides our not-so-secret flaws. Kathi reveals what women need to know regarding the comparison game. The perfect women doesn't exist, and those seem mature and polished aren't as put together as others would believe! It's a breath of fresh air to have someone give the reader permission to be who she is.

Kathi is funny and she has a gift with words. I laughed aloud when I read, "sawing logs like a beaver on steroids." But there were a few places where the humor seemed forced. There is so much really great humor in this book to go around that the not-so-funny and cliché humor could be left out and the reader wouldn't really miss it. I also felt that the jokes about weight or size might be offensive to some readers. Labeling Bernadine as "Big Bertha" and "clueless about her size" as well as showing shock that she would order a "diet" soda, seems harsh. In another place, the author rooms with a stranger named Marcy at a conference, she describes her as her "chubby" saying that she "outweighed me by fifty pounds, so the chances that I'd get an entire `side' of the bed were definitely not good." Again, easily misconstrued by the reader struggling with self-image.

The author has included a "making it personal" section at the end of each chapter and this is very helpful for reflecting on the content and applying it to life. Each chapter also ends with a scripture quote that underscores the concept.

I felt like there were three themes going throughout the book: 1. Living up to the Proverbs 31 image. 2. The process of maturing: crawl, walk, run, fly, lean. 3. Loose cannons. I think I lost the cohesive thread somewhere in the middle but then it came back together at the end. It was almost as if the writer couldn't decide on the main theme or the title so she worked out a way to squeeze all of the ideas in.

This would be a great book for a group of Christian women to go through for a reading club. I would not recommend the book for someone who is not a Christian mostly because someone unfamiliar with the Bible would not understand the significance of the Proverbs 31 woman. Although the introduction helps explain a little and the passage printed from Proverbs 31 at the beginning of the book would help, the book sets a tone for a Christian audience.

Despite the critical side of my review, I think this is a book that many will enjoy and take to heart. It's a message women can't hear often enough.

5.0 out of 5 stars How Can You Run A Tight Ship, July 7, 2011

By 

Katherine Corrigan "Katherine Corrigan" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I'm Surrounded by Loose Cannons?: Proverbs 31 Discoveries for Yielding to the Master of the Seas (Paperback)

I loved reading this book. Kathi shares her quest to live the life of a Proverbs 31 woman. Documenting with humor all of life's foibles and blessings along the way. It is a lovely book for women who are tirelessly trying to steer their ships in the right direction. The lessons she learns from unlikely sources only prove to show that God is the master of all ships. Additional note: I also really enjoyed the Make it Personal section at the end of the chapters, it is a wonderful way to do just that.
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