Skip to main content

What To Do First to Make a Profit

The PF Women Team at our Annual Team Retreat  ~ 2018 Today on Seth Godin's blog, he said: It's tempting to decide to make a profit first, then invest in training, people, facilities, promotion, customer service and most of all, doing important work. In general, though, it goes the other way. Yes, it does. If you are waiting to make a profit before you do these things, in my experience you're  not going to make a profit. So many organizations, ministries and churches are struggling with financial issues. I know your pain. As anyone who follows our story knows, our ministry was in a ton of debt four years ago when I came on as director.  Since that time, we've gotten out of debt and turned a profit every year.  God has done amazing things through out team, for which we give Him the glory! I find that what Seth is saying here is absolutely true, with one disclaimer. For Christian leaders, spiritual disciplines must always be first. Before we started inve
Post a Comment

There really is a reason for caution stickers on candles



So here's where we're at...the Holiday Resort in Miami Beach. It's absolutely beautiful.

I'm here to preach for a women's retreat this weekend.  When I got to my room, the women from the church had a special beach bag for me with a beach towel, sunscreen, a good book, a Dove chocolate bar, chap stick, etc. They also gave me a candle. (More about candles in a moment...) This retreat is really amazing - the location, the gourmet meals they are serving and all kinds of stuff.   I don't always get to bring Larry with me when I travel and speak, but this time I really wanted to being that it's in one of my favorite places (Miami) and at this amazing hotel.  
 

In a few moments I'm getting ready to hit the beach again with Larry and then have dinner. I have to preach three times this weekend and  I will probably get back to Tampa at about 2 am right in time to sleep four hours and then get up for church at 6 am. I know, I know...it's a little crazy. But, I love to preach, and most of all I love to see lives changed. And I don't want to be away from our church which is my first love, on Sunday, if I don't have to. So I will do kind of inconvenient things to accommodate both at times. 
Okay, so the funniest thing happened last night and I already warned Larry I'm going to blog about it. He's used to my transparency and has just sort of resigned himself to it.  So here goes.

Last night after dinner Larry lit all the candles in our room. So then we're really connecting and things are going great...

In the midst of an absolutely amazing time of lovemaking, Larry yells to the top of his lungs, "OH MY GOSH!!!"

 I thought, "wow, this is an amazing response..." 

Until -- he leaped up off the bed, screaming his head off and I saw this ball of fire -- LITERALLY, on the nightstand. 

While throwing his clothes off he had unknowingly flicked an article of clothing over there and it landed on one of the candles. And now the clothes were on fire! So he picks up one end of it that is not on fire and runs in and throws it...in the toilet! The fire is out but the room is a smoking up terribly. So I leap up on the bed and start jumping and waving pillows in front of the smoke detectors and I yell to Larry, "get up here and help me before management comes up here and we have to explain this!!!!!" 

CAN YOU IMAGINE?! 

So we are both totally naked, jumping up and down on the bed, fanning all the smoke detectors as hard as we can.

After this fiasco, I collapsed on the bed and laughed until I cried. It was all so funny, I was still laughing about it this morning and here I sit cracking up about it while I'm typing this now.

Moral of the story - you really should be careful what you do when there are a bunch of candles lit. I guess all the "caution" stickers on them about leaving them unattended really do exist for a purpose.

Don't worry, we'll be much more careful with the candles tonight.
Labels:

Comments

Lisa N Alexander said…
:0X

LOL!!!!!
10:17 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Relevant Church doing something...

incredibly RELEVANT!

I just heard some news today that really inspired me. A church here in Tampa, Relevant Church is doing a new thing this month called the "30 Days Sex Challenge." (I've never visited the church but Pastor Trinity - our children's pastor - has visited or has met some people from this church and he was very impressed.) Realizing that this is a major element missing from some marriages (the frequency factor) their lead pastor, Paul Wirth, has issued a challenge for all the married couples to have sex for 30 days in a row. At the same time he has issued a challenge for all unmarrieds to completely abstain from sex. Of course we know the Bible says that those who are unmarried should not have sex in the first place but the point is, a lot of unmarried's aren't obeying the Lord's command to abstain and this is just one pastor's way of trying to get them to see that indeed, there is a better way! (God's way!) At the same time, many married couples are not
29 comments
Read more

Excellent teaching on Criticism

My friend Pastor Leanne posted this today on her Myspace blog and I thought it was excellent and so timely. It's a blog post from Pastor Perry Noble , about criticism. I think it's perfect for the pastors at Relevant Church right now, as well as any other person going through this. I would like to note that when he says, "when God begins to move" it wouldn't necessarily just pertain to your church but to your life, your family, your marriage, anything that concerns you. I have found that the greater God does things in my life and the more He blessed me the more I should expect it. This teaching is good, so good I was almost wavin' a hanky in my office. Okay, here we go... You Will Be Criticized When God Begins To Move–Expect It And Get Over It. (Pastor Perry Noble at http://www.perrynoble.com/ ) I've never met a devil worshiper–to my knowledge that is. When I first became a Christian I was convinced that I needed to do all that I could to be ready to comba
3 comments
Read more

What Verbal Abuse is Really Like, and Why We Must Care
Guest Post: Terri von Wood

In my speaking travels, I meet the most amazing people. Some are connections that go beyond just a night or a weekend of preac hing. One day on my journey, I met Terri von Wood, and we immediately clicked and have been friends ever since.  Just a reminder that all of our guest bloggers this week are available to chat with you in the comment section here on the blog or on my facebook page where the blog is also published.   *** People who have never suffered through or witnessed abuse (including pastors) often don't know how to help women in abusive situations. Knowledge is power and it is my belief that if the church understood the prevalence of abuse, help would be made available.  First, we must acknowledge that the divorce rate is the same  in the church as in the world.  Second, we must understand that the 50% divorce rate does not include all the women who are abused but stay because they do not know what else to do or do not have anyone to turn to.  If those women we
12 comments
Read more