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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

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.

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