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 i...
Time for routine again. Today was a really busy day in trying to get back to the rhythm of life, ministry, home, and all things Shrodes. Any time I take a few days off in a row, it's crazy getting things back in order again but I'm always glad when I do.
We are coming down to the wire with the Unstoppable Conference and getting all the finishing touches on it. This is crunch time. It's going to be wonderful. We are still having people sign up, which is great! I know I have mentioned this before but it bears repeating...we have people coming from as far as Africa! And did I mention that I have the best friends in the world who really believe in this? Pastor Tara is counting down the days, as well as a bunch of other people. I'm so excited but as always feel like I'm running out of time even if I've been working on something for eons.
We left work today and went to the store to get everything for Savanna's school project. She waited til the last minute to tell me which is par for the course. Thankfully Jordan has done this project before and he's going to help her. They started on it and I made dinner which was baked salmon, whole wheat pasta with olive oil and garlic and squash. Yum! (Yes, I'm still 200% on program, thank you very much. My mind is so set...I am so motivated to get where I need to be.)
Some of my motivation comes from madness. When I get mad at the devil (or anybody else, really --kind of embarrassing to admit...but) I have accomplished some of the greatest things when I'm mad. You know, winners are just ex-losers who got mad and refused to quit. So that's me. I'll never quit, never give in and never give up...on anything. Over the years people have tried to tell me, "you won't be able to accomplish this or that, especially without me...blah blah blah," and basically as soon as they say that, they have sealed their fate because I will make sure I don't lose. I'll either win or die trying. The only person I can't accomplish something without is the Lord Himself. I really believe God and a person equals a majority. Through HIS power and might there is nothing you can't do. In Him, we are truly WONDER WOMEN! So, here I am. I'm striving for several things in the remainder of this year that will be winning accomplishments and by December 31, 2007 THEY WILL BE DONE.
One thing that has really inspired me this year is Mark Batterson's manifesto from his book, In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day. When I read it as we were gearing up for 2007, the manifesto directed me in many of my decisions that I made. Those decisions really became a Proverbs 3:5 & 6 thing, because only through the hand of God will all the God-inspired objectives that I have for 2007 come true. (Especially with some of the obstacles that were in my way.) I have realized the need more than ever to TRUST in the Lord with ALL my heart...to lean not on my own understanding...to acknowledge HIM in all my ways...allowing HIM to direct my path. I know in doing this I will see the God-given dreams of my heart come to pass as time goes on.
Here is the manifesto from Batterson's book:
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Grab life by the mane. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion.
Wow...powerful, huh? I'm living it!!!
Time now for me to walk for a few miles...take a shower and sit in the jacuzzi with Larry. What a perfect cap off to my night. By the way, here are five things I discovered this week that make me happy...
1) A small or medium peach is zero points on weight watchers! Can you believe that? Needless to say I'm eating a lot of peaches.
2) Progresso just came out with some soups that are ZERO points! Can you believe this? How convenient!
3) Tampa Bay sunsets have the ability to make me happy every night. I never tire of them. Here's one from this past week...photo taken in my back yard by Jordan.
4) You can eat a whole lot more pasta if you just switch to whole wheat.
5) There's some really cool zero point sprinkle cheese that you can put on popcorn. Thank you, Pastor Dawn, for introducing this to me. Yum! Yum!
Comments
1. What is this sprinkle cheese you speak of? "Zero points" and "cheese" in the same sentence definitely has my attention, lol!
2. Which Progresso soups are zero points? As you know, my husband and I are getting ready to join WW together, and Progresso is about the only brand of canned soup that we'll eat - so this is great news!!
3. You are definitely blessed to live in an area of the country where you can get quality fruit all year round...I'm very quickly approaching "apples and oranges only" season here in Wisconsin. Ugh.
2) The new "0" point progresso soups have the WW points on the front of the can...it's says "0 Weight Watcher points" on the can. I believe I saw three kinds - chicken and rice, italian vegetable and southwestern vegetable.
3) Yes, you're right! Just another reason I say PTL for Tampa. :-)