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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

Happy 4th


Today I slept in...Teeby made homemade waffles and brought me breakfast in bed, then I went right back to sleep for another hour or so.

I love to sleep, for anyone who hasn't figured that out yet. They say people need less sleep as they get older. Not that I'm ancient or anything but my love of sleep shows no signs of slowing down. On my day off sometimes I sleep into the afternoon (if the kids don't have school) and if my cell phone rings and it's not a true emergency, I hate it! If you've known me personally for very long you also know I hate my cell phone. It's a necessary evil of living in today's world. I'm not a lazy person by far - in fact I have workaholic tendencies, or sometimes, well...I guess I'd have to say I have been a full blown workaholic. I've balanced out a lot more in the last 10 years especially. I still work real hard but when I'm off I also relax real hard if that makes sense!

I originally had no plans for 4th of July other than sleeping in, doing quiet things around the house and then having the boys come home from youth camp --which automatically makes the house noiser. Say goodbye to the quiet peace Savanna and I have had all week, snuggling on my bed in the evenings after work, quietly watching shows like Big Bang Theory. Nope, goodbye to the peace and quiet. But that's alright - I love my three kids. It is so good to have the boys home! I have done a serious amount of snuggling with both of them today since they've been home. While watching fireworks I snuggled with Dustin outside and then inside while we were watching the Washington DC celebration on TV, I snuggled on the couch with Jordan and rubbed his back for a while. I am a serious snuggler if you also haven't figured that one out.

I had absolutely no plans for today until I woke up this afteroon. I thought I was just going to have a slow day to do things like get up at noon, read or take a bike ride until the boys got home. But then Larry said, "Bernie and Lisa called...we're getting together with them for a barbeque today and you need to make a bunch of sides to go with the meat they are grilling..." My husband knows it's no big deal for me to whip up food at the last minute -- I often kid around with Lisa that if MacDill fires her and Northside gets rid of me, she and I will go into business together doing catering. :-) We have done so many events together, everything from church events to wedding receptions . So I got up and in a matter of about and hour and a half I had made a macaroni and shrimp salad, a baked bean casserole that is to die for, (although Pastor Trinity always says he would never die for any casserole - ha ha!), and some stuffed eggs. Yum, yum! Lisa made burgers and hotdogs on the grill, spinach artichoke dip, and a flag cake with ice cream. Truly a feast...one I need to work off of my body tomorrow by biking twice as much.

The boys came home saying it was their best year of camp. They were so excited. Casey received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and Dustin prayed for her! So cool. They loved the speaker. They played a million pranks and even got in trouble for childish pranks and had to stack chairs in the gym as a punishment. I never get upset about these things -- their father and I did the same things, and now look at us. :-) ha ha! Of course church vans are tempermental and ours is no exception. It broke down over on I-4 and Larry had to run over and get the kids. Oh well, such is life. Tom will figure out what's wrong with it and get it back and running.

At Bernie and Lisa's we did fireworks (it's legal to do your own here in FL) and we were lighting off all kinds of stuff. Dustin lit off two that he put in the wrong direction. They were aimed straight at us. We screamed our heads off and started running the opposite direction. I was upset and yelled, "Boys! Be careful! You've got to remember that fireworks are nothing to play with!!!!!!!" I was serious when I said it and everyone burst out laughing and said, "Um, yes...fireworks are actually to be played with...that's why people purchase them..." (LOL) I can't help it...I get a bit worked up about my boys lighting up these things and shooting them off like it's nothing. But it was a good night. Very enjoyable with our dear friends and family.

Speaking of the 4th of July, everyone needs to check out Mark Batterson's post about it. It's awesome. Hope everyone everywhere had a spectacular day.

Comments

LAURIE said…
Deanna,
what an exciting 4th you had today. The opposite has happened to me about sleep patterns...the older I get the earlier I arise no matter how hard I try to sleep in. My mind races and always wins over my dead dog tired body. Thanks for sharing Marks post with us - I read it and found it incredibly interesting. -Blessings, Laurie
Anonymous said…
Pastor Deanna, I'm glad you had a good 4th of July. I was wondering if you can send me the recipe for your baked bean casserole. It sounds really good.
Three Bean Casserole

1/2 pound ground beef, browned
1/4 pound bacon, fried and chopped
1/2 cup onions
1 lb. Can kidney beans
1 lb. Can pork and beans
1 lb. Can lima beans
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mustard

Brown ground beef. Drain beans in colander. Mix all ingredients together. Place in 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. OR… after mixing place all ingredients into a crock pot. Cook on low 4-6 hours. (I prefer to make it in the crock pot.)

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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