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

Naming them one by one...


"Count your blessings...name them one by one...count your many blessings see what God has done..."

Anybody besides me remember that hymn? 

I have a journal where I do nothing but count my blessings!  It's called my "Things I Love" journal.  I write on good days in the Things I Love journal and just make lists and lists and lists of things I love.  Then on the "not so good" days I read that journal.  Without fail it always lifts me up because I have counted my blessings and reminded myself of all God has done.  In reality, He doesn't have to "do" anything else --  He's already done it all by sending Jesus, but amazingly He just keeps blowing our mind and giving us more blessings!! 

So today I thought I'd name a few blessings I'm excited about.  Keep in mind, I don't just write super spiritual gobbledegook in my Things I Love journal.  I write everyday stuff like, "What a blessing banana night is at Bruster's Ice Cream!"  

So here we go...

1)  My Amazon Kindle.  I have been grateful for it and counted it a blessing ever since Christmas day when Larry gave it to me,  however I am especially grateful for it NOW because I'm taking it with me to Africa and that means I don't have to lug any books with me!  I just have to figure out how to put the books I want on the Kindle without breaking the bank.  We do still need to pay our mortgage.   On my first trip I took at least 10 books on my carry on!  OMW, that bag was so heavy.  Books are more valuable to me than any material possession.   But now with my Kindle, I can pack other things in my carry on...like panties.  God knows I needed them when my luggage was lost for 5 (count em five) days on my first trip to Africa.  That's a lot of nights of washing the same pairs of panties.  I'm just sayin'. 

2)  My monkey pajamas.  I got a pair of monkey pajamas from a Goodwill store...they were actually originally from Old Navy but somebody was crazy enough to give their monkey pj's to Goodwill!  I love monkeys and in Africa they are  not behind a cage and I can see tons and tons and tons of them up close.  They even came and invaded the house where I stayed last time.  I loved it!  They came just for me, I'm convinced, because they know I love them!!!  They feel the love!!!  I wonder what they will think when they come see me this time and notice that I am wearing them on my PJ's?

3)  Becca.  She is going with me to Africa!  This is the trip of a lifetime for us to do this together!  I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  She amazingly raised her money in like a month...now you KNOW that's God.  She's talented, but man, you know that has to be the anointing of God.  I am so excited to have her with me on this trip.  She's going to be a great blessing to me, and to the people there, and I'm just giddy inside knowing how this time of ministry is going to ROCK HER WORLD. 

4)  Plum butter.  Yes, plum butter.  I never had it before buying a jar on our way back from Gatlinburg.  I love apple butter and since I like plums more than apples I thought, why not give it a try?  Oh. My. Stars.  I am addicted to the stuff and just have a teeny bit of it left in the jar.  I have no idea if it's good for me or not...there's not a lot of info on the jar.  Maybe I don't want to know!  But I can't say goodbye to my plum butter.  So I've been looking up recipes on line.  Yes, you guessed it, I'm going to start CANNING!  [I'm sure my husband's heart is sinking now as he reads this... "oh  no, she's getting into something ELSE now on top of everything ELSE she does...lol!!!]  I love plum butter so much I think I'm going to make it at home and start canning it.  I might not stop there...I may just do the jalapeno jelly I love so much too!   Do you think those can both be made to taste the same with Stevia instead of sugar?  If not, to heck with Stevia, I am eating the sugar.  

Comments

LOL! I love you PD!

Popular posts from this blog

Some people will never understand this...

And that's okay. Just let us be as we lavish love upon the fur-kids of the world. It doesn't mean we don't care about people. We do care. In fact most of the people I know who are great pet lovers are also the greatest philanthropists. If you're not a dog lover, you might not understand the overwhelming intensity that many of us felt about Tank's reunion this past week. You might think we've lost our marbles. That's okay, we think you've lost your heart. ;)  Before I go on with this post, let me say that we were delighted that CBS 10 posted the video and article about Tank and his Celebration Church reunion yesterday. Click here to watch it. (But then come back!) If you haven't realized it, there is a revolution in America about dogs. Dogs have always been loved and known as the most loyal companions ~ "man's best friend". But things have gone way beyond this. Dogs aren't just dogs or friends anymore. They are family me

Fifty Shades of No Way

This weekend, the Fifty Shades of Grey movie will be released and millions of women are expected to flock to the theat er s.  I will not be one of those women.   As a leader of women , some have asked me about this movie. The following is my thoughtful response. Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best-seller lists around the world. The book series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide, and been translated into 52 languages. It set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time.   Is Fifty Shades of Grey just a harmless book or movie? Although n o one seems to be debating this fact, let’s first establish that it’s pornography.  And not just porn, but a genre that is even more dangerous for women. The book glorifies a female character that is controlled and abused by her partner.   Who is excited about this book and mov ie? Hmmmm….you might be surprised. Many women and girls in our churches have read it. Sadly, I am even aware of

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