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 i...

I stepped on his head!

Sometimes God shows us things in the natural to give us a picture of things in the spirit.  This past weekend on the life coaching retreat such a thing happened for us.

Thursday night we had a session that was absolutely unexplainable and unforgettable.  To say that unity was at a level I have never experienced it all the years of ministry would be an understatement.  Friday morning we had another amazing session together, processing all that happened the night before.  After that we had about 7 hours of free time to enjoy at the resort.  During this time many of the women went walking on the trail, sat by the pool, swam, relaxed in the jacuzzi, etc.

Sue, Michele, Candy and myself put our swimsuits on under our workout clothes and hit the trail to walk, after which we sat in the jacuzzi for a while and talked.   We were walking around the trail that surrounds this lake.
Lake at Mike Ditka Runaway Beach Club, Orlando - photo by Rachael Rice

While we were walking the trail, all of a sudden, Candy screamed, 'OH MY GOD, PD, IT'S A SNAKE!!!"  I looked down and my foot was firmly on a snake's head.  I had inadvertently squished the heck out of this yellow ring necked snake.  In case you have never seen one they look like this.

I hopped back as soon as I realized it.  I do not like snakes.  I am not comfortable with them ONE BIT.  But I wasn't afraid after I hopped back because I realized I had basically annihilated this snake.  It was laying there writhing around, very uncomfortable...like, ready to die.  (This should also show you how much weight I have left to lose on Weight Watchers!  ha ha!)  So we stood there and I said, "Hey look...I've made him REAL uncomfortable..."  And Candy shouts, "That'll preach PD!  That'll preach!"  I said, "Yes, I think you're right.  That will preach!"

Sometimes people can get very goofy with prophetic things or confirmations and I have talked about that here on the blog before, and my intention is never to be flaky but to simply take an honest look at what God might be trying to say or confirm through everyday life happenings.  This is one day I really believe he was confirming something.  It's not everyday that I step on a snake, especially after a service like we had Thursday  night.  Our topic was not about spiritual warfare or victory over satan however by what happened on Thursday night we did indeed inadvertently defeat him and stomp on his head.  We definitely made him just a lih-tle uncomfortable on Thursday night and now I believe he is writhing around wondering what in the heck he's going to do about CC and these fired up women. The Bible says that under our feet is exactly where he belongs!!!

After I stepped on the snake while we were walking, Candy was hopping down the rest of the trail singing, "He's under our feet!  He's under our feet!  satan is under our feet!!!"  This is just one reason she's so endearing to me... (smile)

Comments

Rhonda said…
Awesome real-life analogy! Love the story!

Popular posts from this blog

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 i...

Sisterhood Rises Up To Change Lives Forever

God is in the business of preserving families. It is His heart. It's my heart too. And, I'll unabashedly say here that I believe it should be everyone's heart. Everyone likes good news and I've got some for you today. If you are in doubt that God still speaks today and that He uses people to accomplish His work, I pray this will speak to you. Last night I was sitting in service at Celebration Church where we are pastors, and my husband was preaching. His message was about what we want to be remembered for in life, and he made the statement that we can't change our past but we can change the future.  In that moment, God spoke to me. He began to give me my next post for Lost Daughters, where I'm also a blogger. To be honest it's more than just another place where I blog. It's a sisterhood. A lifeline. A place that has come to mean a great deal to me, because of the amazing women who are there. During the service I basically had this entire post...

Lost Daughters & Me

Last month I wrote my very first adoption related post here on my blog, and said it would probably be my first and last. I was aware of the controversy it would probably bring, as well as the hurtful feelings that would result if those who are not adoptees rose up to disagree.  Although everyone wasn't totally happy, the positive response was overwhelming. I received a lot of private mail that was encouraging, and it outweighed the negative reactions. A few people literally begged me to write more. I wrote a follow up post here , about what I planned to do next. After prayer and consideration, I know I am supposed to start a separate blog about adoption, in addition to writing here at deannashrodes.net.  I am working on this new blog (though it is not live yet), as well as launching a Tampa support group for adult adoptees. However, I believe the best way for me to get my feet wet as I start the blog and support group is to begin by joining others. I need to learn, gr...