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...
Twenty-freakin'-three.
[sigh]
Time stand still?
Please stand still.
Changes are hard.
Even good ones.
And they just keep coming.
And there's nothing I can do about it.
Nothing.
Lord knows I've tried.
And like most other things in life, it's out of my control. (And that's probably a good thing, most times.)
At least he's turned out perfectly wonderful.
The best a parent could ask for.
I'm talking about one, Dustin Michael Shrodes, if you didn't know by now.
He's our youth pastor now, by the way. Just in case you crawled out from under a rock and didn't know. Or you are reading my blog for the first time and have no idea who the main characters in this real life scenario are. Please meet my absolutely perfect first born son:
You can read some day-to-day happenings of his early years in a hand written blog I kept and shared here a while ago. You'll love it, I promise, if you have any sentimental bone in your body whatsoever. You can see the hand of God working in his life from the very beginning. Cause' that's just what God does.
We talked about going out to Kobe like we do many times for family milestones, but all he wanted was his momma's pot roast dinner with gravy and mashed potatoes and corn and homemade rolls. And...a Batman cake. [sigh]
I'm not that artistic.
I make tasty meals and homemade bread and stuff like that, but I am not a Mom who makes decorated cakes. I just make frosted ones. I could sense a failure on the horizon if I tried to create Batman.
So I called a bakery and explained what I wanted.
Here's how it went:
Bakery: What kind of cake would you like to order?
Me: A Batman cake. For a birthday.
Bakery: Okay, what size?
Me: Well, there will just be seven people, so not a real big one.
Bakery: Well, we have Batman on a motorcycle or a scene from the Dark Knight but I don't know if I can fit that on a cake that feeds seven people. Our size cake appropriate for that amount of people feeds about 10.
Me: Okay, I just need a Batman cake that looks good. What can you put on the cake that feeds 10?
Bakery: Well, we can't fit the whole Batman scene but we can use Batman colors, write the child's name and include the toy that the child can have to play with even after the cake is gone. The child is mostly going to be interested in the toy so I think if you have that even on the small cake, as long as they have that, they should be happy, right?
Me: Well, um......they aren't exactly a child.
Bakery: Mmmmmmkay. I see. So, it's for a teen?
Me: Not exactly...it's for my son who is turning 23.
Bakery: Oh. [chuckle] Okay. Well, do you think he will want the motorcycle Batman or the Dark Knight?
Me: I'm not sure. Let me ask my husband.... (messaging Larry to find out) Okay, his father says he will want the motorcycle Batman.
***
So, we'll be dining on the family favorite pot roast dinner and a Batman cake with Dustin's girlfriend and another best friend he wants to invite.
This is the son who, for his 21st birthday two years ago, requested a keg party...with nothing but a keg filled with orange juice. Preferably "Simply Orange". Because that's all he drinks.
Why the Batman cake?
When Dustin was two years old my husband took him to see the opening night of Batman at the theater. They have gone to the opening night of Batman ever single time since. They go no matter what. In sickness, health, snow, rain, sleet, hail or anything else, it matters not. Larry says even if they have to fly to one another someday in the future to do the opening of Batman, they will. It's tradition.
He's such a good boy. Oops...young man!
I'm still getting used to this, ok? But the Batman cake does at least give me a little bit of an illusion that nothing's really changed. Yet. Right?
A Mom can dream.
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