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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

Keepin the Home Fires Burning...

I love to sleep but love my daughter more. She enjoys waking at the crack of dawn on black Friday to go out. I must confess while I normally wouldn't be caught dead outside the house without my hair styled and makeup applied, I don't care on black Friday. I'm just not gonna awaken at 4 am to do all that. So, she wakes me up at whatever ungodly hour she wants to leave. I take about 10 minutes to wash my face, brush my teeth and change from my pj's into clothes and we head out.

We shop at one department store (usually Bealls) and then we go to breakfast. Her choice is Waffle House. When we've been sufficiently smothered and covered, we hit the road to go to more stores for a few hours. When we're too tired to shop anymore we come home to do the Christmas decorating at the house. This always gets completed on black Friday.  Usually we have seven Christmas trees but the past two years we've been down to five, since two of them bit the dust.

The Christmas spirit is in full swing at our home. I took a few photos tonight when we were all done...

If you were here, I'd welcome you in for tea...


I'd bring you right on in to the living room where we've got our family tree...


We call it  the family tree because it's got all of our homemade ornaments on it that the kids have made down throughout the years. I've made a lot of the ornaments on it too, mostly with family photos and momentos.


And then we'd mosey on in the kitchen where we'd come to the fruit of the spirit tree, filled with sugared fruit...


 When we were done having tea and laughing and solving all the world's problems, I'd see you off in the driveway and head back in to get ready for bed.

I always prepare a tree for the mister and me...

We've gotta go to sleep with Christmas beside us every night and wake up with it with us...

Nothing like the Christmas spirit in the bedroom to keep the home fires burning. 

In between all the Christmas shopping and decorating the house, our family managed to scoot over to our friends Bernie and Lisa Currie's home (just a few streets over in our development)  to share in their family Thanksgiving dinner. We are more like family than friends. Their daughter Emilie and our son Dustin are also courting. 

Here's how you do Thanksgiving Florida style...



 Lisa did a fabulous job of hostessing, as usual and a great time was had by all...


We enjoyed pumpkin pie and coffee (and brownies and apple crisp), and I headed home to put the finishing touches on the house. Jordan didn't get home from work til' 10 pm and wanted me to wait to put the ornaments on the family tree so he could do it with me. He loves doing it, for sentimental reasons. What a great time we had putting the ornaments on and getting the angel on top, just right as we worked together. I know it sounds like something out of a Norman Rockwell picture. Truthfully, we have some moments like that but we also have ones in our house where I'm pulling my hair out and wanting medication.

 It's been an absolutely wonderful holiday weekend so far and the best part of all is...it's not over!  Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds.

 

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