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Showing posts from 2014

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

Worthy To Be Found Releases TODAY!

I am sincerely honored by every single person's decision to read anything I write. I don't say this just to be nice. I really mean it. My heart is so touched when I find out that someone has read anything I've written. I realize you have a plethora of choices in reading material. So for any of you who have ever chosen to read anything of mine, thank you. Entourage Publishing releases Worthy To Be Found , today!! It's already getting rave reviews! You can read some of them, already up on Amazon. I'd be honored if you would also leave a review after reading. So, how to you get the book? Easy peasy. To get the Kindle edition, click here . To get a paperback copy, click here . I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God, and His favor in my life. More than anything,when it comes to Worthy To Be Found , pray that it touches many lives. Love you all,

Home Makeover Shrodes Edition

Jordan and I came home from Africa to a big surprise! Well, it was a surprise for me. Jordan knew about it the whole time. The surprise was new flooring in our home's main areas, plus a new couch! All of it was done by my husband, Dustin, Savanna and friends from church. They also decorated a bit for fall, to welcome us home. Lots of people are asking for photos, so here are the results! My husband took 160 photos and I am going to link to his Facebook album here in case you would like to see more than just these few. I believe he has made the album public but if not, I'll ask him to. (smile) Here's his Facebook Album . Larry had this planned for six months, to surprise me when I got home. I want to give thanks to everyone who helped him on the project. In addition to our children, those who worked so hard with him were Todd Stewart, Doug Rice, John Torres, Willy Letaw, Joel Tevi, Troy Mayercak, Jacob Mayercak, Mason Mayercak, Mike Molinero, and Rachel Rice.  John actu

What is Real Intimacy with God?

Sunset tonight in Kitengala, Kenya I learn more about intimacy with God, every day. It's not formal, fancy-schmantzy or mystical. Intimacy with God isn't about the most theological-sounding prayer or something outwardly impressive. Sometimes it's crying in the shower and telling Him what's wrong. Other times it's pouring out how thankful I am that everything is going so right.  It's plain, every day walking and talking with God. Me in the Kiambethu tea fields, on Saturday Intimacy with God, is being in communication with Him from the time my eyes open in the morning. Or it's lying in bed in the middle of the night listening to the rain pour down as it did in Africa the other night and having a long conversation. I was feeling so poorly, having very uneasy and even outright scary feelings after getting so sick on Saturday.  We had gone up into the mountains and apparently I got altitude sickness.  Eight thousand miles from home, weak and sick

Why I am Not Afraid of Getting Ebola in Africa

With the current Ebola outbreak at various places in the world, many people have expressed concern about the fact that my son Jordan and I are going to Africa on Wednesday.  I know people mean well, and love us very much.  I appreciate that. I don't get angry when people express their concern to me, although I do get perplexed at times. Even before the current Ebola outbreak, there were people pleading with me to stay home from Africa  for various reasons. I have traveled there alone, this being my fourth time -- and I've heard concern about everything from a plane crash to a terrorist attack. So you can imagine, with the Ebola outbreak in a few countries, people have gone into overdrive expressing their fears, begging me to reconsider this trip and stay home. Yesterday alone, I heard it from at least 15 people. I do not mean any of this in a condescending way. I am trying to educate because by the way others speak to me about this in such fear, I realize they do not know

While You Were Sleeping

Did you know that God works on your problems while you sleep?   I was comforted by this thought when I glanced through a book my husband recently gifted me with entitled, Blessings for the Evening . It's a coffee table book of sorts, nothing real heavy. I didn't read from the beginning, instead choosing to open to a random spot in the book. I found this gem: May you find a moment of peace and quiet tonight to thank God for all that is right in your world. May you have the presence of mind to release your cares and worries to Him. May you have the gritty faith to grab a firmer grip on His promises to you. And may you wake up in the morning knowing that you've gained ground even in your sleeping hours because God is always moving on your behalf. As you entrust your whole self to Him today, He'll get you to where you need to go tomorrow. He is faithful. "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. "

We Are That Family

I'm writing this post today because I don't personally need more income. Don't get me wrong, I could always find uses for money. But my point is, our family income is just fine. But at one time, it wasn't. And only someone who is making a decent salary can write this kind of post, otherwise it's taken as  begging for money. Photo Credit: ccstbp, Flickr Many years ago a woman in the church  where we were pastors at the time came to me with a box of things and said, " Pastor Deanna, I want to donate this to a family in need at the church, and I know you'll know exactly who needs it and who to give it to..." I thanked her. Once she left the room I peeked inside the box and said to myself: "We are that family." I took the box home and our family utilized the contents. At the time we may have been the most financially disadvantaged family in the congregation. We qualified for food stamps. Our kids qualified for free school lunches

Why Every Leader Has to Deal with Bears and Lions

Leaders have to face various obstacles along the way to our destiny in order to prepare us for the greatest things we will do. I Samuel 17 is about David facing Goliath and in verses 34-37 it talks about him killing the lion and bear in preparation to face his giant, Goliath. David had a great destiny before him in not only becoming the greatest worship leader/psalmist who ever lived, but also a king and a man after God’s own heart. David wasn’t sadistic, and he certainly wasn’t killing just to kill. The lion and bear were coming in to steal a lamb from his father’s flock. He had to protect the flock. And so he destroyed the lion and the bear. When I went first into the ministry, I never realized how much I would deal with bears and lions. I just expected to love people. And I imagined, they would just love me back. I was quite surprised that much of my work would involve warfare. Not only did I get tired, but sometimes I thought I wouldn't survive the struggle

5 Reasons to Stop Rehashing a Setback

People's failures teach us as much if not more than their successes. One of my greatest failures happened because I refused to use one of my greatest strengths. Resilience: My Personal Uzi I've always been resilient. Had to be. It's a story bigger than one blog post. The crux of it is, I learned pretty early in life that I could be resilient or die. My former boss used to joke that while other employees were complaining about something that happened, I had already formulated a 10-point strategy to come back from whatever took place and was passionately trying to sell everyone on it. Why Some Leaders Don't Move Forward A lot of leaders stay down too long after a hit. Staying immobilized for too long impedes a comeback. If something bad happens in the course of my job, I usually blow off steam for no longer than a few hours. Then, I pray about it and work hard on quickly creating and announcing a new plan -- that day. The goal is move f

3 Choices Happy Women Make

1) Happy women have standards and keep them. Not only does it show that they aren't desperate but they spare themselves a tragic choice by having lowered them.  2) Happy women reject the lie that finding "the perfect man" will make them happy. Please stop with the Facebook posts about how this new man who is your soul mate has met your every need. I write this not to man bash. I love men, especially the one I'm married to. Although there are great guys on the planet, they don't exist to fulfill our every need. Only God can do that. There are so many lessons we can learn from Eve, and one is that and one is that even with the "perfect man" a woman is still not satisfied.  Men are a blessing in our lives but whenever we become dependent upon them for our happiness we are in for a fall. 3) Happy women realize that a bad mood or attitude is not going to change anything for the better. Happy women don't try to bring change through negative emo

I'm Not Lonely Anymore

Have you ever been surrounded by lots of people, yet felt like the loneliest person in the world?  Me too. I've heard lots of people say they have, including many ministers.  The issue isn't whether we're surrounded by people, it's about a heart-connection. Kindred spirits.  Understanding on a deeper level.  We do need community -- and God has created us that way. But it's not community that I'm thinking about today.  I used to feel an ache as a woman in ministry because although I was surrounded by  people, few if any knew the weight of that which I carried.  The issue wasn't whether I could find someone to go out for coffee with. There were those who gave invitations, but sometimes I didn't feel the level of trust or understanding to share with them.  What God showed me was that I needed to reframe the issue of loneliness.   I saw loneliness as a bad thing.  A horrible thing.  Something that needed to be fixed. 

Are You Getting Rough Around the Edges?

Jordan took this photo when I was a little rough around the edges A few weeks ago I woke up and was so irritable I was banging stuff around on the counter top in the bathroom while I was getting ready for the day. Even the dogs were steering clear. Yep, I have days like that. Just keepin' it real. I am not a Pentecostal Mother Teresa. My husband asked me what was wrong and I confessed that I was angry at the lack of solitude to recharge. I couldn't remember the last time aside from reading my Bible or praying that I had  any quiet time to refresh. The previous day we had a few hours off and instead of standing up for my need for solitude, I followed Larry's suggestion to spend some time with friends. This wasn't his fault. I never spoke up and just went along with his suggestion without ever bringing up how I was feeling. He couldn't fix what was wrong because he didn't even know what was wrong.    Extroverts vs. Introverts A lot has been circu

Guess What Day It Is?

Yep, it's Wednesday. Hump day. Mid-week. Comes every week, and for me it's a church day. Contrary to what a lot of church members may believe, their pastor or pastor's wife doesn't usually feel like coming to church on a Wednesday night. We are not super human. We are just like anyone else in that we have worked all day, and we are absolutely exhausted. In addition to work we have family needs to meet and so much else going on in our personal world. Our flesh says, "Go home, take a bath, get your PJ's on, and put your feet up..." My flesh never tells me to go to church. Never. Thankfully I tell my flesh who's boss most of the time. It never fails, I am so blessed for gathering with my church family for this mid-week boost. My body may be bone-tired when I walk in those doors, but soon my spirit is so lifted! I crave the worship, the prayer, the Word, the fellowship. I always leave uplifted and glad I made the effort to be there wit

5 Ways to Increase the Joy in Your Life

1) Choose joy. Yes, this is something you determine!  Choosing joy doesn't mean you ignore tragedy, trauma or challenges. It's about making a decision to choose joy despite obstacles. Choosing joy even in the midst of struggle is important because the Bible says, "the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10) Especially in the throes of problems, we need strength more than ever. Making a decision to choose joy even in trials brings us greater strength which in turn helps us with issues we face. That's easier said than done..." you think. I agree. And I'm not naive. I say this from the perspective of one who has overcome what therapists term, "complex trauma, significant loss and complicated grief." Yes, choosing joy is possible, even when going through all that. 2) Be thankful.  1 Thessalonians 16-18 says,   " Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for y