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Showing posts with the label Christmas Open House

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...

Moan-Worthy Hot Crab Dip...(A Recipe!)
And Other Things Happening This Weekend.

The word of the day is: scurry. Scurry    Verb; to go or move quickly or in haste.   This weekend is our Christmas open house for church leadership. It takes me about two and a half days to get ready for this, and it's always a great time. Today I'm cooking up a storm and scurrying to get the house ready as well. Some posts from previous Christmas open houses are here at this link , if you'd like to get some ideas and other recipes if you're having a holiday party.  One of the favorite recipes I always serve at this event is hot crab dip. So simple and so good.  Hot Crab Dip Ingredients: 1 cup crab meat (I prefer white - jumbo lump, not claw) 2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese 1 cup sour cream ¼ cup mayonnaise ¼ tsp onion salt 1 tsp. dry mustard ¾ tsp. Worcestershire sauce Old Bay Seasoning to taste Directions:  I use a variety of crab meat depending on what is available. If fresh is available I...

Having ourselves a merry little Christmas...

Last night's leadership Christmas party at our home...the last guest didn't leave til' after 1:30 am, and a great time was had by all.  I wish I could sleep all day today.  I'm exhausted!  But, I have so much to do for Christmas so I've got a full day today. It was all worth it! Love spending time with our leaders.  Here are some photo highlights of the festivities last night.

Artichoke Dip so great your guests will moan while they eat it...

Things are super busy today getting ready for our leadership Christmas open house.  I have a lot on my mind to write about but not a lot of time to do that adequately. So, I'm going simple and posting a recipe  -- one of the favorites that we serve at the party.  People love, love, love this and it's so easy to put together.  Enjoy. Artichoke Dip 8 ounces softened cream cheese 12 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese 1 cup mayonnaise 1 cup parmesan cheese 2 small jars or 1 larger jar marinated artichoke hearts Drain artichokes well.  Tear apart with fingers and put in mixing bowl.  Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl, well.  Bake in greased casserole dish 30 minutes at 350.  Serve hot with Ritz crackers. 

Hospitality Hints from the Hostess with the Mostest!

Forget calling, responsibility and all that stuff..............I'm convinced some people might stay on our leadership team simply because they want to come to our Christmas party!  ::giggles::  Every Christmas my husband and I host a party at our home to show our love and appreciation to our Celebration Church leaders.  Between 70-80 people usually come as our leaders are invited to bring their spouse and kids. Everyone loves this party from the youngest to oldest!  We do everything from eat (of course!) to play games, and sit around the fire, and sing carols around the piano, and dance, and talk, talk, and talk some more.   We start at 6:00 PM and usually the last person leaves by about 2:00 AM.  I did mention that our name is Celebration Church?  Emphasis on the CELEBRATION. Being a person that loves fresh culinary ideas, I'm always wanting to try something new but every time I dare mention changing the menu there is an outcry...

Getting ready...

Our back patio at Christmas time Tomorrow night is our annual Christmas open house for the leadership team and their families.  We will probably have about 60-70 people here tomorrow night.  Larry and I do this every year at our home to show love and appreciation to our leaders at Christmas time.  (Although we sure do love/appreciate them all year long.)  Last year I blogged about this night here with my most requested recipes from this event.  I've been cooking yesterday and today, preparing the various dishes for this night.  The menu basically stays the same from year to year with just a few tweaks.  This year's looks like this: Leadership Open House Menu Cream Cheese and Red Pepper Jelly on Crackers Chicken Salad Sandwiches (PD's almost famous recipe) on assorted breads Mexican Layered Dip Appetizer Hot Artichoke Dip with Crackers Hot Crab Dip with Crackers Crab Puffs     Vegetable Tray with Vegetables ...

Leadership Open House &
Most Requested Recipes

Last night was our annual holiday open house for church leadership at our home.  We had about seventy people over.  I don't have even one photo.  I know that's not customary!  Last night I decided to just enjoy myself and talk to folks, and dispense with the camera duties for the night.  Besides it was enough for me to keep an eye on other things, and I didn't drive myself crazy with another thing on the list.  I think Lisa took some photos and if she sends them to me I'll post them.  We've hosted this holiday open house for 8 years since we moved to Florida and it's one of the highlights of my entertaining year.  We welcome everyone in our leadership team and their family to celebrate with us in pretty much every room of the house and by night's end most of us are huddled out on the patio around the fire, drinking hot chocolate and talking til' late.   Last night Todd and Bonnie Stewart, and David and Gayle Lechner as...

There'll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting...

Tonight was our annual Christmas open house for our church leadership. I'd write more but I'm so tired after cleaning up the final things before bed, and then getting something out for dinner tomorrow night and prepping it. (I'm always so tired on Mondays after work and if I fail to plan I plan to fail regarding dinner...) We had tray after tray of delicious food, and great conversation especially out by our new outdoor fireplace. Everyone ended up congregating out there at the end, around the fire and we talked for a long time. David and Gayle stayed longest and I just enjoyed sitting in my rocking chair by the fire talking to them. It's time for sleep...and it's so welcome right now. G'night!

Work like it depends on you, pray like it depends on God...

"The natural can be turned into the spiritual only through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life." This is what Oswald has to say today in My Utmost for His Highest . (My favorite devo) I believe that in order to get to the supernatural we have to do the natural - to step out and work like it depends on us, but pray like it depends on God. My goal is to do that every day. To not only give an "honest day's work" but an EXCELLENT day's work. A "next level" day's work. Those two things together - praying and working, IMHO, are the keys to a miracle. Larry always says, "Expectancy is the breeding ground for a miracle." I believe that's true but I believe part of expecting is doing something while you're expecting. Tonight was our Christian Education Christmas Banquet - a very special time at the Currie's. Very "next level" - as everything else has been in this 2006 year. With every day th...