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Showing posts with the label Intimacy

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...

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...

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.  Somethin...

Your Marriage: Living a Honeymoon All the Time

This is Larry and I on our honeymoon in Hawaii, 25 years ago. Look how white I am, even after spending a week there. How did I go to Hawaii and stay this white? It may have had something to do with rarely being out of our hotel room. And look how tired my husband looks! Ha ha! I hope my husband is always a little tired in the right kind of way. Today I want to share with you how you can live a perpetual honeymoon.  Plan for it You'll never achieve what you don't pursue. If you want your marriage to stay hot, plan for it to. Do what it takes to get it there and keep it there. Some people believe this takes all the fun out of it. On the contrary, it lights the spark more.  Prioritize it Women often mention the many roadblocks to romance and sex in their marriage. There are the needs of their children, bills to pay, being tired from working so much, and lots more. The truth is, we often begin to think those things are more important and assign low priority to ...

Your Marriage: 7 Ways to Stay Closer

The following are some tried and true strategies to get close and stay close as a married couple. 1) Have at least one meal a day together. Not rushed. Not in the car, or out of a bag. Sit down and look into one another's eyes and take your time eating and talking about the day to come, or the day you just had. 2) Touch. Not just sexual, but everyday, all-the-time touch. Hold hands. Snuggle if you're watching TV. Gently rub your mate's shoulders when you walk up and ask them how their day was. The photo above is one of my favorites. It's Larry and I this past summer, floating down Rainbow River. We like to hold hands even when we're tubing. :) 3) Talk daily about low points and high points. At the end of every day, ask them: what was the highlight of this day for you? What was the low point of this day for you? 4) Stay close to God.  The closer you get to God the closer you'll get to each other. Christian marriage is like a triangle with God at th...