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Showing posts with the label Thoughts with Deanna

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...

When You've Got to Go THROUGH to Get What's Coming to You...

"See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." Isaiah 48:10 Walking well worn path I've trod daily for almost a month, I've learned many things. Some of them I haven't wanted to learn and would have had a holy-freak-out okay maybe an unholy one if you would have told me prior that I'd be learning them. Years ago when going through a challenge that preceded major learning and growth in my life, someone asked me, "Could you have learned this any other way, Deanna? Would it have been possible by reading a textbook, or listening to someone else's experience?" No, it wouldn't.

Stuff I Adore That Costs Little to Nothing...

Okay...taking a break today from writing about heavy things...like grief, loss, and bawling. Time to write about random stuff today that nobody may be interested in reading. Nevertheless here it is... Stuff I adore that costs little to nothing... Listening to playlists I make on (free) Spotify Drinking out of canning jars Reading books again that I already have on my shelf. Walking and riding my bike. Admiring crepe myrtle trees. Taking a bath in the daytime with the lights off in the room. (Natural light.) Naps. Snuggling with my husband or one of the kids and watching a movie at home. Having all noise turned off when no one is home. (No TV, no music, just silence.) Prayer.

3 Things I'm Learning

I've been concentrating on these the past five months or so: 1) Limiting "work on me" to one big thing at a time. I used to try to work on everything about myself at once that needed an overhaul, and it didn't go so well. I'm learning the value of one-thing-at-a-time. There are issues in my life that need major work that I haven't even started on yet. The past five months have been an invaluable lesson I will never forget, most of it focused on one area. When mastered it will hopefully be something retained for life. I get to choose who I'm going to be. How great is that? 2) Being kind to me as work on me. Every day I notice the parts of me that still need work. I don't like those things about myself. But I know they didn't get that way overnight and they aren't going to change overnight. I could hate myself. Talk trash to myself. But what good does it do? It just makes it worse. I'm a human being, with faults and f...

What In Heaven Are You Most Excited About?

My sister Shari has often commented that life is hard and that makes her super excited about heaven. I've been thinking about heaven a lot lately. Today I had wondered how most people would answer the question: "What in heaven are you most excited about?" My personal answer may not be common, so I had the thought that other people's might not be either. We always assume people will say, "Seeing Jesus face to face," or "Seeing my loved ones," or "Receiving my crown." Maybe not! No where in the Bible does it say we have to be excited for a certain thing more than another. It seems like a perfectly acceptable thing to get stoked about whatever it is you're most looking forward to. So, what is it with you?  

Who wants a bold venture?

Do you wish you would have had the confidence in middle school that you have now? Maybe you don't have as much confidence as you would like to have right now as an adult, but you probably have more than you had as a pre-teen or a teen. Are you ready to face your fears? Each week I'm confronted with this question as my walking partner Liz and I are out on our journey in the neighborhood. On our walk we stop at "Bold Venture Dr." and turn around and go back home. We didn't pick this street because of the name. We simply chose it as our turnaround point because of the timing of our walk. But each time we see the sign, it reminds me of what most people do. Most people get to the edge of a bold venture and turn around and go home. They go home because thinking big is scary. Bold ventures aren't anything you are totally prepared for, have figured out completely, or have the power to do all on your own. When Liz and I go on walks, I reach Bold Venture and...

Why you need to SAY IT and say it now!

 If you think something and it has the power to increase someone in any way, say it now. Say it today. Say it to them. Don't wait a second longer. You never know how that word may affect them. It may bring healing to their soul. It may change the trajectory of their career. It may convince them to keep going with a worthy goal they considered giving up on. It may just save their life. Say it, and say it now.  Text them. Tweet them. Facebook them. E-mail them. Stop by their house. Do what it takes, and do it now. Lately when the Lord has brought a friend to my mind and impressed upon me to pray for them, I communicate with them right then while I'm praying. Sometimes it's at 3 am. I don't call and wake them up of course, but I send a message for them to find when they wake up. Many of them have told me it's one of the best thing that's ever happened to them. Others have said, "you have no idea how this changed the course of my week." Don...