Deanna Doss Shrodes

I'm about to share with you the number one key to having a fantastic weekend each and every weekend. Without fail. Really!  But first...I want to share some things that are going to put this weekend over the top for me. This weekend Celebration Church concludes our "First Forty." We have been on a 40 day fast plus much more (scripture memorization, intensified prayer, etc.) and we are ending it in a huge way -- kicking it off with one of our Prayer and Pancakes events. Then we have Evangelist Martha Tennison with us on Sunday. She's one of THE best preachers who have ever walked the face of the earth. If you have never heard her preach, click here . Two things are for sure, you will never be bored nor fall asleep when you sit in a service where Martha Tennison is preaching! I can't hardly wait for Sunday. On the heels of our sure-to-be-amazing-celebration with the church on Sunday, Larry and I will head to New Smyrna Beach to tag team preach on Sunday night. ...

One surefire way to kill your influence in social media and wear out your welcome fast is to become involved in derailing somebody’s comment thread with your own agenda. Networking and hijacking aren’t the same thing. It’s surprising how many people don’t understand that this is a guarantee for tearing down a platform as quickly as you build it. Passion is good, even necessary. I appreciate people's zeal for their personal core values. What is not appreciated is the attempt at a redirection of a comment thread when the comment has little or nothing to do with an original post or is twisted at best. Social media provides ample opportunity for all of us to share what’s important to us on our own platform. Eliciting others’ responses and developing connections largely depends on our ability to communicate and compel. Some people are open to receiving private communication from others although they aren’t always able to answer personally or at length. But hijacking a comment threa...

I'm seeing this more and more. Christian authors, speakers, musicians and many others are Facebooking and Tweeting constantly, and I love that. As we receive tidbits of information from them all day long, sometimes it's profound and other times not so much. We might hear a powerful quote from their latest message, or we might find that they really like McDonald's shamrock shakes.  So at times these Christian celebrities, for lack of a better phrase, come out with a status or tweet something like this: "God has you in mind..." So later on whether it be five minutes later or five days later somebody writes on their Facebook wall or their Twitter, "God has you in mind..." and someone else pipes up and says, "that's a Beth Moore quote, by the way." Really. I love Beth Moore. And Joyce Meyer. And Christine Caine and many of the other amazing people of God that are quoted. I just randomly chose Beth in my illustration, but here is my ...

Have you ever worried about whether your children will share your values when they are adults? It's a common concern among parents. There are several ways to shape your children's values, but in this post today I'm going to share the number one way. The first and the best way to shape your kids' values is not to share them, but to live them! That's right, live your values. Live them all the way. Live them passionately.   An ounce of living is worth more than a pound of speech. Last night we were coming home from having dinner with pastor-friends when my cell phone rang and it was our oldest son Dustin. He was just getting off work from his job at the hospital where he serves as a patient flow coordinator, which basically means he oversees transporters and gets people where they need to go in the hospital. He said, "Mom, I have to tell you about this conversation I just had. It's going to blow your mind! Things were so busy tonight in the ho...

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...

    “The gift list is thinking upon His goodness–and this, this please him most.” ~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts  I hopped off of my bike to take this photo through the trees last night. The sun was setting and moon was coming out, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. I breathed in the night air, snapped the photo, and thanked God aloud. Silly? Maybe to some. It's just what I do. I had the privilege of biking twice in the morning, and again at sunset yesterday.  That always makes for a perfect day for me.  One of my greatest gifts that I enjoy daily is riding the cruiser bike that Larry got me a few years ago for my birthday . It's pink and perfect and gives me a lot of joy. He gave it to me during a season where I was really having a hard time .  Well, more than a hard time, a deep depression . Many pastors' wives and women in ministry will understand where I'm coming from with that. Thankfully, a breakthrough came.   This bike ...

Yesterday someone asked me the same question I've been asked so many times..."how do you do it all?" There are many answers to this question however to begin this post today I'll say two things: 1) I don't do it all. 2) What I do manage to get done consistently begins the same way. I get started. It's not always easy to get started for an abundance of reasons. Many people don't like to get started because starting means you might do something and fail. Other people realize the great amount of work something significant will take and they dread it. It comes down to ~ do you want to do something or not? You can't do it all, but you can do something. So what are you going to do? "All glory comes from daring to begin." ~ Eugene F. Ware