Equipping women to use their gifts for God, doing what they love & prospering in all areas of life
Beth Jones, International Speaker/Author Need a dynamic keynote speaker for your women's conference or retreat? Contact Beth Jones to speak for your event! As soon as she takes the stage, you can feel Beth's passionate, sincere devotion to Jesus Christ. Her direct, tell-the-truth-like-it-is style, combined with a heart of compassion and humor, appeal to audiences large or small.The two most frequent words used to describe Beth's presentations are "intense" and "real." Beth is now … Read more
I’m sitting here in our front entry room, where I often pray, read the Bible, read good books, journal, drink green tea (it used to be Cokes®!), sleep when Ray snores loudly (I can’t function well without good sleep), do leg lifts and push-ups, and once in a blue moon entertain, like when my friend Diane Bishop stopped by this week to share about the Melaleucha Power Pack she’s using that gives her extra energy (and other benefits). I decided to write a random blog post.
Today I went hog wild enjoyed a salad and 1 1/2 pieces of a Calzone at Mazzio’s Pizza with our oldest daughter Heather and our youngest daughter Leah. What’s so cool is that last night Leah was wanting a Calzone and today God provided it ~ Heather treated us to lunch when she met us for some paperwork for Leah’s car, that Heather blessed her with when Heather bought her new (2011) car. Did you know God cares about even the little things in your heart? 
Leah’s car
I really enjoyed the meals with our girls today. Hearing about Heather’s [stressful!] week at work as an office manager. Watching Leah enjoy her Calzone (I enjoyed it, too!). The place was packed with people, then they all suddenly left. I guess to go back to work.
It’s so nice to know that as the CEO of my speaking/writing business, I don’t have to worry about long lunches! I can make my own schedule!
Today I’ve also been thinking about our middle daughter, Eden, who’s in her second trimester of pregnancy. She finds out the gender soon. I think the baby is a girl, but could be wrong. (She wants a girl!)
Eden’s baby bump
Ray is probably secretly hoping for another boy, since he’s outnumbered by females with 3 daughters and 2 granddaughters. He was very happy when our grandson Jacob (Eden’s son) was born…finally, a BOY in the family!
Our 3 precious grandchildren, Jacob, Annabelle & Violet
And yes, he’s ALL boy! It fascinates me to watch Jacob making loud car and motorcycle noises with his mouth, crashing into and jumping on furniture, and making any object possible into a gun. Whatever gender the baby is, we’re praying for a healthy baby.
Eden and her son Jacob
Ray got some bad news today. Spock died. Ray is a huge Star Trek and sci-fi fan/geek. Ray also ran a call at work last night, where a doctor in town fell down the stairs and died of a brain injury. He was carrying a piece of furniture up the stairs for his wife, when he tripped and fell. I could tell these incidents today was making Ray contemplate his own death one day.
For this God is our God forever and ever, and He will be our guide even to death. ~ Psalm 48:14
Jobs. Cars. Babies. Death. Life ebbs and flows, its currents strong and at times, unpredictable.
I see Jesus on the shore, cooking a breakfast of grilled fish for His disciples, weary and hungry from a long night.
“Peter, do you love Me?”
“Beth, do you love Me?”
“Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.”
“Feed My sheep.”
I hold out empty hands to Him, palms upward.
“God, what do I have to offer?”
“Yourself.”
I am Your servant, Lord. Here I am, send me.
Me , January 2015
Image courtesy of Basketman at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Are you sick and tired of Facebook? Burned out and bored with social media? Today I was talking with speaker/author Dana Arcuri about this. I shared with her that while I’ve met some AMAZING friends and business associates on social media, and am able to keep up with our grown daughters, their children, and family and friends who live in other states on Facebook (for which I’m extremely thankful), I’m tired and bored with social media. And I don’t want to just live a virtual life!
Apparently I’m not alone, because others want to leave Facebook. It’s crowded, it’s becoming more about advertising, and teens don’t want to use it any more because their family and friends are now on it (teens want to be independent!). And worse: it’s getting boring! So often users forget the cardinal rule of relationships: “Thou shalt not bore thy friends.”
Facebook can ruin relationships, according to this post by Elizabeth Bernstein. She writes that people post about what they eat, “uber cute kittens,” say they need to floss their teeth (yuck!), get lovey-dovey with a spouse (why do this?), or say rude things they wouldn’t normally say in a million years in real life (apparently they feel safe enough to act this way, hiding behind their laptop or computer).
The drama, the bragging, the boringness, the familiarity, and the constant promotional “Buy this!”are driving people away – especially young people – to other sites like YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Path, and Snapchat. Teens want more creative self-expression rather than telling all the mundane details of your life.
Dana shared this article with me today, which was very eye-opening.
Referring to Facebook as “FaceCrack,” likening it to crack cocaine, the article states that Facebook (and other social media sites like Twitter):
God made us for an intimate, fulfilling relationship with Him and others. He never created us to live just virtual lives, but to have real ones.
I’m extremely grateful for the wonderful friends and business contacts I’ve made on Facebook and other social media sites. They have enlarged my territory and given me a wider, even a global, platform for speaking and writing. Yes, absolutely, I will continue using social media to connect with friends and business peers. Social media is not just a fad, and it’s not going away.
But I absolutely refuse to be a social media slave.
I love the options the article How Facebook is Altering Your Mind suggest, and want to share them here, plus add a few of my own:
Please don’t misunderstand and think I hate Facebook or other social media sites and am telling you to get off them completely (or at all). Social media has been a blessing in my life and enriched my life through meeting new people and enabling me to do things (like speak in Canada, the Bahamas, and Africa) that I may have never been able to do, otherwise.
Social media is a TOOL. Use it as such. Keep things in balance. Just remember to live your REAL life – offline!
