Getting a little personal?

This morning I was attending the Savvy Saved Women Entrepreneurs Virtual Summit, and a question was raised by an attendee in the chat box, “Can you get too personal when running an online business?” The attendee meant if we, as entrepreneurs, should separate our business from our personal lives, keeping personal things OUT of our business.

For some people, that answer would be yes. For me, it would be no. My business and my brand ARE me, Beth Jones. My business is simply one piece of the whole of this life that God has given me.  God is my priority, then  my family, then my business and all else. My personal life affects my business and vice versa.

My family is both affected by and involved in my business. Often when you see a video of me, the video person behind my smart phone recording it is our youngest daughter Leah. My husband Ray is my business sounding board, my wise counsel, and the money bags  financial backer/adviser of my business. Our oldest daughter Heather and my sister Maria are my greatest encouragers.

My blog is filled with stories about my family. In fact, I recently posted this cartoon on my Facebook fan page with this comment: “My family realizes by now that EVERYTHING is potential content for my blog!”

This is so true. My obsession with recording intimate moments of my family’s lives began when my father-in-law Charles gave Ray and me a dinosaur-sized video recorder when Leah was born, so we could send him videos on VHS tapes (he lives in another state and couldn’t visit that often).

We have literally HOURS of videos of Leah as a baby laying on the pink blanket, the brightly colored blanket, the soft white blanket, cooing, sucking her thumb, sleeping, and yes, even spitting up on Heather’s shoulder, lol.

In one video, you can even see Ray’s hairy underarm as he, shirtless, reached over to stroke Leah’s cheek. In another video, Heather turned the camera on me, with her following me around the house and I was the one, having a bad hair day and now annoyed and frowning, saying, “STOP it, Heather!” She was simply giving me payback.

Despite that video, I still didn’t learn that my family protested every mundane moment of their lives being recorded for all the world to gawk at.  Fast forward many years, when I began my business about a year ago and technology was changing at the speed of light. I could now record my family on my FLIP recorder and my smart phone at the push of one button – and use it as GREAT content for my business! Or at least I think it’s great. (I hope you like it, too!) At least by now, my family has learned to tolerate the obsessive picture-taking, video recording, and blog-writing about their lives.

My open-as-a-book friend Susan Evans commented on my Facebook picture, “I told my husband that if he wanted to know what was going on in our family, to read my blog!”  Exactly.

No, I won’t separate my personal life (i.e., my faith in Christ, my family, my friends, etc.) from my business, because they are such an important part of my life. God and they truly are the inspirational material for my writing, speaking, and coaching.

That doesn’t mean that I believe people should “air dirty laundry” (i.e., such as the arguments Ray and I have sometimes, like the one yesterday over who spends the most money – we can have some doozies because we’re both hard-headed and stubborn!).  But I do believe that people should be real and authentic, sharing themselves, who they and their families really are, as a part of their business.

Letting people into your personal life, getting a glimpse of you and those around you, is what builds the Know, Like, Trust (K, L, T)  factor. It makes you more real and more approachable to your readers.

Let them see you are a flesh-and-blood person, with real problems, real pain, and real struggles. That doesn’t mean to bombard your readers and listeners with all the gory details of your husband getting hurt at work from lifting a heavy patient or your car breaking down on the highway when you’re on your family dinner night.

After all if your life is just a big mess, why should they follow or listen to you to help them?  They need to see that you have something positive, encouraging, and helpful to offer them, that will solve their problems – and it’s important that you are walking the talk in your own life.

But let your personal life be a part of your business. People relate to personal.

Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This weekend I went to get mine and Leah’s hair trimmed at a salon in another city, where I’d gone one time before. Tina, a woman from the Philippines who had cut my hair, had done a great job and she was extremely friendly – which is why I came back.

She has had a successful salon business for 18 years, and I asked her some tips for having a successful business. Here is what she said, which I pass onto you:

• It’s only been with God’s help. She couldn’t have done it without Him.
• Put the customer first. Make them feel welcome and special.
• Word of mouth advertising is the best kind of advertising. Tina pays very little for advertising, because she gets so many referrals through word of mouth.

One client of Tina’s lives in St. Louis, MO. She occasionally will drive several hours just to get Tina to cut her hair because “Nobody cuts my hair like you do, Tina.” What an incredible testimony!

Tina’s tagline on her business card is, “Just a cut above the rest.”

What can you do in your business that is just a cut above the rest?

How can you make your customers and clients feel special and loved, not just like a dollar sign, but really valued and appreciated?

Finally and most importantly, are you running your business with God – or trying to do it without Him?

As appreciation for my readers, here are 2 free gifts for you. Just right click on the link and save to your computer. Enjoy!

Dreams

Prayer, Purpose, Passion ebook

Image Resource: Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This morning I was watching a video by Brendon Burchard of Experts Academy. He was sharing the 10 ways to become a highly paid expert. One of the things that he shared which was profound is that each of us has a story, and it is our story that is of such great value and of service to the world. Our story differentiates our business brand. Our story sets us apart from others.

There is no one else on earth who has your story. You are a unique and one of a kind masterpiece. Nobody else shares your experiences, your personality, your looks, your voice, your intelligence, your gifts and talents. God created you at this particular time in history for a specific purpose that He wants you to accomplish, which no one else can do.

Your story is part of HIS story – how God the potter wants to shape and form and use you, His vessel of clay in which He has deposited His treasure (2 Corinthians 4:7). Maybe you feel like all you’ve had is a horrible life. Your life has just been a big mess. That’s okay. God uses our mess.

God can turn around your life 180, and use it for His glory, like He did the apostle Paul, who had Christians imprisoned and persecuted before God met him on the road to Damascus. Paul then became one of God’s greatest evangelists, missionaries and author of 13 books of the New Testament. Paul, who said he had been “chief of sinners,” was forgiven of all he had done when he repented and believed in Christ, and was used in an incredible way by God.

No matter what your story has been, God will forgive you. He has a great ending in mind for your story! All the days of your life have already been written in God’s book before you were even born. (Psalm 139:16)

Want to learn more about how God wants to use your story in an incredible way? Sign up for my Stepping Stones to Your Purpose online class by clicking here. Hurry, we start tomorrow!

Right now I have a crockpot of a chicken curry dish cooking, and it smells so good! It will be a delicious Sunday dinner dish over some jasmine rice. I can hardly wait!

Today I spent time catching up on washing dishes, loads of laundry, and other household chores, then rewarded myself by reclining on our green den sofa under a cozy quilt and reading a book that arrived in the mail,  Kate Powers’ book, Stop Existing, Start Living. It is excellent. It offers practical solutions to reducing stress, minimizing overwhelm, and achieving happiness. It’s about saying yes to a better life, which means sometimes saying “no” to other things.

What do you need to say “yes” to this year?

• A daily quiet time with God
• Consistent exercise and healthier eating
• Dates (alone!) with your husband
• More “fun” time with your child/children
• Coaching group with me, that starts this Tuesday, January 10 at 11 am CST
• Drinking more water and less soda, coffee or tea
• Eating Mexican or Chinese with your girlfriends for lunch
• Exhibiting more of the fruit of the Spirit in your life
• A massage, pedicure, and/or manicure

What do you need to say “no” to this year?

• Too much busyness
• Stress
• Eating/drinking too much
• Anger/unforgiveness
• Always in a hurry
• Too much time spent on Facebook or Twitter
• Avoiding Facebook or Twitter; not getting out there with your important message
• Surfing the net for hours mindlessly, without getting any real work done
• Neglecting your family because you’re working too hard on your business

You know. Write it down. Actively work on it each day. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Make the change today – no more excuses, no more blaming, no more rationalizing, no more holding back in fear, no more saying “it’s the money,” no more saying it’s his (or her) fault, no more hedging.

You can make the change you need right now.

Take the first step. Start here.

I’m so excited because this morning I started my first mastermind group – Diane Cunningham’s Success Sisters! (There’s still time to join!) Maybe you’re wondering, as I did last year, what a mastermind group is and why you even need one.

The term was first coined by author Napolean Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich. He was commissioned by the American industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1908 to interview over 500 of the most successful people of his time and form a general formula for business and life success. (Wikipedia/Hill, 2007)

This project took 29 years, and in 1928 he outlined 13 principles in his book, that his 29 years of research defined as common to every successful person. One of those principles was the Power of the MasterMind. (Wikipedia/Hill, 2007).

The book, which has sold 30 million copies to date, suggests 13 steps towards riches. Step nine is called “Power of the Mastermind” and describes basically what is known today as Mastermind Groups. The word “mastermind” is introduced for describing the synergies that can be created when several human minds unite to work towards a common specific goal, where the whole in terms of mental power represents more than the sum of its parts. The whole is viewed as an invisible, additional force called the mastermind. (Wikipedia/Hill, 2007)

I.e., a group of anointed, inspired, powerful women (or men) coming together with brilliant ideas!

Every successful person in their respective industries have at some point have been connected to or in a mastermind groups. The richest business men and women and CEO’s have made millions from the synergy and the power of masterminding. The real power of a mastermind is finding someone with a skill set that you lack and teaming up with her or him to become unstoppable!

In a MasterMind, you are surrounded by people who help you, counsel you, constructively-criticize you, encourage you, motivate you, inspire you and push you to be better than you could ever be on your own.

The Bible puts it this way: “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble…A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

I am so excited about this group and can’t wait to see what God is going to do in and through us for His glory!

Have you ever been in a mastermind group? What was your experience like? Do you believe it catapulted you toward more success? Please share your comments below.

Recently when I flew to Georgia for my sister Maria’s college graduation, I went to visit my dad at his nearly 100-year-old house.

My dad, forever the workaholic, says he is now “semi-retired” as a CPA; instead of working from 8 or 9 a.m. until 9 or 10 p.m (like he has many years of his life), he now “only works” from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. This amuses me because he is 75 years old! He just loves to work and gets a lot of fulfillment out of it.

While I was there visiting him, he showed me some fruit trees and a grape vine he had planted in the back yard, which I will share more about in a minute.

My dad Leland Jr. was raised by a small tobacco farmer, Leland S. Moore, and worked hard on the farm every day with his mother Leola, his brother William and his sister Betty, and other relatives. They also grew other crops, such as cotton, watermelon, corn, and peanuts. Daddy laughed when he told me a relative of his told my dad that he’s the only person he knows who had actually plowed with a mule when he was younger!

My grandfather Leland, who died before I was born, believed in hard work. Daddy told me the story, laughing, of his uncle Jesse, who got mad because my grandfather once made him plow a whole field and then didn’t plant anything in the field; he had just made Jesse plow it to do the work to keep him out of trouble.

This vein of hard work runs in our entire family. My dad, my brothers, my sister and I all tend toward workaholism. As I was growing up, my father – who had his CPA business in our home – always made sure that us four kids were doing some kind of work. “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.” If he came upstairs to check on us after we were home from school and we were sitting in front of the T.V. watching the Flinstones or Gilligan’s Island as we were prone to do, he would immediately put us to work: washing the car, raking leaves, doing laundry or dishes, vacuuming the floors, dusting.

On Saturday mornings – our one chance to sleep in after school all week – our dad would come into our rooms to wake us up for some inane chore that would take hours of our day, like washing our house’s wrap-around porch. At the time, my brother Greg and I (who seemed to get the bulk of the work because we were older) disliked and resented it. Now I really appreciate my father teaching me a strong work ethic! My dad knew that laziness is a poor character trait.(Everything in moderation – sometimes we do need to rest, relax and just have FUN!)

Anyway, back to the fruit trees. Growing things – and doing hard work – is just in my father’s blood. So he was upset when the fruit trees he had planted – lemon, orange, and cherry – only produced small fruit, and then birds or something ruined the fruit on them. The grape vine had not produced at all. I could see the disappointment on his face as he showed me the trees and my heart went out to him. Of course, it could be that particular soil wasn’t conducive to growing those types of trees and the birds didn’t help. The orange tree eventually produced small oranges, and my dad was proud of that and took a picture with Maria’s kids with the oranges in their hands. But God immediately began speaking to me through these unfruitful trees.

What kind of legacy do we want in our lives and to pass on to our children? A godly legacy or none at all for our children, grandchildren, and future generations? It all starts with us – our decisions, our choices, today.

Will we obey God? Will we teach our children and grandchildren to obey God’s word? Will we be a godly example for them to follow, and experience God’s blessings – prosperity, divine health, joy, peace, love, goodness, self control, patience, kindness? Or will we show them instead strife, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, depression, discouragement, poverty, debt, struggles, unhappiness?

“Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7: 16-19, NLT)

We can either produce good spiritual fruit in our lives, and have it live on through our children and future generations, or we can produce bad fruit and have that live on in our families. Which do you choose?

After my father showed me the fruit trees, though, he then pointed to a huge pine tree nearby that I was looking at and he said, “I planted that tree here just before you were born.” I gasped, “You did?” Even now, remembering this, tears fill my eyes.

I looked at the enormous tree and then up at it, reaching high into the blue sky. God spoke to my heart immediately and showed me that I had a choice: I could either be like those unfruitful fruit trees, that the birds of the air had eaten its fruit from, or I could be like this enormous, tall tree growing high into the heavens, steady and strong and lasting.

It blessed me SOOO much. I, Beth, could leave a lasting legacy for my children and grandchildren by following God!

Which do you choose today?

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15: 1-27)

Are you having a “purpose crisis?” Do you know what it is that God has called you to do? Are you serving where He needs you? Are you experiencing success in your online business, using your gifts for God?

Did you miss today’s interview of NACWE President and CEO Diane Cunningham at Talkshoe? You can still listen to the replay. Just click here. It is the first show on the page, as well as the first episode listed under “Past Episodes.” (Episode #29)

On this interview, Diane shares her powerful personal story from her client’s suicide to Diane being in a plane crash, as well as her success tips for women entrepreneurs. Diane has discovered through her challenging, yet rewarding journey, how short and precious life is and how she is not to waste any minute of it. Tune into the show and be blessed, motivated, and encouraged.

You can also listen to the show on the Talkshoe player below.

Diane Cunningham, President & Founder of NACWE

I will be interviewing Diane tomorrow, January 4 at 2:00 p.m. Central Time (3 p.m. Eastern Time) on my Women’s Battles Radio Show at Talkshoe.

Diane will be sharing her powerful story and her tips for becoming a successful woman entrepreneur.

We’d love for you to join us in the chat room here.

Or you can call in by phone with the Talkshoe call-in details below:

Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 98698
PIN: 1 # or Your Talkshoe PIN

Since 2005, Diane has worked under the DianeCunningham.com umbrella as a coach, speaker, facilitator, and entrepreneur. She founded the National Association of Christian Women Entrepreneurs in May of 2010 to help women connect, create, and collaborate.

Under Diane’s leadership, NACWE grew from 0 to 165 members in the first year and hosted the 1st Annual Conference, the Inspired Women’s Event with 45 women in attendance.

She is a Certified Mastermind Executive Coach. Her training and background is in the mental health field. She worked for many years in a hospital Employee Assistance Program. Prior to that she spent time working with domestic violence and addictions. She has a Masters Degree in Education (Guidance and Counseling) from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington and a Bachelors Degree from the same school in Interpersonal Communications.

Diane is an author of Dear Female Entrepreneur, My Friend and co-author of Inspired Women Succeed ,just released in May 2011. www.InspiredWomenSucceed.com

She is an avid volunteer and currently serves as the Regional Advocate for the Small Business Development Center for North Texas. She is active in her church, local community events, and non-profit organizations that fit with her life mission. She was named as one of the Top 2o Leaders under the Age of 40 in her community in January 2011 and chosen as the Inspirational Women of the Month for April for Inspirational Woman Magazine.

Diane loves people, shopping, Starbucks, reading, and spending time with friends. She has run 4 marathons with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program and loves to go to zumba classes. She is passionate about God and is basking in the amazing journey that He has her on!

“My mission is to inspire women to dream big, catch on fire, and change the world.”

We’d love to see you there at Talkshoe tomorrow – and be sure to bring a friend!

***This post may contain affiliate links. Beth Jones only endorses products, services, or websites which she personally believes in and/or has used.***

I hope you had a safe, happy New Year’s Eve. Ray was working at the E.R., so Leah and I stayed up until midnight, toasting to the new year with chilled, sparkling white grape juice, wearing our party hats, and blowing our horns. Leah may think her mom is ridiculous sometimes, but at least she can always say mom likes to have fun!

I am excited about 2012 and have new plans that I hope will excite you, too. Some of those plans include my Virtual Spiritual Spa, a 6-week intensive journey that will help you become closer to God, leave the pain of 2011 and other years behind, and move forward into 2012 with your spiritual healing and into your purpose more fully.

In this 6-week intensive class, you will receive 6 virtual trainings with mp3 telecall replays, a free copy of Katie Brazelton’s book Pathway to Purpose for Women, access to a private Facebook forum for support and motivation from other women of God, bite-sized, weekly email encouragement to get you moving faster into your purpose, and more.

Learn how you can make 2012 a year of fulfillment and spiritual healing in this 6-week intensive!

To learn more about this limited-seating class, just click here.

Tomorrow is the last day of 2011, and then the start of a fresh new year.

What do you need to leave behind in 2011?

• Worry?
• Anxiety?
• Depression?
• Discouragement?
• Stress?
• Anger?
• Unforgiveness?
• Too much busyness?

What are some new things that you would like to carry into 2012?

• Joy
• Peace
• Encouragement
• Prosperity and blessing
• Wisdom
• Faith
• Love
• Hope

Have you set some time aside yet to just spend with God and ask Him to be with you and your family in the new year, and give you the wisdom, protection, and direction you need? Have you dedicated the new year to Him and His will for your life? Have you spent time praying, perhaps with fasting, about what has happened in 2011 and what God wants to be changed in your life in the coming year – and what HIS plans for you are?

“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
      The Holy One of Israel:

      “ I am the LORD your God,
      Who teaches you to profit,
      Who leads you by the way you should go. ”

Isaiah 47:17-19

Image Resource: Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Did you miss today’s Virtual Hot Cocoa time at my Women’s Battles Radio Show? It was a great time of fellowship and fun. I enjoyed talking with the ladies in the chat room and having some of them sharing their stories from 2011 and their prayer requests. We had visitors from different states across the U.S. and even from Mexico!

You can still hear the replay of the show, which lasted about 1 hour 10 minutes (that includes the interactive time sharing at the end of the show). Just click here to listen to the replay. It is the first show listed on the page, or the first one listed under “Past Episodes.” Or you can listen on the Talkshoe player below.

I’d love to hear YOUR stories from 2011 or any prayer requests you might have for 2012. Remember, God is already there in 2012 with you. He knows what is going to happen ahead of time and it’s in the palm of His hands. He has good plans and even serendipity (unexpected pleasant surprises) in store for you in 2012! Just wait and see!

Don’t you just love a cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter day or night?

I want to invite you to my Virtual Hot Cocoa call tomorrow, Thursday, December 29 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time (12 p.m. Eastern Time) at Talkshoe. I will be sharing on The 12 Things I Learned in 2011.

I invite you to join me for this hour-long show, to share at the end of the show your own stories from 2011 – the good, the bad, and the ugly – and receive encouragement and equipping with God’s eternal words of truth and empowerment with the wonderful Holy Spirit to take you into 2012 for an incredible year!

You can join me in the chat room by clicking here. Or you can call in with the call-in details below:

Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 98698
PIN: 1 # or Your Talkshoe PIN

I’d love to see you there – and bring a friend!

Image Resource:Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I hope you had a beautiful Christmas and are enjoying your holiday with your family and friends! What was your favorite present to give and to receive? (Besides Christ!)

After a week of our family being sick with fever, congestion, coughing, headache, and sore throat, and having to cancel our family Christmas plans until this Friday or even next week, I am ready for something NEW!!!

But I wanted to finish telling you about my trip to the south for my sister Maria’s college graduation. I had hoped to tour The Crescent again while I was visiting my family there. Unfortunately, it was closed the day I could have toured it ~ next time!

It is so beautiful, inside and out. Many people believe The Crescent is something from Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind. It’s actually not a remnant of the Civil War, but it is a historical landmark. (Resource: http://valdostascene.com/june2009/x155362519/The-Crescent)

I feel the huge, white mansion with its tall, white pillars, spacious rooms, and large oak trees with Spanish moss symbollize the beauty and Gone With The Wind romance of the deep south, southerners, and southern charm and hospitality ~ and a time gone by that makes you long for it again (almost!).

It’s a staple of Valdosta’s scenery. It has always been my dream home!

The house was once the house of Colonel William S. West. Col. West and his family built it in 1898 along North Patterson Street. West and his family moved to Lowndes County.  He later became an attorney, served as a General Assembly representative and senator from Lowndes County, became the speaker of the state senate, and then became a Georgia senator. (Resource:  http://valdostascene.com/june2009/x155362519/The-Crescent)

His home, The Crescent, became a symbol of his success. (Resource: http://valdostascene.com/june2009/x155362519/The-Crescent)

It was the first home in Lowdnes County to have electric lights, indoor plumbing, and central heating. The enormous oak trees surrounding The Crescent were planted after the home was built (the home wasn’t built around the large oaks, as many people believe. (Resource: http://valdostascene.com/june2009/x155362519/The-Crescent)).

The oak trees themselves are breath-taking. You truly feel as if any minute Scarlett O’Hara and one of her beaus might start walking around the corner in the yard, silhouetted against the Spanish moss.

At one time it was one of several homes earmarked for demolition, but was saved by the Valdosta Garden City Club members, who learned of its potential fate of destruction and bought it in 1951 as a restoration project for Valdosta, “The Azalea City of Georgia.”  (Local garden clubs were pushing to beautifyValdosta in the late 40′s after the Civil War.) The Valdosta Garden Club federated with the Garden Club of Georgia and National Garden Clubs Inc., and members received the outstanding achievement trophy for The Crescent. (Resource: http://valdostascene.com/june2009/x155362519/The-Crescent)

Because The Crescent was not open when I went there, I wasn’t able to take pictures of the inside, which I have toured several times before.

When I came home to Missouri, I googled The Crescent and found these beautiful pictures of its furnishings inside from one travel blogger. Just click here and scroll to the bottom, clicking on whatever picture you’d like. (I don’t know the blogger, so please don’t email me to complain about it!)

You really have to just see The Crescent to appreciate its incredible beauty. Like I said, this is my dream home – I love the Victorian era!

Funny, but one of the wine-red Victorian sofas in a sitting room at The Crescent looks almost just like the one I have in our dining room at home! Great minds think alike.

What is your dream home?

What is your dream trip?

What is your dream?

What will do you to achieve it in 2012? Maybe you should start here.

I have been under the weather lately. For the past week, our family has been terribly sick with congestion, fever, headaches, sore throats, and coughing.  Ray took Leah to the ER this week to test her for strep, but thankfully it was negative. The doctor said her bad cough was viral. (Our granddaughter Violet came to spend the night this past week, coughed all night, and when her mom took her to the doctor the next day, she tested positive for strep and Heather had a sinus infection…but they are better now!)  The 2-day prescription the doctor gave Leah, though, didn’t help.

I had another rough night last night, having to sleep sitting UP (from coughing so bad when I lay down), so Leah and I are about to go to the doctor now to see if he can give us something for relief. I have also been using Extra Vitamin C, multi-vitamins, echinacea, plenty of water, and hot herbal teas – and of course, prayer!

Thanks to all my friends praying for me – I love and appreciate you so much! Praying the doctor can help me and Leah today so we begin to feel better and then I can get back into the saddle again!

I promise I will continue with my blogs on my visit to the south soon!

Image: savit keawtavee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What is “home” to you? Is it the house you’re living in now? Is it the house, city, state, or nation you were born and/or raised in? Is it where your family is? Is it wherever God takes you for His purposes?

Home can be any of these, or all of these. “Home” for me as I grew up was a beautiful white, nearly-century-old home in the deep south. I lived there most of my life before I married and moved out in my late teens, and then again briefly in my early 20′s.

My father, Leland S. Moore, Jr., researched the house and he found that its earliest deed was 5-4-1915. The house and 2/3 of the property it lies on was deeded to my (now deceased) maternal grandmother Louise W. Gentry, my maternal aunt Mary, and my (now deceased) mother Margaret Holmes Moore in 1959, then later to my father.

It is still his home today. It’s where he and my mother lived together and raised four children, two boys and two girls, for the 24 years of their marriage until she died in 1981 – my oldest brother Greg, me, my younger sister Maria, and my youngest brother Herbert, known as “Bubba” to us siblings. (Yes, seriously! There are many boys/men in the south who are nicknamed “Bubba”!)

The house is also the location of my father’s CPA business, which he still runs! (He is 75 years old and says he is now thinking about retiring!) My mother worked as his receptionist and bookkeeper. While growing up, we kids were chastened by our mother coming out of the office, “Shhh! Be QUIET!  There’s a client in the office!” Clients throughout the years often heard us kids tearing through the house, yelling, laughing, and playing…it’s a wonder my father could keep any clients!

There was also the time my little brother, a toddler at the time who was supposed to be taking a nap, woke up and managed to not only climb out of his crib, but unlatched the screen at the bedroom window and started walking around on the roof….a client had an appointment, saw my brother up there and said, “Stay there, son!”, and hurried inside to tell my dad. My father ran up the stairs three at a time to retrieve my brother off the roof. Thank God he was okay and a tragedy avoided!

But other than us kids being too loud at times and my brother’s roof exploration, having a place for both business and home has worked for my dad all these years. Maybe that is where I get it from.   Looking back, I now realize that those seeds of entrepreneurship were planted in me in childhood. I remember my father working 10 hour (or longer) days while I was growing up.  He enjoyed his work ~ and still does today (although he told me he only works “part-time” now – he only works from 9 or 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. now!).

The office was “fun.” My siblings and I used to play “office” at night, while our dad would go to the store. We would “answer” the phones, type on mama’s typewriter, make Xerox copies, “order supplies,” etc. When daddy came home, we’d run out of the office. Then Mama would boil and salt the peanuts that our dad had brought home, and we’d all sit down together in the den, watching Hee Haw on t.v. (yes, really!) or the Flip Wilson show. My dad would eat bowlfuls of peanuts, and laugh at Flip Wilson.

What makes a house a home?

“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” – Maya Angelou

I have never seen another house quite like the home I grew up in. It is two stories, with a wrap-around. gray front porch (sometimes called a verranda) that surrounds the house, with a series of tall, white columns. Columns not only hold up a house structurally, but they are also design elements of classic architecture.

These Greek column designs are used on buildings all over the world. From what I can tell, the columns at my father’s house are Doric design columns.

The house is spacious inside (approximately 4,374 square feet) with tall ceilings. It has 11 rooms, not counting a back, screened-in porch, two halls, and 2 bathrooms. It has two staircases inside, a back one which may have been used for the servants.

In one of the rooms which my father uses for part of his office, there is a doorbell by a door which still rings. (My brothers, sister, and I used to love ringing it, much to our parents’ annoyance!)  Originally, the bell was made for and used to beckon the butler or the cook.

When I talked to my father on my trip to Valdosta, he told me about a conversation he’d had with someone, who shared an amusing story about the previous owners. The story goes that the small closet in that room with the bell was used at times to store (and lock up) bunches of bananas, because the owner loved bananas and didn’t want anyone eating them. Since bananas are my favorite fruit, I thought that was interesting and funny.

These are the beautiful front stairs inside the front entry hallway. My brothers Greg and Herbert, my sister Maria, and I used to slide down the bannister, even though our parents told us over and over NOT to do this, because we could fall off and get hurt – but it was so much fun!

The house is still in good shape overall, with some of its original beauty and character preserved. My father had the ceilings lowered when he and my mother Margaret moved into and renovated it in the early 1960′s, to better heat and cool it.  My dad, smiling at the memory, said my mom refused to live in it unless he renovated it.  It was in bad shape from previous careless tenants.

One of the renovations was a new roof, which back then cost only about $1,000! You can see in this picture of the back of the house how there are various levels of roofs, as well as the many, large windows.

A unique window in the house is inside the closet of my youngest brother Herbert’s old bedroom. It’s small, rectangular and quaint. Things like this are often what make old houses have such character, like the front hallway’s antique chandelier, the French doors in the living room (what used to be called the “front parlor”), and pretty doorknobs on the doors.

The house still has its original fireplaces and mantels, which are beautiful and elegant.

But they closed up the fireplaces to avoid a fire and put in gas heaters to warm the rooms, like this one below.

Even with the heaters, the house was like an ice palace in winter. My brothers, my sister and I hated getting up in the dark, out from underneath our comfortable blankets, having to face the cold to get ready for school. We would try to warm up by the heaters as long as possible, wanting to avoid taking a shower ~ the hot water often ran out quickly! Since then, my dad has had more insulation put in the house, so it stays warmer and cooler easier.

His office also has a window air conditioning unit, a MUST in sticky, humid, southern summers! During heat waves, the temperatures swell sometimes to over 100 degrees in summer in Georgia.

Below is a picture of my father’s bedroom that is now downstairs. This room used to be the family dining room, where we celebrated big Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. You can see another one of the lovely, original fireplaces and mantels.

One of the most incredible features of this house are the floors. The house still has the original, hardwood pine floors. They just don’t make beautiful floors like this anymore!

I used to sleep in an antique brass bed. It’s still in my old bedroom. I’ve never seen anything like this, either ~ very unique. The curtains and bedspread in the room are the same ones that were there when I left home in my late teens! Sometimes we want to leave things just as they are…it’s hard to let go, isn’t it? Especially of our children. (I write this with tears in my eyes.)

On the mantel of my old bedroom were some pictures of me and our oldest daughter Heather. It’s funny; when Heather showed this picture to her oldest daughter Annabelle (age 8), she immediately recognized that it was “Nana and mommy!” (me and Heather)  Check out my 80′s curly perm, lol!

Here is where my “writing career” started – this antique, round-mirrored dresser that was mine as I was growing up. I would sit in the curved part of the dresser and write in my diary or write short stories, then stuff them in one of the drawers.

My little sister Maria would sneak into the room later when I was doing chores and read my stories, which would make me mad and we would argue, because I didn’t want anyone to read them yet – they weren’t finished! (She and I are now best of friends, and she is one of my greatest encouragers and biggest “fans”!)

This “writing desk” is where it all began! Where was your original writing room or writing desk?

The house is still incredible – one of a kind – and what I’ll always know as “home” in Georgia. They don’t build solid, beautiful, southern homes like this anymore.

Outside in the back yard, my father showed me a tall, sturdy pine tree that he had planted there just before I was born. As I looked up into the sky at the magnificent tree, I was amazed. God spoke to my heart through it, which I will share with you later this week.

Where – or what – do you call your home?

***Stay tuned when I write about my dream home tomorrow.

My father Leland S. Moore, Jr., and me - December 2011

Continuing with my posts on my brief journey back to the south, I noticed again when I visited Maria that southerners have hospitality and manners down-pat. “Come on in” is a well-known southern expression that you hear when you go to someone’s house…and you are expected to stay awhile and EAT SOMETHING.

While visiting my dad Leland, he offered my sister, her kids and I some nut-clusters chocolate in his refrigerator that a client had just made for him (from scratch). He insisted that we get more than just a few pieces. Simply. Delicious. It would have been impolite to say no, I reasoned!

Politeness is one of the strongest attributes of southerners. I was raised by my strict parents to say “yes ma’am,” “no, sir,” “please,” and “thank you.” (Although eating fish with your fingers is acceptable manners, as my nephew Nicholas pointed out to me when I “wrongly” ate fried catfish with a fork -gasp!)

I was also raised to write thank you notes after birthdays and holidays, something I have tried in vain to teach our kids to do, who are terrible procrastinators – something that drives me almost crazy because I want to get things done NOW.  It’s humiliating having southern grandparents email or call weeks or months after they sent a birthday or holiday gift to our children, because no thank you card was sent to them in the mail! I assure the relatives that it’s not because I “forgot my raisin’” or that  they are ungrateful, little brats;  they simply forgot – or put it off.

Thank you notes, and written letters in general, have become a lost art. But thank you notes are part of southern tradition. If you are homeschooling, they make great language arts projects for practicing handwriting, spelling, and grammar.

A stationery box full of beautiful thank you cards, reflecting your unique elegant or quirky personality, can be a writer’s dream. For professional business owners, a handwritten thank you or other note will make you stand out in the crowd and be remembered. In fact, I received two thank you cards for my business in my post office box yesterday from new online friends, which surprised and touched me – yes, handwritten ones!

Thank you notes are a way of going the extra mile to let others know how much you appreciate them and that you CARE.

the wrap-around porch of my dad's almost-century-old home

Another southern tradition used to be sitting on your front porch with a glass of sweet tea (and I do mean, sweet!) and waving to people as they drove or walked by. Life is too busy and hectic for that now, and even southerners today are finding that they need to slow down the pace and savor life more.

But the practice of “not knowing any strangers” still abounds in the south. People speak warmly to you in public, whether they know you or not, as if they are related to you. Sometimes they ARE related to you. When we met someone at Maria’s college graduation, my dad – who has done extensive genealogy research on both sides of the family – wondered if he was a distant cousin because of his last name. Maria thought this was hilarious.

But southerners are genuinely interested in knowing who you are and where you are from – and who your family is!

When I went to downtown Valdosta while Maria was at work, I found a little floral shop filled with beautiful Christmas decorations. The owner, originally from London, chatted with me as I admired her displays and of course, she asked me what I was looking for, where I was from -  and who my family was.

Some people (especially non-southerners)  find this interest in your life disconcerting, even nosy. I believe the heart of it is a desire for intimacy with others. Isn’t it better than just being ignored? Maybe the South has a few good lessons to teach us.

I guess there are exceptions to southern hospitality and politeness. My sister Maria, my nephew Nicholas and I went to the Game Stop store one afternoon for Nicholas to exchange a video game.

The store was packed and the lines were long. Maria asked a white man standing in front of her with his son if there was one line or two, and he began ranting: “There’s two lines, but they’re not moving! There’s only two workers here, who apparently don’t want my money. What’s the problem, let’s go, people!” He began loudly clapping his hands, like he was at a football or basketball game. We would soon need a referee blowing a whistle.

As his voice became louder and the rest of the customers grew more uncomfortable (the store employees were just trying to do their job, looking down and not responding), a customer standing further back in line became the prophet of the hour. “Hey man, we are waiting in line, too. Be quiet, man! Go to Wally World if you don’t want to wait!”

The man replied that there were four registers and only two employees, and an employee told him that one was a “dummy register.”

The customer then became downright rude: “That’s just what we need in here, a dummy! This is ridiculous! What’s wrong with you people?”

Then it  became more interesting. The other customer told him to SHUT UP, and said, “I’m fixin’ to show my true color in here: NE-GRO!” (Yes, this was the actual conversation!) They began arguing until the irate man finally was waited on, purchased his son’s video, and walked out (to everyone’s relief).  So much for southern gentlemen.

My sister turned to me and said out of the side of her mouth, “I wish I had a card to give that man and tell him to call me in four years so I can help him with his problems, when I’ll be a therapist!” (She’s enrolled in the master’s program now in psychology)

We both started laughing, but later we talked and wondered together: What was really going on in that man’s life to set him off like that? Nobody likes waiting in long lines. But he was obviously agitated about something more than a video store line!

One of the highlights of the trip that I have to tell you about was on my flight home. There was an older woman sitting beside me on the plane, and when the flight attendants gave us our snacks, she began a conversation with me in that lovely southern drawl: “Are you going somewhere for the holidays? Do you live in the south?” I explained I used to, and had been visiting my sister for her college graduation.

I found out several things about her as we had our conversation: she was on her way to visit her sister in Kansas City (she and her 2 sisters were going to rent a limo and ride around the Plaza!), but she lived in Georgia now; she had been married to a military man and they’d spent some time in Germany where he’d served in the army; her husband had died 14 years years ago; and she had moved to the south when her grown children moved to the Atlantic coast. She had two children, several grandchildren, and also several great-grandchildren.

“Life is short,” she told me wisely. “We should enjoy our families each and every day. And so many things depends on our attitude. We should have a good attitude, no matter what is going on in our lives, good or bad.”

I love these God-appointments!

I had noticed a device in her hands when I first sat beside her and asked her if it was a Kindle. It was an Ipad 2. I asked if her children had bought it for her and she said no, it had been a gift to herself and she started laughing.  She said she liked playing games on it.

Intrigued, I asked what games and jokingly asked if she played Angry Birds. (I’ve never played it, but have heard people talking about it online.)

To my surprise, she said she HAD played Angry Birds sometimes. Now I started laughing. But mostly she likes playing Solitaire and other games on it. She said that her great-grandson likes playing Angry Birds on it, too.

But what she really wants, she confided in me, was a  Kindle Fire. She then began telling me the features and benefits of it – you can download ebooks on it, watch movies and T.V. shows, listen to music, play games, have the internet on it, etc.

When this great-grandmother began sharing that you could get great apps on it, I thought I would scream laughing. Technology has taken the world by storm – even for your great-grandma!

It was good to go for a visit. Tune in tomorrow for more about my trip to the south. I want to share with you about my parents’ nearly 100-year-old home which I grew up in, and about the Crescent, my dream home. (Think of Ashley’s home in Gone With The Wind.)

I’m “fixin’” to go relax now.

Oh, I did bring home a little souvenir- I picked cotton from a cotton field to show Leah. It’s as soft as the ones in a package of cotton balls. (This amused Maria.)

cotton field, Valdosta, GA

cheese grits

What makes your mouth water? I’m so thankful that God provided for me to fly to Valdosta, GA this past week for my sister Maria’s college graduation. I told Maria before I came that while I was there, one of the must-do’s was eating fried fish!

I was born and raised in the south, then moved to Missouri and have lived here for over 20 years. I consider Missouri my home now.  But I  miss southern cooking, something I never really learned how to master (due to disliking too much time in the kitchen!). This might be a good thing, considering that nearly everything is deep fried!

My father Leland and his girlfriend Sandra used to have fish fries on weekends for us kids – talk about GOOD!  I was determined to taste fried fish and cheese grits again on this trip.

On the Saturday night of Maria’s graduation, she, her kids and I went out to eat at Ray’s MillPond (original restaurant there since 1950′s)…and we had a southern feast of fried catfish, cheese grits, hushpuppies, cole slaw, french fries, pickles…and alligator! Low-fat, low-sodium, low-carb it was not – but oh, it was delicious!

The restaurant offers interesting choices like gator tail, clam clowder, sweet potato slices, deviled crab dinner, Nile perch, raw oysters, and a “swamp combo” – a combination of catfish and gator.

Maria was in her element. She could eat fried fish every single day. What a great way to celebrate her big accomplishment!   Here she is at the restaurant – isn’t she beautiful?

My sis Maria

My nephew Nicholas wanted a plateful of the alligator. As the saying goes, fried alligator tastes like chicken…only sort of rubbery. Yes, I ate it and yes, it was good! Nicholas enjoyed every bite of it.

Nicholas was astounded that where I live, people don’t eat good old southern cooking every day. I explained that while Missouri has fried fish, it just doesn’t taste the same.

And the only cheese grits I’ve ever seen since I moved here are the ones which come in packages in the grocery store, like the sugary oatmeal.

My nephew Nicholas

As we enjoyed the meal together, Nicholas poked fun at me for not eating fish the “right way,” explaining, “Aunt Beth, we don’t eat fish with a fork! You just pick it up with your fingers and dig in. This is Georgia!” LOL. We both laughed.

I loved listening to the waitress talk with her southern drawl. “Dew yew want butter or cheese with yore grits?” she asked me.

“Want some more sweet tay (tea)?” she asked my sister.

Her deep accent was music to my soul.

I have missed hearing southern drawls since moving to Missouri. I have lived in the mid-west for over 20 years, and I still have a southern accent. I still say “y’all” and “I’m fixin’ to go to the store.”

Other than the Bible, Gone With The Wind is my favorite book (and movie) of all time and Scarlett O’Hara was my heroine growing up.

My sister says you can take the girl out of the south, but you can’t take the south out of the girl.

Fried catfish, cheese grits, and hushpuppies. These truly are the finer things in life!

Look for more stories about my trip to Georgia this week.

the fried alligator I ate at Ray's Millpond restaurant on my trip to Valdosta, GA

Ok, now I can sit down and have a “virtual chat” with you. As I’m writing this, the peaceful music at Elijah Stream Internet Radio is playing in my ear. Tonight our daughters Heather and Leah and I had a “knitting party.”  I told Heather that it was my first one ever.

Heather is making scarves and hats as gifts for Christmas. Between working full-time as a teacher for a pre-school, parenting her two adorable girls Annabelle and Violet,  and household chores, Heather is having a hard time getting all her knitting projects completed by next Friday…so she decided she just needed to come to our house for us to have some “focused knitting time,” lol.

Leah just finished knitting a hat and wrist warmers, and is now working on a scarf. This week I am knitting a hat and tonight I worked on a scarf. We knit using the Knifty Knitter. It’s easy, relaxing, and fun.

As I shared with you this week, I just got back from my trip to Valdosta, Georgia, for my sister Maria’s college graduation. With God’s daily grace and help, Maria attended college full-time, while being a single mom of 3 kids, working full-time as a bookkeeper, and made dean’s list each semester. I am so proud of her! She is now enrolled in the masters’ program in psychology, which will take her about two years to complete.

Whenever I hear people say, “I can’t do that!”, I think of my sister and say to them, “Oh yes, you can! Look at what my sister just did!”

Have you heard the expression, Can’t never could?  When you are tempted to think I can’t, remember the story The Little Engine that Could. The little steam engine thought as he went up the steep hill (which looked impossible to climb), “I think I can, I think I can!”  and he did it.

With God’s help, you can do it! Nothing is impossible with God.

What looks impossible to you right now? What do you feel you can’t do? What dream do you have in your heart that you wonder if it will ever come true? Remember the little engine. Remember my sister Maria. You can do it! I am here cheering you on.

*****

Need an extra dose of encouragement and motivation for the new year, with some practical, take-action-now steps? Check out my Virtual Spiritual Spa, beginning in January 2012. Click here to learn more.

If you are a woman with a business at home, it can be challenging to balance it all – spending time with God and your family, doing daily chores (washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning, running errands, etc.), working on your business, going for coffee or out to eat with with your girlfriends, volunteer activities, etc.

The key to “balance,” or as my friend Coach Kate Powers likes to say, “harmony,” is doing what really matters.

In the story of Jesus having dinner with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (Luke 10:42), Martha became frustrated because she was busy getting things ready for the meal and her sister Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet. In Martha’s eyes, Mary was “wasting time.” But Jesus rebuked Martha and told her that Mary had chosen the one necessary thing on her “to do” list, the part that would not be taken away from her. I.e., Mary was doing what really matters.

When we take time each day to spend time at Jesus’ feet, God will give us the wisdom, direction and strength we need each day for our lives and for our business. He will help us to balance all we have to do. Jesus understands how hectic it can be. Look at all He did in a single day ~ taught His disciples, healed the multitudes, did miracles, delivered the oppressed! He knew how important it was to set time aside with God for his business.

God is the best business consultant or coach there is! After all, it’s HIS business.

Your business is a gift to the world to help others and glorify God. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” ~ James 1:17, NIV

Find out what God wants you to do in your business for the coming year. Set aside a day to spend time with Him with your Sharpie pen and paper, your laptop, your Daytimer and/or calendar. Let God help you plan your year. Each day in 2012, come to God first. Sit at Jesus’ feet and let Him speak to your heart about your business, what His agenda is for you that day. Then you will see great success when you walk in obedience to Him!

“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.” Isaiah 1:19, NIV

My sister Maria at her college graduation with her kids

TA DA!

I just returned from a 5-day trip to Valdosta, Georgia, for my younger sister Maria’s college graduation. Before I left for the trip, I also just purchased a new website theme (the Genesis Lifestyle Theme) and hired wonderful website designer Linda Hernestal da Silva of Work at Home Balance to redesign my website. What do you think?

Some of you may be wondering if I am like Aretha Franklin – I Can’t Get No Satisfaction – since I just recently changed my theme!

Although I was very pleased with the outsource work someone did for me to add pages and categories to my site last time, I was NOT happy at all with the new theme I had installed. It didn’t turn out the way I had expected. I didn’t want to act like a pouty, spoiled rotten child. I tried for weeks to be content and happy about it, but it just wasn’t there!

It’s a good thing I hadn’t spent a lot of money on the theme! After seeking others’ counsel about what to do – just live with it? find another theme? – I decided to go with my gut instincts and find another Genesis theme I really liked, and hire a professional website designer for a fresh new look. That way I wouldn’t have to be aggravated with the tech aspects of it and it would be worth it all by the time she was finished! It was the right decision. Go with your gut! And take advantage of outsourcing for your business!

I don’t just like this Genesis Lifestyle theme and new design ~ I LOVE it!!! My favorite color is green, and I really LOVE the new graphic I purchased from Istock (on the left side of the header at the top of this page -the woman in the green chair with her laptop and a blue coffee cup).

Our daughter Leah tweaked the graphic for me with her graphic art program to look more like me ~ putting highlights in her hair like mine has, changing her blue eyes to green-brown hazel like mine, changing her pink shoes’ color to blue ~ and even adding some weight to her, lol, at my request (the cartoon graphic was a lot thinner than me, but I am working on losing weight. I’ve even hired a health coach to help me!). Leah did a great job with the graphic.

I love the relaxed, comfortable appearance of the woman in the chair in her jeans, with her laptop and coffee, and I want you to feel relaxed and comfortable here, too ~ like having a good, hot cup of coffee with a friend, sharing together about the great things God is doing in our lives!

Linda redesigned my header with Leah’s finished product of the Istock graphic. We removed my blog’s previous name Tablet Of My Heart from the header, to use my name for the site for branding purposes.

I also created a new tagline which I brainstormed about with several of my precious online friends (thank you, girlfriends!), Equipping Women to hear God’s voice, unlock their gifts, and pursue their passion. What do you think of the tagline? The site’s new look?

Linda did an incredible job with this redesign, going “above and beyond” the job. I am so happy and excited about it!

She also gave me great tips for reorganizing the site to improve its appearance, so you may find things a little different around here (but much easier to find!).

Linda is efficient, professional, and fun to work with ~ and very reasonably priced ~ so I highly recommend her for a website design. Be sure to check out her services for website design as well as coaching at Work at Home Balance, and tell her hi for me! Getting a new design for your website is as fun as going shopping for clothes at Kohl’s!

I have much to tell you about my Georgia trip and pictures to share with you, but meanwhile I wanted to surprise you with the new redesign. Only my family and a couple of friends knew about it…and I was about to bust to tell you!

I also have some exciting ideas for 2012, which I can’t wait to share with you soon. I’d love to hear from you about your plans for Christmas and for 2012.

Are you traveling for Christmas or staying home? Having family and friends over or going to someone else’s house? Ray, Leah and I and Heather and her family are all meeting at our daughter Eden’s house this year, which will be different (usually we have Christmas here). I still have shopping to do! :O  What about you?

What do you want 2012 to be like?

Have you written out your goals and dreams or do you choose an annual theme? Have you made your bucket list? What are some of the things that are in your heart to do?

What did you accomplish in 2011? What haven’t you accomplished yet that you would like to do?

What do you need to prune and leave behind in 2011?

What lessons did you learn?

What good things did God do for you? What prayers did He answer?

Please share your answers in the comments below. I have missed you! I was so happy to see my sister Maria and her kids and my family in Georgia ~ and to eat delicious southern fried catfish, cheese grits, and hushpuppies again! ~ but it’s good to be back!

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” ~ Isaiah 43: 19, NLT

Are you ready for what God has you for in 2012? Are you just itching to get moving in the dreams He has placed in your heart? Or, could FEAR be keeping you “stuck” from moving forward? What’s stopping you from your purpose? Join me and my special guest, Karen Wells, for an exciting Talkshoe show on Thursday, December 15, at 2:30 p.m. Central Time (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time).
You can join join us here in the chat room.
Or you can call into the show with the Talkshoe call-in details below:
(724) 444-7444
Call ID: 98698
PIN: 1# or Your Talkshoe PIN #
Karen wants to help you get moving on your calling and will be speaking from her book entitled, Even With My Knees Knocking I Will Follow God’s Call. Some topics include “Put away the Hammer,” “Spiritual Eating Disorders,” and “Know Thine Enemy.” God has great plans for your life. Go forward in confidence and trust. Say good-bye to fear and HELLO to faith!
Karen holds a Master of Divinity with a major in Marriage and Family Counselling from Briercrest Biblical Seminar, which is located in Caronport, Saskatchewan. She is the founder of Karis Counselling Services, with one aspect of the service devoted to helping women regain the power they’ve lost because of a past traumatic experience.

Karen wants to give women HOPE. Life is too short to be stuck in your past. She also wants every woman to know God has exciting plans for them and desires to encourage women to step out and fulfill those plans.>
Karen is a globally-minded woman. She offers her services by telephone, Skype/webcam, and webinar. She also hosts her own weekly live call-in counseling radio show. Karen facilitates workshops, speaks, and writes. Karen has authored Even With My Knees Knocking I will Follow God’s Call, and will be releasing her upcoming book, UnHooked! 7 Steps to Emotional Freedom, in December 2011.
Karen and her husband, Simon, also provide marriage counseling services. You can learn more at www.walktogethermarriage.com. They are also on staff as Pastors of Counselling and Care at Prince Rupert Fellowship Baptist Church, in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Karen and Simon are the parents of two adult children, Angela and Dean. They also have two grandchildren, Kale and Paiton-Jade.
We’d love to see you there for the show – and bring a friend!

You wouldn’t knowingly eat a piece of fruit or a vegetable that was saturated in pesticides or other chemicals, or allow your child to do so, would you? You don’t want those poisonous, harmful toxins in your body. It’s the same thing with our minds. We must detox our minds from the poisonous effects of sin (which we all struggle with), and renew our minds each day with the Word of God.
If you missed my friend Bess Blanco‘s Family Health Matters radio show, where I shared on this topic, you can still listen to the replay at Blog Talk Radio. Just click here.
Enjoy and please let us know your comments below. Bess has invited me back for future shows to share more on this topic, so stay tuned! If you are not already signed up for my newsletter, sign up at the top of the page on the right hand side so you will get my latest updates.

Today was a full day, consisting of reading from Isaiah this morning, talking to Ray after he got off his work shift, homeschooling Leah, a call with a friend, running errands in town, selling one of my ebooks (The Hands of A Woman), making a new friend, shopping a little at Kohl’s, and finally catching up with friends on Facebook tonight. I remind myself on days like this, “It’s not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” (Henry David Thoreau) But I believe that today I was about my Father’s business!
I want to make sure my moments are counting, and are not just wasted here on earth. I connected with people today, not a surface, just-passing by, “Hi, how-are-you”, kind of connecting, but a deeper connection that feeds the soul.
I’m thankful that even though Ray has worked a whole shift, often without any sleep at all on his down time there – he is still willing to listen patiently to me as I blab on and on about something on MY mind. Each time he listens, though, I feel a little closer to him -( he probably just feels tired!) 
I connected with my friend on Skype. Initially she wanted me to call her for us to talk about something business-related. The conversation quickly turned to spiritual meat. She shared with me how years ago, God had given her a very specific and  strong word, “Remember Lot’s wife.” He  told her to leave her family and everything familiar to her. In other words, deny herself, take up her cross daily and follow Jesus. (Luke 9:23) So often, we want to hold onto what is safe and familiar – what is comfortable. God hasn’t called us to be comfortable, but to be obedient.
We are often too busy staring back at the past like Lot’s wife, thinking how good it was, or feeling its regrets or what coulda-been-today, that we forget to focus on now and the great future God has planned for us. (Jeremiah 29:11) She and I also talked about following the path that GOD has for us – even if it is the road less traveled (which can sometimes be a lonely road, where others speak against you. But God is always with you and will never forsake you.) Follow Him. You answer to Him alone!
I also connected with the woman who bought my book, a fellow life coach and counselor. I discovered after emailing her, that she had been wanting to talk to me and hadn’t had a chance yet. We both had the exact same idea for a joint project, which I thought was interesting. It confirmed for me this was another God-moment. He astounds me the way He divinely orchestrates details of and relationships in our lives. There is no detail so small in your life that God is not involved in it, or is not interested in it.
And I made a new friend today, meeting her at Panera Bread. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, and smelled of coffee and sweet cakes. Here is one of the pretty paintings on the wall that I admired, as I waited a moment for my new friend to arrive.

Of course, I ordered coffee while I waited. I brought a colorful, spiral-bound notebook and a black gel pen, which later leaked on my hand and my friend’s as we wrote with it. But this woman was sharing such good stuff that I was VERY glad that I’d brought my notebook to capture and preserve what she was saying! She was in sweats because she’d been on a field trip with a school, and didn’t want her pic taken today because she knew then I’d post it on Facebook, lol…but next time!!!

It was so nice to be able to talk to a life coach IN REAL LIFE. I have MANY online friends who are like me: speakers, writers, life coaches, moms working at home, entrepreneurs. These are some of my fave people to talk to and learn from and teach/share with each day. We share hearts, we laugh, we encourage each other, we pray for each other on Skype, on telecalls, on webinars, in email, on Facebook, at virtual events. But I don’t know them IRL. I’ve never met them IN PERSON. Sometimes I wonder – if they met me, would they still like me?
It was just so COOL talking to a real live person about these kinds of things that energize me and fill me with joy – my faith in God, my upcoming Virtual Spiritual Spa in January 2012, working with clients, doing women’s retreats, writing, building a  business, my family, marketing, live events,  etc.  My family and my friends  IRL scratch their pretty heads at my “job” and just think I”m crazy. I’m kidding. But they really don’t understand what it is that I DO.  They have never run an online business and they don’t relate to it.  My friends online DO get it because they live it, breathe it, love it like I do.
So this new friend of mine, who I “met” first on Facebook, agreed to meet at Panera Bread restaurant at 3:30 p.m. and we did not leave until a little after 6 p.m.  I could not believe we talked that long with this being the first time we met! But why not ? She was outgoing, friendly, smart, funny, wise, and practical. She gave me great ideas and I shared mine with her.
It was like our own little mastermind right there in Panera, with me drinking coffee. The more coffee I drink, the more I talk. (Ask Ray!) She and I laughed, we fed off each other’s passion and positive energy, and we just had FUN.  We left, exchanging cell phone numbers and with plans to talk next week. I’ve made a wonderful new friend who inspires me, whom I would have never met if it wasn’t for the organization NACWE – God is so good!
My next stop: On The Border. (By this time, Ray was texting, “Where are you?”)  Have I ever told you how much I LOVE chips and salsa? It’s my treat every couple of weeks to go eat Mexican food. If I am missing, check the Mexican restaurants first.

I ordered the chicken fajitas tonight. I have never been to a restaurant where the fajitas arrived, nearly on fire – the thick, grey smoke ascending so heavily and quickly to the ceiling. People were coughing and staring and laughing, not just at my fajitas, but other people’s in the restaurant who had ordered them, too. A family moved their children to the other side of the restaurant to be able to breathe. Yes, the smoke was really that bad. But they were delicious. One woman on my Facebook page told me that she was jealous seeing this picture.

Finally, I went to Kohl’s “just a minute” to see if I could find a sweater with faux fur. Don’t ask me why, but I have wanted one SO bad ever since I noticed that fur is SO in this winter. FAKE fur, that is. (All animal lovers, do not send me hate mail about fur clothing. You can feel relieved that I am not advocating killing innocent, precious animals just to pamper myself.)  Here I am in the dressing room, trying on a sweater WITHOUT fur. I wanted to buy it, too – maybe next time.

Here I am wearing the faux fur grey sweater that I found on sale for $50 off – normally over $70, marked down to $28. I LOVE sales!

All in all, it was a most excellent day. I came home and chatted a minute with Ray and Leah about the day and theirs. We were all amused at something silly, and I heard the beautiful music of Leah’s laughter. I am so thankful to God for my family and love them so much.
I had received a postcard from my sister Maria, written on her recent trip to Boston, sharing about the unique  architecture of buildings there and long walks she and her friend made to the Commons, a huge park with an ice-skating rink. It blessed me that she had thought of me on her trip and sent a postcard – don’t ever discount the little things.
Then I checked my email tonight and a friend had written me, “I just love you!” It was the perfect day’s ending…now I can’t wait to wake up to tomorrow!
What was your day like? Make a good memory today with those you love, those you meet.
Please share your comments below.

Kimberly Ehlers

• Perfectionism and your child’s health – 2 big bumps that throw our Christmas off course
• What a joyful Christmas really is and practical tips to having one
• Centering our Christmas on Christ.

Come and be encouraged!
You can join Kimberly at Blog Talk Radio Thursday by clicking this link.
Or you can into the show with the Blog Talk Radio details below:
Call in number to speak with the host:
(646) 716-4375
I can’t wait and will see you there!

You are invited to join us! I’m so excited and honored that my dear friend and peer Bess Blanco of The Intentional Lifestyle has asked me to be a guest on her Blog Talk Radio Show, Family Health Matters.
The show will air about 30 minutes and will be this Thursday, December 1, at 11 a.m. Central Time (12 p.m. Eastern Time). We will be sharing about Renewing Our Minds. We’d love for you to join us at this link:
www.blogtalkradio.com/bessblanco/2011/12/01/stepping-stones-with-beth-jones
You can also call in with the following Blog Talk Radio details:
(760) 283-4649
I love Bess, and believe you will love her, too! She’s such an encouraging, passionate, positive, motivating woman of God. Mark your calendar now and we will see you there!

Here is a video I created just for you today. Enjoy!

Video of Women Entrepreneurs and Powerful Tools

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~Victor Frankl.
Change. It’s inevitable in life, like the seasons…the trees, that a few weeks ago displayed like an art masterpiece beautiful gold and red fall leaves, are now bare, stark, preparing for winter.
Tonight I saw a picture of my aunt, who I haven’t seen in years, and she had changed a lot…she looked, yes, old. Inside I winced, wanted to withdraw, grew uncomfortable because it forced me to suddenly look at and acknowledge my own mortality.
This aging thing is for the birds!
I don’t want to get old. I still feel fairly young (well, most days, except when I’m around teens or 20-somethings, who seem to have found the spring of eternal youth!).
I don’t like what often accompanies old age…the grey hairs, the wrinkles, the aching joints, the loneliness – and sometimes other more serious problems, like the heart attack just suffered by someone Ray and I have known for years, who is only in his 50′s (we are believing for complete healing for him!).
I think aging is mean!
I have always felt that old age was cruel. Why does God allow us to age and get old? Why do some people age and get sick and suffer? It seems mean. Why would a good God allow His creation to AGE and become feeble?
God never meant for us to age and die
Yet I know that God never intended this for His creation. He made Adam and Eve to live forever. When they chose to eat the forbidden fruit, that is when sin entered the world – and death, and aging.
The moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they began to die. And they knew, they could feel it and sense it. Then when they saw their son Abel dead after Cain killed him, horror overcame them as they realized just what they had done – the deadly consequences of sin.
Good changes!
Not all change is bad, of course. The precious birth of babies. Every baby born is a miracle! Weddings are always fun and are usually good changes for people. So are graduations, moves to a new, better home, getting braces (after the braces are off – straighter teeth!), and traveling to a new town, state, or country. These are good changes and bring much needed refreshment to our souls.
>The beauty of age
And aging has its own peculiar beauty. Some of the most spiritually and emotionally free people I know are senior citizens. They have learned to laugh at life and themselves, and that difficult, but valuable, lesson, “Let go and let God.”
They have been educated in the school of hard knocks and have gained great wisdom to pass onto us in middle age (and youth), if we would just listen to them.
And beyond skin that is wrinkled (like my hands are beginning to), and a little more “meat” on the bones (no longer the youthful figure of 16), the Bible says that gray hair is a crown of glory, gained in a righteous life. (Proverbs 16:31, ESV)

The hardest kind of change, though, is within ourselves. The apostle Paul was reading my mail when he wrote:
“And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.I want to do what is right, but I can’t.I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I am clearly reminded of this passage when Ray or our daughter Leah comments after I am easily irritated about something, or when I get impatient because the intersection light is being slow to turn green, or I can’t wear last year’s pants because I have gained more weight this year from lack of discipline, instead of losing weight like I wanted.
Daily fountains of grace
As Victor Frankl said, we are challenged to change ourselves.  Really, it’s impossible; we can’t do it ourselves.  Instead, daily we have to go to the foot of the Cross and cry out for grace and help and strength.
Daily we have to admit to God, “I can’t do what is right! Please help me!” Daily we have to bow before Jesus and whisper that we messed up – again, when yesterday we had such good intentions for doing was right today.
I am thankful that while I can’t change myself, God’s Spirit in me is able to transform me “from glory to glory.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
The one thing that never changes
I am also thankful that although seasons come and go in our lives, and although our mirrored reflection  may change throughout the years, one thing never changes – the love, mercy, and help of God.
“For I am the Lord; I change not.” – Malachi 3:16
“Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” James 1:17, NLT
“For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” – Psalm 100:5
Image Resource: Image: phanlop88 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Why should all the stores have the fun? You can get a deal today on something you will love, without ever needing to leave your house!
I’m having a Black Friday Sale through Saturday, November 26 at 9 p.m. Central Time.
If you have been wanting to take my virtual intensive 6-week class, but have not signed up yet because of the price, it is now 50% OFF for 48 hours! Seats will fill fast and seats are limited to 5 people. To secure your spot now, just click here.
Also, all my products are 65% off the regular price for 48 hours only through Saturday, November 26 at 9 p.m.  I have never had this kind of a sale before!  Just click here.

My dear friend Kimberly Ehlers and I were chatting by email this morning about needing to hear God’s voice for our specific business.
What works for so many of the “gurus” on the net may not work for or prosper yours. God has a unique plan and purpose for your life, your family, and your business.
We need to simply extract the precious from the worthless (Jeremiah 15:19, NASB), and apply what we’ve learned from those who are successful and implement what does help us. The key is hearing God’s word on the matter, listening to our gut instinct, and honoring our core values
I shared with Kimberly that I believe we should all do what Shakespeare wrote:
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
When we are true to ourselves, to our core values like our faith, our family, homeschooling, etc, then we will live authentic, fulfilled, happy, successful lives.
If you are a homeschooling mom like Kimberly and I are, then your child’s homeschooling will need to be a priority over your home business. That doesn’t mean neglecting your business. But it does mean your child’s education must take precedence.
If you work full-time at a job outside the home because that is the career of your dreams, you need to honor that core value and not get pulled away from your passion by guilt trips from other parents to do fund-raiser cookie sales door-to-door.
If you are a new, young mom who has wanted a baby for years and just had a newborn, your baby needs to nurse or drink her bottle on a regular schedule instead of you putting off her feeding, letting her scream, while you are sucked into a draining phone conversation with a friend who is whining on the phone to you about her inconsiderate fiance’.
Maybe one of your core values is staying fit and healthy. Be sure to incorporate healthy eating, sufficient rest and entertainment, and exercising into your daily routine.
Or perhaps one of your core values is writing – writing is an essential part of your soul. (Only writers truly get this, because writing is like air!) Create space in your schedule to write daily instead of compulsively organizing your spices cabinet.
Whatever your core values are, that is what you need to prioritize and stay true to each day.
I encourage you to take some time today to pray and think about your main 5 to 10 core values, and write them down. Then live your life in such a way as to focus on them and avoid distractions so you can live intentionally and authentically.
Image Resource: Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This weekend after church and also late yesterday afternoon I crashed, sleeping for several hours to refuel from Leah’s birthday party. While sleeping, I had a bad dream, probably from fatigue.  I dreamed the Smoke Monster from Lost was chasing Leah and me through a house, up the stairs. Then I woke up.
Many times in our lives, we deal with a real Smoke Monster – that of fear.  I listened to the replay of Krista Dunk’s Breakthrough Conference from this week, and heard an excellent teaching tonight by Ericka Jackson on Fear and Fearlessness.
What Fear is NOT
Fear, she said, is NOT False Evidence Appearing Real. This has been taught so much in the secular world that now the Church is repeating it over and over. This explanation has no Biblical basis.
Actually, Ericka said, fear is real. This is the definition of fear: a lack of surrender or submission to God.
Fear illuminates the areas of your life where you do not believe and have faith in God and His word!
Fear means that you are not yet purified from uncleanness and darkness. It means that you are not yet perfected in God’s agape love, because perfect love drives away all fear.(1 John 4:18)
Like the Smoke Monster, fear will chase you down, fill you with terror, drag you off course, and eat you alive.
It will hinder your great purpose and destiny.
>Fear will keep you from manifesting your greatness.
God has called you and me to greatness, because we were made in the image of God, who is great. (Genesis 1:27)  In Ericka’s mp3 audio Now Is Your Time, she challenges you and me to look at the areas of our lives where we are not living out our greatness in Christ.
>Examine your marriage, children, job, ministry, health, environment, finances. What currently doesn’t reflect your greatness, your full potential in God?
Wherever you are afraid, that is the area where you are not trusting God.
Ericka exhorts you and me to leave the past behind us, to let it go, and to choose to walk in step with God each day, trusting in Him.
Nothing is impossible with God
Because Jesus Christ lives inside of you, you have the power to overcome anything and nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:26-38) You are destined for greatness, and to do Jesus’ greater works. (John 14:12)
You must heed God’s urgent timing on your calling. Don’t put it off another day. Don’t let fear hold you back from your potential.
The time is now. Today is the accepted time, the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)
Get focused, set your eyes on Jesus and on your purpose. Get rid of time thieves and distractions, catching the little foxes that spoil the vineyard. (Song of Solomon 2:15)
Ericka says removing distractions from your greatness doesn’t mean leaving your husband or kids because they are getting on your last nerve. It doesn’t necessarily mean you should quit your job today.
Get a new mindset- not having a spirit of  fear, but of love, of power, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) In other words, thinking the thoughts of God, having His heart of love, doing what God does.
Time is short. Ericka exhorts us there is to be no more watering down of God’s vision for your life. There is no more time to play around. We need to be about our God our Father’s business, and do what we’re called to do and to be.
Maybe you feel that you have just been too hurt, or messed up too bad in your life. Ericka encourages us that the purpose of your painful past was to create the tools, insights and expertise you need today, not to just wound you.
God can turn your pain around 180 degrees and use it for His glory, like He did with Joseph whose brothers threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery. Later he was raised up by God to be second in command in Egypt and to deliver his family in the drought.
Your past has made you stronger. It has equipped you for your greatness. Your time for greatness is now.
Yes, the Smoke Monster of Fear is  very real.
It will rob you of your full power and anointing in Christ.
It must be cast down through the blood of Jesus and through you standing in your rightful position through God. The battle against Satan was already won over 2,000 years ago through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.
We must give no place to fear, because it only wants to torment us and keep us from our great purpose.
We must learn to stand in our rightful place through Christ, co-heirs reigning with Him. Ask God to deliver you from fear and to cleanse you of its effects in your life.
Say no more to the Smoke Monster of Fear.
Say yes to God and your great purpose.

*********************************************
Want to learn more about living a passion-filled, purpose-full life? Sign up for my January 2012 Coaching Class/Book Study, Stepping Stones to Your Purpose and Passion. Just click here.

This weekend we celebrated our youngest daughter Leah’s 17th birthday. It’s so hard to believe she is that old. It seems such a short time ago that she was a newborn baby in a long pink nightgown.

We had her birthday party at Aaron’s Family Fun Center in Belton, where the youth could bowl and the little kids could play games in the arcade. I rented two lanes for 10 kids for an hour. We don’t bowl that often as a family. This was the first time Leah got a strike, so she was excited about that.

When the time for the paid bowling was up, Leah’s friends said they wanted to bowl more. It would’ve been $42 more, but I talked to the manager, reminding him that we already had spent a lot of money there, renting the lanes and ordering 3 pizzas and two pitchers of soda. God gave me favor and the manager agreed to let them bowl 30 more minutes free.

Some of the boys who came to the party became quite competitive: Nicholas, Aaron, and David. I was beginning to wonder if it was going to turn into a bloody gladiator game. What is it about sports and male testosterone? Here to the left is Nicholas bowling. I thought it was a good picture of him in action.

Ray was bowling in the other lane. He had playfully joined the little kids and joked that little Abi (6 years old, I think) kept throwing the ball hard, getting strikes and beating him.

I didn’t have time to bowl. I was running around the bowling alley, ordering pepperoni  pizzas for all the ravenous teens and making sure they had drinks and snacks. After the party and Ray’s parents drove back to Arkansas, I collapsed in bed for two days from exhaustion. :O

Here are Heather and Kyle playing a game in the arcade…or is it really playing? They are both very competitive, too.

Heather is like me – she loves winning and hates to lose any game. :O
You can see the determination on Heather’s face in the picture, lol.

I had ordered Leah’s cake from the local bakery. Leah is an incredible artist, so she and I picked out a cake  with an artist palette on it, which was really cute and so Leah-ish! They did a good job on it (both decoration and taste!).

 





Ray’s dad took some great pics for us with his camera. Here was a gorgeous one of Heather. Ray says it looks very Aubrey Hepburn-ish. I love the stark blue background, too. This is not an edited picture.

 





Here are our three beautiful daughters, Leah, Eden and Heather.

 



Eden works at a bakery, making cupcakes each morning. She also has a side business baking cupcakes. She made some for Leah’s party – eggnog, mint, chocolate, banana. They turned out pretty. She’s having fun with her cupcake business.

 
The little kids loved the arcade. Here is Ray, putting in another dollar to get our grandson Jacob coins to play more games. Jacob ran all over the bowling alley, tried all the games, and had a blast. Eden, her fiance’ Dalton, and Heather chased after him all night.

 





Here are Leah and her friends watching the bowling.I think they like having their picture taken as much as Leah does.

 





One of the gifts Leah asked us to get her was a warm, soft bathrobe. (We also got her some snow boots, a set of Ipod earphones, a new watch, and a silver snowflake necklace with 1/4 diamond in it.) Leah’s friends teased her that she could fashionably wear her robe with her new snowboots.  I love seeing her smile and laugh like this.

 



Ray’s parents, Charles and Sue Jones, drove in from Arkansas to help celebrate Leah’s birthday. They’ve been visiting us since Thursday.  I am not well-known for my culinary abilities so when guests come, I have to actually think of decent meals to cook. :O On Sunday after church, I crashed in bed, asking Ray to please feed his parents my home-made potato soup that I had fixed for them on Thursday night.

As he was dipping some in a bowl for his dad, the bowl fell off the countertop onto the floor, and the soup splattered everywhere. Ray hurriedly cleaned it up before I woke up and saw it, screaming. :O  His dad told me about it later, laughing, when I asked if they got enough to eat for lunch. He said things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan.

Here is a picture of his parents. (Don’t worry, on Sunday I cooked for them again. They didn’t go home hungry.)

All of us had a good time at Leah’s party. I was so blessed to see her having fun with her family and friends. Here is Leah with her friend Nicole. Nicole has been a great friend to her, as well as her sisters and brother.

 








Here is Leah opening some of her gifts.

 







Here is a pic of her with her friend Kinsey. Leah had a great birthday. Thanks to everyone who helped make that possible.

Leah, I hope you had a happy birthday. We love you so much!

Be sure to cherish the moments with your kids. They fly by.
“And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.”(Mark 10:13-16 ESV)

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” ~Thornton Wilder

This week families and friends across America will gather to celebrate a delicious Thanksgiving feast: turkey and ham, green bean casserole, squash, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, and an assortment of home-made pies and other mouth-watering desserts. They will say a prayer of thankfulness, like the Plymouth colonists did, giving thanks to God for their safe voyage to America and for a good harvest.

It’s good to have an attitude of thankfulness on not just one day of the year, but every day. God gives us daily abundant blessings, but many times we take them for granted: such as things not available in Third World nations, like clean water and clean air, food, indoor plumbing, freedom of speech and press.

Be thankful for the little things
God also blesses our lives with our families, friends, good health, a job or a home business, and many other blessings. Sometimes it is the simplest things which are the greatest blessings, like your child’s laugh or talking to a friend on the phone.

An ungrateful attitude makes you an unpleasant person who nobody wants to be around. It also seems to draw more negativity in your life, maybe because that is what you are focusing on.

But a thankful attitude releases more of God’s goodness and favor in our lives. As parents, we delight in a child who shows a thankful attitude for what we give them. (Luke 17:11-19)

A Gratitude Journal
A good practice to help us cultivate an attitude of thankfulness is through a gratitude journal. Each day record things for which you’re thankful. It can be as simple as a good, hot cup of coffee, being able to go for a morning walk or run, or having a good laptop to run your business. It can also be miracles God does, like a physical healing or a sudden money miracle (which I have seen God do!). A great resource on the topic of thankfulness is Ann Voskamp’s incredible book One Thousand Gifts.

Be Thankful for Answered Prayers
You can also record answered prayer in a journal – the date when God answered it, and how He did it. What great things has God done in and through your business and family this year? Write them down and share them with others. You might even start a tradition at Thanksgiving of having family members share before they eat the big meal what they’re thankful for this year or sharing excerpts from your “answered prayers” journal. This creates a special, holy atmosphere that ushers in God’s presence. God’s glory is manifest where there’s praise. (Revelation 5:12)

God’s book about you
Did you know that God notes your thankfulness and writes down when you share about the great things He does in a Book of Remembrance?

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,and the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him, For those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.” (Malachi 3:16, NKJV)

You’ll discover as you begin to observe and to be more aware of God’s blessings in your life, that soon you can’t write them down or praise Him fast enough. The blessings will overflow in your life, and you will experience great joy. Even in hard times, you will notice the good things from God.

Have a blessed, thankful Thanksgiving and year.

>Are you happy? This morning I received three ezines in my email inbox that were on the topic of happiness. Universally happiness is something that all humans seek.
As a Christian, we are not guaranteed happiness in this life. In fact, if someone were to look at the lives of Jesus and the apostles before converting to Christianity, it would probably make them want to run the other way:

• Jesus Christ was suffered with beatings, torture, and crucifixion.
• Historians believe that Peter was one of the founders of church at Rome and was crucified in the Neronian persecution in A.D. 67, 68 – according to historians, requesting to be crucified head-first because he didn’t feel worthy to die in the same manner as his master.
• Andrew, after preaching in Scythia in Greece, in Asia Minor and Thrace, was said by historians to have been crucified at Patrae in Achaia.
• James the son of Zebedee was put to death by Herod Agrippa I, the day before Passover.
• Matthew-there is reason to believe that he stayed for fifteen years at Jerusalem, after which he went as missionary to the Persians, Parthians and Medes. There is a legend that he died a martyr in Ethiopia.
• Jude (Thaddeus) – according to tradition, Jude taught in Armenia, Syria and Persia, where he was martyred.
• Thomas was martyred in Persia or India, his death said to be from spears.
• James, son of Alpheus, according to tradition, was thrown from the temple by the scribes and Pharisees, stoned, and his brain dashed out by a fuller’s club.
• The details of three of the apostles’ deaths (John, Bartholomew, and Simon the Canaanite) are not known at all. According to tradition from early Christian historians and the Bible, eight of the disciples died as martyrs.

An eternal difference: Your life has a higher purpose than just living for you
This is not the happiness club! Yet they were life-changers and history-makers. Their lives made an eternal difference because they lived for a higher purpose than just  living for themselves.
God wants you to be happy
God wants you and me to be happy and fulfilled, just as we want our children to be happy. He didn’t create us to be miserable creatures, depressed, bewildered, angry, stressed out and upset all the time. He wants to give us the joy of our salvation, which is our strength (Psalm 51:12, Nehemiah 8:10) and to fill our mouth with laughter and our lips with shouts of joy (Job 8:21). Our happiness and joy come from our close relationship with, and serving, God and others.
Reaching for the Stars
Sometimes we are always “reaching for the stars,” chasing new shiny objects, seeking that ever-elusive “happiness” because we think happiness is “out there” somewhere, when happiness is right in front of us – in the faces of our beautiful children, in the conversation we’re having with our spouse right now, in a beautiful sunset or the colored fall leaves, in simply being alive.
>Don’t wait until later to be happy
Life is a precious gift from God. Each morning we arise, there should be a prayer of thanks in our hearts ascending to God, that He’s given us a new day to live and to glorify Him…and to be happy now, not later.
It’s right in front of you
Let’s not get so caught up in trying to find happiness through our own pleasure or entertainment, success in career, business or ministry, more money or material goods, or accomplished to-do tasks that we neglect to enjoy the moment of happiness right now before us.
“If only we’d stop trying to be happy, we’d have a pretty good time.”- Edith Wharton

I’m going to start focusing on writing more the rest of this year and in 2012, and one of the things God has put into my heart is to write Bible studies and other books for you that are practical, relevant, and can be applied to everyday life.
We’ve heard that 20-somethings are leaving the church in droves, although there is some controversy over that statement. But one of the reasons they get disgusted and leave is because they see hypocrisy in their parents, other adults, and church leadership, and because they feel the Bible is out-dated and doesn’t apply to their lives and their generation.
Yet God’s Word is timeless. It is still very much for today, as its truths are eternal…for senior citizens, for middle aged adults, for young adults, for teens, for children.
I’d love to get your feedback for Bible studies and other books, ebooks, webinars, teleseminars, workshops, and events that interest you and  are relevant and applicable for where you’re at right now in your life.
What topics interest you the most? Pursuing your purpose and passion? Marriage? Parenting? Time Management? Priorities? Goal-setting? Success God’s way? Faith? Healing? How to Forgive Someone Who has Hurt You? Books of the Bible? The Spiritual Gifts? How to Use Your Gifts for God? Balancing all you do?
Please fill in the blank: I’d really love to hear or read/study/learn more about _________________________.
Your opinion and thoughts are important and they matter to me!  What would help you? Please leave your comments below or email me at elizabethdjones@gmail.com.

Don’t you love being pampered – enjoying a massage, having a manicure or pedicure, getting your hair done, going to a spa? How would you like six weeks of this – spiritually?

My coaching group for Christian business owners is back!  It’s beginning in January 2012 – a virtual spiritual spa. This class will include one-on-one, personal time with me for prayer, “anointing” time, and life-giving fellowship.

It also will give you the stepping stones to fulfill your purpose and to pursue your passion, for God’s glory.

This coaching group is online via Talkshoe and lasts six weeks long. It is every Tuesday at 11 am Central Time. We will cover Katie Brazelton’s book, Pathway to Purpose for Women.

We start the first class on Tuesday, January 10, 2012. I invite you to join us for this virtual retreat.

Right now you can get the early bird special. After the holidays, the price goes up. To find out more, just click here.

Did you miss my Talkshoe show this week with Andrea Sharp of Sharp Women?

This was an excellent, anointed show. Andrea’s teaching is for today’s busy woman in mind: “I can only do 4 things at once!”

We always need the “spiritual” in our lives (God’s presence, His word), but we also need practical help for our hectic lives.
Andrea gives you real-life tools using the acronym PACE to help you juggle your to-do list and schedule.

I encourage you to listen to the replay and/or download it to your computer to listen to later at your convenience.

Andrea spoke straight to my heart about getting your priorities straight. She also told a funny story about a Bunco game, which had me laughing so hard. You will love it!

Just click here for the replay (Episode #22, on November 10, 2012.

It’s the first episode at the top of the page and in past episodes).

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Guest post by:  Jennifer Bennett
If you know me, you know that one of my favorite things to do is being able to cuddle up on the couch under a blanket, with a great book in hand and candles blazing all around me. To me, this is heaven!
Jane Austen’s writings parallel her life – and ours
You may also know that prior to pursuing My Soul Mission full-time, I worked as a full-time high school English teacher and that one of my favorite parts of the job was reading great novels with my students. As a high school teacher, I had the opportunity to read and teach of the best novels ever (in my opinion anyway), “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. If you have never read this book, let me encourage you to do so. There’s just something about the way Jane Austen takes a hold of your emotions and in turn, draws you into the life of the characters.
Another “nugget” of truth you that may know about me too is that I LOVE watching the movie versions of novels. Not only does the book come to life, but it also allows you to see the many differences between the two.
Becoming Jane
It wasn’t until recently, that I was finally able to watch “Becoming Jane”, a movie that is based on the life of Jane Austen. While we don’t know a lot about Austen, research has shown that many of her writings paralleled her true existence. As I watched the movie, I couldn’t help but notice that Austen experienced many of the things that we as women face in our lifetime. Here are some of the similarities:

• Austen desired to find her one true love
• Parents and society had their own thoughts on how they felt Austen should live her life
• Many people within her society felt that money was the answer and in turn, would bring happiness
• Austen had dreams of writing, but yet she had those “dream killers” in her life who felt that those dreams were a waste of time
• Austen dealt with rejection
• Austen dealt with doubt
• Austen questioned what her purpose was

Who are you becoming?
As I sat on my couch watching this movie, I couldn’t help but focus in on the title, “Becoming Jane”. This movie clearly portrays Jane Austen becoming who she was created to be. As I continued watching, I kept asking myself, “Jen, who are you becoming?” As I look back on my life and the many experiences I have lived through, whether good or bad, I can’t help but see the hand of God guiding and leading me into becoming the person that He has created me to be. He has always led me onto the path that He desired me to be on. He has always had a plan for me. He is good.
So, with these thoughts, I can’t help but ask you, who are you becoming? If there were a movie written about your life and who it is that you became, what would the movie portray?
I have found that in life, we must continually ask ourselves these questions because if we don’t, before we know it life will have passed us by and we will be looking back wondering what we did with the time that was given to us.
The truth of the matter is that each and every one of us has been given a gift, a gift to share with the world. Jane Austen had the gift of writing that she went after regardless of what came her way. And you my friend, you too have a gift, a gift that the world desperately needs you to fulfill. A gift that God wants to see you live into.
Don’t listen to the dream killers
>So today, spend some time reflecting on who you are, what have you been called to and who are you becoming? And if there one piece of advice that I can give you it is this: Just like Austen, you too will encounter the “dream killers” in your life; those people who feel as though they know best and what it is that you should be doing with your life. They will criticize the steps you take and many times, the words you speak. Today let me say; do not listen to them. Remember, you are here to please one and quite honestly, if He approves of you, why worry about winning the approval of others? If He called you, He will enable you!
Remember, if you fail to live into the calling that has been placed on your life, the world will be at a loss. Don’t waste another day my friend, the world is waiting!
Believing in You!
Jen
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As a wife, mom, life coach, educator,writer and speaker, Jen can best be described as a normal everyday woman who loves Jesus and wants nothing more than to live a life of significance and purpose.  God has blessed her with multiple opportunities to inspire and equip students and women to live out their Soul Mission; becoming who God has uniquely created them to be! For over 15 years, Jen has had the opportunity to empower others to:

• go deeper into understanding God’s purpose for their life
• gain a deeper understanding of their gifts, strengths, values, and passions
• live life with a clearer picture of who they are and what direction God wants them to walk in
• have an understanding of where they “fit” in this world

Nothing excites Jen more than to see students and women living out their unique purpose, calling, and Soul Mission!  It is her joy to help them discover their individual shape and in turn, help them reach their full potential. If you (or someone you know) are ready to enhance your quality of life, move forward, and become God’s best, then contact Jen Today! She wants to help you achieve greater success! Contact Jen at: jen@mysoulmission.org
For more information about what Jennifer offers, be sure to go to:
align=”center”>www.mysoulmission.org

It’s been softly raining here this morning. A wonderful day to curl up with a good book under a quilt, drinking hot cocoa. I’ve had other things to do, but have enjoyed listening to the rain as I’ve checked email, posted on Facebook, filled the Google calendar with telecalls I’m attending this week, opened the packages that arrived via UPS today for Leah’s homeschooling (Plutarch’s Lives, a knitting kit, and a Growing Crystals Science Kit), and have been praying for my friend Shelley, who was admitted to the hospital’s cardiology unit this morning and is having tests run on her. Now I’m sitting down to write, wanting to capture the sound of the gentle rain forever in my heart. It’s so relaxing. It feels good to just sit here and listen, peace and happiness washing over me.
On Mondays we often have a long to-do list, and at times it can feel overwhelming. I want to encourage you to pray over your to-do list each day. Ask God what is the one priority He wants you to do each day? What is the next step for your life, your writing, your speaking, your coaching program, your business? Then obey Him.
Do you feel like you’re just spinning your wheels?
That is what He will anoint and bless. That is what will bear much fruit…you won’t just be spinning your wheels, or stressing out over all that you’re not getting done on your to-do list.  Jesus commended Mary because she was doing the one thing that would not be taken away from her – spending time at Jesus’ feet, being taught by Him.
This is what I want you to do for me today, God!
Jesus said we can do nothing apart from Him. So often we make our plans, and ask God to join in with us, instead of seeking His face and asking Him to use us in HIS plans. We have it backwards. God desires to use the wonderful gifts that He has put inside of you for His glory. He wants you to partner with Him to expand His kingdom here on earth, and it is a great privilege and honor. There are people He is wanting you to reach and to touch with His love and grace. Are you willing?
Set aside your plans and your agenda. Ask God to write His to do list in your heart. More often than not, God wants us simply to be instead of to do.  We can get so caught up in “doing” that we fail to accomplish the one important thing that God wants us to do – and to prune the rest (or it can wait for later).
The one thing may be to hug or laugh with your child
The one thing may be setting aside quiet time each morning to pray and read the Bible. It may be visiting a relative who’s hurting or sick. It may be encouraging a friend who desperately needs it. It may be hugging your child or laughing with him or her. It may be making a tasty sandwich for your spouse, or going on a date with him – without the kids!
Listen each day to God’s nudges and promptings
It may be writing the outline for your book or a chapter. It may be working on the speaking presentation at the conference, or creating a video. It may be making a new friend on Facebook, Twitter or at a business lunch. It may be creating your own local networking event.  God will show you what He wants you to do, just as I felt prompted to text Shelley this morning and tell her I missed her – and found out she was in the hospital! Listen to God’s nudges and promptings. They are important.
Disappointed with this year’s results? With God there’s always HOPE.
Maybe you feel like this year hasn’t gone the way you wanted. For all your “doing” and your hard work this year, you are disappointed in the results. You had such high hopes. Yet with God there is always HOPE. The year 2012 is a year, I believe, of new beginnings for us. A brand new, fresh, exciting, adventurous year. I believe great things are ahead for God’s people. Our part is to simply believe and receive and obey God.
Do the one thing God tells you to do…starting now. Listen, like listening to the sound of rain. Obey. Then be in awe and thank Him for what He does to display His glory, through you.

Krista Dunk

Just a few more days until BreakThrough – Breakthrough Conference, that is. My sweet friend Krista Dunk has put together an amazing virtual conference with anointed speakers (she is one of them!). This conference is only $12! $12 – are you kidding me? You can bet I am already signed up!

“For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” -Psalm 18:29-30

God has dreams for His people. There is a special place for you within His purposes, plans and body. He has designed you for victory. You don’t need to be hindered anymore. He has pre-established certain things that are to be yours. It’s time for Breakthrough – physically, spiritually, financially, emotionally.

So, what has He established for you? And do you want it all?

Breakthrough Conference is a virtual women’s ministry conference. Every evening, for one week, you can attend this life-changing conference via your computer (webinar) and hear breakthrough teaching and powerful testimonies from your home, church or office. Get great teaching, inspiration and revelation without any travel or babysitting costs.

Although we love lace and tea, this is not your average women’s ministry event! Through powerful main conference sessions and vital breakout sessions, women will learn must-know spiritual growth information. Your breakthrough is on its way…

To learn more info, just click here.

Thanksgiving is around the corner. We don’t have to wait for a special holiday to feel thankful, though. We can give God thanks every day for His blessings. One tool you can use is a gratitude journal. Record the blessings, big and small, that God gives you each day.

It will cultivate a grateful heart and keep you from feeling discouraged, unhappy, envious, or frustrated. As you reflect on God’s goodness, your heart will overflow with joy. It is like the stone memorials the patriarchs of our faith, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, built as altars to remember God and His promises, and to worship Him for His goodness and protection over them.

One of the things I am so thankful to God for is the anointed, powerful women of God He has brought across my path this year. I consider them dear friends now, even though I’ve never met any of them IRL (in real life).Eight women shared their stories in my ebook, The Hands Of a Woman: Everyday Women In Everyday Battles.

I interviewed most of these women on Talkshoe, and you can listen to them at no cost to you by clicking here. You will be blessed and inspired by their amazing stories of their greatest spiritual battles.

You can also listen to other women who share their touching, powerful stories on my Women’s Battles Talkshoe show, again as my free gift to you by clicking here.

To find out more information about my ebook, just click here.

My next Talkshoe special guest is Andrea Sharp of Sharp Women, on November 10 at 2:30 p.m. Central Time. She will be sharing on the topic, I Can Only Do Four Things at Once. I can’t wait to hear this one!

We’d love to see you in the chat room here! You can join us here or call in with the details below:

Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 98698
PIN: 1# or Your Talkshoe PIN #

Have you ever wanted to go on a cruise to the Bahamas, but didn’t think you could afford it? Now is your chance. Well Watered Woman Ministry is having a conference on a cruise in May 2012, and it is going to be powerful!

Get Ready for DESTINY!

Are you ready for a tremendous move of God IN and THROUGH your life?

Women of Destiny 2012

Are you ready for a tremendous move of God IN and THROUGH your life?

The Women of Destiny Conference/Cruise 2012 is a launching place for that move! Come join us for a powerful life changing encounter with God.

The Women of Destiny Conference is going to catapult women into the fullness of who God has called them to be, it will also equip them in knowing their purpose so they can fulfill their Destiny.

The 3 days of conference on this beautiful, 5-night cruise will feature dynamic morning prayer, anointed praise and worship services followed by life changing ministry sessions presented by powerful speakers and workshop teachers.

I am so excited to tell you that I have been invited to be one of the speakers at this anointed conference! My husband Ray is planning to go with me, too. He has always wanted to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. He and I would love to meet you there!

The Women of Destiny Conference/Cruise is family oriented so husbands and children are welcome to attend. There will be a special breakout session for men and young men presented by Deeper Waters Men’s Ministry, as well as a special breakout session for teen and collegiate girls presented by our Well Watered Woman Teen Ministry.

For younger children Carnival Cruiseline has a wonderful children’s program, so moms can relax and enjoy knowing their kids are safe and having lots of fun. If you are single and/or traveling alone, we will do our best to pair you with a roommate. This cruise will certainly have something for everyone!

The Women of Destiny 2012 cruise is also a time of refreshing, rejuvenation and vacation. There will be plenty of free time to enjoy the plethora of on board activities and the magnificent and breathtaking beauty of the Bahamas. With ports of call in the beautiful and exotic Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau, you will find an abundance of fun, activities, and excursions to take in. Your time off the ship is sure to be as amazing as your time aboard.

Click HERE to visit the Official Women of Destiny 2012 site. (Be sure to reference my name, Beth Jones, when purchasing a cruise ticket or tickets.)

Calling all leaders
Are you a pastor, co-pastor or leader of a woman’s ministry? If you or your ministry are interested in bringing a group of women to the Women of Destiny 2012 Conference/Cruise, Well Watered Woman Ministry’s staff can help you.

There is a limited number of GROUPS LEADER POSITIONS available! Well Watered Woman Ministry’s staff would love to show you how to put a group together. Leadership has its privileges. Find out what you can receive by becoming a group leader.

Contact Tony Robinson at: groups@wellwateredwomanconference.com for more information and group leader packets, being sure to reference my name Beth Jones.

See you on the ship!

I grew up in the 80′s and one of the popular songs then was by Robert Palmer, called Addicted to Love. Guys loved it, because the video features beautiful women with thick red lipstick, dressed in short black dresses, black stockings, and heels – with them dancing and playing a bass guitar and other instruments in the background as Robert sang, “Another kiss, and you’ll be mine.”

When I was thinking yesterday about people’s addiction to Facebook, that song and the title of this blog post came to mind. Today when I went on YouTube to find the video, I laughed when I watched it – so 80′s.  Just replace the word “Love” in the song with “Facebook.”

“Might as well face it…you’re addicted to Facebook.”

But addiction to Facebook can be serious. It can be like a black hole that sucks you into it for hours, stealing your time and consuming your life. It can get out of control and keep you from fulfilling your purpose. One writer friend of mine is having trouble finishing her new book because she says she is spending too much time on Facebook and is becoming distracted with other things.

Another precious friend Susan Evans wrote a blog post about her addiction to Facebook that you may enjoy called Scared of Facebook.

Of course, Susan was using it to minister to other women. But at night when her husband wanted her to watch t.v. with him at night, she was on Facebook, counseling women. She said she was prioritizing helping women over spending time with her husband. Susan said God unplugged her for the summer and she had Facebook addiction withdrawals. She didn’t know what to do with all that time she’d been spending on Facebook. She missed checking on her friends and helping women.

Susan started a fresh account after a year with a promise to her husband that it wouldn’t get out of hand again. But Susan says she is scared she can’t keep that promise. She told herself when she got up in the morning and had her coffee, praying, that she would not get on Facebook before she was done praying. But she felt an irresistible urge to get on Facebook and she started praying faster so she could get on it.

Susan is so funny to me (she’s so real!), but I realize it can be a serious problem, an idol. She prayed to God to help her with this problem, and He’s helping  her to maintain a balance with it. She has more energy, is more efficient in homeschooling and with her business, and gets more done now by staying off the computer.

What about you? Can you live without Facebook?

My speaker/writer/coach friend Rochelle Valasek has a laptop that crashed and no longer works. She’s shopping for a new one now. I called her yesterday to say hi and just to check on her. I told Shelley that I thought I would cry if mine tore up. I asked her how she’s running her business without being online.  She admitted it isn’t easy and she has cried some, but has found that she can survive – and even keep her sanity – without daily doses of Facebook. She does pop in once awhile on her husband’s computer to just check in with friends. But she can live without it.

Some people choose to have a Facebook or social media fast. They deliberately unplug for a day, a few days, a week – or like Susan, a year, to get their priorities straight. They learn that, if necessary, they can live without it…at least for awhile.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg says over 250 million people worldwide use Facebook. It’s not going away. But we can learn to set limits with it and not let it become an addiction and/or idol in our lives, replacing God.

Here’s 5 clues to tell if you have a Facebook addiction:

• You lose sleep over Facebook, staying up until 3 a.m. on it and then are too tired the next morning to be useful to anyone.
• You spend more than an hour a day on it. Here’s the thing. Social networking isn’t more fulfilling than real life. If it is, it’s time to reevaluate your life.
• You become obsessed with old loves, “just friending” an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend….and soon are meeting him or her for a lunch date. Trouble!
• You ignore work in favor of Facebook.  You sneak onto Facebook when your boss or co-workers aren’t looking. It’s so much more interesting than work!
• The thought of leaving Facebook leaves you in a cold sweat. Virtual reality is your reality. Sad.

“Our Facebook, who art in heaven…”
I would add one more. Do you check Facebook before praying to God in the morning?

Facebook Don’t's – Please!
Some people use Facebook like a to-do list checklist: “Fixed blueberry pancakes for my luv this a.m.  Organized my drawers. Need to stop by drycleaners, then buy groceries. Going to party 2nite, woot!”

Others use it as a public platform for airing family or relationship problems to create drama: “My husband is SUCH a jerk sometimes!”, “Anyone want my wife for sale?”, “Some people are SOOO selfish and immature! I’m through with Bryan, 4 good!” or “It must be nice to have parents and siblings that really care about you. I’m so jealous.”

Worse are couples on Facebook who show PDA pictures or update their statuses or comment to each other as if they are alone and not on a public forum. “Baby, you are so hot!” or “My wife makes me feel like a real man! I love when she kisses my ear!” provoke a reaction from family and friends like, “Get a room!” or “Ugh! Please, TMI!” Yet how many people are going to their Facebook walls just to see what they’re saying to each other today?

There’s also the people who seem to have disappeared from their Facebook for months or even a year, then suddenly one day they are creepily commenting on your wall, “LOL!” or “Yeah, I was comparing the Evo and the Iphone, too!” Are they just stalking you and everyone? It’s unnerving.

Others with little wisdom take pics of themselves and friends drunk or high, or text drunken or stoned messages to post as their status updates – which their employers or potential employers can see – and use against them. (Yes, I’m talking about some Christians!) And some people can’t get enough of this type of activity…Facebook is popular because it leverages people’s nosiness. How else would you find out what your family members or friends are doing every day?

Other people use Facebook to stalk business competitors, to see what they’re up to this week and then copy whatever they’re doing, claiming it as their own, or improving upon it. Last week on a marketing call I attended, a woman was concerned that her products or services would be “copied” by others, and I assured her that it probably will be – and to remember that imitation is the highest form of flattery.

The other extreme is saying Facebook is the anti-christ and that you’re not using it at all because it is plain evil.

Moderation and balance are the key.
Don’t let Facebook consume your life; really live in your real world!

We use Facebook for a variety of reasons. It is a wonderful invention, but it can’t consume our lives. We need to live in our own real world, loving the people in our lives and really living.

Social media was created to enhance life, not replace it. Evaluate how much time you are spending on Facebook (or Twitter, LinkedIn, or other social media sites), as well as your purpose for using it.

Use good Facebook etiquette. Practice wisdom. Be kind. If you’re wondering if you should post something, don’t. You don’t want that one comment you made when you were angry going viral. Why do people feel compelled to say rude things on Facebook when they wouldn’t do this face to face with someone?

Create firm boundaries with your time on it; if necessary, use a kitchen timer to set limits for yourself so that you’re not neglecting yourself, your family, and your daily tasks/work. If you find you can’t control it, get counseling help with accountability. Like any other addiction, there is no shame in admitting it’s become bigger than you and you need others’ intervention. We know Facebook CEO Mark wants us addicted to it…he’s getting richer from the more it grows. But what is richer in life than real-life, flesh-and-blood family and friends?

Facebook can be your global platform
Facebook is an incredible tool which we can use today to keep in contact with family and friends, especially in other states or even across the world. It enlarges your territory to give you a greater sphere of influence for God. It is phenomenal for growing your business. My friend and coach Diane says that 90% to 95% of her business comes from Facebook.

Facebook can be a blessing in your life. I have met amazing women of God through Facebook and Twitter, and am so thankful to God for it. It can also be used as a great evangelism tool. You can now have a global platform to share God’s good news with others in the U.S. and countries across the world.

But let your magificent obsession be God, not Facebook. Be addicted to Him, who is TRUE love.

>***Want to find out more about spending time with God? Check out my 7-audio, quiet time devotional series. Just click here.
Image Resource: Image: Kittikun Atsawintarangkul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net>

Tonight is Halloween. It isn’t a day that our family “celebrates,” although many people enjoy dressing up in costumes and going to parties and on hay rides.  At dusk, children across America will walk around their neighborhoods in costumes, ring doorbells, and say “Trick or Treat!” in hopes of getting bags full of candy.

Primarily Halloween’s theme is one of fear.
In our lives as Christians, we too struggle sometimes with fear, whether that fear is real or imagined. An example of an irrational fear would be a fear of the night, or perhaps more closely, fear of the dark. Night time is a fact of life and, in fact, was created by God.

“Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” – Genesis 1:3

It’s what is possibly IN the night or dark that could hurt or kill them which causes people to fear: the bogeyman, a monster, a ghost, BigFoot, Satan, or whatever creature of terror looms largely in their minds.

Fear breeds more fear. When we allow ourselves to be ruled by fear, it can take over our whole lives, stealing our peace and our joy. For example, a new mother may be terrified that her newborn baby’s cold will develop into life-threatening pneumonia, when the baby simple has a runny nose that only lasts a few days without serious effects.

Or a woman may fear that her “baby” – her business or her new product launch – may fail, that no one will come to her Facebook party, or that everyone will focus on the mistake she made in her video for that page.

Fear doesn’t come from God. He doesn’t want us afraid, because it’s the opposite of faith. Instead of a spirit of fear, He’s given us a spirit of love, power, and of sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Fear takes away our power and weakens us. Fear can steal our big dreams. It can thwart our God-given purpose. It can immobilize us and keep us stuck, from moving forward into the wonderful destiny God has for us.

Like a fear of the dark, or the scary Frankenstein or monster plastic mask that children wear on Halloween night, it is not realistic, but it has real consequences in our lives: a delayed or stopped purpose. A destiny on hold. A dream that dies within us when we die, because we were too afraid to step out in faith.

I’ll be sharing about fear and its consequences – and how you can push past fear to achieve your dreams and succeed – in my workshop on November 5. Don’t let fear keep you from the big plan God has for your life (Jeremiah 29:11). Learn in this workshop to move past those fears that are trying to keep you from your greatness. Join us for an hour of encouragement and motivation November 5, at 11 a.m. CST. Click here to find out more info and secure your spot.
Image Resource: Image: zirconicusso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When I spoke at Women’s Aglow this year, one of the attendees came up to me as I was taking a seat and handed me a piece of paper with a poem on it. “This is for you,” she said. I thanked her, and then later when I was alone I sat down to read and absorb it. I don’t know why she gave it to me, other than she just wanted to bless me with a gift and maybe God wanted to use it to speak to my heart. I’d like to share it with you, too. The author is unknown, but if you know, please tell me:

A Prayer For True Womanliness
O LORD Grant
That I may be always virginal in spirit,
surrendered to Christ in all things.
That I may know the joy of true motherhood,
giving saints to God.
That I may be a woman of love, radiant
with the Charity of Christ.
That I may be a woman of silence,
creating tranquility and peace about me.
That I may be a woman of purity, veiling
my womanliness in modesty.
That I may be a woman of understanding,
encouraging and helpful in counsel.
That I may be a woman of tears,
compassionate for a suffering world.
That I may be a woman of laughter,
bringing joy and hope to all around me.
That I may be a woman of generosity,
giving of my own without measure.
That I may be a woman of patience,
answering with gentleness and love.
That I may be a woman of tenderness,
shielding the sensitive, consoling
the sorrowful.
That I may be a woman of hospitality,
making welcome the poor, the lonely,
the weary.
That I may be a woman of prayer, seeking
my strength in God.
That I may have the heart of an apostle,
drawing all those around me to Christ.

Well, I think I have some work cut out for me this week!

Our youngest daughter Leah

She and I were talking about balance:  taking care of your family, grocery shopping, doing errands, and other daily tasks, while successfully running a business.She has been busy with taking her kids to parties, buying groceries and going on a date with her man, and wasn’t sure if she would be able to do an online workshop like she wanted to this month or next. She wondered how others “do it all.”

>Here is what I shared with her today: “Your family can’t be replaced. I have many, many regrets over lost, wasted time, being too busy at times and not savoring precious moments with my kids…now our youngest is almost grown. Workshops can wait….just remember your priorities, do the next thing God says to do, one step at a time, and don’t compare yourself with others who seem to be “doing it all”…you are beautiful, uniquely you. Also, “doing it all” is just an illusion.”

We have a limited window of time with our children while they are still at home. Empty nest comes all too soon. Truly they grow up in a blink of the eye. I don’t believe that God wants mothers to put their entire lives on hold when they have children, making their kids the center of their lives, never taking time for themselves, finding hobbies, getting more training or education, or finding out who they really are besides a mom. In those cases where the woman revolves her whole life around her children, when the kids grow up the mother is completely lost, having a major identity crisis.

I have a friend in this situation right now. She has always been a stay at home mom and homeschooled her children, and now her kids have flown the nest – and her husband moved out when they did, saying he doesn’t want to be married to her anymore. “Beth, what am I supposed to do now?” she asked me recently. “I don’t know what to do!” She needs to find out who she really is, apart from being a wife and a mother. God created her for a great purpose.

>What I am saying, though, is to not let time pass without cherishing your time with your kids. Make sure you spend time each day with them and let them know how much you love them. Take time out for your marriage, before your kids grow up and you’re facing a stranger across the kitchen table with nothing in common and nothing to talk about.

>Don’t let your business take over your life, like some hideous, out of control monster like The Blob. Don’t let your family feel like they are second place -or last – next to your business. God brought these precious ones into your life to love.

Maintain harmony between your family, your home, your friends, your business, and other areas of your life.

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12, ESV

When Ray married me, he knew I didn’t know how to cook much. Mostly I ate out, baked chicken, cooked tacos, fixed tuna melts (Chicken-of-the-sea, drained, mixed with mustard and spread on toasted cheese slices of bread), and prepared other simple, quick dishes. Ray had great hopes I’d change.

After 17 years of marriage I still dislike cooking, although I do cook out of necessity…but I am definitely NOT The Pioneer Woman (although my husband wears boots and loves cowboy hats).

Southern Fried Chicken
When we got married, I had some big shoes to fill as Ray is from south Louisiana and Texas, and his mother and both his grandmothers were fantastic southern cooks. To this day I still can’t make good fried chicken. I’ve tried many great recipes.

So instead whenever we have a “hankering” for it, I buy it at the local deli, which has delicious fried chicken (8 pieces of a variety of chicken for $5.99, plus a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy). I also use our crockpot a lot for our meals; you can make healthy, easy, inexpensive meals with a crockpot. I love it!

Martha Stewart, Paula Deen, or Rachel Ray, I will probably never be, although I am a better cook than when Ray and I were first married. I always make our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with a big turkey and surprisingly tasty dishes. I’m also pretty good at baking.

My husband is a good cook
But Ray is a wonderful cook – it must be the Cajun in him. He likes spicy foods. His grilled Cajun chicken is mouthwatering and he is famous for it among family and friends. He’s also able to go into the kitchen, throw some ingredients together, and it comes out delicious. (Well, everything except his goulash, a concoction he has made in the past. I’m not sure what all is in it, but it’s awful! Other than that, though, he is a great chef.)

Yesterday Ray cooked dinner and then cleaned up the kitchen afterward: it was like a spicy nacho dish, poured over tortilla chips, and had baked chicken and rotel tomatoes. I’d had a long day and I really appreciated it. Since he works long 24-hour shifts as a paramedic, where he hardly gets any sleep on his “down” time, he rarely cooks or cleans when he comes home. That’s understandable and I don’t consider it his job. So I doubly appreciated him doing this since he had worked the night before until 7 a.m.

He’s good for other things, too, lol.
Another thing Ray does that I appreciate is to be my sounding board and adviser for business. He patiently listens to me almost each day as I discuss aspects of my business with him. Really, I am floored at how tolerant he is of me yakking away at him, listening to me go on and on!

You’re the CEO, but your husband may have some great ideas.
I am the “CEO” of my  business, so I make final decisions for it, but I know that I don’t have all the answers that I need. I don’t always do everything Ray suggests, but many times he has sound, practical advice and great ideas for me that are useful and which I try.

It’s important that if you are  a wife with your own business at home that you ask your husband for his input and advice. He probably  has creative, wise  ideas that you haven’t even thought of before. If you are stuck somewhere, he may be able to see the problem with clarity and give you a logical solution that can propel you forward faster.

At the least, he can pray for and encourage you, and you will feel better talking to someone about it. I have found that Ray often has insightful ideas that I can immediately implement and see effective results from them.

As a woman, you are emotionally engaged in your business
Sometimes we as women can’t see the forest from the trees in our business, because we’re too close up to it and emotionally invested in it. (This is also where a mastermind group and coaching/mentoring comes into play…brain power multiplied and other eyes seeing what you can not.)

God has given the husband His wisdom to lead and guide his family. He may not always use that wisdom.    But you may be pleasantly surprised to find how much he can help you with your business and other aspects of your life if you talk to him, such as homeschooling, behavior issues with the kids, finances, etc.

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.” – Ecclesiastes 4:9, NLT

The “S” word: Submission
Likewise, you as the wife were created by God to be the helpmeet for your husband. This doesn’t mean being a doormat and submitting to anything and everything the man demands. I have seen far too many times how pastors in the pulpit and how men use the word “submission” like a whip over women’s heads, and it really makes me bristle to see the concept misused.

What about the man’s submission?
It’s funny, you hear a LOT of sermons about the woman needing to submit to the man, but how often do you hear one about the man needing to submit to Christ?

Submission is required of both men and women. It means voluntary, humble yielding to authority. Submission is a beautiful thing when it’s understood properly in light of God’s word. But it’s NEVER to be used to control, manipulate or dominate anyone. And God does not EVER condone abuse, neglect, or abandonment of any kind. Women are not to “submit” themselves to such treatment because that is not how Jesus treats His Beautiful, Precious Bride, the Church.

A husband should listen to his wife’s innate perception
Men need to listen to their wives as well. Women are innately perceptive and intuitive. Some call it the woman’s instinct. I believe God created women to be especially spiritually sensitive. As the keeper of the home and children, she has to be – the watchman over what God has entrusted to her, to make sure there are no dangers threatening her family’s safety and survival.

Of course, that doesn’t mean she’s infallible – obviously, we learn that lesson from Eve, who was deceived by the serpent in the garden of Eden. But a husband may benefit greatly from listening to what his wife is saying, because sometimes she may sense something that is unexplainable which he doesn’t sense.

Are you an Ice Queen?
Husbands should not be so prideful that they can’t and won’t listen to their wives.The wife should also realize that ultimately the final decision for the family is up to her husband. She shouldn’t resort to control and manipulation tactics, nagging, the ice queen treatment, talking about him to others, etc., to get him to do what she wants. If she believes he is wrong, she can pray about it and trust that God can show him this.

Both partners should walk in faithful obedience to God, loving and respecting each other no matter what, and not think they are right all the time. Humility solves a lot of the problems in marriage.

>What does your husband need? How can you help him?
Are you helping your husband or hindering him? If God convicts you that you are not being a very good helpmeet, ask Him to change your heart and make you the wife that your husband specifically needs. More than anything, a man needs respect and a woman needs love.

Thank your husband today for how he also helps and loves you. You might be surprised- tonight he may even load the dishwasher for you. Ask yourself what you can do for him, too.

Despite the challenges in marriage, two are still better than one, as the news story below attests
Couple who died holding hands

Did you miss last week’s Talkshoe show with award-winning author and speaker Patty Mason? Then you missed such a blessing!

Patty was very transparent in the struggle she had with depression and anger. She realized that the illusion of the American dream, “having it all” – owning the nice house and car and being financially blessed, marriage to her sweetheart, having kids, being on stage and being applauded and awarded for her great accomplishments – left her empty and hurting. Depression overtook her life at what seemed to be the pinnacle of her dreams, and it was only when Jesus touched her, that her life changed to one of joy, peace and true fulfillment and satisfaction.

You can still hear the show by clicking here or listening on the Talkshoe player before. Be sure to check out Patty’s book, Breaking Free: Breaking the Bonds of Depression Without Drugs.

***Want to go deeper into the topic of depression? Check out my ebook on women and spiritual warfare, The Hands Of A Woman: Everyday Women In Everyday Battles. In this ebook, I share several stories of women with severe depression, including part of my own story, how common depression is among women, the causes of depression – and the solution.

All my life I’ve struggled with fear, primarily due to my childhood sexual and physical abuse. When you don’t feel secure in your environment and you never know what is going to happen to you, it leaves you with a sense of instability. God has done a great deal of healing in my life regarding fear. He’s taken me through difficult experiences throughout my life which taught me that I could rely on and trust in Him, such as:

• a parent’s and siblings’ alcoholism and drug addiction;
• an abusive former marriage;
• my daughter Heather’s brain surgery (you can read the miracle story in my new ebook; she completely recovered);
• our daughter Leah’s seizures (she’s miraculously healed now; her powerful story is in my ebook Walking With God);
• 3 head-on car accidents;
• 2 divorces;
• a tornado;
• a nephew who had spinal meningitis when he was a baby;
• bankruptcy and foreclosure of our home after my husband lost his full-time income;
• moves across the country;
• a relative suddenly saying he’s an atheist now;
• and many more things throughout my life.

Through everything in my life, God has been there faithfully. He is good and He cares about every aspect of your life. You don’t need to feel afraid. You can trust Him to watch over you, protect you, and love you unconditionally.

>God doesn’t want you bound in fear. Fear is a prison. It can hinder or stop you from your great purpose.

Jesus Christ came to set you free from that prison.

If you struggle with fear, I encourage you to take my upcoming workshop, Fearlessly Forward. It will encourage you and motivate you to push past your fear to fulfill the great plan God has for your life. (Jeremiah 29:11).  That doesn’t mean that we won’t ever feel afraid.

Sometimes we have to do things afraid, like when I had my Facebook party last week. I’d never done one before. I was afraid I’d do something wrong or I’d run out of time to award prizes. But women came and were blessed. They had a lot of fun and so did I. It went great. I did it afraid.

Or maybe you’re wanting to apply for a new job, take a class, write a book, speak publicly, run a marathon, marry that special someone, get a medical procedure done, enroll in a mastermind group, take a leap of faith in your business – and you’re afraid. Whatever your fear is, God is bigger than it.

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.- Deuteronomy 31:6

You can find out more info about my upcoming virtual workshop by clicking here.

Our daughter Heather did so good taking Leah’s senior pics (she had a beautiful model to work with!) that it’s hard choosing just one. Here are just a few samples of the pics. Which is your favorite? Please leave your comments below.

Leah - Dunn Cider Mill

Leah - Dunn cider mill - by barn

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community by the L

Leah - Dunn Cider Mill - by pumpkins

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community - on rock

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community - by roses

Leah - Dunn Cider Mill - by tree

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community - smelling roses

Leah - Dunn Cider Mill - leaves

Leah - Dunn Cider Mill - trees

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community - rock

Leah - Dunn Cider Mill- closeup

Andrea Sharp

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Balancing All of Life’s Projects

I Don’t Know How She Does It hit theaters recently, as movie goers nationwide flocked to see the A-list cast, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Piirce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer, Christina Hendricks and more. The film tells a story of a working woman, wife and mother, and how she overcomes both personal and professional dilemmas throughout her hectic daily routine. In today’s economy, the number of working mothers has dramatically increased, and “Supermoms” nationwide are proving day in and day out that they are an unstoppable force.

Speaker, author, and founder of SharpWomen, Andrea Sharp is the real-life Kate Reddy (played by Sarah Jessica Parker), who knows a thing or two about chaos and finding the right balance.

We all have those days where we’ve got the plates spinning in the air, and we’re just waiting for them to drop on our head. Andrea uses humor and an inspirational look at life, Andrea’s mission is to reach women with the message that the most important thing you can do is make time each day for yourself.

Andrea will be my special guest on my Women’s Battles Talkshoe show on November 10 at 2:30 p.m. Central Time (3:30 p.m. EDT).  In this segment, Andrea will provide encouragement to women around the country as they deal with the business of life:

• Real life tools and recommendations you can use to make your life less hectic

• Juggling your to- do list

• The importance of perspective when managing your schedule

You can join us in the chat room here: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=98698&cmd=tc

You can also call into the show with the call-in details below:
Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 98698
PIN:  1# or Your Talkshoe PIN #

We’d love to see you there!

What are you afraid of? We all struggle with  fears. You may have these:

• fear over a troubled marriage
• fears about our children’s safety or health
• fears over our own health
• fears about phobias
• fears we’re not “good enough” or perfect
• fears of rejection
• fears about our finances/the economy
• fears we may make a mistake/do something wrong
• fears our business will fail
• fears even of success.

God doesn’t want us afraid. It is bondage. Jesus came to set us free. Fear hinders or stops us from our great purpose. It paralyzes us and keeps us stuck.

On November 5 at 11 a.m. Central Time (12 noon Eastern Time), I am having a virtual workshop, Fearlessly Forward. This workshop is based on the movie Secretariat, the champion racehorse who won the Triple Crown. God created Secretariat to run – and to run FAST, to WIN. You are a winner, too. God has a great calling for your life.

It’s time to push past your fears and to move faster into your purpose. There is no time to waste. Time is short. We need to be about the Father’s business in our business!

Click on the video below to learn more about the workshop on Saturday, November 5 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time (12 noon Eastern Time). Just click here to learn more about the workshop and to secure your spot in the class.

Yesterday I posted about Ray, Heather, Leah and I going to the cider mill so Heather could take Leah’s senior pics and we could visit Eden and Jacob.

On the way to Kearney, a small, rural town, we rode in Heather’s new car, a 2011 Kia Optima. Heather has been praying for several years now to get a new car. The Kia is NICE and is fully loaded with features, including a sunroof, back-up camera on the dashboard, smart key with push button start, keyless entry, heated steering wheel and seats, the ability to talk on her cell phone through the car, and GPS on the dashboard. Ok, why does our child have a better car than we do? But I am so happy for her. Just this week I was praying for God to provide another car for her.

When Heather dropped us off at the commuter parking lot where we met her to ride with her, I wanted to take her picture in her car. I thought it was hilarious when Heather waved out of the top of her sunroof. The weather was beautiful this weekend, and it felt great riding down the highway with the sunroof open.

One of the great features about the car is the GPS on the dashboard. Heather thought the automated woman’s voice  on the GPS was annoying and turned the sound off at one point.

Heather is a great woman of God and is obedient to Him (most of the time!). But I thought about how our relationship with God is like Heather not wanting to hear the instructions on the GPS. This morning I was reading in the book of Ezekiel, where the prophet Ezekiel had the vision of the four living creatures and God sent Ezekiel to speak to the rebellious house of Israel:

“…and I heard a voice of One speaking. And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak to you. Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet, and I heard Him who spoke to me. And He said to me, “Son of Man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. For they are impudent and stubborn children.

“I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God.’ As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse- for they are a rebellious house, yet they will know that a prophet has been among them…You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.

“Now when I looked there was a hand stretched out to me and behold a scroll of a book was in it. Then He spread it before me, and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe. Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find, eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. “And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.” (Ezekiel 2:1-5, 7-10; 3:1-3)

I’m sure Ezekiel didn’t want to do the job. Who wants to be a prophet? They are notoriously known for being mocked, ridiculed, spit on, imprisoned, and killed. But God had commanded him and he obeyed.

God also told him to eat the scroll. I love that picture. God tells Ezekiel to feed his belly and fill his stomach with the scroll. Every day we fill our stomachs with food, whether healthy foods or junk food. How often do we fill up on the Word of God? It will be like honey in our mouths, just as it was to Ezekiel. The word of God strengthened Ezekiel so he could prophesy the pure, undiluted word of God to the nation of Israel.

God wanted to show mercy to Israel so they would repent and would be restored to a right relationship with Him. God isn’t a harsh judge who just can’t wait to zap people or throw them in hell.  God’s desire is to have an intimate relationship forever with us because He loves us so much.

So often we are like the stubborn, rebellious house of Israel, and like Heather not wanting to hear the GPS instructions because it can be annoying. You know, things like: “Love your enemies,” “Forgive others,” and “Wives, submit to your husbands.”  Things we really don’t want to do, but we know it’s God’s will and that we should obey.

God’s word is like our GPS for life. It is our map that gives us our instructions and directions for life. If we follow it, it will get us to where we need to go. We won’t be lost, confused, or distracted. If we ignore it, “turn down the sound” simply because we don’t like hearing it, we can run into trouble, especially if we don’t know where we’re going.

“Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.” Job 22:22

***Would you like to learn more about intimacy with God? Click here for my ebook, Walking With God.

Heather taking Leah's pic

This weekend Ray, Leah and I went with our oldest daughter Heather to take Leah’s senior pictures. I can hardly believe I am writing this – her SENIOR PICS?

Anyway, we wanted her pictures to have a pretty nature background so we drove to the Dunn Cider Mill, the Loch Lloyd scenic, multi-million-dollar-home community, and other pretty areas.

I desperately wanted to find a red maple tree for Leah to stand in front of, but Ray said we couldn’t just barge up to someone’s home and borrow their tree for our picture’s backgrounds because we could be charged with trespassing. (Would they really care?! He said yes, especially in a gated community. We had to get a visitor’s pass just to take pics there!)

At the cider mill, Ray went inside the mill store to buy some cider doughnuts. He came out with one for each of us.

I wanted to take a picture of the doughnuts (I take pics of everything!), and as I opened the bag to get a closer view, he accidentally dropped the bag and all of the doughnuts fell on the ground.

I’m sure the birds appreciated those cider doughnuts.

Ray with hot apple cider

So off Ray went, frustrated, to stand in another long line to order more cider doughnuts. Apparently everyone else had gotten the same idea.

They were worth the wait. The hot apple cider Ray bought was delicious, too.

Heather took Leah’s pictures for me, which saves us hundreds of dollars because photographers are expensive.  When she finishes editing them, I will post them here and on Facebook.

After that we  visited our middle daughter Eden and her 3 1/2-year-old son Jacob. For lunch we went to Gino’s, an Italian diner. Lunch was great. Whenever Ray and I go out to eat somewhere, it’s common for Ray to ask me if I want to order a certain dish that he recommends to me and I say no; then when he orders it himself and it arrives, I want to have a bite of his (or a couple of bites – one time when we dated, I ate almost his entire salad while he was gone to the restroom. He’s more careful now when he offers me a bite of his food.).

This time Ray ordered Chicken Spedini, a lightly breaded, broiled chicken topped with a mogu sauce (lemon, oil, garlic, and oregano). After I tasted his, I said, “That is  really good! I should have ordered the spedini!” Ray’s reply was, “I told you so.”

Jacob sticking out his tongue, lol. (Dalton, Jacob, Eden)

But I did enjoy the sampler tray that Heather and I shared: lasagne, chicken alfredo, penne marinara, and fettucini. I gave Ray and Eden the Italian sausage. Leah tried the pasta con broccoli, Eden ordered a Caesar’s Salad with chicken, and Eden’s boyfriend Dalton ordered pizza.

Jacob wanted spaghetti with a meatball, and then he only ate the tomatoes from Eden’s salad, refusing to eat his spaghetti. It was almost Jacob’s naptime so he was tired and whiny – but he is absolutely adorable with his brown spiked hair and brown eyes. Ray enjoys having at least one boy child in the family so far. For years he and our son-in-law Kyle have felt surrounded with all the females in the family, especially at certain times of the month.

I loved Gino’s. The owner walked around the restaurant, singing loudly and asking everyone if they were enjoying their meals. Italian music played in the background. It made me long to go to Italy again. Ray and I traveled to Europe for ten days for our 10th wedding anniversary: primarily Switzerland, but also Italy, France, Germany, and Lichtenstein.

We loved it. We ate delicious food that was unbelievably cheap, walked and drove on cobblestone streets, enjoyed museums and admired the breathtaking cathedrals and architecture of other buildings, bought tons of Swiss chocolate for souvenirs for family, stayed in a ski lodge in the Alps, went up Eiffel Tower at night, bought chestnuts from a street vendor in Paris, bargained for a French beret for Heather at a sidewalk marketplace, saw an incredible castle in Lichtenstein, and saw the most beautiful blue-green waterfall in Italy that I’ve ever seen, next to Niagara Falls. I think it’s time for another trip!

Ok, back to this life….After lunch, we went to see Eden’s workplace, a bakery where she makes delicious cupcakes from scratch each morning. Their popular one right now is pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing, drizzled with melted caramel. I ordered vanilla with chocolate icing, of course!  Ray chose key lime, Leah mint chocolate, and Heather chocolate and peanut butter. Jacob refused to eat his cupcake and instead ate a Snicker’s bar. Then he wildly ran around the bakery as the sugar rush started kicking in, and Ray told Eden we should go so she could still keep her job.

It was nice going somewhere new and trying a new restaurant. Take time out occasionally to go someplace where you’ve never been to get a different perspective and to de-stress. Meet new people, eat new types of food, window shop. Take a break from your usual routine, even if it’s just to drive to the next town or go for a walk in your neighborhood.

This “trying new things” applies to your personal life, and to writing, speaking, coaching, or whatever your business or ministry is. Today I rolled down my car windows, feeling the wind and sunshine on my face, and enjoyed the sight of fall leaves floating through the air as they fell from the trees. Such a simple thing, but it made me feel happy!

“Everyone has a “risk muscle.” You keep it in shape by trying new things. If you don’t, it atrophies. Make a point of using it at least once a day.” – Roger Von Oech, author of creative thinking classics, inventor, and speaker

Leah, Ray & Heather at cider mill

Sometimes you have to walk a unique path.

You are walking to the beat of a different drummer.

Not the status quo. Not what others say or think or do.

You’ve heard Jesus’ voice clearly, His Word on matters.

It’s a holy calling.

Some people don’t understand, even other believers in Christ. They may judge and criticize you. Flaming arrows aimed at your back, because you have become the enemy’s target.

You’re in good company: people faithful to God throughout history, the prophets, the disciples, and Jesus were laughed at, ridiculed, slandered. And worse.

It can be lonely. You may sometimes feel all alone.

Only you aren’t. God is there with you. And He’s proud of you.

Keep looking up, being faithful and obeying God, and you will be blessed by Him: “Well-done, good and faithful servant.”

You answer to Him alone – One Judge. As will they.

You aren’t alone. Walk the path and purpose and great calling God has for your life.

“For zeal for Your house has consumed me.” Psalm 69:9, NASB

This week it’s actually become cold in Missouri and I commented to Ray as we lay in bed last night, “Isn’t that strange? It got cold so quick!” Ray said no, that isn’t strange, that this happens every year here in Missouri, and every year I say to him how strange it is —he said that Missouri has just 3 days of fall.

He said one day the leaves are changing beautiful colors and the next day it’s 40 degrees with a forecast of snow. That made me laugh and I have laughed every time I think of Ray saying that: “Missouri has just 3 days of fall.” He despises cold weather, especially snow – mostly because he’s the one who has to work out in the freezing snow and ice on car accident scenes as a paramedic, while Leah and I get to enjoy looking out the window at the pretty snow, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows in the toasty warmth of our home.

Sometimes it seems like the seasons of our life are SO long. We become impatient and wonder if those big dreams in our heart will ever come to pass. Other seasons in our lives feel like “just 3 days of fall,” and  pass so quickly, like our children growing up and all too soon we have an empty nest. Whatever season you’re in right now, God has a great plan for your life. (Jeremiah 29:11) You are in the right season as long as you are trusting and obeying God!

Tonight I read in Ephesians 1:1-14. I want to share some excerpts from it:

“How blessed is God! And what a blessing He is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long ago before he laid down earth’s foundation, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)”

“Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people – free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free. He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, let us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.”

“It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.”

Isn’t that beautiful? Let’s recap this:

• You have high places of blessings in Him.
• You are the focus of His love, made whole and holy by His love.
• You are free.
• You are not just free, but abundantly free!
• Whatever season you’re in right now, God has a long-range plan for your life – and it’s going to be good!

In this week’s post I shared how God is preparing you for great things. It’s in Christ that you find out who you are and what you are living for.  Seek Him.

This morning I read Andrea Sharp‘s ezine and was encouraged by a story she shared in it about when she was a young adult and was hired to be a camp counselor at a kids’ camp in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. She was excited about doing this. One day she was called into the office by her supervisor and was told that there were too many counselors for the amount of kids coming. Since she was the last counselor hired, she was being moved to another area of camp help -kitchen service.

She would prepare meals each day and wash the hundreds of plates, cups, and silverware. Andrea was embarrassed and humbled, and questioned God why she was having to wash disgusting dishes each day. But tremendous growth occurred in a place of humbleness. She began to enjoy the freedom she had with her position that she wouldn’t have had as a counselor, and met an amazing group of people that she worked with on the kitchen staff and on campus.

 She wrote: “Now looking back over that summer, I realize that God grew me in astounding ways.  It’s not the position that matters, but the heart behind it. No matter what job we may hold, whether it be a homemaker or a working woman, God desires that we embrace this opportunity and share joy in our sphere of influence.”

Maybe you’re not yet in the “position” you desire or have what you want yet. You’re now in a waiting room, being readied and refined by God for what’s ahead. Be patient during this humbling season of preparation. God is preparing you for exciting, great things to come. God also has you in a sphere of influence right now that is His desire for you today – a sphere unlike anyone else’s, an incredible opportunity that He has entrusted to you alone.

You may be a stay at home mom, helping your husband with his needs and homeschooling her children. Right now that is your realm of influence and it is not a light thing – but a great opportunity to minister to your husband and to sow into children’s souls and to raise disciples for Christ. You may be a website designer who does graphic design. That is your sphere of influence – your anointing and creativity coming from The Designer of the Universe.

You may be a writer, speaker, or life coach with just a handful of clients, wanting to grow your business to an international, membership-based organization. For now your five to 10 clients are where God has you, your very own “mission field,” using your spiritual gifts, talents, and skills to practically help, pray for, encourage and motivate others to become all God desires.

You’re not just washing dishes or working in a cubicle. You are in the right place at the right time right now – and you’re being prepared for great things to come!

“In the same way, the last will be first, and the first will be last, because many are called, but few are chosen.” – Matthew 20:16, ISV

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Today I didn’t want to get out of bed. Nothing unusual about that. I’m not a morning person. And it’s a Monday. But as I lay in bed in the dark after Ray left for work (usually I drive him to work), I pondered why I didn’t want to face the day. Part of it is that yesterday was delicious. I had some much needed time alone with God.

I was able to spend some time praying, and enjoy absolute quietness, which is rare (I have a very noisy family). I didn’t want to lose the peace from my time of solitude with God by going full-force into Monday with all its to-do’s. So I deliberately set aside time this morning to read the Bible (Joshua 1) and to journal to quiet my soul before I started the day.

Journaling can be a calming part of your spiritual disciplines each day. You don’t have to spend a lot of money or time to do it. You don’t have to buy an expensive journal or pen. My favorite pen in the whole world to write with is an ultra-fine, black Sharpie.®  I should have stock in them. Two Sharpie pens are $1.99 at the local Walmart. You can also get Sharpies® in different, fun colors like purple, green, red, blue, etc. They write effortlessly across a crisp, white, fresh page.

You can buy an inexpensive  journal at Border’s or your local book store, Walmart, or the dollar store. I don’t buy expensive journals, but I do enjoy picking one out that is colorful. My journals’ covers have had ladybugs, spring flowers,  zebra stripes, polka dots, etc. The one I have now is purple faux leather with wide lines on the pages, because I love the color purple and like to have lots of room to write. Choose one that you enjoy looking at, because you’re going to spend some time in it.

Sometimes I read the Bible before I journal, and record the scripture I’m reading, then journal about that passage. For example, today I read Joshua 1, which my friend LaTara Ham Ying had encouraged our Challenge Circle to read this week. It spoke volumes to me and was in perfect alignment where I’m at right now with a workshop that I”m planning for November 2011, Fearlessly Forward. (If you’re not on my mailing list, sign up so you’ll be sure to hear the details first!) God amazes me how He confirms His word!

The Scriptures can be a springboard to write. For example, today I copied Joshua 1: 1-2 in my journal, reflecting on how God wants us to have courage and not be afraid – and to know that He is always with us. I also wrote down ideas for the November workshop.

In your journal, you can also just record your own thoughts, write a song, do copywork from a poem or a book you’re reading and love, draw, press flowers or trace beautiful, colored fall leaves, or whatever you want in your journal. Let your creativity flow. It’s yours.

I encourage you to date your journal entry. Later you can look back and fill in dates of when and how God has answered prayers or worked in that specific situation. It can serve as a memorial like the stone altars the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built to God to worship Him to remember His promises and His miracles.

“Christians through the centuries have written spiritual autobiographies, personal diaries and journals. Some are available to us, while the contents of others are known to God alone. Some were written to be read. Others were so personal and confidential that they were ordered burned at the authors’ death. Some classic autobiographies are: Augustine’s Confessions; Teresa of Avila’s Life; George Fox’s Journal; Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain, Dag Hammarskjold’s Markings; and Henri Nouwen’s Genesee Diary and The Road to Daybreak. The personal reflections of some of the great missionaries can also be accessed and read. It is worthwhile to mention here that we are not in competition with others. Our journal is ours.”

(http://www.upwardcallministries.org/Journaling_as_a_Spiritual_Discipline.pdf)

You don’t need to worry about proper spelling or grammar for your journal. Lay the internal editor to rest, and just write, your thoughts unstopped. Let your journal be your sounding board to God.  Pour out your true feelings.

“Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord.” ~ Lamentations 2:19

I believe the Psalms may have first been portions of David’s journaling. When he was angry or depressed, he shared this openly with God.

Ask God questions and listen for His answers, guidance, direction, Wisdom. Journaling is a path of discovery. You are inviting God into your writing and your life.  It will take you deeper in faith with Him.

You can journal in your bedroom, on a bus or a train, at the park after your nature walk. You can have worship or praise or some type of soothing music in the background, and a cup of hot coffee or a cold drink on the table as you’re writing. This is your time to reflect, ponder, ask the hard questions, dream.

If you have problems with insomnia like me, you can write in the middle of the night, recording your prayers, things that are weighing on your heart, or ideas for a book, your next event, conference, webinar, or telecall.

“The goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to use the time of journaling to bring together in a redemptive and revelatory way His love and your need articulated from the depths of your heart.”

(http://www.upwardcallministries.org/Journaling_as_a_Spiritual_Discipline.pdf)

Begin journaling and see where it takes you.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you. Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, going-to-work and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.” ~ Romans 12:1

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Don’t you love parties? One of the best parties to attend is a Facebook party. If you’ve never attended a Facebook party, they are a blast! You make new friends, network, and you can win GREAT prizes just for coming!

I’m planning my first Facebook party EVER on Tuesday, October 25 at 11 a.m. Central Time (12 noon EDT). It will be on my Facebook business page at this link: https://www.facebook.com/BethJones.net

The theme of this party and my November online workshop is Fearlessly Forward. It’s based on Secretariat, the first U.S. Triple Crown winner champion racehorse in 25 years. Secretariat was created by God to RUN FAST – he had no fear in running! The movie Secretariat with Diane Lane is awesome!

Like Secretariat, we need to keep pushing through all fear and intimidation to RUN the race well, to fufill our great purpose from God and pursue our passion!

All you do to attend the Facebook party is sign into your Facebook account, come to the page a few minutes early, and wait for the party to begin. You refresh every few seconds to see the questions and everyone’s answers – and if you won one of the prizes!  It’s a great way to make new meet new people, network, and share your website and about your business. You will love it!

I hope to see you there on Tuesday, October 25, at 11 am CST!

Video of Secretariat

Do you use lists? I like lists and like checking things off the list. I tend to be a little compulsive about it. If I do something that isn’t on my to-do list, I write it down after I do it, and check it off.

One of the things on my lists this year was to start coaching. I took a leap of faith this year in my business and started coaching. I was encouraged to do this by several wise, successful people. I offer personal one-on-one coaching by phone (you can purchase  a one-hour session at My Estore) and group coaching in webinars, telecalls, and online classes.

I love encouraging women to use their gifts and pursue their passion, becoming all that God created them to be.

It energizes me to see a woman who has been holding back for years in fear and intimidation to start using her spiritual gifts, talents, and skills, and to start walking in her God-given purpose! My coaching helps propel women forward in their great destiny.

On one Google top-ranking life coaching website, I read about why people seek life coaches in the first place:

• They desire increased self-awareness and self-discovery
• They want to achieve better goal setting
• They want to live a more-balanced life
• They would like to lower their stress levels
• They need to acquire the skills for better decision making
• They want to obtain significantly increased confidence
• They seek to improve the overall quality of their life
• They would like to gain enhanced communication skills
• They like the idea of accountability for increased project completion
• They must improve their health or fitness level
• They have to have a better relationship with co-workers
• They crave healthy and deeper family relationships
• They want to look at life more from a Biblical worldview

I can help you with this. I just completed my first coaching group/book study online class that was for five weeks. It was a great class and a success. God’s presence was with us. From the first class, women were open and transparent, sharing their hearts. There was an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality. The women were encouraged and motivated to use their gifts for God. Here is what one of the students, Nancy Lewis, said about it:

“Coaching class with Beth Jones has been an encouragement and challenged me to do a lot of thinking. Reminding me to seek God first, not to let fear and stress control me, and to be totally submissive to God. It has been a great time of learning, sharing and making new friends. Beth is being used by God in teaching a coaching class.” -Nancy Lewis, http://nancy-lewis.com

My dear friend Kimberly Ehlers wrote a “Getting To Know You Tuesdays” post at her site, after one of our coaching classes, and said this on Facebook to me: “Thank you, Beth! You were the push I needed to write this post.”

Maybe you need that loving but motivating push to help move you forward in your relationships, your gifts, your business.

I am now planning a spring 2012 coaching group/book study class. If you’re not on my personal mailing list, be sure to sign up today so you will be first to hear the details about it. I am SOOO excited about it! I’m braindumping today and tomorrow about the topic for the class and will share more details with you later.

I am also planning a Facebook party in a couple of weeks and a workshop in November, and will be sharing about the coaching class at these events. If you haven’t attended a Facebook party before, they are SO fun! You make new friends, network, and you can win great prizes! I’d love for you to come to meet new friends!