Word for the day: Grateful...

Or lack there of.  No the first sentence was not a typo.   I have been a little down the last few days, sort of not felling my best.  I was not certainly my best in attitude.  I am normally an upbeat type of person, never augmentative, and never harsh with my words.  It is not easy having a business, I have spoken about that many times, and I am starting the feel it a little more than usual.  the last two nights, my prayers have been somewhat a little bitter, but that is no excuse.  There was nothing new that has been done before lately.  The good news is I have not overeaten like I usually do when I feel this way, and it is OK to feel this way, as long as I do not stay there.  Sometimes I feel like I get hit with a ton of bricks and it was a ton of bricks that hit me lately.  Oh, it not something that someone did to me recently, but rather some things that were good that happened to people recently.   They were things such as my cousins' newly built home, consultants going on an incentive trip and having fun, people getting new cars, going on week long trips (other than the incentive trip), people being able to move, and so on.  I felt like that I am trying to do a couple of things like earning money for a family trip in December (even though my father is planning a family vacation to a cabin in September and not liking the December trip), earning enough money period to do every day things.  I could go on, but that is not the point.  So what is the point of this word of the day?

I should be happy just to be able to own a business, to have the stuff I do have, like the car that my parents could have sold, but instead gave it to me so that I have something to ride in, even if it is 15 years old.  A home that I absolutely hate, because I cannot separate my business from my personal (meaning shutting the door at the of the day to do something else), that it is small, and that I am attached to three home with smokers in them, and the smoke irritates my allergies, but should be grateful that I have a roof over my head.  Did I mention that trip that I want to take the family on?  I should be happy that my father invited me on this trip,even though my trip was 4 years in the making. It did not include an theme park in Florida, but it is a trip.  Though I feel like that I am being taken advance of by my sister who calls me at the drop of a hat when she needs a ride, I should be happy that I receive calls from her, so I can spend quality time with her, my nephew and little niece.  
All in all, be grateful for the things you have, work harder to gain access to the rest, and thank God for everything.   Have a blessed evening.

Word for today: Waiting

This is my word for today.   I am typing out this post on my iPad while waiting.  I am waiting on my mom to get finished with her eye appointment.  She wanted me to go with her in case they wanted to dialate her eyes.  She drove,I sat.  If that is the case, I will drive back,and she will sit.
We, as humans spend a great deal waiting.  We wait on the mail if are expecting something important.  We wait our turn for the bathroom stall when we at a concert, movie, church, or school.  We wait on the laundry at home or the laundry mat.  We even wait on our bottles or to be changed when we were babies.  So what is wrong with waiting?
People become impatient while conducting this task.  Today's children do not know the meaning of the word.  Adults either.  There is another type of wait,and that is waiting on The Lord. If you believe that He will do something for you, you have to trust and believe.  I, too am impatient about waiting.  I am not immune just because I am a Christian.  In fact, I am worst, and God knows it.  For instance my business.  I choose the task of working for myself.  When I started at Longaberger in 2001, I was not working, and I still entertained the idea of still working for someone.  I asked God that if this business was for me, I will have lots of sales, lots of customers, and I will never have to work for someone again.  God said,"wait."  Wait is such a strong word.  As I said before, waiting causes impatience. So,  in 2005, I was hired by a scrapbooking store.  In 2010, I quit the store, and started my own company, while still working as a home consultant.  In 2012, it is all finally paying off.  Business is slow, partly because of the economy, but I am getting sales, I am a writer ( did not expect it), and I will be teaching classes in scrapbooking and card making.  I am not making a ton of money, but that will come.  I finally got my first 1099 to file with the IRS 11 years of being a home consultant.  I still have a long ways to go, but it is coming.  God said it and I believe it.
So the word of the day is wait. I want to know, what are you waiting for?  Comment below and have a blessed day.

Don't let a day like Valentine's steal your joy...

When I was a little girl, Valentine's day was all the rage.  Every year it was the same thing, I would bug my mom to buy a box of those sad, little valentine cards, because I have a class list of everyone, and everyone was getting a card from me.  I was ready for the challenge, carefully writing everyone's name in the to and from spaces.  I would get the same number of cards back as I would give, except one year in the 5th grade, when Mike Myers (Not the Actor) refused to give me a card.  I punched him, but I still did not get a card from him.
As the years of getting a v-day card from my classmates faded, I started expecting bigger and better things, like a actual man to grace my doorstep.  Around age 30, I started hating everything that had to do with Valentine's day, Sweetest's day, and anything that had to do with being a couple, and I started to wonder, "Why me?".  It wasn't until a few years ago that I started liking these days again.  Here is why:

• First, I started telling myself that I was still pretty.  You know, some singles, rather a man or a woman, start self degrading themselves, because you do not have someone calling you baby, sweetheart, or your "boo" every 2.2 seconds or so.  You are your own boo first, their's second.
• Next, I started finding out what make me, me.  What is it about my personality, my looks, or my activities that would attract a man?  Do I still want a man? Yes, but I am not pushing, and I know there is one out there just for me.
• Finally, I asked my friends and family. If they truly want to see you happy, friends and family will tell you things that you have not noticed about yourself.  When they tell you, do not take it the wrong way.      They are just trying to help.

If you do not have a date for V-day (as I like to call it), you can do this:  have a v-day revenge day.  This day takes place the day after Valentine's day.  All stores have to put their stuff on sale.  This includes flower shops, candy and drug stores and the like.  Go buy yourself a bouquet of flowers.  Yes, guys, you can do that too.  The clerk does not have to know who the flowers are for.  If they ask, tell they her name is Noneya, as in "None of your business" (don't tell them that last part, silly).  Get a box of your favorite chocolates.  After all, they are 1/2 price.  If you love things like teddy bears or anything with hearts on it.  Get whatever you like.

Better yet, do it V-day and the day after.  Even better still, do it everyday.  You deserve it.  God says you deserve it.  You do not need Valentine's day to get flowers and put it in the middle of the table.  Take a nice, hot bubble bath, or what I like to call, go back to your childhood.  Get take out and bring it home.  If you are embarrassed about it, get two, pretend that you are bringing it home to someone else, and you do not have to cook for two days.  If you really do not need that second dinner, take it to a shut in person, and eat with them.   Not only do you feel good, but you have made someone's day too.

Now there are some rules I would like to quote (and this is a MUST)....

1. NO SOCIAL MEDIA- Do not post, tweet, email, or text that you are doing this.  It is not allowed.  No one has to know everything about your life.
2. DO NOT TELL FAMILY-next thing you know, you will have boo-baby and the gang, and your second cousin twice removed invading your space, and you most definitely do not want your parents coming over.  You will never get rid of them.  IF THEY CALL...Tell them that you are busy.
3. DO NOT TELL YOUR BFF-She (or he) will declare it an emergency meeting and try to get you out of that slump of yours.  It is not a slump, you just wish to be alone, and treat yourself.
4. IF YOU DO HAVE A ONE, AND THEY ARE NOT IN A A CELEBRATING MOOD...tell them not tonight and do not discuss it with them.  Tell them that you are OK, and you will talk to them later.

To me, Valentine's day is up there with Christmas in the over-rated department.  Stores make too much of a big deal on the subject, and statisticians are upset, because of the number of people who do not celebrate Valentine's day were down in 2012 then in 2011.  If you love the holiday, great, if not, great too.   Just remember that there is someone who does not need Valentine's day, Sweetest's day , or any holiday to tell you how much He loves you, and that person is Jesus.

John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, and whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.

Have a Blessed day.  

Today's Word Prompt: Bare

I am stating to write word prompts. I have no idea what I am doing, because I am new to this, but here goes:

This word comes from my friend Christina, who writes the blog:  Make MySaturday Sweet. You can get to it on the right side of this blog. 

There are three type of bare:  An animal (which is actually spelled "Bear"), there is the term that means "to have nothing on it,” and there is the term that talks about to tell all, as in, "she bared her soul to her lover.” I am not sure where I am going with this, so bear with me (put up with it).

I guess if I had to say something about this word, it would be the second term, to be without. Does anyone remember Old Mother Hubbard? In case you are not familiar with her, she is part of a nursery rhyme that goes:

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard,
To give the poor dog a bone;
When she came there,
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.

It goes on to talk her going to the baker and other things, but the point is there are lots of people today who cupboards are bare, not knowing where their next meal is coming from. Make too much money to qualify for the food stamp card, but not enough to sustain themselves. 

When is this going to stop? I understand and get it that there are people who take advantage of the system, and in the past year, I have heard all the arguments about the government and the food stamp program. But I have to ask, what business is it of ours to say what these people and the government can do with this program? So you may think that your tax dollars go to waste to feed people, what are you doing with your money that is so great, that you cannot share what you have not seen in the first place? I am thinking more about the children suffering then the adults. 

Why does a child in THIS country have to go hungry? Children need food to grow and to learn. Without food, a body cannot concentrate on the task, and on top of that, if a child is not eating, they are starving, and if they are starving, then they are sick. I guess we are paying for this child’s medical bill too, because a child can qualify for Medicaid. 

Humm, something for you to think about the next time you complain about a person, and what they are buying with that food stamp card, and why your tax dollars are being used to feed the poor. You do not see it in the first place, and besides that, that money could be saved up for you to retire comfortably. 

See, I just bared my soul on my feelings about the selfish. Hope you are not one of them.

(Note:  Oops, I re-read the note.  I was supposed to write for 5 mins, I know I am over.  Does cutting and pasting from MS Word count?)

Have a good day and Be Blessed.

My second thoughts

Hello, it has been a good week since I share a blog post with you.  Personally, things are going great, on the business side, not so much.  If you have found yourself here for whatever reason, please take time out to visit my other blogs to find the blog for you.

Changes-

You may notice that there are no more green lines on certain words.  I decided, and my business coach agreed that I do not have enough traffic to justify having it.  This is the blog tip I am giving you today:  If you are just starting out, make sure you have a good following before starting any ad program   I do not have a magic number for you, but most programs want to you have at least 500 followers.   Why?  I do not know the answer to that either, but I was an advertiser, I would want to make sure that you are not exaggeration the numbers just  so you can get me to advertise on your blog.  Also, it is a good idea to find a business coach.  You may not want to monetize your blog now, but it is a good idea to think about down the road.  It is a good source of income.

Changes down the road.

I am working behind the scenes to create a blog/website on WordPress, and made a decision.   Although I love writing in this blog, I may merge it with MDN Creates, which is getting a name change to P.Lynne Designs.   The reason is I currently have 5 blogs, which get attention about once a week.  I want to do more, but in order to do more, it requires that I change platforms.   I have a Tumblr account, but I have not familiarized myself to the point of not build on that one page blog I created (I don't remember the name either).   Do not worry, I have not made a final decision yet, but I will keep you updated with the details.

How to spread the Gospel on social media.

Ok, this past weekend, I went to a leadership workshop.  I am secretary of my church's admin council, so I wanted to get some training in.  I am under the United Methodist denomination of the Protestant church, but this applies rather you are Baptist, Methodist, Church of God in Christ, non-denominational, Jewish or Roman Catholic.  Anyone can do this, no matter what.  I know you are saying that social media is full of filth, hatred, and self loathing, but here me out for a moment.  If you read your bible, one of the things it tells us to do, is to take the gospel to the people, and not necessary the other way around.  Sure, you expect the masses to come visit your church or temple, but what if there is something that blocks them from making this step forward.  Maybe they are scared and unsure.  That is ok, we need to assure them that is OK, to take that step, and that change is not overnight.   How?   It is simply.
I had a good leader in Pastor Dan Metzger Saturday for the one hour section I attended on how my church can get going on this.  It is as simply as posting, "had a good time at church, Sunday, my pastor brought a good message."  You can post this simply message on both Facebook and Twitter.  Post an event that you are having, with the option of no pressure.  You are not here to hammer the Word down their throats, just mention that you had a great time.  Open up a Foursquare account, and when you are at church, check in.  Become a mayor of this area.  If you do, people may want to come and see and check it out.   I believe everyplace is already set up, because Foursquare goes by the address set up by the postal service.  So your church is automatically in.  Post an instagram of what you are doing.  Be careful, because especially in the case of children, you do have to get permission from that parent, and if they do not want their child's photo on your church's website, blog, the social media, it can get ugly.   Better yet, do not take pictures of their faces, just the back of their heads or create a consent form.
Once a connection has been formed with that person or group of people, start sending private messages to them, sent an invite.   Work up to a face to face contact.  Last but not least, create a YouTube account and share what is going on with your church.  It is very simple, and requires either a phone or a table computer with a camera to start with and editing software.  You do not need a fancy camera, and YouTube is simply to use.  I have made a couple for my businesses.
I could go on and on about this, but I must stop and get ready for tonight's bible study.   See I can even post that little blurt. Just remember, no personal address are allowed, because bad people can sense an opportunity, and next thing you know, all of your stuff is gone, or worst.  Also remember, social media can be good, if you put good into it.  So do not feed into the other stuff and you will be fine.  In fact, I started a few months ago unfriending (or stop following for those of you who do not understand the lingo), who do too much cursing, and basically have a lot of negativism in their hearts.   I know it is hard, because we are supposed to minister to everyone, but I also have my standards, but the few I unfriended, they were bringing me down.  I still keep a few around, just in case they need that push.