Lights of my tree!

A tree cannot grow without light and water.

And a tree cannot shine bright in a dark place without lights added to it.

Though God is the ultimate provider, every person who labors in Him - every one of you - is a light on my tree and water to my roots that enables me to shine in dark places and grow stronger in Him.

Thank you!

The official launch of a new life (Part 5)

Three Angels atop my tree...

The best part about a blog is that I can share even the craziest things in life and you can read it or not, at your leisure.

There are three purposes I feel called to serve:

1. Bring Glory to God
2. Reverse America's Health Epidemics (Physical, Mental/Emotional, Spiritual) through popularizing the solution, creating profitable value, making it easy, and ensuring the information is sound
3. Educate, Inspire, Enable, and Motivate

Lord, could you spare a few Angels...?

The official launch of a new life (Part 4)

Yes - I'm tweaking my posts slightly so my component pieces are cohesive.  The fun of reading my blog is that you get a fairly raw, unedited stream of thoughts from me, and I get the right to tweak to my heart's content after it's published :)

Roots of my tree of success...

I have heard that for every branch on a tree there is a root of the same length.  I don't know if this is true or not, but I do know it takes a lot of roots to hold a tree solid when a tornado strikes.

Similarly, the bigger the plans (branches & leaves), the more deeply rooted the base must be.  As I sat at breakfast Wednesday morning I began to write out many of my core beliefs for the best life.  As the people who have helped define who I am and the people who's prayers and support enable me most, I wanted to share those thoughts with you.  In no particular order...

• Acknowledge Him in all my ways
• Give all the glory to Him
• Strive for truth and excellence
• Be a beacon of His light
• Love always
• Forgive always
• Pray always
• Live in Him always
• Listen always (to the Holy Spirit)
• Rejoice in Him always
• Trust in Him always 
• Keep learning
• Keep doing
• Ask, seek, knock - and find
• Build up those around me to fulfill their calling
• Lift up those who's work serves the same purposes
• Invest all excess revenues, personal & corporate, in people and programs that achieve the same ultimate goals.

It would be ludicrous to think that I will always keep these without fail, but thankfully Christ died so that my sins would be forgiven and I wouldn't need to worry about failure, but could focus instead on success.  He is the earth these roots are embedded in.

Therefore, my personal commitment is simply to do the best I can every day to live my beliefs, and when I fail (because I know I will), to get back on board as quickly as I am able.

The final part in this series is about the top three goals that interest me.

The official launch of a new life (Part 3)

Part 3: Leaves of Success ... products & services

A tree takes nutrients from the ground and uses them to grow and create beautiful leaves, flowers, fruits, etc.  Then the leaves and some of the fruits fall to the ground, feeding the soil with more nutrients than it took out.  Like a tree, real success requires that we add more value than we take.  (and similarly, it requires that we use what is available to us to create that added value)

Throughout the boot camp, mom and I were continually inspired with specific products and services that would not only appeal to our markets but would actually also directly serve the purpose we are called to.

Lord willing, we'll be getting our first book published in the next couple months.  It's no master piece, but it should be a quick, easy, inspiring and enabling read for someone who wants to get started on their journey to better health.

There are a series of additional, similarly styled, books I'd like to write on physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual health that enable every day people to achieve great results. Our goal with these books aren't so much to prove the validity - we leave that to the scientists and researchers who proved it to us - but rather to make that information accessible to every day people, everywhere.  In a perfect world we'll co-author these with other experts.

Then, of course, there is the food line we are working on! This one has multiple sub-niches we hope to break into, all focused on reversing & preventing the most critical health issues facing our society and making great meals optimized for every day people who desire great health.

Then there are cooking shows and numerous online programs, software, & continued education services we can offer that don't just do good, but also are fun, exciting, and valuable enough that people want it. 

After the bootcamp ended, Mom and I compiled our notes and began forming a plan.  Of course, nothing we mastermind together will ever be as good as the path God will ultimately pave for us, but it centralized and organized our thoughts so that we could begin to work together more effectively. (Yup - that's us, working away in my living room!)

We've got a mountain ahead of us, but the path becomes clearer with every day.  Wherever God calls me I want to go, but I long for the day we identify the right brand(s) to run these under.

Still to come...

The foundational roots

The tree topping aspirations

A christmas tree bonus

And anything else I feel should be part of this official launch :)

A textbook case - someday?

This morning I went to my orthodontist just as I do every two months.  This was my 3rd adjustment and by this point I'm pretty used to the pain, but I never thought I'd walk away feeling joyful.

When I went to get braces 6 months ago, the orthodontist nearly insisted I would have to have teeth removed because there was so much crowding.  My main reason for braces, however, was to save my teeth, not have them removed sooner!  Having already been through teeth removal for my partially-impacted wisdom teeth several years ago, I was very opposed to the idea of losing more - especially anywhere near the front.  So I graciously but firmly told my orthodontist absolutely not...and did a bit of praying that God would make it possible for me to keep my teeth and have them straight.

Today I rejoice in God for giving me the strength for that decision.  

The doctor came over to look at my teeth and said "Wow, there is so much space."  A few minutes later he said to the assistant, "Go get her xrays, this is incredible."  She comes back with the pictures and he studies them closely and says again with awe and amazement that there is so much space now.  Everything looks good, so he leaves for the assistant to finish the work.  (for the record, she's not really an assistant but I don't know the real title)  Five minutes later the other doctor comes over and says "Dr. Fotovat told me I have to come see, he said this is incredible." 

When I initially started the treatment they inserted some spacers between my last 3 teeth on each side.  It hurt so badly and had such a powerful psychological impact on me due to the food tests I had just embarked on that after 24 hours I returned to the office and totally broke down crying...something I hadn't done in a very long time.  Though I tried not to cry, I couldn't help it as the pain was so high, and so, as I talked to my orthodontic confidant, I cried out to God for help.

Almost out of the blue she blinked and somewhat fumblingly said "Yes, lets take those out, we can do something different.  And now that I think about it I don't know why we didn't do this to begin with given the amount of crowding you have.  Instead of using bands, we can bond the back bracket - a different kind of bracket - to the tooth with a strong adhesive.  This really makes a lot more sense in your case."  And so she personally removed those nasty spacers and arranged for the other brackets.

I believed God gave my orthodontic confidant the idea when He did but I had no idea the results would actually impress the doctor!

To end with a little humor, I shared this story with my coworker upon getting to the office and he said "You're a textbook case, of course we all already knew that."  Thanks, Gerald :)  Little did he know, when I was in 7th grade history class I had read so many stories of great people in this world and as I stared mindlessly at another one in my textbook I thought someday I wanted to be there.  Cheesey sure, but I'm flattered someone(s) think I might actually achieve that someday.  Maybe childhood dreams can come true.

The official launch of a new life (Part 2)

Wow...I am so honored by the outpouring of responses from many of you.  I received quite a lot of emails, many from people I least expected them from, expressing thankfulness and appreciation for the first post here.  I am so humbled and thankful and joyful that it could touch and inspire you.

God has been blessing me greatly, lately, and to know that His blessings on me can in turn bless you, means a great deal to me.

Tree branches... building conduits for success!

Along with my reluctance to attend the boot camp, I was certainly not interested in purchasing anything offered during it.  

Public speaking is secretly a little bit of a growing interest to me.  I don't know that I want to completely make my life of it, but I am enjoying presenting and sharing God's message in a way that directly meets people's needs and it seems to be working for others.  Still, I know it's not all I'm meant to do.  But I do know that God has called me to deliver a message so I'm open to wherever that takes me.  After going through this boot camp, I'm more open than I ever was before because I realize that I can succeed living the calling God has placed upon me.

As they said, and God has often inspired me towards, make your career fit your lifestyle not your lifestyle fit your career.  Combine that with Matthew 11:30 and Philippians 4:13 and you've got some powerful motivation to not get intimidated by what the future will hold.  Personally, I need that because the future just keeps growing...!

The first guest speaker talked on radio publicity - how to get booked and promote your products or services.  Not only is he truly an expert in this, but he also has some phenomenal resources to help in the process.  For me, it wasn't just "good stuff," but exactly the kind of "God stuff" (specific training & resources) that I need to promote our upcoming food line once it's ready.  The package he offered was a complete steal for my uses, so I elatedly invested in it.

A while later was a speaker on promotion via teleseminars.  I was rather uninterested in this having already dabbled a little in this area at one point and thought of it as "totally old fashioned."  But the great thing about experts is that they always bring new stuff to the table and this suddenly opened another big door - possibly one of the biggest to start with.  His training package and resources were again perfectly suited for me and exactly what I needed.  In fact, for me the value of the extra's thrown in were worth the package price and the training would be an added (though much needed) bonus.  So I invested again.

It's a good thing Sabbath was coming soon and I was skipping the seminar to get baptized because at this point the amount I learned and was inspired by so far exceeded my brain capacity that I (and my bank account) desperately needed a sabbath rest!

On the final day of the boot camp we learned from another guest expert on internet marketing.  Now, Mom's been in this for a while and my interest in it had dwindled because it just seemed impossible to get where we wanted with it.  I knew it was important, but it just seemed overwhelmingly complicated to me.  Until the expert walked us through it.  Suddenly all the random pieces we had floating about began to fall together in a new way.  I was sure his package would be out of my league and was excited to just have good notes from the couple hours of training.  The great thing about working with experts is that they really go above and beyond and always make it worth more than they charge.  But this package wasn't for me - this one was perfect for Mom, especially since I could piggy back on it.

All totaled I invested more in that weekend than I ever have in 4 days - even more than my car cost  me - and yet I feel like I didn't spend a penny because I know the minimum return it will give me is still higher than the amount I put into it.

Best of all, for the first time in my life I feel totally free of my biggest fear: landing in poverty if I make a big mistake.    Through this answer to prayers, God has shown me that I really can trust in Matthew 6:25.

So after all this enlightenment, what does it mean for my future?

Stay tuned for:

Part 3: Leaves of Success ... 

Part 4: Lights of God's tree ... 

Part 5: Three Angels on High ... 

The official launch of a new life (Part 1)

On Dec 6, 2008, I was baptized into the body Christ.  For the record, you can check out the photos here:

Baptism Pics

and video here.

My choice to be baptized was a struggle for some time, but as with all things I have sought after in Christ, my questions were not only answered to my satisfaction but answered far beyond it.  I am honored to be a full participant in the body of Christ and join many of you there.

If you want to know more about those struggles, I'll be happy to share them with you, but for tonight I'd like to focus on something different - looking forward to the future.

An answer to a serious prayer:

The weekend of my baptism was truly a life-changing time for me. I attended, with much initial reluctance, a speaker marketing bootcamp with my mom.  The advertised goal of this bootcamp was to teach us, as future speakers, how to make lots of money while speaking.  I was pretty bored by people selling me on so-called money-making programs and very uninterested on a whole, except that I really wanted to support my dear Mom.  Little did I know that God had much in store for me, as well.

For many, many years I have struggled with idea of living for God and making lots of money.  There are many passages in the bible telling us God wants us to prosper and also many that caution us against wealth.  I have always wanted to give a lot of money away, but I can't do that until I have a lot coming in.  Yet, I struggled strongly with this concept from a biblical perspective and often felt wrong about thinking about making money.  One passage that rang the loudest for me was Matthew 6:24 - can't serve God and Wealth.  I understood this passage with the context of the person He was directly talking to, but it still hung me up in other ways...until that weekend.  You see, at the beginning of the conference I was told to set 3 goals, but I was so burdened by this that I could only set one: to understand how personally making lots of money wouldn't conflict with me spiritually. 

Well, the conference started and I was incredibly impressed by the speakers.  Most speakers, especially in the marketing or money-making areas, have egos too big to fit in the room.  One of the common phrases amongst these speakers was to fill your pocket book, not your ego, and I was very impressed by that and now interested in learning much more - and wow did I ever learn a lot!  But it wasn't until mid way through day 2...or was it day 4?...that, out of nowhere, God gave me the answer to my top question.  Let's face it, most people want to know how to get wealthy, so someone asked a question and the main speaker said "Make a lot, spend a little, and you'll become very wealthy.  Wealth isn't about how much you make, but how much you keep."

And in that moment I remembered Matthew 6:24 and understood exactly what God wanted me to know from it.  I can't serve Him fully and completely if I keep my money for myself - the money He is blessing me with isn't just for me.  I knew this long ago...but didn't know it like I know it now - as personally and explicitly as I do now.  

Not having money has been one of my biggest fears in life, but I know that it is a hurdle God wants me to get past and it is a hurdle that He is helping me get past.

Not only did God set me free from this burden, but He also answered another strong prayer of mine:  How do I make a reasonable living follow the calling He has placed on me?  How do I even make enough to begin transitioning over?  

You'd think with a burden like that, I'd be excited by the goal of the bootcamp, but I was so skeptical I was totally blinded to the idea the bootcamp could actually teach me something useful here.

Lighting the new path:

Well, God lit the new path for me...but he didn't just light a few small lights, he lit an entire tree of lights.

Stay tuned for my next post to find out more...