“The RoseBouquet”

At my seminar someone asked if my course was anything like StoresOnline.com. I said it wasn’t, but when I received a pair of free tickets to attend one of their over lunch Internet conference at a hotel just a 15 minute walk away, I decided to check it out personally, so I would know just how my course was different from what they offered. I invited my brother Tom, who is often downtown in his wheelchair to meet me there.

Well, the free lunch was delayed for 90 minutes while the presenter did a very smooth spiel on how the internet was the perfect place to make money, and how we just needed certain helps to make sure the search engines knew about our “store online,” and presto, we could start making lots of passive money - even while we slept.

I listened closely and took notes, but couldn’t find any flaw on the surface. I did find it odd that he had insisted all through his presentation that it just cost $199 to sign up. Then at the end, he announced that just for those attending the price was dropped to $20. Plus they would throw in a full day training seminar on Oct. 7, but then we should come prepared to pay for extra benefits we could only get there.

Whoa, I should have recognized the “bait and switch” right there, but the crowd had been worked into a “yes” unit, and it was hard to say no to the way he phrased his questions.

When Tom asked in a whisper, “So what do you think?” I shrugged and said, I’ve got all the sites I can handle right now. I already know all about the marketing he’s talking about learning. I just need the TIME to do it all. However, if you are interested, $20 is a good price.”

People were lining up to sign up! There was a talkative fellow on the other side of me, so I conversed with him. He was one of the first to sign up. After a while I noticed Tom had not got into line to pay up. He just shrugged when I asked him about it.

The lunch, when it came wasn’t bad. A nice fluffy croissant sandwich, small salad and a jumbo chocolate cookie. They gave us each a tiny mp3 player as we went out the door.

I hurried home to dig up a flowerbed, and when I went back inside, exhausted, I sat down to figure out the mp3 player. That entailed going online for instructions. There it occurred to me to research this company called StoresOnline.com.

Whoa! I should have done that ahead of time! I found many complaints of people who felt burned by them, and two States in the USA are suing them! In the complaints I recognized the pattern, and realized why they like to get a crowd of about 100 in a room. Suckers fall into their nets like a school of fish!

There will be some who are ripe and intelligent and who build a successful store, but it will be because of their own hard work and strong motivation.

I am reassured that my course plan is a very good one, but my advertising will have to show that I am NOT like that company. In fact, I think I’m going to make it harder for anyone to sign up. I don’t mind helping gullible people learn discernment, but I don’t want to aid and abet someone with lousy ethics.

My business life is more of the same these days, so I have to look for the unusual experiences to have something interesting to share with you. For two Monday afternoons now, I have done something unusual.

As part of my work for Western Tract Mission, I have built, and maintain the website; http://WesternTractMission.org. (Just now I’m training Anna when she comes in, normally on Friday afternoons, and we have begun to re-vamp and update the whole site. Soon I should be able to leave whole sections of that work to her).

One part that has been coming along in fits and spurts when other work is caught up, is to set up a shopping cart on the site, so that visitors can order and pay for tracts right online, and the order can in most cases be filled the same or next day. I’m to the place where it is nearly ready, but I needed a rough count of how many of each tract we have in our warehouse basement. Since no one else can be spared for this work, I have taken it upon myself. Not wanting to walk the city streets at night, I decided to switch my Monday afternoon and evening agendas. So the last two Monday afternoons, as I said, I’ve been going down to the basement and counting tracts in the bins.

For some, there are literally, only a handful or two left. Those are considered to be out of print, but the text is still available on the website. For some of the older style tracts, I found, easily, thousands of them. Usually they are bundled by hundreds, so it was a matter of counting how many in a stack, and then multiplying by the number of stacks. That’s after I took time to level the stacks. (I’ve done 38 bins and have 14 left to go).

The director would like to phase out some of the older tracts that don’t seem to connect with readers any more, but there are a number that have some value, they just need a new, more modern look. So another assignment he has given me is to create fresh re-designs and updates on those tracts. I try to give one hour an afternoon to that.

It did occur to me yesterday though, that I ought to do something creative in the shopping cart and have a section for Special Bulk Deals, and try to move out large quantities of the out-dated tracts. They are free, except for postage. I know there are some countries in Africa where the people can read English, and they probably wouldn’t see the tracts as old-fashioned, but our mission doesn’t have the funds to pay for the expensive overseas shipping.

This morning I got to daydreaming about making some tract wallets, and then to encourage Christians to carry a small assortment in their purse or pocket to pass on to individuals as they meet them throughout their daily travels.

I’ll present these ideas at the staff prayer meeting tomorrow morning, but I would be curious to know what you folks think of these ideas. Are they too far-fetched? Have you seen them work somewhere? Would you want to help?

How can you be sure you would like an e-book before you pay for it? In a store you’d stand and read a couple of chapters first, right? Sit down, take your time; READ eight chapters of Ruthe’s Secret Roses for free!

[article 3 in series of six on Depression]

One of the biggest reasons for feeling depressed and discouraged is that we don’t feel we are accomplishing anything of value, or we’re disappointed in ourselves for not attaining the fine goals we’d set.

A friend quoted to me recently that when we have more to do than we can manage, we’re doing some things that God has not assigned to us.

Ouch! How do we find out what to get rid of?

There’s a no-cost remedy to try on your to-do lists and goals. It may very well cure your particular depression! You’ve got a lot to lose if you don’t try it.

First all, we have to admit that some of the things on our lists are unrealistic. They shouldn’t be there. Some of them are not stated correctly and so we aren’t tackling them the right way. For others, we need the correct motivation, and some are someone else’s duty.

Here’s a simple 3D test to help you review your goals, and turn the good ones into Achievable Goals.

1. DON’T DO the ones that are not your responsibility. If something on your list is really someone else’s job then stop doing it. Cross it off. Give it back.

2. DELEGATE the easy jobs or parts of one that another person could be doing. Look around for a responsible party, or someone who needs the experience, and give that work to him or her. You can check on their work once in a while, but entrust it to them, and let them take ownership of the work.

This will free you up, and expand your influence and ideas. Won’t that be a whole lot better?

3. DO just those jobs that God has given you a great desire and longing to do, and that no one else can really do the way you will. He knows how much we can handle and will not give us more than we are able. In fact, you’ll find the load quite manageable, and you will feel so much better about yourself. You’ll feel like you’re finally getting somewhere!

There’s our 3 Ds. In a nutshell;

Don’t do someone else’s responsibility,

Delegate what someone could do as well as you,

Do that which only you can do.

Another thought about the last D - if you’re not clear on whether God wants you to do a certain work, lay it out before Him, and ask His counsel. It may turn out that you’ve been treating it like a duty when it is meant to be a glad ministry. Or you will get some other astonishing insights.

Personally, I find that once I get the correct and fresh grasp of the bigger picture of my goals, and why I’m doing them in the first place, a lot of other factors fall into place. Suddenly I’m quite glad to drop the periphery details, or pass them on to others, and I have a brand new enthusiasm and vision for the ones I ought to be doing.

That feels so good, I wonder why I let myself slip into multiple ruts of dogged and dog-tired duties.

I got my new eavestroughs on Saturday afternoon. Barry had forgotten, but I prayed that God would jog his memory, and lo, he remembered! I’ve just finished a photo story of the event. Eavestroughs…

Yes, I know it is high time I do another photo story on my garden, as I’ve been harvesting and cleaning it up and am about to start turning it over by spade for the winter. However, it takes a few hours to prepare one, and this morning is not long enough.

There could be one on the roof and the patio I built last week with the chimney bricks that were tossed down, but again, - time crunch is my excuse.

Yesterday when I got home, I was pleased to see that rain was coming out of the rain spouts, just as it should, and when I went down into the basement, the walls appeared to be dry. The inspector was right; the eavestroughs keep the rain water from coming into the basement!

I am getting used to going to the office each day to work now, and I’m making progress on catching up with a backlog of emails. I may soon even be able to respond to some friends’ emails, just to chat. I’m afraid I’ve shoved a lot of those to the back burner.

I’m especially glad to get three mornings a week to work at my Aloe-vera-and-handy-herbs.com site. It will be a year old in a couple of weeks, and I want to bring it to a point where I can monetize it. Just now I’ve been working on a batch of pages. When I can upload those I should be just about ready for the monetizing part. That is, it can start bringing me an income!

I can see so many things to do. The only solution I can see is to divide my time into careful segments, give every project a block of time, or put it on a waiting list for a certain block of time, and eventually, slowly but surely, I can make progress on all fronts. But, oh, wouldn’t it be nice to have some virtual assistants to delegate some work to? That is what my Azaleas Virtual Assistants training course is hopefully to do. I’ll train four interns to do these jobs, allowing for the fact that some will want to go into business for themselves, but I dream that some of them may turn out to be the kind of people I would hire myself. When I can afford to hire others I believe my business will start booming and multiplying in wonderful ways.

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My novel is published by Booklocker, and available to order right now. Both the softcover print edition, and a downloadable pdf edition. The e-book price on my site is a special bargain you ought to discover. Ruthe’s Secret Roses

[Article 2 in a series of six on depression from a spiritual perspective].

Have you ever wished someone would come into your life and cheer you up - but nobody came?

Today I was sliding down the spiral shute into the pit because a friend had shared her angry with me. I began to take it personally.

It’s hard to admit, yet most of us think our happiness and contentment depends on someone else. Do you suppose it’s because as a baby we looked to Mama for cues and for cooing the smiles to our faces? Maybe we just have never outgrown that sub-conscious understanding that it is up to others to cheer us up when in a sad mood.

I’ve got news for you; if you are old enough to read this, you’re old enough to cheer yourself up.

I’m not talking about the severe depression that comes from trauma and chemical imbalance in your endocrine system here. I’m referring to the petty moods we get from external factors in mild depression. Dark, cloudy, brooding weather is a trigger for some. A cluttered home or office will subtly drag down another’s spirit. Sometimes we have blue moods because of bittersweet memories, the misery in the world, in our own lives, or just an ugly sense that we’re not accomplishing much. In fact, at times we pick up a sadness from others or vicariously from a novel or what we watch on TV. These are all external factors.

Smile! Give glory to God, because it is in your power to do something about each of these. You can do things to counter-act each of these influences, and if they are really nothing but external factors, you CAN cheer your self up!

Is it the stormy, un-sunny weather?

Then turn on the lights! Put brighter watt bulbs in all your light sockets. Wear cheerful colours in your clothes. Put light, pastel shades of colour wherever you have a say or influence in your home or office.

You can also resolve to stop whining about bad weather. Explain to yourself, that storms are temporary, and the moisture that usually comes with them is going to make the flowers bloom. (Try applying that spiritually too).

Is your house or desk a mess?

Guess who has permission to clean it up? You! This prescription isn’t going to cost you anything but some time. Set aside time to clear things away from one side of the desk to the other, or from the bathrooms to the front door, and clean up, put away, file, or throw out the stuff lying everywhere. Take a wet rag with you, and wipe things down as you clear the stuff off. Arrange neatly the things that have to remain handy, or that are tastefully ornamental.

When you get tired, sit back and survey your kingdom. Check your invisible cheer meter and see if it hasn’t gone up several degrees. Mine always does!

Been reading or watch sad news stories?

I too, have a sensitive spirit, and quickly take on the mood or attitude of others when I absorb their lives and sadness. But listen, we can change our mood just as quickly by playing cheerful, happy music or reading positive good news material.

Are you dissatisfied with your life?

Sensitive or not, we do have power to choose our moods and attitudes, (assuming our depression is only from external factors). Let’s take charge of our heart, instead of letting it run all over us. Remember, we can always make new choices if we’ve made bad ones in the past.

Best of all, we can go to God with our messed up life, confess we’ve failed and ask forgiveness and help to start over. We don’t have to rely completely on our own strength - because the truth is, sometimes we don’t have any, either physical or spiritual. He WILL help us, but God likes to teach us how to do a lot of things by our own good choices.

Feeling weepy?

Remind yourself that this is probably temporary, but consider whether you need to seek out a friend to talk to, or perhaps you just need to get out in the sunshine or under a bright light, play soothing music, and have a little talk with the Lord. Don’t just recite all the things that bother you, but put on “the garment of praise” and see how many things you can gratefully thank God for. See? You are cheering yourself up!

P.S. If you are in a hurry to read the whole series of six articles, go to this index page, and you will find them at the bottom of the left-hand column of titles. Sharing Library. At Western Tract Mission, Inc., we also have a tract on depression. You will find it online, ready to read at; There is an Answer to Depression

Hey, this is the week I finally am getting my Missionary Prayer letter out! Yee-Haw!

I don’t know how much you know about a missionary’s responsibility to recruit supporters, and to let those friends and supporters know how things are going, what the needs for prayer and the praise items are. Although I’m not a full-time missionary, and I’m starting this business on the side, I have been reminded recently that I need to get my Missionary Prayer letter out. Most missions expect you to do this at least quarterly. Nowadays many of them have an email mailing list and send their reports out every month.

I’m on the mailing list for quite a number of them, so I’ve no excuse for not knowing what to do. But trying to do all my usual work, plus start a business means that some things get squeezed quite a bit. But I resolved at the beginning of this month that in September I would get another mailing out. (I did my first one in May of last year, at Christmas, and a thank you ones in February this year, so it was high time).

Well, I spent three Sunday afternoons and evenings at it, and this last Sunday finally got a neat two-page letter ready. But my printer was not cooperating very well. So I focused on compiling a new email mailing list and hunting all over my computer for the email addresses of those already on my list. By about midnight I got that bunch off.

Then I counted how many would have to go to friends for whom I didn’t have email addresses, and uploaded the letter file to my website so I could pass it on to Joe at the office on Monday. He kindly printed it all out for me, making 45 copies. Last night at home I took a few hours to address the envelopes. Hopefully these will all end up in the mail today.

Yes! I did it!

If you would like to be on this mailing list and haven’t already received that letter from me, do let me know, and I’ll quickly send you one by email for this time around. Obviously, you don’t have to worry that I’ll send too many of these.

By the way, we do have a monthly ezine at Western Tract Mission that we send totally free to anyone who asks to be on our mailing list. It is called the Praise & Prayer Report. Each of our missionary couples, and Priscilla and I as singles, write a short piece to be included there. So in a sense I do write a monthly report out too, and the section on the website, and so on….

Otherwise, I’m busy trying to smooth out my daily office routines in my office suite here at WTM, enjoy lunch hour with the other missionaries downstairs, and am trying to bring my web businesses where they will bring in more support.

You’ve heard of power naps at work, right? You rise refreshed, bright and alert. Take a break to refresh your spirit with a good inspirational story.

I haven’t promoted my novel, Ruthe’s Secret Roses, as I should. (Promotion takes money, so I’m putting it off until I can afford it better). However, it is published by Booklocker, and available to order right now. Both the softcover print edition, and a downloadable pdf edition. The e-book price on my site is a special bargain you ought to discover. Order page.