“The RoseBouquet”

More than a month ago (it seems), some friends in Kamloops, BC., said they would be travelling through to go to Minnesota for a 60th anniversary. They asked if they could stop for the night at my place. I assured them they could, and marked the date on my calendar. The 23rd of June.

I tried calling them on Monday and Tuesday evening last week, but had to leave a message each time. So I assumed they were on the way.

I did extra cleaning over several Saturdays to prepare for them. The Saturday just before was a busy one with the Walkathon, then the pot luck farewell for the ESL students, and the recital, etc., so I made a point of doing still more cleaning on Monday over my supper period at home. On Tuesday evening I was taking minutes at the Board meeting, but on Wednesday all day I kept expecting my friends to show up. Maybe even at the office before 5 pm.

Then I hurried home and started a supper of chicken breasts in a bed of mushroom rice, and I made a chocolate dessert, and then plunged into more cleaning. I even kept the inner door of the front porch open so I could keep an eye out for their car as they would pull up - any minute now.

About 8 pm the supper was more than ready, and I was exhausted from cleaning, so I filled my supper plate, and sat so I could watch for my friends through the door and the front porch windows.

I had expected to spend the evening visiting, so was prepared to skip one evening of working for my client’s website. However, after I had the dishes done I sat down at the computer and thought I’d see how much work I would get done before they arrived. Hopefully they had not run into any accident on the way. For sure they should have heard on the news not to take the # 1 highway as it was flooded out near Maple Creek.

By 11:30 I had put in three hours of work for the client and decided to give up and go to bed. At least I could bill for those hours, and had not lost that income time. And, hey, the pantry room that I was turning into a spare bedroom looked much better! I also had cooked chicken for another three meals ahead.

I’ve now resigned myself to it that they may have flown south and just forgot to let me know. When I hear from them, I’m sure they’ll have a great story to explain.

Hey, we’ve begun to have some sunny days after five weeks of rain, and my garden is thriving. My neighbour Joe says it has increased 3 times in size in just 3 days! Next week is the beginning of a new month and it will be time for another photo story.

We’ve got holidays coming up this week. Here in Canada Thursday is Canada Day. On Sunday the USA will made a big event out of their national, July 4th, birthday too. Some people will manage to celebrate both holidays. If you can make a long weekend of it, I hope you’ll have a wonderful, blessed time, and will be able to rejoice in the good features of your country.

A number of sites that I look after slip into a more dormant state after a while. The owners get busy with other things and forget to keep providing fresh material for me to add. Once in a while they send a few photos or some announcement to add, but usually they don’t all ask for a spurt of work from me at once. It was because of this, that I decided that it would be possible to take on a new client for a new site. The first few weeks or months are often intensely busy, and then we begin to slow down.

However, on Saturday night when I checked my emails before going to bed, I realized that this was going to be an unusual week. One friend of a friend, for whom I’d promised a web page when she got her special calendar made, suddenly came through with it. Almost a year after we first discussed this. Another ministry client now wants me to add 28 books to the site. Yet another one wants to discuss adding some inter-active courses to their site.

And just yesterday still another wrote and asked about updating his site altogether. From what he described I think he needs a blog setup so he can enter his own information on a daily or weekly basis. (If he can spare the time!)

Hmm… I’ve been giving two evenings to my new client’s site. He has a deadline too. At first glance this looks a little crowded.

However, the Lord often deigns to help me through these things. Last night I was able to squeeze in the work on the first request. The 28 books have not reached me yet, so that may go on hold.
I’ve already told the client wanting the inter-active courses that we’ll need to discuss this by email first, and they’ll need to wait until next month, July. Assuming the last one likes the idea of a blog where he can login and make his own entries without going through me… I can squeeze that in somewhere too, over the next couple of weeks. Meantime, we need to toss some emails back and forth so I clearly understand what kind of changes he wants.

Oh, and the client wrote on the weekend, suggesting a simpler template than the one I’ve been working on. Hey, that’s good news! That means the work of the last 2 weeks is sort’a down the drain, but it solves several other problems, so I can move forward better, faster.

No need to panic. It’s all going to work out.

Today, my article will show how to set up a Blog, assuming you are ready to evangelize online via that route. See below.

Some 8 blogs I have set up and can recommend;
Blogs.Ruthes-SecretRoses.com - the RoseBouquet of course!
www.aloe-vera-and-handy-herbs.com/aloe-vera-blog.html
www.online-shopping-guides.com/Shopping-Guide-BLOG.html
Barbara-Good-Books.com/blog/
www.ErindaleAlliance.ca/blog/
Generosity-Alive.org/views/
www.VanessaLeannePhotography.com

Oh, and this pretty one I have not had time for - for over 3 years!
BouquetofEnterprises.biz/eAction

A quick review of the assignment last week in preparation for setting up a blog. You were to mull over or consider these questions;
1. What would you most enjoy writing about?
2. Picture your target reader. Who would you be writing to?
3. Go do a Google search to see if anyone else is doing that already. Is your angle better? Are they finding a following? Then you likely would too!
4. Prepare your personal testimony for the “About me” page.

You have those answers all written down or at the tip of your tongue? All right. Then let me guide you into starting your first blog.

First we need to consider some practical aspects.

If you consider yourself computer illiterate and you can’t handle anything more complicated than logging in to your email account at yahoo or gmail and posting an email, then we’ll stick to the very simplest blog of all.

If you are more computer savvy and would like something with more class, something you can personalize, and where you can control what ads appear there, or even make some money with your blog then I have another suggestion for you.

The Simplest Blog.

Go to one of the many web-based free blog sites and sign up for an account. Choose your username carefully as it is likely to be part of your blog’s address on the web. Would you do good evangelism if your blog address ends up as, //poopydiaper.blogspot.com? Maybe this would work better, //meaning-of-life.wordpress.com?

Where are those free blog sites?
wordpress.com
blogger.com
zooloo.com
livejournal.com
There are many more, if you want to do a search for them.

Plus, some that charge;
Typepad.com (free trial period then < $5/month)
squarespace.com 14 day free trial - (5 price plans!)

This site has done a review of the top 10 and compares them;
blog-services-review.toptenreviews.com/

Now, there is a certain stigma that comes with a blog that is a sub-domain of another site, such as yourname.blogger.com (the part before the first dot is a sub-domain). There is also the matter that on many of those blogs, the true site owner will put up advertising banners and make money on the clicks from YOUR visitors to the blog. You usually cannot delete a blog you start there. The site owner would rather leave it up so they can continue to profit from those ads.

The second option, should you want to avoid those negatives, is to get a domain (you can do register one at GoDaddy.com for less than $10/yr), and some low priced hosting service. Then you download and install the free WordPress software from WordPress.org, following the instructions. You can hunt through 100s of free templates and personalize your blog so that it is distinctively your own. It is possible to switch between templates or “looks” with just a click or two selecting the one you want today.

You will learn some things as you go, but I would strongly advise installing the Akismet plugin to handle the spam of people hoping to place comments on your blog that will draw traffic to their “unwise” sites.

With either type of blog, you then must bookmark your login page, and make a regular habit of going there to post your thought-provoking blog entries. in WordPress (and some others) you can with a click activate auto-notification to some blog directories and feeds that you have a new post entered, and this will start to draw visitors to your blog.

From there on it is up to you to write good content that will win over friends and present the good evangel to those open to it.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to search and visit other blogs to see what they are saying, and perhaps making a good comment so that that blogger will come to see your blog. All with discretion and good manners, mind you, remembering the golden rule: treat others as you would like to be treated.

P.S. I offer a hosting service at an excellent price, and could install WordPress for you for a very reasonable fee, if you don’t mind waiting until I can fit you in.

My hip is much better, thanks. Partly due to the chiropractor’s treatments and on Saturday night I bought an extra firm girdle, which does exactly what I’ve been thinking for quite a while. It pulls my internal organs inward, and that forces my back to lengthen, which gives my poor vertebrae extra room so they don’t grate on one another. I’ve had two days now of feeling much, much better!

I did some extra housecleaning yesterday over supper and before I started my evening’s work. Towards the end I did get some pain spasms, so there’s still some healing to come, but I’m very grateful today. Thank you, if you prayed.

After about six weeks of rainy weather, (about three hours south of us the TransCanada highway is flooded in some places!) we are finally getting some sunshine and summer heat. In fact, on Sunday night I felt I had to remove the heavy tarp I had nailed over the outside of my window box air conditioner and start using it a bit. When I get tired of the noise it makes I make do with just a big white fan near my desk.

Do you uses fans at all? Do you also get tired of all that blowing air drying your skin and face and eyes? I find it makes me thirsty and tired. But hey, in this part of Canada we’ve been whining for summer, so now we need to adjust to temperatures in the mid 20s Celsius (mid 60s Fahrenheit).

I’m reminding myself that in some other countries they have it much hotter - year round!

My business routines are about the same, so maybe I can use this space to tell you of some new things I experienced on the weekend.

Saturday morning we had our mission’s Walkathon and raised about $7500! The final figure is not yet in. I did not walk, but took photos and counting the funds to see who qualified for the prizes. I had made a pair of framed pictures of a yellow rose with a Bible verse on each one. They ended up becoming two prizes, making seven in total.

(There’s a group photo here; WesternTractMission.org).

When I got home a friend had called and wanted some genealogy charts to give her Dad for Father’s Day. I got those ready, and then had to change to go to a Potluck farewell for five Mongolian Scholars in our ESL class at church. They are going back home soon. I had a delightful time eating with them and making new friends. (One of them had been my student the last few weeks).

At 7 I decided to stay a while to watch the Piano Recital of Adrienne Sailor’s students. She advised staying to the end as her best students came a the end of the program. I was so impressed that I did! From little 2 year old Esther Zhu playing a duet with her brother Paul, to the older students, they all did superbly well! I felt like I had treated myself to a wonderful new experience.

Sunday evening I did another new thing. I’d made a picnic supper and joined my brother Tom in the Kinsmen Park which is right behind the building where he lives. We ate watching many kids and their daddies riding on the merry-go-round. Then, for a more comfortable position for me (Tom was in his wheelchair) we went over to watch a softball game between two women’s teams. Normally I have no interest in sports, but that was such a pleasant spot in the shade, with a lovely view over the ball diamond, and it was actually fun to watch about three innings of the game.

No housecleaning or garden work got done all weekend, but I enjoyed some old and some new experiences.

Ready for part 2 of How to Evangelize with Blogs? See below.

You see me go on about SiteBuildIt! from time to time, right? Well, yesterday I was skimming the email by our admirable leader/CEO, Ken Evoy, and he provided a link to a human interest story on our forums that he calls, One Of The Most Moving/Inspiring Posts, Ever!
Suzanne’s Story

I went to read it and sure enough, it is a terrific story. Normally, you couldn’t get into the forums unless you are an SBI owner and can use your password. But Ken has set it up so that I can send my friends to have a look using my domain name as the username and password. That makes you my guest there temporarily. You can’t make any posts, just read. But it’s such a great story of overcoming tremendous difficulties and then finally good success, that I thought I’d give you a chance to read it too. Just click on; Suzanne’s Story and when asked to login use my domain name to do so. Enter it twice for both;
username: online-shopping-guides.com
password: online-shopping-guides.com

If you want to see Ken’s reply, “Yes, YOU Can Do It!” Repeat the process on this link; Yes, YOU Can Do It!

Did you do your research into blogs “on evangelism” or blogs that “do evangelism”?

I come from doing fresh research just now, and I’m brimming with tips and ideas. I’ll try to keep them brief, and save some for next week.

First, there is a difference between a blog and a website, although you can certainly make a blog part of your website. I do. There is also a difference in how to do evangelism on both. A normal website allows you to spread out your information into many pages and even categories with sub-categories. Although a blog allows you to archive older posts, it mainly is like the front page of a newspaper. You have to make your point right there, and don’t have much room to expand. in fact, short and pithy is best in a blog.

So if you want to evangelize from your blog, intending to reach those who do not know Christ yet, then your tone there should constantly be waving them to stop on the highway of life to hear what you want to tell them. If you can build a relationship so they keep coming back to your blog you can go deeper, but - you are still trying to address all those others passing by. A little dilemma there, right?

Secondly. Ideally, you do want to build a relationship with a good following, who come back to see what you write each day or week or whatever. Or like the people you meet as you commute to work and back. It takes a long time with just a comment now and then, to build a relationship so they trust you and look forward to hearing from you. If you want to win them, you should avoid the habit of secular bloggers who rant and unload their daily dump of negative thinking and complaining. That may be cute and catchy at first, but folks will start to “cross the street” - so to speak, to avoid your blog if you do that.

Thirdly, to reach secular people you need to know what they think, fear, or yearn for most. You need to relate well to them, but be able to draw them from that viewpoint to the Christian view and explain it so that it makes sense to them. That calls for more research! There are blog directories where you can find them, such as; BlogCatalog [http://www.blogcatalog.com] and Technorati [www.technorati.com] or in the Weblog Awards. [www.weblogawards.org]

Fourth. You can focus on a niche group of people who have a similar interest of hobby or passion as you do. then use that as a bridge to introduce them to Christ and His claims. This is far more likely to be successful, and you’ll enjoy it more. So build a blog around a secular topic you know well, and write compellingly and openly about yourself.

Ack-hmm. Have you noticed that this is what I do in the RoseBouquet? I carry over the theme from my novel, which is about friendship and mentoring, and assuming that people like to get to know another person (me) as our friendship blossoms, I share about my own thoughts and doings. I share far more than I get back from my vast circle of internet or blog friends, but when they do connect, it is always the personal stuff I shared about my garden or cat, etc., to which they respond.

I do not hide my faith in God or that I pray, and from time to time, some stranger writes and asks my advice or for me to pray for them. I suspect, however, that they’ve been reading the RoseBouquet for quite a while before they got up the courage to write me. I recognize and delete garbage fast, but I ALWAYS take time to answer such emails! I don’t polish that much with comments, and don’t repeat such conversations for others to see, but I consider that one of the important parts of my life online.

This may be enough for this week. Maybe next week we can cover how to actually set up and start a blog.

In the meantime, let me give you something to mull over, if you are hankering for a blog;
1. What would you most enjoy writing about?
2. Picture your target reader. Who would you be writing to?
3. Go do a Google search to see if anyone else is doing that already. Is your angle better? Are they finding a following? Then you likely would too!
4. Prepare your personal testimony for the “About me” page.

Have you ever felt like your hip joint was unhinged? It is quite painful, isn’t it?

I’ve been dragging myself around with such a pain for about five weeks now. At times I convinced myself it was a kidney stone, or my sciatica nerve, or a cracked vertebrae, or even pressure from an impacted bowel. I tried all kinds of home remedies.

I went to my chiropractor the week before I went to Alberta for the Victoria Day weekend, but the relief only lasted an hour. That was rather expensive for one hour’s relief. Besides that man is very firm and strong and his pressure on the sore spot had hurt. So I stayed away from him.

My doctor doesn’t see me very often either. I had enough to do with the medical people while caring for my parents that I avoid them until it is my last resort. Well, on Saturday I started persuading myself that it was time to get some professional diagnosis done, since I was not fully succeeding with my home remedies. But most of Sunday I felt better again, so I was ready to keep on persevering and toughing it out. Then, in the evening the pain came back full force.

Monday morning I prayed earnestly about it, and was torn between going to the doctor (who, I figured, would only send me for an x-ray), or the chiropractor, who might actually be able to put my unhinged hip back into place.

After a while I felt the right thing to try first was the chiropractor. I could get to an answer faster. Besides, his office opens at 7 am and the doctor’s only at 9 am. I got an appointment for 11:30 and went to the office by car to get some work done first.

He said it would take several treatments to get my joint to STAY in place, and he was able to give me relief in a few minutes, though the pressure was no fun.

Then we got to talking about web design. He was eager to hire me, but I told him that he would have to stand in line and take a number. My schedule is full. But I did give him links for SBI, which is my secret to great web design.

It may be too soon to crow about success, but today I feel like my hip is back in it’s joint. Let’s hope it stays!

This Saturday Western Tract Mission is having a Walkathon as a fund-raiser. Friends and supporters join the staff as they walk about 7-8 km walk alongside the wide Saskatchewan river that flows through Saskatoon. My role is to take photos before they start out, then drive to the Kinsmen Park, where I help set up for the picnic/barbecue at noon, and I count the sponsor monies that the walkers have turned in, to see who qualifies for the prizes.

If you are within driving distance, do come join us at 10 am on Spadina Crescent North, near White Swan Drive.

About a month of rains seem to have come to an end and we have had sunny days now since Saturday. Showers are due later today and tomorrow, but hopefully there will be plenty of sun again on Saturday.

As for business… do you recall the old song about the frog on the lily pad, doin’ what he ought’a? That’s me. I’m sitting in front of my computer(s) doin’ what I ought’a, and glad of it.

Do you know the contentment that comes with that?