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6 week countdown
There are only 6 weeks left until my new venture will be launched and revealed! I’m going to give you a few more bits to savor for now ~ I can’t just flat out tell you what the new venture is because that would ruin the surprise (and because it’s still in the design phase)!
What I can tell you is that this venture actually started about 3 years ago. My friend Holly started a cooking blog, What Would Martha Cook?, just about the same time that God was laying on my heart a new direction He wanted me to take. He reminded me of some promises I made when I was a young wife. At that time I begged Him to bring some mentors into my life. I needed other women who had some experience and wisdom to share with me on what I was supposed to be doing in my new role as a wife. I had no idea how to do even the mere basics of what most stay-at-home wives do. Poor Roger really went through some interesting kitchen experiments (aka meals) during the first couple years of our marriage. When we got married, I had no idea how to cook or clean or manage a household. No one had ever taught me those things. And so, as I realized how deficient I was in the areas of taking care of a family and a home, I promised God that when I became an “older woman” I would strive to pass along the knowledge I learned from my mentors.
Three years ago God reminded me of that promise along with a few others I have made. He told me it was time to head that direction. Now, I can’t honestly say I was thrilled at 39 years of age that God was telling me I was entering “older woman” territory. And of course I complained to Him about it. Do you know what He did with all of my complaining? He taught me with it ~ that’s usually what He does. And trust me, there was no shortage of complaining at that point. But as the weeks went by, and I finally let go of my self-ish-ness (read: all about myself) and pride regarding my age, He began to reveal to me something that was bigger than anything I would have ever imagined when I made that original promise to pass along what I learned from my mentors.
When I saw Holly’s cooking site, I just knew I had to contact her about it. You see, God had been using Martha (sister to Mary and Lazarus, not that other Martha) as an example to me. She was organized, she was prepared, she felt overwhelmed at times, and yet she was the one who, after her brother died, went out to the road to meet Jesus. It is Martha who opened her home to Jesus and His disciples when they came through town. It is Martha who is recorded for all time as the one who said to Jesus, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” (John 11:27) And wouldn’t you know, God found another way to emphasize the heart change Martha experienced after her previous encounter with Jesus in her home (see Luke 10:38-42). There was Holly’s cooking site ~ and Holly had used the Martha of the Bible as her example.
Over the past 3 years, Holly and I have been discussing and praying over this idea He planted in us. Some of it He gave to Holly, and some of it He gave to me. We’ve talked, emailed, and bounced ideas around and off of each other so many times now I’m not even sure which parts He gave to me and which He gave to Holly. It doesn’t really matter. After 3 years of waiting, praying, learning, growing, changing, and maturing, Holly and I are finally going to be able to put into action those ideas God gave us.
Six weeks from now ~ Wednesday, September 1, 2010 ~ our ideas will be put into action. The ideas God has given us that we have labored with, prayed over, and discussed ad nauseam will be available for the entire world to access. I’m a little nervous about it, but more than that I’m excited to finally be approaching our launch date. And I can’t wait to share it with you!
pray big
Pray Big * by Will Davis Jr. is a not-so-big book about prayer that could have huge impact on your life. Within its 201 pages, Davis encourages readers to use “pinpoint prayers.” Pinpoint prayers are specific, biblical prayers that are modeled after the Lord’s Prayer. Regarding the Lord’s Prayer, Davis writes
There’s no fluff, no fat, no extra words or theologically heavy terms. There’s just simple, spot-on, pinpoint accuracy from Jesus. With a mere fifty-eight Greek words, Jesus acknowledged the character and sovereignty of God, surrendered to the Father’s will, and sought provision, protection, and guidance from God. That’s pinpoint prayer.
If you long to pray confidently and accurately, using God’s Word as your only guide while praying His Word back to Him, Pray Big will show you how. No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord ~ whether you’re a newer Christian still learning about God, the Bible and prayer or a long-time, mature Christian ~ Pray Big was written for you.
*A review copy of Pray Big was provided to me by The B&B Media Group. I received no other compensation. My review, as always, expresses my true and honest opinion and thoughts.
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Praying with Boldness and Confidence
Author Will Davis Jr. helps readers pinpoint their needs and pray with passionate faith
Have you ever encountered a “Big Hairy Audacious Prayer”? Author Will Davis Jr. is a man who not only knows about asking big things from God, but he believes that all Christ-followers are equipped with the faith to make “Big Asks” from God! Beginning with the Lord’s Prayer as a biblical example, Davis teaches believers that God honors requests of His children that are specifically and biblically asked. Once believers learn to view God’s word as a prayer guide, the entire Bible becomes a treasure chest of promises and foundational prayers that enable Christ-followers to storm heaven’s gates with pinpoint accuracy!
Prayers should be so God-sized, so humanly impossible, and yet so utterly appealing that they totally consume you and drive you to your knees. Davis is not talking about a genie-in-a-lamp approach to prayer, but a prayer life that is founded upon God’s Word and one that gives new meaning to the biblical exhortation to come boldly before God’s throne. Davis, pastor of Austin Christian Fellowship in Austin, Texas, has written four books that offer a biblical foundation for making “Big Asks” of God and expecting miraculous results.
Pray Big: The Power of Pinpoint Prayers introduces the concept of Big Hairy Audacious Prayers (or BHAP’s) and reveals how vital our prayer lives are in the process of learning to submit to God and trusting Him with every detail of our lives. Whether you are begging for the salvation of a spouse, the removal of a cancerous tumor, or the resolution of a difficult financial situation, it is exciting to bring your requests before God when you are standing on biblical ground. Davis encourages believers to use Scripture intermingled with prayer so that requests can be made specifically and accurately. The practice of searching the Bible for God’s promises and direction will establish a solid foundation for making requests from your Heavenly Father. Examples of these requests might sound like this:
- “Father, help my children delight in your law and meditate on your word day and night.” (Psalm 3:3)
- “Mighty God, be a shield about me. Shine your glory on me and be a lifter of my head.” (Psalm 6:9)
- “Father, I pray you will hear [my loved one’s] cry for mercy and accept his prayer.” (Psalm 6:9)
Every believer is equipped with the mustard-seed of faith that makes prayer possible. So quit holding your breath, believer, and start breathing your heart to God in prayer! You will live differently, love differently, and begin to learn what it means to pray without ceasing.
Pray Big: The Power of Pinpoint Prayers by Will Davis Jr.
Revell/ISBN: 978-0-8007-3204-2/201 pages/softcover/$12.99
Become a fan of Will Davis on Facebook ~ Follow Will on Twitter ~ Watch Will on You Tube
nightmare by robin parrish
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Bethany House (July 1, 2010)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robin Parrish is a journalist who’s written about the intersection of faith and pop culture for more than a decade. Currently he serves as Senior Editor at XZOOSIA.com, a community portal that fuses social networking with magazine-style features about entertainment and culture.
He had two great ambitions in his life: to have a family, and to be a published novelist. In March of 2005, he proposed to his future wife the same week he signed his first book contract with Bethany House Publishers. They contracted him for the rights to The Dominion Trilogy: Relentless (2006), Fearless (2007), and Merciless (2008). His science fiction thriller, Offworld came out in 2009. This summer debuts Nightmare, and he’s working on another for 2011. Robin and his wife and children live in North Carolina.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Nightmare is Coming…
Ghost Town is the hottest amusement park in the country, offering state-of-the-art chills and thrills involving the paranormal. The park’s main ride is a haunted house that promises an encounter with a real ghost.
When Maia Peters visits during her senior year of college, she’s not expecting to be impressed. Maia grew up as the only child of a pair of world-renowned “ghost hunters,” so the paranormal is nothing new and to her most of the park is just Hollywood special effects. In fact, the ride feels pretty boring until the very end. There, a face appears from the mist. The face of Jordin Cole, a girl Maia knows who disappeared from campus a few months ago.
Convinced what she saw wasn’t a hoax and desperate to find answers to Jordin’s disappearance, Maia launches into a quest for answers. Joined by Jordin’s boyfriend–a pastor’s kid with very different ideas about paranormal and the spirit realm–Maia finds herself in a struggle against dangerous forces she never expected to confront on the edge of the spirit realm that try to keep the truth from emerging.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Nightmare, go HERE.
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Trish’s Take
I liked this book.* Plain and simple. I like Robin Parrish’s books ~ the guy has some big time imagination. Nightmare is pretty creepy, and if you’re sensitive to paranormal stuff, you might want to read this during the day. I had to put it down and walk away several times in the beginning, and I definitely kept my reading time to daylight hours. By the time I was halfway through the book, I had come up with about 10 ways the book could end. None of my endings were correct. And of course Robin’s ending was different than anything I could have come up with. You’ll just have to read Nightmare yourself to find out what happens! 
*A copy of this book was provided to me for review by BethanyHouse through CFBA. I received no other compensation, and my review expresses my true and honest opinion.
kroger gift card winner
Congratulations to Lawanna, the winner of the Kroger Gift Card Giveaway! She won a $30 gift card good at any of the Kroger Family of Stores; even better, her pledge at pfpchallenge.com contributed to Feeding America’s efforts to feed the hungry in America.
mr. right experience
I’ve used Pantene’s Curly Hair: Dry to Moisturized** twice now. And I will be completely honest with you. While my hair is less frizzy and feels pretty soft, I’m a little concerned about what I’m putting on my scalp and hair.
Yesterday morning after I had applied the conditioner to my hair and rinsed off my hands, I noticed my hands were a little bit sticky. They were also a little bit slick. That’s an odd combination, isn’t it?
It makes me nervous to think about what’s actually in this shampoo and conditioner. I have an appointment with my master hair stylist soon. I’ll ask him what he thinks about these shampoos and conditioners.
**One sample size bottle each of Pantene’s Curly Hair Dry to Moisturized shampoo and conditioner were provided at no cost to me by VocalPoint.
pound for pound challenge
Right now you can do something to help feed the hungry in America, and help yourself in the process. I’m talking about the Pound for Pound Challenge ~ through June 30, 2010, for every pound of excess weight you pledge to lose, the Pound For Pound Challenge will donate 14¢ to Feeding America® — enough to deliver one pound of groceries to a local food bank.
MyBlogSpark is helping people be a part of the Pound for Pound Challenge, too. Through MyBlogSpark, the Kroger Family of Stores is offering readers of my blog the opportunity to win a $30 gift card, good at any of the Kroger Family of Stores across America.** The Kroger Family of Stores includes Kroger, Fred Meyer, Ralph’s, King Soopers, City Market, Dillon’s, Smith’s, Fry’s, QFC, Baker’s, Owen’s, Jay C Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Food4Less, Pay Less Super Markets and Scott’s Food & Pharmacy.
To participate in the Pound for Pound Challenge ~ and enter to win the $30 gift card ~ go to www.pfpchallenge.com and make your pledge. Then simply send me an email (trish at joyfulheartblog dot com) letting me know you joined me in the challenge!
As the official supplier of the Biggest Loser Ranch and partner of the Pound for Pound Challenge, the Kroger Family of Stores wants to help you achieve your goals. If you’re a fan of the Biggest Loser, you may have seen several great General Mills products featured on the show. These products, including Yoplait Greek yogurt, Total, and Multigrain Cheerios, are available at your local Kroger Family of Stores and can help you stick to your weight management plan.
So don’t wait (because there’s only one week left to make your pledge!). Hop on over to www.pfpchallenge.com and make your pledge. You’ll also find information there about the challenge, Feeding America, The Biggest Loser, and who’s participating in the Pound for Pound Challenge to help feed the hungry in America.
Don’t forget to send me an email (trish at joyfulheartblog dot com) to enter the drawing for a $30 gift card from the Kroger Family of Stores! The winner of the giveaway will be announced on my blog Thursday, July 1, 2010. The winner will need to supply me with their full name and mailing address. In order for the gift card to be sent out, I will need to give the name and address of the winner to MyBlogSpark. Don’t worry though! Your information will not be used for any other purpose than to send you the $30 gift card.
**The Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills provided me with a $30 gift card to use myself, as well as the information provided here, and the $30 gift card for the giveaway through MyBlogSpark. The
mr. right
I received a box in the mail today from VocalPoint.** As soon as I took the plastic wrap off the box, a wonderful scent hit my nose. Yuuuuummmmyyyy. I opened the box and found samples of Pantene’s “Curly Hair Series” shampoo and conditioner. I am looking forward to giving them a try this week. If nothing else, I’ll love the way my hair smells ~ I haven’t been able to take my nose away from the conditioner bottle because it smells so good!
I ordered the Curly Hair: Dry to Moisturized shampoo and conditioner samples through VocalPoint, and they along with the good folks at Pantene were kind enough to send them to me. In return, I promised to let them know what I think of their new shampoo and conditioner. I’ll let you know what I think of them, too.
It’s probably a good thing I haven’t yet made the appointment to have a large portion of my somewhere-between me curly hair chopped off. I’ll give the shampoo and conditioner a try before I do that. Pantene also has new shampoos and conditioner sets, along with styling aids, for Fine, Medium-Thick and Color-treated hair. After my hair cut I may have to try either the Curly Hair: Curly to Straight or the Medium-Thick sets.
**One sample size bottle each of Pantene’s Curly Hair Dry to Moisturized shampoo and conditioner were provided at no cost to me by VocalPoint.
bloggy blahs and a new website
I’ve noticed quite a few bloggers have been feeling the bloggy blahs lately. It’s only natural I suppose, as kids take a break from school and the weather is warm. that we would desire to spend less time inside sitting in front of the computer. And let’s be honest ~ there are only so many times one can write posts for a blog without running into a brick wall of bloggy blahs.
I find myself with the bloggy blahs probably more often than the average blogger. It’s a known aspect of my personality ~ I tend to withdraw from social scenes occasionally to regroup on a personal level and take stock of the activities that I spend time on. I guess it’s not so much that I have the bloggy blahs as it is I honestly have run out of things that I want to say (or write) publicly.
For the past couple of years my posts have been sporadic at best. That’s okay with me. That’s the real me ~ I have spurts of energy, and I have days (or even weeks) when reading a book, playing with my granddaughter, talking with my kids and hanging out with my husband is all I really care to do ~ or have the energy and ability to do. I’ve never felt I have an obligation to blog ~ I do it because I enjoy it. At times blogging can be very cathartic for me; at other times I just don’t feel a need or desire to publish my thoughts to be read for all eternity on the internet.
My friend Holly and I have been talking about publishing a website together for quite a while ~ 3 years or so. We recently took some pretty big steps in moving closer to making our plans a reality. We’re both very excited about this project, and we’re looking forward to being able to share all of the information. For now I can say that our site will be for Christian women who long to use their time wisely while blessing their families and growing in their relationship with Christ.
This new site will take a considerable amount of my time to maintain. For me that’s a major challenge, and I already know I will need a lot of grace, understanding and forgiveness from both the readers and the other writers. Time is often a commodity I possess but am unable to use due to physical limitations. I’m thankful to have friends and loved ones who faithfully pray for me; I am also blessed with a family that is exceedingly understanding, and a husband who is willing to step in and make up for my short comings in any way he can.
So, with the new site set to launch in the near future, what is to become of this blog? I honestly don’t know yet. There are a lot of factors to consider ~ I haven’t finished considering them all yet. I’m in the wait-and-see phase regarding this blog right now. One of the things God began teaching me a long time ago is to not get ahead of Him by making plans of my own and expecting things to work the way I expect them to work. God’s plans are always better than mine. I know from many personal experiences that it’s always best to seek God’s wisdom and direction.
I will be able to share more information about the new site (project) soon. Until then:
the gracious pantry
I have discovered a fantastic source for clean eating recipes and encouragement. The Gracious Pantry offers all kinds of recipes ~ from the 365 oatmeal recipe project (on going) to homemade clean ketchup and whole wheat pie crust. Author Tiffany McCauley has stocked The Gracious Pantry with plenty of articles and lots of encouragement to assist you on your journey through a clean eating lifestyle.
There are as many definitions of what “clean eating” is as there are people, but Tiffany handles that possible problem right away in “Getting Started on Your Clean Eating Plan.” Tiffany offers advice on defining what clean eating means to you specifically, then guides you through the process of stocking your clean eating pantry, making recipe substitutions, and some basic clean eating foods.
Clean eating foodies rejoice! The Gracious Pantry is a mecca of clean eating recipes. Tiffany is gracious, and so encouraging. She even offers advice on how to accomplish clean eating on a restrictive budget. If you’ve been looking for someone to travel with on the road of clean eating, you’ll be glad to know Tiffany is there to accompany you. I highly recommend The Gracious Pantry.
making money from home (f.i.r.s.t. book review)
** A special thanks goes out to Maggie Rowe at Tyndale House Publishers for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. While I do from time to time accept copies of books from publishers and/or authors, I own my reviews. My reviews are my honest opinion, and will never be influenced by any sort of compensation. **
Donna Partow’s Making Money from Home: How to Run a Successful Home-Based Business breaks down the business of starting and running a home-based business into digestible bites. She takes the process of setting up a business from home and divides it into its most sensible parts, going through all of the more common, mainstream approaches to making money from home.
The best thing Donna has done in this book, however, is to give some much-needed, sound, good old fashioned “no duh” advice. I mean no disrespect to Donna by that statement ~ in truth, I think she has done a terrific job of explaining a topic it seems almost everyone is interested in these days. I appreciate her down to earth approach ~ her book is candid and realistic. There are no get rich quick schemes here. In fact, Donna states quite frankly “The Top Ten Ways to Avoid Scams” (pg 16). At the end of every chapter are several questions designed to help the reader think through more clearly and thoroughly the principles set forth in that chapter.
Here’s an example of Donna’s wise advice:
Your marriage is the foundation of that family, and it would be a cruel irony if the home business you start for the sake of your family ends up tearing your family apart instead. (p 244)
Wise words ~ and some common sense ~ rule throughout Making Money from Home by Donna Partow. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in starting a home-based business.
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It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
and the book:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (March 4, 2010)
***Special thanks to Maggie Rowe of Tyndale House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***
Donna Partow is a bestselling Christian author whose books have sold almost a million copies. She has travelled in ministry on six continents and has been featured on hundreds of radio and TV shows, including the Focus on the Family daily broadcast. Donna has operated her own home-based business since being laid off as an investment banker in 1988, routinely generating a six-figure annual sales volume. She has spoken nationwide on the topic of women’s entrepreneurship, including two engagements at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Donna also appeared three years in a row at Senator John McCain’s conference for Arizona women. She attended the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts & Sciences, and Wharton Business School. She holds a B.A. in English from Rutgers University. Donna and her family live in Arizona.
Visit the author’s website.
Product Details:
List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (March 4, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1589976088
ISBN-13: 978-1589976085
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Part I
Foundations for a
Home-Based Business
Seven years ago, Kimber King was a busy stay-at-home mom with three boys, ages six, four, and two. She wasn’t looking for a way to make money from home, but when she began using a line of products that dramatically impacted her health; she couldn’t help telling everyone she knew about it. Kimber recalls, “The products were sold through a network marketing company and I actually had a very negative view of the industry. But the results I had with my own health far outweighed all the negative things I felt about the business.” So she quickly signed up enough family and friends to reach the top rank level in her company in the first six weeks. Within ninety days, her monthly earnings matched the full-time income she had previously been paid in the corporate world.
Kimber soon began reaching beyond her immediate circle of contacts through social networking on the Internet. She recalls, “One night I stumbled upon a site on the Internet that described itself as a business networking site. It was free and on the site you had the opportunity to create a profile page for yourself. I dove right in and started connecting with a ton of people. I did some things very naturally that literally launched my business on the Internet and to this day, from this one site I have an organization of six thousand plus members. Then I started branching out onto other sites like message boards and forums. I began cultivating online relationships mostly focusing on other stay-at-home moms.”
Another of Kimber’s success secrets is working with a personal business coach. Although she was earning a great income from home, she was working long hours on the computer and her income had remained the same for nearly two and a half years. “It was a very lucrative income for a stay-at-home mom of three,” she says, “But I began to have great goals for my family and helping others, and I was frankly stuck.”
Within eight weeks of working with the network marketing coach, Kimber was earning a monthly five-figure income and an annual six figure income while reducing her workload to less than twenty hours per week.
Kimber also credits her parents for much of her success. “My dad instilled a spirit of excellence in me. By watching my mother work in her own hair salon, I learned how to treat customers.” Kimber says the key is focusing on others. “It’s always about them and not me! What are their needs? What are their goals? What are their strengths? What are their desires? It’s never been about me and my income goals or rank advancements. If you focus on others, all that will come! One of my mentors says it like this: ‘If you focus on the mission, you get the commission!’ ”
Trust in God is also central to her business approach. As she explains, “When I start a dialogue with someone, my main intention is to discover how I can bless them. It might not be about business at all. It’s all about relationships first and then anything that flows out of it from there I leave up to God! I trust Him completely with my business and that He will also put those in front of me that I am supposed to serve. When people ask what I do to create success in my home business, I tell them two simple things: Pray and take action. I pray for those who are looking for me and for those I can serve. Then I pick up that phone
or connect with someone. “Faith without works is dead!” I have faith in my heavenly Father to provide the way but I also know that I have to step out on that path in faith.”
Kimber has stepped out in faith knowing that God is the provider in her home business and that’s made all the difference. Now seven years later, she earns a six-figure income from home, working part-time, raising her sons, and modeling the same entrepreneurial spirit she saw in her own mother.
1
Discover the
Advantages of
Working from Home
Let me begin with a brief look at the “why ” of running a home-based business to show you the benefits, because your motivation and belief in the benefits are what keep you going when the going gets tough. But then we’ll quickly shift gears to the more essential and practical how-to suggestions on the following pages.
Like any job, working at home offers both advantages and disadvantages. In the days and months ahead, times of discouragement will come. You may struggle with prioritization and time management. In addition to those burdens, the physical and emotional demands of promoting your business can drain you. You may begin to wonder if all your hard work is worthwhile, and you may even be tempted to give up your plans. In those moments, turn back to this chapter, reexamine the many benefits of working at home, and redouble your efforts to succeed. Remember, anything worth having is worth fighting for.
Your Home Can Be the Center of Your Life
There’s no place like home. I believe that with all my heart. Home can be the center of our lives, not just the place we come to recover from our lives. We can create an environment that fosters creativity and launch not just one narrow home business but a broad range of income-generating activities.
My first home-based business was in marketing communications: writing press releases, brochures, and ad campaigns. It was hard to get people to take me seriously as I tried to compete with the big-city advertising agencies. But I had a talent for writing and was absolutely determined to be a stay-at-home mother. I landed my largest client when I walked into his office wearing a dark pinstriped business suit and pushing my newborn in her stroller. Thisman said he was impressed with my motivation and touched by my priorities.
Over the past twenty years, I’ve launched countless different moneymaking enterprises. Some were dismal failures; others were wildly successful. Most were somewhere in between. As of this writing, I have a dozen income sources. Granted, some provide only $20 here and there. But hey, $20 is $20!
Let me illustrate. While away on a recent missions trip to Mozambique, I received checks from three businesses, totaling $800.The amazing part is that it was all passive income from businesses I had set up on autopilot on the Internet.
How would you like to earn $800 a week? Would you be thrilled with $800 a month? Maybe you plan to become a business tycoon and earn $800 a day. It’s up to you! But whatever your financial goals, I’m here to tell you that anyone can make extra money or have a full-time career from home if he or she is willing to work smart.
For almost twenty years, I’ve been a leader in promoting home-based businesses for women. I have spoken around the country on the topic of women’s entrepreneurship, including two events at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and three conferences hosted by Senator John McCain. I have loudly proclaimed my firm conviction that every man and woman in America should develop some creative way to make extra money from home. And, under appropriate learning conditions, children, too, should develop those skills.
You Can Be Available for Your Children and Others
By working from home, you can avoid the hassles and costs of day care (which are far more substantial than most people realize) and enjoy spending time with your children. Even if you have to hire a babysitter to watch your kids in your home while you work, you’ll be available at a moment’s notice if needed. And you can keep a watchful eye on all that
goes on throughout the day rather than sitting at a desk wondering if your children are okay.
My older daughter, Leah, is now in college. She was homeschooled much of her life, and I was a stay-at-home mom throughout her entire childhood. Although I was often extremely busy working forty hours a week, and even more on my businesses, I was always available when she truly needed me. Won’t it be nice, when your children reach adulthood, to look back and say the same?
Perhaps you have a disabled family member or are caring for elderly parents. Maybe someone in your home has a chronic illness, and you need to be available for doctor and other appointments. Working from home allows you to be there to care for them and gives you the flexibility to take time off during the day, setting your own schedule.
You Can Be a Positive Role Model for Your Children
Some would argue, “I’m too busy raising my children to run a home business.”
I counter, “Don’t you think it just makes sense to include your children in your business so they learn to be entrepreneurial and self sufficient under God’s sufficiency? Don’t you think that training them to run their own businesses might prove to be more significant than running them around to various afterschool activities?”
Fortunately neither of my daughters has the mind-set that some corporation is going to give her a paycheck and job security for the rest of her life. That is an absolute delusion. We need to train our children for the real world, where wise people use the gifts God has given them to mind their own businesses—even if they also have careers. Both of my daughters, who are now nineteen and thirteen, have already had many moneymaking businesses. They’ve done everything from making bookmarks and jewelry to running my book table and processing credit-card orders from my Web site.
When my oldest daughter was fifteen, she organized a teen missions conference that attracted seven hundred people. I had very little involvement. How did she know how to do that? She’s been working at Christian conferences since she was two years old! Leah has also raised thousands of dollars for her various missions trips by making and selling
crystal bracelets
In addition to being able to watch my children grow while I worked from home, they also watched me grow as a businesswoman. By observing me model entrepreneurship, both ofmy daughters learned valuable business skills.
You Can Help Shoulder the Financial Load
Not only can you work from home; you should. With few exceptions, it’s unwise to rely solely on one income source in today’s unstable economy. Now more than ever, I thank God that I have multiple streams of income from my various home-based enterprises. All over the world, mothers not only nurture their families, but they also play a vital role in ensuring the economic survival of their families. I’ve seen this with my own eyes as I’ve traveled worldwide—from the subsistence farmer in Africa bent over her crops with a baby slung on her back to the Asian mother selling items in the local market while children sit nearby, often working as well.
Women throughout history have contributed to the economic survival of their families. We can do the same, and if we exercise wisdom, we can do so in a way that won’t detract from our role as nurturers. In fact, working from home will enhance all of the roles we play and increase our stature in the eyes of our family members. My children not only love me, but they also openly admire me. How can you put a price tag on that?
You Can Enjoy a Sense of Accomplishment
One of the most important things I hope my children have learned from observing me making money from home is that productive work is not a punishment; in fact, it’s inherently rewarding. Many of us have experienced that exhilarating feeling of working hard to complete a project or the joy of beholding something we’ve made with our own hands. A home business will provide abundant opportunities for you to enjoy that exhilaration.
As the old saying goes, “If Mamma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” It’s equally true that when Mamma is happily enjoying a sense of accomplishment, everyone around her benefits. I think I’ve modeled a wonderful lifestyle for my daughters. It’s a lifestyle I’m quite certain they’ll choose to replicate.
You Can Be Your Own Boss
Many people fear dependence on a corporation because they have had the rug pulled out from under them or have seen it happen to so many of their colleagues. The days when you could rely on a company to look out for your best interests are long gone. While you’re working diligently for XYZ Corporation, it’s entirely possible they’re filling out your pink slip. Once you establish your own home-based business, you’ll have the pleasure of signing your own paycheck. And when you think you deserve a raise, you can give yourself one.
When you work for an employer, you’re required to work when, where, and how they choose. When you have your own home business, you have more control over when, where, and how you work. Of course, you’re still responsible to your customers, and there will be crunch times when you don’t have a choice about how many hours you put in. But there is usually much more time flexibility when you are your own boss.
Once in a while when I’m struggling with some aspect of my home business, one of my relatives will joke, “Donna, you should go back to banking.” But we all know I’m completely unemployable! I’ve been my own boss for too long, and I don’t think I could ever go back to having someone else tell me what to do with my time.
You Can Continue Your Career
Many women spend years training for a career before their children arrive on the scene. Teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, and many other professionals can quite easily transfer their hard-earned skills to a home-based business. Knowing that your career isn’t on hold will give you satisfaction, even though the majority of your time may be spent with family. This is especially important if you want to resume your before children career after the children have grown.
The amazing thing about the Internet is how easy it now is for a woman to stay current and relevant in her field while mothering and earning money from home. These types of opportunities were hard to come by when I wrote my first home-based business book. Now they abound. Let’s hear it for technology!
There Are Opportunities for Tremendous Success
When you work nine to five for someone else’s company, to a large extent your boss controls how well you do. But when you work for yourself, only your ability and determination set the limits, assuming you start with a great product or service people want. Maybe there’s something you’ve always dreamed of doing. Now is your chance to do it! You
may aspire only to make a little extra money, but there’s always the chance that your “silly idea” will catch on, and you’ll find yourself transformed into a very successful entrepreneur. Someone has to think up those great ideas. Why not you?
I know a number of Christian women who earn six-figure incomes thanks to their home businesses. Yes, you read that right. Six figures! I even know women who’ve earned more than a million dollars, and one woman who has earned several million. With few exceptions, these women did not set out to achieve such tremendous success. They were just doing what they loved, and the success followed. Put another way, they were walking in obedience, and God’s blessings chased them down the street and overtook them. It could happen to you!
The Top Ten Ways to Avoid Scams
1. Surf with caution. Understand that the mainstreaming of the Internet has created both good news and bad news for aspiring home-based business entrepreneurs. Good news: Opportunities abound. Bad news: Scams abound.
2. Beware advertisements. No legitimate company on the planet will advertise to hire an employee to work from home. Not gonna happen. Never. No, not ever. Why? Very simple: If a company had a legitimate interest in hiring employees to work from home, there would be an instantaneous pileup of current employees and their circles of influence. The very fact that a company is advertising work from home is your first clue that it’s a scam.
3. Never buy a list or directory of companies that supposedly hire people to work from home. These are phony! Once and for all: The answer to the question of who will hire you, keep you secure, pay you lots of money, and grant you the freedom to set your own hours from home is no one. You don’t need a list or directory of no one.
4. Choose freedom or security. I constantly hear from people who want the freedom of working from home as well as the perceived security of a job. Freedom and security are always a trade. Will you give up some of your freedom for security? Or will you give up some of your security in return for freedom? You’ll never have both in full measure. Accept reality: You cannot ha e your cake and eat it too.
5. Understand the role of oDesk and similar outsourcing Web sites. In the introduction, I mentioned the emergence of Web sites like oDesk and, in one sense, this is an example of companies looking for people to work from home. And yes, many Americans are trying to capitalize on this new trend. Some are e en succeeding. Howe er, for the most part, companies who post on oDesk aren’t “hiring”; they’re simply outsourcing on a project-by-project basis for the express purpose of not hiring employees. So although some opportunities exist, I belie e sites like oDesk are actually bad news for any North American woman who wants to work from home and is hoping she might find someone to hire her. If you thought the competition was fierce when millions of Americans were looking to work from home, now millions more people around the globe are in the mix. You’ll ha e to compete with people who are willing to work for a few dollars an hour, and it’s nearly impossible to build a successful North American business like that. Now, if you’re willing to move overseas, that’s a whole new ball game, and oDesk can become your very best friend. That’s well beyond the scope of this book, but if it’s something you’re interested in pursuing, read The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss.
6. Know the code. As soon as you hear phrases like “more work than I can handle” or “looking to train someone” or “just want to help others duplicate my success,” run for the door. Or click the mouse. It’s a scam. If these people really had more work than they could handle, their relatives and friends would be beating down the door to get in on it. But since it’s a scam and they’ e already driven away all their friends and relatives, they’re on the Internet trying to scam you. Don’t be fooled. . Beware whirlwind friendships. There are some unethical people whose entire marketing strategy consists of befriending people just to recruit them for this, that, or the other “business opportunity.” Over the years a number of people have swept into my life with a friendship that felt more like a whirlwind romance. In every instance it turned out they were in a network marketing business. As soon as they discovered I wasn’t interested, the whirlwind friendship ended, and they moved on to the next person.
8. Check it out. Don’t rely on information provided by the person trying to sell you. Turn to Google, the Better Business Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to verify the claims and promises.
9. Take your time. Don’t let anyone pressure you into making a decision on the spot. If it’s a great opportunity today, it will be a great opportunity a week from today.
10 . Big dollars should raise a big red flag. It shouldn’t cost more than $500 to $1,000 to launch a business from home.