21 AUG 2014 :: Another Thursday, another week "achieved"

It does feel good to actually finish another week of blog posts...even if they are basic sharing of the things that I am sorting through. Lots to get through.


I think it was yesterday that I was writing an email to a cousin I haven't communicated with for many years. When I started my Facebook account, I looked for her, but she wasn't involved with it. Her daughter forward some info for me, I think.  In my effort to answer her question about Working Together and GOD's lack of financial provisions, the topic of poverty and its effects became part of my email. I realized that I am near the 40 year anniversary of my first entry into the US Welfare system. That is a really sad event. It also brought to mind some of the hardships I had to face, the efforts I made that didn't work, and what the future might hold.

My cousin asked if I really thought GOD wanted me to do Working Together because He hasn't provided for it the way we normally would expect Him to. It would have taken a very long email to go through all the details of the past, so I let it go. I am hoping to write a larger book about Working Together, my path toward it, and the experiences that drive my goals for it. There are also many issues beyond my control involved. I believe GOD knows these things and they are part of His Plan for me. I know Working Together is badly needed for the survival of the Body of Christ in the days ahead, I just don't know how GOD will achieve its goals.

I like to remember 

different parts in the Bible

when things are difficult.

Jeremiah is one of them. I remember his people didn't want to hear the message GOD gave him to share so they put him in awful prisons and eventually killed him. When we don't want to do what GOD asks us to do, we like to avoid it by attacking the one He sends. This is true in evangelism, and is probably something to remember when we consider our votes...the ones who tell us the hardest truths are often rejected with the loudest (media) voice.

The Bible tells us that GOD moves the minds of leaders, the circumstances we face, and the way our goals evolve. We hear that nothing happens by chance. I like to think of Christ when He was standing before Pilate and He told Pilate that Pilate could do nothing to Him that GOD did not allow. What Pilate did to Christ is similar to what Judas did...they were used by GOD to fulfill His Will and Prophecies about the Savior.

It is hard to suffer for the things that are part of GOD's place in our lives. And the End Times will make that suffering more intense. We have to think ahead to what we can do, what we will do. All the things I have suffered in my life have shown me the Church needs to prepare. We don't have an exact prophecy like Joseph in Egypt, but we can see how our world is evolving and what the computer will do to our ability to survive. It is wise to prepare for our protection and fellowship needs.

There is no guarantee that Christians will escape the suffering of the Antichrist and the need to stand firm unto death because of a pre-Tribulation Rapture. It goes against everything else in the Bible. I hope you will join Working Together and help me to set up places we can gather as things get worse and worse.

In Christ,

20 AUG 2014 :: Managing my time.

The days are so full of the small things we have to get done...eating, showering, cleaning, etc. One of my efforts is to create a record of my days. I have it down on one page now (a long evolving process) and it includes a wide variety of information:

• space for my 10 Daily Goals
• a record of my food intake for the day (which I now have attached to the food groups and calorie counts)
• spaces for financial records (income, spending, and bills)
• some of the daily tasks I need to do for personal and business activities, like reading the Bible, entering the day's prayer focus in a small prayer journal, and [of] when I look at my email, Twitter and Facebook accounts, and other things
• a place to record mail sent out and mail arriving that day
• and a new place to remind me of how much time I have and how I am using it

It isn't an exact record, but I am figuring out what needs to [be] listed and what is just general. For example, when I started keeping track of my food, I wanted to record what I at and at what time. Now that I am more interested in watching my food groups, I have created a space that focuses on that. I am trying to decide how I want to record my food amounts now...where to put what information.

Creating a space to remember how I use my time is a new process, too. Wanting to record the information forces me to notice how long it takes to do things, how they add up, etc. When I first heard a sermon by Billy Graham on time, I was caught by his references to the same amount of time all of us have to accomplish what we need to do.  I sat down and tried to estimate how much time was taken up by sleeping (apx 7 hours a day), eating and food preparation -- including snacks and coffee (apx 5 hours a day), personal care time for showers and other things (apx 2 hours a day), and other things. This example already uses up 14 hours of the day. Work would take at least 10-12 hours depending on your travel time, lunch, and whether you work 8 or 10 hour days...which takes you up to or over the allotted 24 hours. Something has to give, and it is usually sleep and food.  This is not good for anyone.

My quest is to decide what is most important, how to fit it into my days, and how to keep from "burning out" and becoming a faithless Christian. Fitting in Bible time, family time, time for friends, time for hobbies, time to daydream, pray, meet new people, attend a class...all of these things are also important to the balanced life. Is GOD able to take care of the world? How important am I? What is essential for me to do, and what can (or must) be done by others.

This is all part of my reasoning for the four day workweek and part-time hours for everyone...as GOD allows. Our family structures and societies are crumbling because of our decision to put money ahead of many other things. When the End Times become harder, we will need to find work for as many Christians as we can...which makes part-time status even more critical. I am trying to decide the boundaries of what Working Together can do as I search the limits and possibilities of my own life.

Right now my body is saying I have to rest. So I will let you think about how to manage the priorities of GOD in your own life and families. Pray for me and Working Together, that GOD will provide for us all by establishing WT outreaches and programs.  Thank you.

19 AUG 2014 :: Learning to sell online

This morning I discovered EtsyOnSale.com while I was at my Etsy.com/shop/work2gather to see how it was doing. I haven't sold anything yet, but my listings need to get enlarged and more expensive (more time consuming and better). I was trying to figure out how they put things on sale when I discovered this option on a forum page. I will see how it goes. 

I decided to put my little art works on sale for 50% starting on the 21st and going through the 31st. I want to do more art, so I just put the starting listing up for sale.

Creating things to sell takes time...and I don't have a lot of that. I get challenged by my health issues and money issues and time issues and space issues. This is why I am working on my SMART GOALS, to sort through all this.  :-)

I have been exploring several selling sites and think Etsy will be a good investment in my time. It offers a lot of opportunity for little initial expense. It only costs 20 cents for a four month listing...and you can list 1 item or 999 items. When there are multiple items for one listing, the 20 cent charge happens after you sell one and it is automatically updated for the next one.

I am working out a schedule for the draft listings, which never expire, and that means I can list my Christmas or other holiday items as soon as I finish them and then post them at the right time. I am trying to sell unique collectible Christmas Ornaments every year during October and November, and regular Christmas stuff all three months (Oct to Dec). This year is a learning curve, but I hope to get it all organized by Dec so 2015 will work out right.

I want to focus on a few major events that are important to me, like Valentine's Day, Resurrection Sunday, Earth Day, 4th of July, and Christmas. Other holidays are secondary. Ongoing crafts will fit in anywhere. This is the plan...now I have to work out the process.

All of this is only going to happen if GOD provides some needed things.  Pray He does.  Thanks.

18 AUG 2014 :: Another week, another blog -- How things are going.

It's Monday...I kept putting this off and now I am so tired I almost want to let it go...but I am trying to keep up the quest for blogging posts.  :-)

I am discovering Twitter and Facebook these days. I hope to figure out Pinterest soon. When I get a way to do videos, I want to learn YouTube. After that, I don't know.

Twitter seems to be good for announcements. It's hard to make deep comments in 140 characters or less. I'm trying to figure out how to go to the sites I want to go to during my time online, instead of just going through the tweets that come through. I haven't figured out how to do that easily yet. I want to follow a lot of sites, but can't keep up with them unless there is a way to easily link to them. I hope it won't take too long to figure this out.

Facebook is becoming a favorite because I like to make long comments. I don't know if they get read, but I like to add my thoughts to whatever seems important on that day. I am trying to figure out the open and private options. It's a strange process, like Twitter, for contacting people you want to "talk" to, but I am trying to figure it out.  My search space doesn't ever work when I try it, so I haven't been able to use that for some quests...or maybe that was the Twitter search space. One of them doesn't work for me.  :-)

I am beginning to develop my SMART GOALS, and it is really starting to create a pathway. I am figuring out my short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals...for myself and for Working Together. I can't control all the pieces, but I am trying to find the pathway I can use to reach them.

I never bought a lottery ticket, don't know if someone won the prize, but when I get out again, I will try to check on it again. With all my goals for WT, I need that kind of money.  :-)   I just don't understand why GOD doesn't listen to me!  :-)    I'm working on my sales options, too...just in case the lottery doesn't come through.  :-)

I realized I left a word out of my last blog, so I will fix that today. Sorry for the wrong impression. Isn't it amazing what one missing word can do. 

Take care of yourself, pray for me if you can, and I will see you tomorrow...GOD willing.