13 September 2017

Hello on Wednesday!

I almost went to bed without doing my post... I had a busy day and got carried away with my yardwork challenge.  I will probably be too sore to move much tomorrow.

I am busy with the same things every day... all my ongoing goals and daily duties...  A boring life to some.  I do hope to make it a little bit better by next year, and expand my lists of things to do in 2018.

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I was inspired recently to try again to sell my digital product at Etsy.  I currently have just one item, my writing called "Servants." but it is a good item for the Christian household, as daily inspiration and reminder or as a gift item. 

The big problem with digital sales is that they are hard to monitor once they leave you.  I remember my teen years had people sharing audio tapes of the things they loved, then disks were copied and shared, and now we have file sharing.  The issue still exists, but the methods have changed.

In trying to solve this problem for myself, I decided that someone who wanted to give the file as a gift could purchase a separate file for each person on their list.  That would make it an honest transaction... no guilt, no fear, no problems.  The file contents can be printed, framed for giving, and then shared with the intended recipient.  Later you can send them their file copy.

I have been thinking of this for some time, but not sure what is already in place.  Once I get the funds to work this out on my own website, it would be a great sales option.  Until then, I am trusting my customers to do what is right -- especially the intended audience of Christians.

Sound good?
I think so.
I just need to make my first million to implement all my plans !!  :-)

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I may use this sales effort as a practice run for my first social media membership drive for Working Together this December... well, my first real effort, with outreach advertising.  I hope this works out this time.  I will be updating my website with PayPal sales links... and working out the final details by then.

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I have to go now.
Talk to you tomorrow, GOD willing.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May we all see tomorrow.
May we find the answers we need.
May GOD provide for our efforts.
Thank you, Lord, for all your blessings.
Watch over all the people who are suffering right now.
Bring them speedy recoveries... help them to make it through each day...
Touch their lives in a special way so they know you love them.
Amen.

15 August 2017

This day was long...
I was able to listen to some news today... and made a comment about it at ABC's Facebook page for their world news program.  I don't think I have ever made a comment there before.  I have done some @ABC posts at Twitter...  :-)  I'm sure my comments get lost in the floods of responses they get, but I still feel the need to make my statements.  It is why I do things like this blog and others.  Why I want to write books.  I don't know if I'm the silent majority, but I am pretty sure I'm not heard clearly. 

Today I have been thinking about faith, and about prayer, and about what applies to this journaling process.  My life consists of faith and prayer... they are the only reason I still exist.  I apply my faith in GOD to every problem I face.  I suppose that means everything in my life would fit into this blog somehow. 

My concerns for America are among the issues I talk to God about.

When Trump ran for President, I didn't think he would get very far.  I haven't seen many "ordinary" people even get into these races.  His media manipulations were very amazing, and the response of the people even more astounding.  In my own thoughts, I wondered if he could make the changes we need in our country to become healthy again, to change the focus of Washington from taxes to business strategies that would support the programs created and eventually create income. His business background was the main reason I hoped his Presidency would work.

I don't like all that Trump seems to stand for, but every president has issues with some part of America and the world... no one is perfect.  If the citizens elected him, we needed to figure out why... and look for God's reasons for lifting him up into that position.  Every candidate says lots of things when they are campaigning, but no one is a one-man government.  Everything changes when you get up into the job.  You find out things you didn't know before the election, you discover more divisions, actually doing what you said you would do becomes impossible.  This is life in our times... this is our election process.

What does America need?  We all seem to have different ideas about what will solve our many problems.

Can we survive anything the way we think we can?  We think the past will be the future...forgetting that we are subject to the same laws of the universe as everyone else.

Are we really invincible?  Is military might our only claim to fame?  Bigger images than ours have been brought down by things they never expected... we are very vulnerable to harm in our age, through the computer, through the lack of morals, through the economic burden we have created for ourselves, and more.

If God's protections are no longer part of our story, what will His judgment look like?  The Bible cites natural judgments that create great suffering are God's tools to turn people back to Himself... our economies are so fragile, and we base our plans on things that won't exist much longer... bankruptcy is a long process, but it eventually happens when our financial choices are bad, the economy is faulty, or disaster hits.

I don't expect to live that much longer, so the problems I see will most likely affect other people. My children and other family and friends may be among them. 

When my life became so immersed in poverty issues, I searched for solutions.  In creating Working Together  (http://work2gather.us) I had hoped to build new ways of doing things to change what poverty does to lives.  It was an effort to move away from government provision and control.  Then it became a ministry focused on the Christians who would suffer what the Bible says is coming. 

I'm not sure I can accomplish any of my goals for Working Together, but I am doing what I can in those directions.  I spend my time planning what I might do if God provides before I am gone.  It has become my life to find answers to the needs I know will exist, and to watch for the signs of trouble that may apply to prophecies in the Bible. 

Today, I looked for more answers, tried to find a path to the future, prayed for God to protect and provide, did what I could.
I will do the same tomorrow.

Holy God, hear my prayers.  Show me the way to Your Will.  Guide my life into the place you want me to be.  Provide for my needs.  Protect me from harm.  Amen.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

13August :: Finding a new schedule

After months of trying to figure out how to build a future, I have decided to make this blog my journal spot for personal and spiritual issues... most likely a four-day entry that matches my chosen work week... Monday through Thursday.

My blog/s for Working Together will become a weekly or a monthly process.  I haven't decided yet whether it will be the public place for the email newsletters and other publications for WT programs, but it may also work that duty.  Right now, the plan is just to post regular updates on developments with Working Together and build an email list for newsletters.

My personal craft-related blog, Crafts Explored, will become active again as I post my creative efforts.  No schedule, just posting as I record my crafting efforts. My workspaces are getting organized, my project ideas are getting figured out, my supplies are growing, I have a decent camera to take photos, and mobile access for posting more easily.  Things are better than they were before, and continue to improve as I get better equipment.  I hope to include video efforts soon.

These schedules seem to be the most reasonable option for me right now.  Journaling is more appealing to me than social media entries, but Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., will still be part of my outreach efforts.  As God provides, there will be people hired to deal with the sites I can't get to.

Every day I am moved to share ideas I discover, opinions about things that I consider questionable, thoughts about things I am working out in my own life and walk with God.  Journaling seems like a better way to separate the people who are part of the different activities I get involved in...so those who want to read my words can read them, and others are not involved in that process.

Issues of faith are getting more critical as the days pass. I feel it is important to talk about the differences we have, and find a way to help each other.  Somehow...someway...someday.  (I think those words are in a song somewhere...I can almost hear it...)

Until tomorrow,
May God provide what we need to accomplish His Will and to protect His People. 
May we be wise with what we already have, and prepare for what might be ahead. 

Remember that God loves us all, but He seems to love the poor, the widows, the fatherless, and the helpless most of all.  He is willing to avenge the wrongs done to them, and to bless those who personally care for them. 

When you give, make sure you know what your money is used for.

Love, in Christ,

Deborah Martin
Portland  OR, USA