#My2020PatreonChalleng update for 23 JAN 2020

It has been a long day.  I have been thinking about what to blog today.  Making a planned schedule changes a lot of things.  I want to decide on topics that relate to #My2020PatreonChallenge.   I haven't decided what those topics would be... yet.

I have tentatively made Tuesday and Wednesday sales related... things like making listings, creating products to sell, etc.

This week I spent hours at PRINTFUL making new designs for my ETSY integration with them. I had lots of problems with my computer later in the evening and couldn't get several efforts done.

I may have lost one design/listing and have to do it all over again.  It's a hard learning curve to work so long on a design and have it get messed up on upload.  The design was fine on my computer, but not OK when it went to Etsy.

Today I went back to ETSY for hours and checked my listings, revised and updated almost all of them, and made posts to PATREON and Facebook (the only site available at the time).  I am getting an idea of a workable schedule.

Sunday - planning
Monday - Patreon updates
Tuesday - sales activities
Wednesday - sales activities
Thursday - blog updates
Friday - Sabbath prep and whatever I can fit in
Saturday - Sabbath rest and whatever I can do in the evening

This is just the beginning effort to get everything checked and done.  As I actually face the needs of my days, the "schedule" has to change to deal with them.  :-)

What did I list?

A new mug design.
A new long-sleeve t-shirt design.
A new sweatshirt design.

I ordered my logo cup as a sample from PRINTFUL and it is on its way - according to my email notification.  :-)   I tried out the process already with a mug.  This time I ordered the 15oz mug instead of the 11oz .  I haven't decided on which shirt design to order yet.  I can't afford to buy all my designs, but that is a goal for the future.

I had a great design on a black large eco tote, but it got lost in the computer issues.  I also tried to transfer my t-shirt design to a different style t-shirt and couldn't get that to work.  I tried making a design on the blanket they have.  I just wanted to see what it looked like with words.  Interesting, but not a job for their software.  I have to wait until I get a better computer and the ADOBE software to really explore my design options.  I am praying for a quick and positive answer from GOD!  :-)

One of my pages at Facebook is called Prayers.  I originally set it up to go with ACTION PRAYER at Working Together  (work2gather.us) but have passed through a valley on how to get it going.  A recent experience has focused me on public prayer for people who would never know someone is praying for them and others.  Today I entered another post about my process and thoughts.  It shared something (in bold below) that has had me thinking since I wrote it.

23 January 2020
about noon my time

I am almost ready to start posting... I just need to decide my format - a pattern to keep up, if there can be one. I know there are millions of news stories I could pray about, tons of post topics to pray about, and my own goals and experiences to pray for... but this new direction I am going in needs to be focused on sharing my prayers for people GOD has placed on my heart. That is very different. I have been praying for some of these people for many, many years but they don't know that. Public prayer is hard. Public prayer for people who may hate, oppose, dislike, disagree with, and become angry about is much harder. I think prayer is the first step in reaching people, it is like bringing them into GOD's attention. I hope everyone finds heaven, but I know so many will not... and that means their eternity will be in hell and in the Lake of Fire. It's hard to know that.

In Christ, Deborah Martin

The world believes that GOD is a myth, that faith has no meaning.  I have always wondered how GOD reaches people when their lives are so "successful" in their eyes.  The Bible talks about the "rich man" and what happens.  As I have noted their lives, prayed for them, and wished I could do more, the words of the Bible always become attached to our world's existence.  It leads me to keep wondering what "success" really looks like.

It's a difficult issue to even think about.  Each one is a living person just like me and you... but their reality is so different.  Some have been trying to find their place in our world their whole life.  We can't change the place where we come from, the lives we had no control over... we can only make a decision to be saved today, and go on from there.

These "rich" people fight the same battles we do, but at a different level.  Being homeless showed me the same battles exist at every financial level, and in every kind of people - including Christians we think are so much higher on the spiritual ladder than we could ever be.

With my focus on the End Times and how we will survive, the things of the world are going to be hard to leave... and may cause that Great Falling Away we read about in the Bible.  I had hoped to be so much further along with Working Together than I am, but this is the reality, today.  I wanted to create a place to go to when Christians had to make that big decision, when life became something they never expected it to be.

We, in America, like to think we can pray and GOD will always provide what we want.

The fulfillment of prophecy and our idea of GOD's provisions are not quite the same.

Being poor and homeless taught me many things I never would have considered before.

Whatever happens with my PRAYERS page, I hope GOD is able to reach some of the souls I say are looking for love in "all the wrong places."

Pray with me when I begin posting there.
Maybe GOD will hear and help them to find Him.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin



NOTE ::  I am looking into Affiliate Marketing as an income option, but I currently DO NOT post any kind of affiliate links.  When I decide on this, I will be sure to let you know.  Deb

Announcing #My2020PatreonChallenge

This year I am trying to do something BIG!  And I am praying for GOD's blessings on my effort... which I call a quest!  The minions of the Evil One are always busy, but I hope to learn a lot of new things about the internet and how to conquer it.  It is a never-ending problem for me, but I SHALL TRY MY BEST TO OVERCOME THE ISSUES IT CAUSES.

I made a graphic to try to post here... let's see what happens.  I hope it will be readable.  This is my second effort... the minions have already been busy.  

Lets hope it stays this time.  I am assuming you can click on it and make it larger.  I need to find the right sizing for future graphics I think.  This is a long learning process.

I have been trying to work out the details since deciding to try this.  I have decided to post weekly updates on Mondays, and to post at a blog on Thursdays.  This is my first week with this new scheduling attempt.  Naturally, I will post more often when the QUEST requires it... this is just my plan to make sure I keep in touch.

I chose this blog because it is my personal blog... what matters most to me.  It is the right blog for my Challenge updates... for prayer about problems... for sharing my dreams about what financial support will allow me to do... and more.

Patreon is about creating things and finding "patrons" to support you while you work to create... providing time, equipment, workspaces, supplies, and supporters to encourage your path.  I have a long list of things I have wanted to create but lacked the finances to make them happen.  My RECYCLING tier is one of those goals. 

For posting about my creative activities, I will blog at my CRAFTS EXPLORED site.  As things progress, that will increase.  I am striving to create some of my projects and post them to the tiers they apply to... ornaments, art, jewelry, recycling.  My FOR EVERYONE tier is my $5 tier... the one I want to increase support on. 

Why?  Because the funds at that tier can be used for any supplies and equipment I may need for the other tiers and my unspoken goals that are attached to each tier.  That would be like making jewelry out of real silver, being able to rent or buy space to work in, get a kiln and other equipment for working in clay, glass, etc. Transportation is always a problem, so general funds would help solve that problem for all my tiers.  My RECYCLING tier needs some big safe spaces and expensive equipment.  I need a great camera and recording equipment to post at all tiers and other places.

There are lots of needs that require financing. 

I hope this will be GOD's time for blessing many years of effort.

I have been going through a lot of thinking spaces about how to reach out to the world through the internet.  I created the # for sharing, but that is very broad and includes every PATREON creator during 2020.  I don't mind sharing my efforts, but there are a lot of creators at Patreon!  No one will find me!  :-)  So I am still looking for a better option.  Until I find one, this one will have to do ::

#My2020PatreonChallenge

Another issue I am grappling with is the name of my page.  I originally just wanted to find a small group of supporters to help me fund my creative goals in retirement.  I'm not sure if I can change the name and not lose any connections already made, but I will be checking into that.  What name might be better, especially because of this CHALLENGE, is known only to GOD right now!

I have to keep going forward and learning what I can.  The answer will show up, or we will end the year with the same name.  I am using JANUARY to make all these kinds of decisions.

I do hope you and your family and friends will share $5 with me... it really isn't much money but it is really important to me. 

I promise... it will be used wisely and will try to help as many others as GOD will allow me to help.

Don't forget to follow my Patreon page, my Twitter account, and here.  I'm working to get my Facebook connections looking better and will share them when that gets done.  I started a Pinterest board for my Challenge, so you can help me figure out Pinterest sharing.  And I have a Flickr account but need to figure that out as well.

You can link to my selling efforts as I create new listings and post them in various places.  My goal is to focus on Patreon first, then Etsy and eBay, then other spaces.  Someday I want my own website for selling my creations, but that has to wait for now.  :-)  I am trying to build a brand called CHANGEWORDS.

Lots of things to work on... join me in the effort!

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

27 OCT 2019 - How GOD moves in our world

I finally decided to do this Bible Verse post at my personal blog... and will share the link later.  It has been four days since I found these verses, and I have been thinking about them and what they represent during that time.  I may post one of the verses with the link, but I am not sure yet.

I opened my Bible on Thursday to a page in Haggai...Chapter 1:10-11 was going tobe my daily posting challenge.

"Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

"And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands."

I was impacted by this because of my interest in the End Times and how GOD judges the world in His efforts to reach it, to turn their hearts to Him and change their eternal destiny.  It is a very big topic, and there are so many verses to quote, I couldn't even share them in one post anywhere.

I also noticed Chapter 2:6-7

"For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

"And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come : and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts."

And Chapter 2:9

"The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts : and in this place will I give peace."

I don't remember my impressions when I first read this section, but it seems to be about the next world... about the end of time as we know it... about the judgements of GOD.

Then I noticed across the page, in the book of Zephaniah (1:14-18) about the final judgments of GOD on earth and man.

"The great day of the LORD is near... the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

"That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thich darkness,

"A day of the trumpet and alarm...

"And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD : and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

"Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy : for he shall make a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land."

It's a scary thought, especially when the same message is repeated in so many places, and I understand they were shared many years apart.

GOD can bless or GOD can judge. It is something we have to understand and realize that we are not the ones in charge.  Ultimately, even though He has given us FREE WILL, He has the power to change things.

Drought is one of His tools, earthquakes can be one of his tools, floods can be a tool but not a global wrath, pestilence is listed as a means of judgment.  We like to say one of GOD's "lightning bolts" hit when we think GOD has judged someone we consider evil and deserving it.  I often wonder how GOD views my sins, my need for judgment, and how much His forgiveness takes away (an how much it doesn't - in consequences).

It took so many years of prayer and seeking and thought to find a place of peace about my own sins and forgiveness, to understand how GOD works in this world and our lives.  I am still learning, but I understand a lot more than when I first started looking for answers as a teen.  (I am now in retirement, past 65.) Now I search for answers about the End Times and the days of GOD's wrath in prophecy.

In my plans for Working Together, I knew that GOD had the ability to bless  one field over another, and food is such an important part of our survival.  Creating a separate community from our current world of urban conflicts seemed wise.  When I happened on the Haggai chapter as I randomly opened my Bible, I was struck by the difficult prophecies I know about, with famine and worse.  In times like that, we have no other resource by GOD... no human has the power to change our circumstances like this. We have one story of GOD providing overnight for one of His prophets, so there is a possibility of individual provisions whenever that happens, but I am not sure we can depend on that.

Who will be left on the earth when these things happen?  I don't know.  Right now, I am trying to recover my studies of the Bible and review all the foundations of my own decisions about End Time issues... because the battles have been hard in my own life. 

Whatever time I have left, I will continue to search for more answers, and to find some way to share them for the future.  I am not a scholar, just a regular Christian looking for answers.  We all have to find our answers.  We will all stand before GOD alone.

I a still trying to work through these passages.  I haven't spent a lot of time in my Bible for some time, so visiting these parts again is hard on my emotions.  I hate to see, think about, or know of suffering I cannot change, help, or eliminate.  Some things belong to GOD alone.  I pray when I can't act, and hope for His mercy on the innocent, and His provision for the suffering.

Christians will need to separate and gather to protect each other at some point.  I hope that time will be soon, all over the world.

Amen.