It’s easy to understand the fear out there however. Companies have figured out how to make chips and nanobots small enough to swim through the blood stream and therefore easily injectable. One of the labs at MIT invented a “vaccine dye” that would tell health workers if someone had already received the shot. So there’s already been concern that these two technologies would be combined as either a precursor to or the creation of the actual forthcoming “Mark of the Beast” without which, Scripture says, a person cannot buy or sell.
The fears are real, but we can’t give in to sensational headlines unnecessarily feeding that fear. Should we have concerns??? Should we be concerned info intended for one use won’t get used for another??? Yes! But these fears are not grounds for spreading misinformation. The “Mark of the Beast” will come, and what form it takes is still up for conjecture and debate. For now, do the wise thing and avoid this shot with your very life! No there may not be a chip in the fluid, but an external coding system is available that could still make life difficult if things persist as they are. The following was written after an explanation was given why my church is complying with government mandates. Unfortunately, they are not alone in thinking they are being kind by complying with mandated ill-health directives. The verses were mentioned from Romans 13 regarding obeying leaders in all things.
Obedience to authority when based on Scriptural admonition and precedent allowed or spoken against by God includes some “surprising” moments of God-sanctioned disobedience to those in authority. The biggest moment that pops to mind is that of Shaddrach, Meschiach, and Abednego when they refused to bow to the King’s statue and got thrown in the furnace. Bowing to the King’s statue amounted to worship of another god, which God Himself had stated in the 10 Commandments, was not to be done. He showed up with the three men in the furnace and ensured they were unharmed. A second example was that of Daniel, who served in the Babylonian government. When jealous coworkers convinced the king to make a law against prayer to anyone but himself, Daniel continued to pray to God three times a day and eventually faced the lion’s den for that. God intervened and shut the lion’s mouths. We are to pray to no one but God.
In the New Testament, Stephen was stoned to death for going against religious rulers and continuing to proclaim Christ as Saviour. We are told in the book of Acts that Christ stood to receive him into heaven. Stephen disobeyed religious dictates and Christ honoured that disobedience. Also in Acts we see Peter and John disobeying religious dictates again, claiming they must and are compelled to speak of all they had seen and heard of Christ. Paul would find himself repeatedly “disciplined” by municipal rulers but on his way to Rome, most notably by the religious establishment.
History later records the Early Church being persecuted by Nero and others for refusing to obey government dictates.
When we are told to obey those in authority over us in all things, this is one of those situations where ALL is subject to All Things Sanctioned By God Himself! If a leader of a denomination, town, region, province or country goes against something God has decreed or sanctioned, we have plenty of Biblical and historical precedent to disobey.
While no one questions that covid-19 isn’t real, the way governments, the UN, and health ministries have treated the advent of this new corona virus (cold and flu will trip the PCR test, that’s why there has been no “flu season” this year, they are corona viruses too) to remove protected rights and freedoms across the modern world and most notably of religious establishments. We are not being kind when we allow the elderly to die alone. We are not being kind when we allow those with mental health issues to suffer alone. We are not being kind when we force people to breathe back in their own exhale that contains toxic waste the body is trying to get rid of. This act alone is making people ill. God tells us we are to make wise choices regarding our health, and promoting enforcement of deliberate ill health is not kind to those we inflict those measures on, let alone wise. Forcing people to agree to tracking by their government under such unwise, unkind mandates is no different than reporting your neighbour and feeds into the atmosphere of fear. Fear does not promote positive health physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. There is a difference between wisdom and fear. Any action that makes you fearful is not wise and perpetrating mandated actions that engender fear is not wise either.
Churches in Nazi Germany in the years before the war, thought they were doing a good thing telling their people to go along with what the government was mandating. Bonhoeffer was one of the few pastors to stand up to the government and while his theology isn’t always accurate, his bold stand to protect his congregation from government mandates is honourable and to be examined. Churches that meet in persecuted countries against government orders around the world today should be applauded and their methods studied and then adapted here. I agree with the pastors in the Lower Mainland, and with Pastor Coates in Alberta, that if government will allow shopping, they can allow religious gatherings. I have a Dr’s note against wearing a mask because I struggle with my bandanna during forest fire season! So being able to meet others without wearing masks is very important to me on a personal health level. People recovering from surgeries should not wear masks, growing children up into their teens should not wear masks and it is developmental abuse to force them to due to the brain requiring more oxygen than what masks allow through.
W
e have airlines, cruise lines, sports stadiums, and governments considering vaccine passports for a gene therapy wrongly sold to the public as a vaccine. The US’s VAERS database is showing the largest number of vaccine injuries with the various so-called vaccines for covid since October, than any other vaccine added together over the past 15 years. It is not kind to encourage acceptance of this “vaccine” and the side effects from it don’t quit and can’t be treated. Any doctor worth their salt will admit to this. When they tried to make a vaccine against SARS, too many animals died after real-world exposure. The former VP of Pfizer is speaking out now and I am praying for his safety. Covid-19 has been turned into a tool for a startling level of global control over as many countries as will comply. I applaud the handful of nations in Africa who have said no to this stupidity, and to Governor DeSantis in Florida for standing up to the tyranny as well.
If current trends continue in the medical and governmental handling of covid, continued compliance with orders will make the religious world look like China’s state-run churches and even those over there are at risk of being demolished and parishioners hauled off under Xi, who is complicit in plunging the world into the covid problem in the first place! China admitted that a year ago early March but the media, who has been told to keep the fear-mongering going every chance they get, and to dig dirt up on anyone not following the established narrative, tried to bury China’s admission of guilt.
None of this is hidden information. None of this is conjecture. This is current stuff kept in line with historical precedent and NOT tossing out confirmed, established science in favour of bought-out junk science.
It is not kind to comply with harmful directives and force others to do so as well if they want to engage with you. The saying that if you must choose the truth or choose being kind, to be kind and you’ll always be right, needs re-examining in our current social climate. Sometimes being kind goes against government orders and in our current “pandemic”, being kind definitely goes against government orders!
Now I’m looking at my phone. . . most people have either android or ios-operated phones. This phone was purchased for me by a former boss going on 2 years ago this summer, long before it would become apparent that Google would turn into a censorship giant. When it comes time to replace this thing, perhaps I should be looking at phones with different OS’s by companies that don’t bolster the type of society I don’t want.
My computer is being run by the MS win10 OS as well. Now I didn’t buy this particular machine either, it was a gift back in early July by others who did not yet tie their spending to company worldview policies. My kids replaced their laptops right before/after our move in November, just as people were beginning to make purchasing/worldview correlations, but at the time it didn’t play into their purchasing considerations.- My Bible teaches that if I know to do good and don’t do it, that is sin.
- My Bible says that if I have the means to help someone and don’t do it, that is sin.
- My Bible also teaches that I am known by the company I keep. In other words, guilty by association.
Happy New Year! Each year I try to encapsulate interest in the things God has me write. It is always interesting what subjects contained in various blog articles get the most activity in a year. Normally I only do the Top 10, but this year, I am doing the Top 20! Let’s see what we have for this past year:
Visitors over the course of 2020 came from a wide range of ethnicities from 119 countries! The top 20 countries to visit Songdove Books Presents over 2020 were:
| United States | 2239 |
| Canada | 344 |
| Philippines | 160 |
| United Kingdom | 116 |
| India | 115 |
| South Africa | 85 |
| Australia | 62 |
| Kenya | 49 |
| Nigeria | 42 |
| Vietnam | 25 |
| Brazil | 23 |
| Germany | 18 |
| Ghana | 16 |
| Ireland | 15 |
| Singapore | 15 |
| Mexico | 14 |
| Spain | 14 |
| Bahamas | 12 |
| United Arab Emirates | 12 |
| Indonesia | 12 |
All this traffic was generated by roughly 18 different referrals last year! I’m sharing a graphic for this stat because every effort to export it resulted in messed up numbers.
The top 20 blog articles viewed in 2020, regardless of when they were written were:
Exodus 20: The 10 Commandments – Where is Your Focus?
Genesis 17: God, Will You Bless My Efforts on Your Behalf?
Goal-setting. Revisiting an old Friend
1 Samuel 12: 24 Consider what God has done for you
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me
Day 27 in The Waiting Room by T.C. Spellen – For thy Maker is thine husband
Exodus 31: of God-given Talents, Skills and Abilities
Exodus 32: He’s Taking Too Long!!!
Genesis 50: “What you intended for evil, God intended for good, to save the lives of many people”
The Self-Righteous Green-Eyed Monster in the Church
Money Perspectives VS God’s Blessing
A Lesson From the Carpet Beetle
Genesis 37: Sometimes the Way Up, is Down!
The Gnarled Tree
Numbers 18: . . . I am thy part and thine inheritance. . .
Genesis 30:27 ” . . . the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake”. . . BUT GOD!
Welcome to the Valentine’s Week Giveaway for “Dressed for Eternity”! Day Two
God Never Does THAT! How Dare You Say Such a Thing!
Sometimes God’s Path Looks Like a Bowl of Spaghetti!
Welcome to the Valentine’s Week Giveaway for “Dressed for Eternity”! Day Six
I have to say, it appears as if 2014 was a really good year for revisited content in 2020! Some themes remain relevent no matter what year it is!
May God richly bless you in the coming year, and if this blog list above means anything, God may be asking you to refocus, remember what He’s done for you and what He’s gifted you with for the purposes of His Kingdom, but not to jump ahead of Him or do it your way rather than His.
2020 was a difficult year, but God has not stopped speaking. . . as one of the blog articles pointed out: BUT GOD! That is such a life line at times, eh?
Tonight I want to share two keyword searches on two of my blogs. While tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US, rather than seeing much in the way of what people are thankful for, I am seeing exhortation to be thankful instead, and many asking what others are thankful for. Some of those questions get answers, many don’t. I find this troubling as most of my contacts are fellow believers, or at least claim to be, and God tells us repeatedly to be thankful, to give thanks, to come before Him with thanksgiving etc. I have to admit some disheartening and dismay to see more memed exhortation to be thankful, than actual, “I am thankful for…” posts among those I interact with of US origin.
Is it because of the waves around us right now? The medical/political/economic/social storm we are all in together? Remember what happened to Peter when Christ called him to step out of the boat. . . When he looked at Christ, he could obey and walk on water, but when he looked at the waves around him, he began to sink and cried out for help. Christ was merciful and reached a hand to save Peter, but rebuked his lack of faith.
The onslaught of meme usage over the past several years, Twitter, etc, has led to what I like to call “sound-bite culture”. In “sound-bite culture”, you can’t get the context for anything because all you see are a few words at best. There is a picture to go with it typically, but if you aren’t steeped in secular media/entertainment sources, many of those images and their attempted background meaning to the meme will be lost on you. Even editors I’ve used in the past for my books (not all of them, but some of them) couldn’t go two paragraphs without asking me to explain all over again in the third paragraph what I was referring to when it was already fully explained two paragraphs earlier. I am seeing many sources turn God’s Word into memes which isn’t helping with the development of twisted, changed or false doctrine.
But all of this means we as an Internet-based society now, are typically not getting the full picture of anything either. So we see what’s going on around us in terrible, shocking, bothersome sound-bites and that’s where we stop. This does not help the mental and emotional state of those around us when all they see is our own addition to the dangers of sound-bite culture.
We need to shut off the sound-bites, shut off the memes, read 10 verses on either side of the Scripture meme we just saw, and start refocusing on what God is doing right now. Remember that God is capable of turning every bad situation into something that will bring Him glory! Whenever someone stops to examine their daily life for a moment these days, if they are honest, they will see where God is moving and where a surprising benefit grew out of the stressful state of affairs we are under.
This Thanksgiving in the US in this season should kick off an entire month+ of gratitude for how God is moving over the year 2021! Start small if you have to, but start listing off what you are thankful for.
Over the years, I’ve written various articles where I talk about gratitude. In some of those articles I’m grateful for something. In other articles I am exhorting to live a life of gratitude and showing how God appreciates it from His children. Below I am sharing links to search results on two of my blogs:
The S.M.A.R.T. blog: (short list)
https://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/tame/?s=gratitude
and
The Author blog: (2 pages of results)
https://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/?s=gratitude
As a Canadian, we celebrated Thanksgiving in October. This year I am particularly
- Grateful for my kids’ essential service jobs.
- Grateful for my daughter’s new Tiny Home and how that eliminates half the rental problem so far.
- Grateful for God’s ongoing protection both on the roads around here, our health, and during this pandemic.
- Grateful for His provision on various practical levels.
Don’t just encourage your friends to be thankful this season, but go first, give your list of what you are thankful for. If you’re having trouble coming up with anything, look around you. Be thankful for your bed, your house, your clothes, your food, your transportation, that you woke up this morning, for your 5 senses (or those disability did not take from you) and continue writing them down from there.
As your thoughts turn toward Christmas, what about Christmas makes you thankful and how can you capitalize on that this year? One way we’ve done it in the past is this: We read Luke 2 around our Cross over the Manger set up (which will look different this year), then when thankfulness has been a weapon of spiritual warfare that year, as each gift is handed out, the person receiving can’t open it till they have shared something they are thankful for, then they can open their gift.
Perhaps if you are the card-writing type, you include something about the recipient that you are thankful for, and be honest, truthful, and uplifting about it. Save the cutting/dark/hurtful sarcasm for another time. Remember that words have meaning. Now is not the time to couch negativity in a joke or jest.
Christ came to save a world in need, and we are globally in a very needy time. Regions of the world have faced what we face now, at various times in history and some people are still alive to tell the stories. But globally this is a first. Some will say it’s not as bad as what they went through in their younger years, but it’s bad enough for those going through it for the first time. Pray for those being misled by global string pullers. Pray for those trying to deal with the fallout of that misleading, the deaths and the health struggles, the mental health breakdowns etc. Pray for wisdom, insight, understanding, and foresight for yourself and your household for the coming days because we don’t know how dark those days will become. Ask God what your role is over these coming days as well. Thank the Lord for choosing to come in the first place, for saving you, and for as many things He has done in your home, family, friends and circles of influence as you can remember.
If you are suffering silent mental/emotional struggles because of all that is going on this year, this exercise in gratitude is imperative! Turn your focus to what God is doing and if you can’t see what God is doing, do an Internet search for “what God is doing in 2020” and see what comes up. Listen to worship music, even Christmas worship music. Don’t listen to songs of a harsh man in red who judges your good and bad behaviour and rewards you accordingly! Praise God Christ does not reward us according to our sinful behaviour!!! We are new creatures in Christ! Put Christ center stage this season. Believe it or not, it will help you with your mindset, your perspective, your outlook, and your emotional state. We were create for God’s pleasure, and when He smiles, we can’t help but smile too.
Sunday, a day when most of us are used to the concept of being in church in the morning, in the evening, or in the afternoon taking church to a care home somewhere. But what do you do when you are in lockdown, self-isolation, flattening the curve, or self-quarantine?
Scripture says:
Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Christ also said:
Matthew 24:3-8 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Later in the New Testament we read:
Hebrews 10:19-32 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
It is interesting that rumours are coming out of the UK and other places that some governments have now banned the gathering of more than 2 people at a time! Isn’t it comforting to know that even in such small numbers, God still chooses to show up? He is the empty place at your table, the unseen partaker of your conversations and if you let Him, He seriously DOES participate!
For those sheltering in place alone with no one else in their physical space, we now have the wonders of technology to help with our socializing and gathering together. I encourage you to find churches and ministries doing online services. My church: Evangel Church Kelowna, is offering pre-recorded services online. Other churches are doing live streams. Singers and groups are hosting Facebook lives all over the place. Prayer groups such as The Cry -Toronto are holding interactive online prayer meetings. The Internet lets you join with others in heart and spirit to enter into God’s presence in song and hear the Word.
We are in an unprecedented time in history. We are literally writing a new history book as I type this! While many are dieing around us, many are recovering as well and still others aren’t even being touched by it, but as Psalm 91 says, they are watching with their eyes what is happening. Various plagues have come on the earth in centuries past, but most have not been global in nature. Now, in a world where air travel lets anyone from anywhere be anywhere in a matter of hours around the globe, this new pandemic has swiftly become global. This truly fits the description of a pestilence in that the corona family of viruses are viruses that generally only stick to their animal-type hosts and rarely if ever jump over to humans. This particular corona virus was genetically altered, causing countries and governments to scramble trying to find a way to stop it. Christ told us these days would come. We’ve had nation rising against nation for eons, and stepping up in intensity over the past 40 years. We’ve had earthquakes showing up in strange places that often don’t make scientific sense. We’ve had people claiming to be Christ in the flesh at various times in history and even now, a group known as Eastern Light coming from somewhere in Asia claims Christ has returned and God has brought Heaven down to earth.
Don’t be deceived!
The fact you can read these Scriptures and read the evening news at the same time is proof of what Christ was talking about. Stay in the Scriptures. Stay in prayer. Stay in godly Christian community even if it must be through your computer, laptop, tablet or phone for the foreseeable future. Isolation can lead to deception and strange doctrine, do not let that happen.
Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Proverbs 4:18-27 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. 20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Guard your heart and your mind in this time. Stay in community, digital if that’s your only option, but stay in community and stay focused on Christ in this time. This won’t last forever, and when it ends, we will discover a new normal. What that normal will be I can’t see just yet, but it will be different from what we know now and what we’ve known in times past. Be prepared to shift, to pivot, to see opportunities where others see only stress, doom and depression. Ask God what He wants you doing during this time and then get creative doing it. Ask God for creativity if you feel you lack it. Just as God gave Noah instructions to build the Ark before God sent the flood, He is giving us instructions now to make it through this time. Ask God what your role is and then wait for His answer. Keep doing the last thing He told you until you get your answer. Occupy till He comes.
Seats are still available for February 24th if anyone was thinking of taking the online class for The Poor Man’s Budget: a 5 Week Course – Learning to Live Within Your Means. In the meantime, I believe a career-change redirection occurred this weekend (Feb 21st).
A month ago when I took Anita’s Acceleration Week, (hard to believe one month has gone by already!) I went in thinking this was a step toward becoming a Biblical Natural Health Coach. I had to raise money for those courses, so I figured I’d do that by putting what I learned that week into practice to relaunch the online version of my budgeting course. Seeing as job-hunting for low-stress employment was going nowhere fast and finances were getting worse around the house, not better, this seemed like the next best thing. Motivational and spiritual gifting assessments always have teaching very high on the list if not near or at the top. Teaching is a motivational gifting and I love seeing the light bulb go on in someone’s head after explaining or demonstrating how something works.
Another author/speaker I follow, has been sharing about God’s calling on people’s lives and over the past month, been occasionally sharing that someone in her fan base is about to see God move in a very big way and that it won’t look like what they were asking for, but will meet their needs and more. I’ve always agreed with the saying that sometimes God’s blessings show up dressed in overalls, but have sometimes balked at the idea that I should change my train of thought. . . go figure on that one. I get set in a direction and it often takes quite a bit to make me change course. But this time I was seeing these “warnings” if you will, and had the niggling feeling that I shouldn’t hold too tightly to my desire to become that Biblical Natural Health Coach. I didn’t like the idea of letting go of that concept so soon (it only came to me last July and I found the desired courses closer to August 2019), but got the quietly strong sensation that I should listen and keep an open hand.
I went into my meeting with a young business coach Friday morning to discuss what I needed/wanted for my budgeting course. She was celebrating some wins by offering 5 free sessions. I booked one of those sessions for Feb 21st where the direction of focus took a sudden right turn near the end of our conversation. This right-turn didn’t negate anything discussed previously, but it did present a much larger focus than I’d gone into the meeting anticipating. I left the meeting mentally reeling and needing to regroup. (This isn’t anything against the coach, this is just part of my hidden health issues and how they translate into social interactions combined with the discovery she made as I shared my background and where the budgeting course grew out from.) I took some time to regroup, calm the mind, have lunch, and pray, and then I opened up a blank notepad document.
What happened next has blown me out of the water! I was reminded of another quote I’ve been seeing a lot of lately in my Facebook newsfeed: Your greatest ministry grows out of your greatest trials. Imagine this “rough around the edges”, tomboy, fix-it, doer, hidden health-challenged single mother of two grown kids becoming a single parent coach??!! I’ve never had a potential blog list grow to well over 70 possible blog articles in one single sitting before! Blogging for me has been akin to journalling, something I’ve never been able to maintain for very long at any given time. I always introduce my blogs as being sporadic.
My perspectives are quite different from much of current mainstream 1st world thinking when it comes to parenting, let alone single parenting. Those self-descriptors in the previous paragraph influence how I view the world, circumstances, etc, as well. I asked my kids to review my list and they added a few more topics to it as we discussed life in a single parent home from their and my perspective.
I looked back at the notes I’d made from Friday’s session and questions began to enter my head to ask single parents in discovery calls or polls or questionnaires. I had no idea what questions I’d ask of people related to just budgeting itself, so when these came popping in, it was a bewildering surprise.
It appears God may be moving me in an entirely different direction than where I thought I was going. This may lead to a new blog separate from either my author blog or financial blog, and may lead to a new fb page separate from those pages too. I was concerned about what to put into a content calendar and suddenly I have over 70 topics to work on for various content types! It also suddenly makes sense why I’ve written some of the books I have as well. . .
Needless to say, I was simultaneously excited and mentally exhausted from all of this on Friday! I’ve been blogging about going the natural health coaching route so it only made sense to let readers know about this very large potential change in direction. We’ll see where God continues to take me. I think I found a coaching niche I actually have ideas, background and experience for!
As noted in another blog post a couple days ago, I am wanting to transition from PC Repair to Biblical Natural Health coaching via New Eden’s Advanced Natural Health Practitioner Diploma. I recently found an online FREE Christian women’s abundance immersion week! Replays are available at this group link here on FB, so it’s not too late to join, particularly with catchup dates on Saturday and Sunday for the late-comers or those with busy schedules. I am making lots of notes and God is dealing with stuff in my mind and heart as I take in these sessions. Will you join me? The group’s header contains the signup link for you to register.
My takeaway from today’s session:
I’ve always struggled with identifying my niche market, both as a PC Repair Tech and as an author. As a repair tech, I knew I wanted to serve the small business and home-based markets, initially starting out targeting financial advisors as it was a financial office where I got my first job out of college.
As an author, I wanted to target Christians wanting to go deeper in their faith, which for myself had begun at age 12 (got saved at age 7, but defining my faith came at age 12), so that target market ran from age 12 up to seniors. If the Christian was wanting to go deeper, my writing would contribute to that goal.
When I wrote my budgeting course, I targeted the low-income financial bracket because that is where I learned how to raise a family as a single mother on less than a shoestring budget. This 5 week course walks a person through the necessary steps to learn how to manage their finances that way as well. Mom’s Little Black Book: Godly Advice to the High School Graduate deliberately targeted high school graduates and those heading off to college. My themed writing prompt journals target other authors. So while I couldn’t really narrow down my “day job”, I began learning how to target my desired readers.
When Anita talked today about going from the symptom the client brings, and the desire they have, down to the root of the problem causing the symptom and developing a process to reach the desired outcome, I was all there! As a PC repair tech, I have had to do that for over 20 years. People bring me their computer problem, and I have to uncover the root cause and fix that before I can reach their desired outcome. Sometimes discovering the root also discovers several other problems hindering the desired outcome, and those need fixing. In the case of malware, sometimes seemingly innocent spyware can bring trojan buddies that call down rootkits that cause major trouble the user can’t identify. A 10 minute malware removal task can turn into 2 hours or more as a result. For awhile, malware removal literally paid my rent.
I have unofficially counselled people online who were going through stuff, and in order to answer their question about why they felt a certain way about something, we’d have to drill down to the root cause, which sometimes might be an event, a conversation, or a circumstance that led to the now-subconscious reaction to whatever they were facing. This drill-down behaviour comes naturally to me, and family and friends will find themselves peppered with “leading questions” intended to uncover what may have caused a given health issue, mental issue, emotional issue, etc. The fact I tend to think from a drastically different perspective than many around me, allows this task to be more effective than I’ve anticipated at times as the lightbulb goes on in their head and they wonder where I found it.
Now we come to my desired career change, getting my NHP and becoming a Biblical Natural Health Coach focusing on whole food nutrition and whole food/herbal medicine. Because of my drill-down capacity already demonstrated among family and friends, they all feel I’ll do really well as a Biblical Natural Health Coach. At first, today’s session almost paralyzed me. I experience paralysis when I face a situation I haven’t ever created a process for in the past. These processes are not in stone, not written down, but once I’ve come up with a plan of attack for a situation, I just run with it the next time I encounter it. Well, because of my struggles trying to find my repair tech customer niche, and with the thought that this wasn’t a specific book I was writing, but a career change, nailing down my hoped-for position statement for my desired niche and ideal client nearly had me freeze at the start of today’s session. By the end of the session however, I had begun to identify my ideal client, what they did and didn’t want, and my position statement in reaching out to that ideal client. This looks like the following:
What I will offer once my NHP is in hand:
Offering natural health coaching from a Biblical perspective
Providing alternative medical coaching from a Biblical perspective
My ideal client:
Christian
Interested in natural health
don’t want pagan influences in their medicine
don’t want their food choices decided by fads
My position statement:
I help Christians struggling to deal with their health via natural medicine using nutritional and herbal means to heal under God’s oversight while avoiding new age/pagan influences . #niche
I already have a good grasp of how mainstream medical nurses deal with issues, having registered nurses in extended family, including my own mother. I have been learning about natural health since 2015, and have been learning to use food as medicine for most of my kids’ lives. When I say we eat to live, I mean deciding what’s for supper because someone in the house is dealing with a particular issue. I can help others learn how to do that as well. If you feel led to help me get my NHP and begin to coach others in these things, please visit my gofundme link and take that daring step of being the first person to contribute to my next career move. May God bless you as you sew into the health needs of others.
As many of you know, I am wanting to transition from PC Repair to Biblical Natural Health coaching via New Eden’s Advanced Natural Health Practitioner Diploma. While I struggle to obtain funding (http://gf.me/u/wkvz3t ) I found an online FREE Christian women’s abundance immersion week! Replays are available at this group link here on FB, so it’s not too late to join, particularly with catchup dates on Saturday and Sunday for the late-comers or those with busy schedules. I am making lots of notes and God is dealing with stuff in my mind and heart as I take in these sessions. Will you join me? The group’s header contains the signup link for you to register.
Today’s session was on money blocks that affect Christian women in particular. Each session we are encouraged to write down a take-away and post it in the group. My take-away from today’s session was so long, that I decided to share it with my readers here, and then share it to the group. This could easily have been posted to my financial blog as well, and I may just use the WordPress reposting function to send it over there.
Perspectives and attitudes toward God’s extravagance, and toward money, are key to whether God can bless you or not. If money comes first, God can’t bless you. If lack of money comes first, God can’t bless you either.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Matthew 6:24But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33
You were birthed into the time and place where you live. If this landed you in pleasant places such as a first world country, you are positioned to receive blessings that should in turn bless others whose time and place are less favourable.
God won’t honour squandering or hoarding of one’s wealth. . .This was the problem with the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16:24. He held onto his wealth rather than holding it lightly for the Lord to use instead. Money was his idol and Christ called him out on it. There is the parable of the farmer in Luke 12:15-21 who built himself new silos and Christ said that night his soul would be required of him. There is the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-29 where again, wealth was withheld from those it could benefit most. Wealth can be a stumbling block in it’s presence as well as in it’s absence. Scripture warns us not to forget God when times are good.
Having said that, God says
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. Deuteronomy 25:4
For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward. 1 Timothy 5:18
We are allowed to enjoy the fruits of our labours.
Fear can keep us from entering God’s extravagance as well. In the story in Matthew 25:14-30 of the 3 servants and the talents of money the master gave them. The two that invested were rewarded, but the 3rd who buried his money out of fear, was punished. I fear the loss of what little I have. I manage it carefully, to the point where when I feel we have enough and start to give to those around me, others watching are amazed because they could never live on so little. But when I receive what to me is, over and above, I start spreading it around. Investing in the Kingdom is much easier for me than investing in the world’s money system. Having said that, God’s been hinting at me through my daughter over the past few weeks, to consider figuring out how to invest in the stock market game. A tab in my browser for Mylo is sitting there waiting for me to finally increase income generation enough to start trickle-investing (they do the “invest change up to a $1 with every purchase at the store”, not sure how that works, but they’ve made it work) My daughter was telling me about the stock market game simulator they played in school and how one team of three boys took a virtual $1000 and through a series of 3 rounds, managed to turn it into $3000. I immediately saw stress when she shared that. I am a bit of a stats junkie and fear seeing myself sitting in front of my computer all day watching numbers until I see the right mix to buy/sell. I’ve heard stories of others where this became a vice as well, so fear of that vice and fear of the massive losses I’ve seen in the various stock market crashes keeps me from trying it out.
BUT. . . Yes, I have otherwise, in my efforts to manage every penny, used the lack of a bank balance (I live in my overdraft) to control how I word what I can and can’t afford. I need to change my mental and social dialogue so that God is once again on top of the money box and not below it in my financial thinking. How we word things can stop, or start something. It can hinder, or move us forward. I personally should already know this, because I tend to rise to challenges presented to me. Too many challenges one after another wears me out and I eventually start letting them drop because it takes too much effort mentally, emotionally and physically to chase them down, but when I am healthy, I rise to challenges. If I can convince myself to go from “I can’t afford that” to “How can I afford that?”, then I will have subconsciously challenged myself to answer that question.
Where there is a will, there is a way and I am known for finding many proverbial rabbits to yank out of seemingly empty hats. Done it too many times to count and I’m positive it is not 100% me, but in large part to how God has led me. I regularly pray for wisdom, insight, foresight, and understanding to deal with stuff and confess that prayer took a hiatus over the past few years. I am resurrecting it more these days, because God answers that prayer. His Word says:
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
James 1:5-8
It is that answer to my prayer that pulls those rabbits out of seemingly empty hats.
In my need for a perspective shift that I shared about yesterday in the immersion group (see link at top of article), this is part of it. I need to return to the prayers for wisdom, insight, foresight and understanding. I need to phrase “can’t” statements into “how can I” questions.
Thank you for purchasing over 30 of my books in 2019!
I’ll be honest with you. 2019 was a really hard year. Health was up and down. Finances were up and down, more down than up, and very little was done in the way of writing, at all. Even attempts to crowdfund retraining into a new career have been met with zeros. Banks and government-run retraining programs will not fund this because it is out of country. Funds I briefly earned that could have paid for most of that training went to replacing a porch that was torn out in August. A similar amount of money was due me by the end of September and still has not arrived. The “boss” at the time is refusing to pay up. Needless to say, I haven’t worked for him since early October.
The Christmas season was quiet, but between the hamper from the local foodbank and a hamper from our church, Christmas dinner was such a big affair even with small quantities being cooked, that I had to put the leaf into the table just for the food serving dishes. We have enough meat to last us well into January if not beyond!
Now I sit here between Christmas and New Years, and the typical bout of depression has hit. This doesn’t mean I’m ungrateful for the blessings God has given us over the past year, far from it. This state of mind and body is normal for me around this time of year, and in times past has been a mental/emotional manifestation that life to that point had been rather busy and now I need to stop and rest. December was a busy month for sure. The choir I sing with had several performances and I was assisting my daughter with tables at various craft fairs for her AshTree Wildcrafting business. Those efforts helped pay several major bills in both November and December, but they did make those months busy.
Amazon sent me a notification just before Christmas that I finally decided to check into, and then I got curious about how book sales went over the past year. It turns out that 37 books sold over the course of 2019. Thank you to all who chose to buy what I have written.
- 12 copies of the “30 Days of Advent Colouring Journal” sold.
- 19 copies of “Becoming the Bride of Christ: A Personal Journey – Leader’s Guide” sold. This one baffles me as it really needs the other books in the series to make much sense.
- 2 copies of “One Year Prayer Journal” sold. This one can be used stand-alone, or as a companion journal to “A Year in Prayer With Jesus”.
- 1 book each sold of Themed Writing Prompts New Year and Spring. That was nice to see.
- My son’s Gronox War novella also sold a copy over this past year.
(click the Amazon link in the previous paragraph to access these and other books that are available under Songdove Books)
Amazon pays it’s authors 60 days after sales are made, and October’s sales helped cover just over half of December’s overdraft fee. Yaaaa. That gave me a relieving smile. I don’t deliberately write for “what the market will buy”. So when someone buys my books, that means a lot to me. What would be really nice, is if the purchasers of these books left helpful reviews for those wondering if they should or shouldn’t buy what I write. Particularly if you were really pleased with the books, leaving such a review would be a belated Christmas gift for me! I have several writing projects sitting in the wings once I can get my financial picture in better order. You can help by leaving a review, purchasing more of my books, funding my retraining effort, or using the donation box in the right column of this website. I need to change up the layout at some point here, but that takes up a fair chunk of my day trying to do so, so I haven’t attacked that in over a year and it shows.
Life isn’t easy right now, and it is my prayer that 2020 will ease up on the health and financial fronts so that I can get back to writing and doing what I love. Thanks again to all who bought my books in 2019. May God bless you mightily in the coming year.
BONUS: The 21 most popular blog posts visited over the past year!
(not necessarily posted over the past year) from most visited to least visited.
- “Genesis 17: God Will You Bless My Efforts on Your Behalf?”
- “1 Samuel 12: 24 Consider what God has done for you”
- “Exodus 20: The 10 Commandments – Where is Your Focus?”
- “Exodus 32: He’s Taking Too Long!!!”
- “Every High Thing Must Come Down So Lift Up the Mighty Shield of Faith Because I’m Not Givin’ Up!”
- “How quickly we forget God’s Advance Notices and Warnings.”
- “Exodus 19:5 Now therefore if ye will obey my voice and keep my covenant then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me”
- “Leviticus 25 and the Subject of Redemption (kinsman redeemer)”
- “Exodus 31: of God-given Talents Skills and Abilities”
- “Numbers 12: Murmuring and Railing Against God’s Anointed!”
- “Isaiah 45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness
- “NHP Diploma Fundraiser and Where Medicine Has Come and Gone”
- “Genesis 50: “”What you intended for evil God intended for good to save the lives of many people””
- “Day 27 in The Waiting Room by T.C. Spellen – For thy Maker is thine husband”
- “Goal-setting. Revisiting an old Friend”
- “Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
- “His Name Shall Be Above Every Name!”
- “Numbers 18: . . . I am thy part and thine inheritance. . .”
- “Leviticus 9: Sacrifices for Aaron and the People of Israel.”
- “Final Review of The Glycemic Load Diet: Meat!”
- “Taking Back Ground! Body Soul and Spirit!”