A GO-GET-ER TEAM

All day events generally take about three to four months to plan, sometimes six months, like in the case of a wedding. I have feverishly been working on an event over the last month that will take place the first and second of April. We are anticipating an attendance of 600 women. It's a live simulcast with Bible teacher and author, Priscilla Shirer. The event takes place at a local church. And I only have two months to get it going. Fortunately, I have a fabulous team of nine members (all volunteers from the church) who have been diligently working with me. Within two weeks we had all our publicity materials created and published. I could hardly believe we did it that fast, but I have a very dedicated and hard working group of people who wouldn't take "CAN'T DO THAT" for an answer. They made it happen! Now that the publicity end of it is completed we are gearing up for all the registrations that will be coming in. The registrations will be coming from several mediums--phone registrations, on-line registrations, mailings, and Facebook! We are all set. There are six of us who have split up the responsibilities and we are ready to gather the orders. Meanwhile, this same team is gathering volunteers to help out at the ticket stands. My hospitality team has been organizing and categorizing all the supplies they will need for the concession stands. They are gathering volunteers to help as greeters, ushers, parking attendants and workers at the concession stands and product tables. My tech team has been working over the last month preparing for the workings that only can happen on the internet, making sure that we are prepared and ready to air the day of the event. Soon my facility team will be setting up tables, etc., preparing a layout that will keep the flow of this event moving smoothly. Because this is a church event we also put in place a prayer team who have daily been on their knees praying for God to do His thing throughout the planning of this event, and during the time of the event. I am so excited and delighted to be a part of this special day! It's been a busy time, and I've had my moments of some weariness, but it has been so enjoyable! I just know that I couldn't have done it without all those diligently behind the scenes working along with me. I commend you my steering committee. You have been doing an exceptional job and I'm proud to have you on my team! If God can accomplish what He already has done through us, imagine what He will do for those that attend! God Bless!

DOING IT THE HARD WAY

Have you ever tried attempting a task that you know should be simple, but ends up being somewhat frustrating in the process? Recently, at the grocery store I frequently shop at, one of the workers in the produce section found me struggling with those plastic bags to put your produce in. You know the bags that come on a roll and are flat when you tear them off the roll. Once you have found the open end, you spend your time struggling to open it by pinching the open end between your forefinger and thumb, trying to twist it open. You make every effort to open it up, but to no avail. Watching me go at it with my feeble attemts, the produce worker came right up to me and told me that the bag was made special with handles so all I had to do was pull the handles apart and the middle would open right up. I no longer had to work so hard at opening those types of bags! I was very grateful for this workers kindness to give me such a fanatastic tip, and it worked beautifully! I have remembered that tip in returned trips to the produce isle, and even shared the good news with other struggling customers. I am a hard worker, but every now and then I find myself doing my work the hard way. Taking tests for example, has always been a challenge for me. I just get nervous, I guess, I'm always looking for the hidden meaning or the trick in the question that supposedly will stump me. As an end result I often find in my perfectionist ways I stump myself because there wasn't anything to be concerned about in the first place. Some days I can find myself very busy but feeling like I never get anything accomplished. Other days I end up being a problem solver for everyone else and not getting my own to do list done. Those days when I feel I've completed my day "empty-handed" I need to stop and make a list of what was accomplished. I often find that the day proved to be better than originally thought. My husband believes that days when I feel like I haven't accomplished anything is due to spending my time with busy work, not with result producing work. To some degree he's right. If I search for the most efficient way to get the results I need, I will spend less time with feeble attempts to do what is merely a simple task. My challenge today is to find a more efficient, complete, and smart way to get done with what needs to be accomplished, resulting in less stress, less work, and more play! Are you with me?!