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Seeing Past Looking…

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  I love that my husband Les is not daunted by a wife who asks for $10.00 while yard sailing (because she always forgets her purse on Saturdays) and then smiles knowingly when I come back with something that most likely won’t fit in our vehicle that moment,  yet expects it to. I love that when I sit for dinner in our home, or lounge with our family that love is made visible throughout my home by the items Les has loved back to life…including me.

It matters.

The gift of shared vision is not one that came naturally to Les. I suspect ten years ago he had never refinished anything in his life. His idea of fixing something involved a purchase and a receipt. His love for my vision to do and have for others awakened in him a joy in making things happen as I have…and what a joy ride its been to see it in our home, as well as in peoples’ lives.

Chairs that are purchased for $2.50 each may not have any value to you. Sometimes the folks you pass by on the daily journey don’t either…they, like my chairs, may be so covered in grime, scars, and dirt that you simply don’t see the beauty they are….the unique creation they exist as.  It’s not always about refinishing either…often its simply about encouraging them to share their story…which unfolds in such a way you are no longer captured by their trappings but by their heart, experience and story.

What are you seeing where you are today? What is the vision you use? Is it purpose driven? Do Driven? Or are you open to allow that which is there show up in your picture in a more meaningful way.  Each moment we exist there is so much lost in our own directed living…perhaps that is the joy I love about Saturday morning yard sailing with Les…its unpredictable…its unordered…you cannot predict what God will drop into your world that day…whether its the heart that needs to be heard as they empty mom or dad’s home…or the struggle of a young couple trying to “do better” for their children and selves as they fight for their familyhood…

What do you allow in your life?

Who do you allow in your heart?

The memories are touchable in my home….as a visual tactile learner that isn’t surprising…but I know things are simply with me until someone else needs them more, then they, like they came, are hauled away often in a too small car to a new home to be loved by someone else’s family….and I walk back to the door with a smile on my heart and know that soon I’ll ask Les if I can borrow his wallet again…

and He smiles…and knows we’re starting all over again…

I love this man named Les and how he’s taught me to love past what I can initially see…

 

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What’s in Your Hand…

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Many years ago I attended a church service at First Baptist in Springdale, Arkansas where Ronnie Floyd was or may still be minister and a gentleman named Alvin Slaughter and his brother were special musical guests.  It was neither my church home, nor my plan to be in attendance, but it simply came to be that night. Alvin is a powerful musician who obviously loved his gifts and shared it willingly.  He sang song after song as he shared his testimony of being homeless then journeyed with God….to a new place.

One of the songs talked about letting go of what is in your hand and that when you can let go of holding it tightly…God blesses it and multiples that release to empower whatever is before you to be enough….a Biblical message…jars become filled…shouts become enough to crumble walls…and fish multiply, more than once whether in baskets or in water….

The song stayed in my head for years…I probably still could not sing it line per line, but its teach, the meat of what the message said has forever changed my heart. Alvin’s voice and imagery has repeated in my head now for some 16 years….daily.

When we release what little or much we have to God…it.is.enough.

He’s simply waiting for our all.

Have you thought about giving your all lately? Most of us think a portion is tough enough, but God seeks our all.  He created us imperfect without Him, he told us from the beginning he wanted to lavish us with his love.  He created Eden…yet it wasn’t enough….as mankind, we wanted more…we wanted control…

Look where it got us.

What is in your hand today? What are you trying to hold on to? What areas of your life do you think you must control? How is that working for you?  I can tell you that in my life, the fingers kept getting pried off my areas with a crow bar and when I can let go long enough to go…it.is.simply amazing….before I even realize the fall I so feared would ensue, but simply lifts me to a different level and proves to me that He is trustworthy…

even when I fail. make poor choices, trust blindly in people not God, or live my usual messy life…not to mention kitchen or laundry realities….

What’s in your hand? What are you holding onto that God wants?

It’s your choice….hold onto it, or release it to the one who created you and the world you live in…

What’s in YOUR hand you’ve been hesitant to let go of control?

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Moments & Memories…

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The past few months a stage was set to experience learning while flying. Perhaps you’ve had the same moments, that moment of realizing that you are living your moment, being what you are capable of being, and having a meaningful glimpse of what you have worked hard to achieve.

  • Skills were yours to engage, the burden and years preparing were not for naught
  • Moments to remember came like gang busters or waves of perpetual tides
  • Joy was present in every moment of the reason you were engaging

Then you realized, it wasn’t the opportunity that was present and changed your vision, it was that you changed your opportunity.

We choose our lives.  We follow our hearts and inner callings of the Holy Spirit, or we choose to blindly lead ourselves to a place that we rarely should go.

There is a season for each part of our lives….and in my best life, there is respect, diligence, rigor, loyalty, steadfastness, good stewardship, boundaries,  love, and joy in each of them.

In reflecting the last three months, I learned many experiential lessons:

  1. Without adequate advance preparation and peaceful engagement of working together, there is little to gain in pushing forward with new territories, projects, or people….you can have the right skills, but without a thorough understanding of the needs, priorities will not happen.
  2. Relationships take time, trust is not always returned even when given….not every friendly person is friendly, not every harsh one is harsh
  3. Strategy comes in many forms…but the ones I prefer to focus on is always a win/win/win scenario for all- no exceptions.
  4. It is God’s love through our hands that makes the difference, all humans are imperfect, but His love matters.
  5. Regardless of their  passion, purpose, and precedence….trust is established slowly…be cautious in whom you blindly trust
  6. Success will be just as difficult as starvation if you do not identify what it looks like and how to handle it
  7. It’s more important to be who you are, even if they don’t get who you are…help is help if it isn’t asked for…remember your gifts may not be welcome.
  8. When others don’t choose to share your vision, methods, or excitement…it doesn’t affirm its correctness or wrongness, but only their/your experience
  9. God puts amazing people directly in front of you if you’ll simply allow Him to be in charge
  10. Preparation is respected in God’s order…but the order of God first matters more than any preparation you believed mattered.

This quarter, the last one of 2011, has been a meaningful time. 2011 was a year filled with amazing experiences both personally and professionally. I am thankful to have lived through and engaged the life it taught me.  God is God and in short…I am not…but I see his Glory through the work of others and its an amazing view…and every now and then…for a brief moment..I get to be a part of His plan and become aware of how amazing the intricate details were that laced us all together.

What a joy!!!!

What have you learned this year?

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What Happened to the Coffee? pt1

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My very dear friend, Melinda Emerson (@SmallBizLady) called and said I’ve open tweeted you someone I want you to meet, I think you’ll find her to be fun and someone you’ll want to have coffee with, you’re both from Arkansas.  Well, as any true Arkansan would tell you, hoghood is thicker than water.  That would be like saying your long lost sister has been found, of COURSE I would want to be introduced.  We tweeted immediately. Twitter IS the new front porch, faster than even the party line of old! More tweets were shared and a call scheduled.  I’m thinking great Skype chat over cocoa or coffee. Little did I know that call would change my life.

Some things we are simply not prepared for. We do our daily grinds, we work on being the best we know how to be, we take our lumps and try to learn from then. Sometimes in an instant life changes. My family lost my nephew after a congenital heart condition ended his life at school one day.  Life changed.  I married Les and added two children to my life in a way I could have never predicted. A joyful change, but adding a five year old, eight year old, eleven year old and seventeen year old to one new marriage….life changed.  Once upon a time in Fayetteville Arkansas a silly Honda civic did not have a lights on indicator leaving me stranded and asking a perfect stranger to hold my precious tiny babe so I could get help (her car was air conditioned, the outside air was 101. This was before cell phones. There is a 15 year old story now that bears telling, but that’s for another day….

The coffee date was planned for a phone conversation, but I was unprepared to know what was being served would forever change me. That Arkansas girl was author Allyson Lewis, whom I had never heard of. (authors kinda come my way a couple of dozen at a time some weeks…) and she wanted me to read her book that would be launching December 27th.  Alrighty, but I thought we were going to have coffee. (sounded very fun, grown up even, and after all she’s from HOME…Arkansas)  The book came via email that evening, I am an avid reader. By morning I had been through it twice and was now in  operation evaluation mode. I.could.not.put.it.down. You see I’m into learning to learn, and as a strategist with an educator’s background, this book was talking about memory, learning, living your values, priorities and something called the M O R E life.  The woman had it going on, and now it was me who wanted to have coffee with her.  The conversations continued and it seemed that my friend had been completely on target. I would love this woman.  I don’t know about you, but at forty-seven there are very few things I jump head first into and that particularly qualifies where turning strangers into friends occurs.  By 24 hours after reading this book the conversations were more about rapid fire excitement on both sides of the line than leisurely coffee chat.

You see, the book has a workbook that is so very the way I think that within 3 days of beginning its free downloads at The7MinuteLIfe.com , which are predated and ready to use from Member tools even before I had a hard copy of the book, was so closely arranged to the way I think, that I was lost without it by day 5.  The more exciting thing was that my… shall we say…. analytically driven husband Les (@morefromles) evaluated the planner and loved it as well, though he said it lacked the notating the hunting dates and a place to have me mark off laundry. (he would mention that again…it’s an old story, a standard Sweetie truth, I think clean socks come from WalMart or JC Penney, the washer just seems to eat them)

The next 24 days were filled with little sleep, much joy, and a serious oversight of coffee being made at our home. I have become the Excited Evangelist for The 7 Minute Solution because I so know that it will change lives.  In a world that never stops 24/7 , a community that is hungry for a MORE life….that is:

  • MORE passion
  • MORE joy
  • MORE meaning
  • MORE rest
  • MORE laughter
  • MORE responsibility
  • MORE time on things we love
  • MORE organization
  • MORE travel
  • MORE financial adeptness

I knew that the three principles: prioritize, organize, and simplify would in a word work to allow individuals to get back to the business of supporting their lives. I loved the visual simplicity, the online support systems and I knew that this.would.be.powerful in the lives of many. My life took on a new purpose in a heartbeat…to get this book into hands of those who could be use it, and in my opinion, that’s every.single.person.

Caffeine slows me down. An original wild child, everything seems to be backwards in my wiring. Those who know me well know that I can talk 180 mpg when I am truly excited or have “caught the vision” of a strategy that will work for learners and those seeking to help learners learn.   I have endless energy most of the time, a trait I share with two older brothers. We simply run like energizer bunnies. Technology available 24/7 has increased our ability to get to information and to use it but there was definitely MORE needed yet I find great joy in taking time my calligraphy, hand creating dinners, spending time with activities I am passionate about….and yet  permission for me to do that full time would have not been even considered before this book….or the reasons why it mattered explored past “well I just love doing it”  I hadn’t given myself permission to live as a Creative full out “Game On” with the analytical/tactical skills as the backup support in my business…this book project has changed that…and in 24 days the world of Sweetie changed forever.  I gave myself permission to be who I am and it.is.breathtakingly different to bloom this thing called my life..

and Allyson Lewis…you better not simply plan to meet me for coffee, you best plan to sit down and share the whole pot girl, I’ve got about a zillion things to share about how thankful I am for you and this book.  My “why and how” have been identified and now its simply about doing it! See you at the launch! (National Launch, Tuesday the 27th of December and debuting on #SmallBizChat on January 4th!)

#TrueStory

#Les is exhausted (be thankful it is not you! :)

#I.am.thankful

#Just7

Have a Merry Christmas!

Sweetie

Follow @Allyson7Minutes on Twitter and the SevenMinutes, inc team at @The7Minutelife

Join their FB wall and tell them Sweetie sent you!  http://www.facebook.com/the7minutelife

Download the member tools here which will include the Daily Progress Report Planner template and many tools to share

Be prepared to have life as you know it change.

P.S. Allyson and the SevenMinutes, inc Team…..you have been the most welcome surprise of Christmas this year!

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Different is doable…

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Have you ever entered the space where your picture of what life is supposed to be like is so far past where you can be at that moment that it seems impossible.  Maybe you’ve said too many yes’s maybe you’ve spent too much on Christmas.  Perhaps you just ignored making a choice until the choice was made by avoidance of choices. Maybe your intentions were for an amazing gathering but your organization made soup and sandwiches happen that time.

Not making a conscious choice is a choice too. God honors preparation, though its never been my experience that He actually lets you do YOUR plan….but never the less He honors the thought…. and then the show begins…it turns out we don’t have to be God in our lives…we just have to allow Him to be our lives to be filled with Him.

We sometimes picture the American family as one who gathers round the tree and sings carols. Of course the house is clean, of course the family is happy each moment.  Who would dream it any other way?  But teens have lives of their own, parents and friends face life issues that are often less than romantic. We so want to be who we are, but we simply paint the picture with such perfection that we cannot find our way through the mask of hiding.  What are you hiding from in your life? Is it personal appearance? The lack of connection in a marriage or with an extended family member?  Is it the best of the best of what you wish you could do but are afraid to do?

Different is doable…but you have to begin where you are.

The first step of any new space in my life has always been to define where it is that I am.  The last few years I have more or less been apprenticing new skills in media and instructional leadership development because I value the power of preparing speakers, teachers & speaking 1:1 thousands at a time via streaming internet and distance education.  As an educator, a teacher of teachers, it was thrilling to me when this technology arrived in Arkansas so many years ago. It was one of the most efficient ways to cultivate state-wide projects in education and to connect educators.  Twitter is now my preferred method, for in listening carefully I can find who is talking about the topics I am passionate about.  My friendships from the Twitter as my friend calls it, are real, have transitioned from virtual on Skype to 3D form at conferences at on trips.  It has allowed me to find my tribe, as Seth Godin would define it.  A group of people I get…”sawbu” as Lolly would say and they see me.  Breathtaking energy.

Right now, as I sit early on a Christmas eve’s eve, I am aware that life changed 23 days ago.  A time of preparation bore fruit and I recognized that every.single.goal we set for a project for a client came together when we realized the impossible was done but it was based in doing it differently in a doable way.  The traditional odds were against us, the clock was ticking, the joy of the experience gone. It was simply time to define the moment and to make the moment defined.  Different is doable.   You’ve seen me on Twitter most likely cheerleading a project I am so very excited about. Allyson’s Lewis, the author of The 7 Minute Solution.  The book has direct methodology to use tracking and goal setting to support your MORE life…more fun, more awareness, more inspiration, more faith, etc.  The seven areas of life are managed in a format that I truly “get” and it’s gotten into me.

In less than 3 days after reading the advanced copy of the book, my perspective shifted. Les and I are facing some serious changes in our world in his position and my own. It’s been a wildly successful year in a way that was unexpected.  I have had the privilege of seeing clients labors bear fruits and the tragedies of clients whom I believed in choose to find another path when success could have been theirs.

I work with entrepreneurs, start ups, speakers and authors, and one thing is common across the board. To engage in excellence, you have to begin where you are and make doable differences and work your way up.  It is disheartening to me when a speaker, author, or business self destructs and tears down those in their paths.  My nature is to educate, support, and empower people with anything I can do to engage them in success, but there is many things a strategist cannot do for a client. They cannot keep them from choosing a different path than one that leads to a healthy, balanced succees.

Different is doable, ask any successful athelete, underprivileged leader, broken and restored speaker, or someone coming back with a winning attitude.  It may not be easy, it may not be welcome, but different is doable. We most often sidetrack ourselves from success, its an old story: greed, hurt, pain, arrogance, or unkindness sets us on the sidelines…obedience, even when peppered with mistakes, God honors. After all, David was a man after God’s own heart. Abraham messed up too and spent time in silence while he figured it out. The Biblical stories all play the roles from a place of imperfection without Christ.

Heroes are every day people to me. They’ve managed to make a choice to be who they are. A.Choice. Over and over again they face the same life we do, but they do it with resolve to be who they intend to be.  Some of those heroes in my life are:

  1. Thom Whitby- Extraordinary Educator, who developed the PLN Professional Learning Network, a community of educators collaborating online. #PLN
  2. Allyson Lewis-Time & Lifestyle Strategist, who developed The 7 Minute LIfe System and authored books that directly support my style of productivity #just7 (they are giving away a NOOK to online purchases through B&N on December 27th…wheee!)
  3. Allan Branch- Who each month delights my heart though we are not close, because each time he writes, I learn,…regardless of the topic #lessconf LOVE his Less Accounting for my business!
  4. Jesse Lamb- An amazing mind and heart who simply excels, and showed me that the right pond makes all the difference and was brave enough to face the change of ponds from attorney to creative. My personal tech hero…and friend.
  5. Sarah L Cook- Author of Raising CEO Kids, so smart she squeaks if you take on organizational structure management….an amazing heart too #SWS Systems with Sarah!
  6. Rachael Anne Ridge- HomeSanctuary.com, author and far away friend who helps others take small steps to find sanctuary at home each day
  7. Melinda Emerson- Who dreamed it, did it, let me walk along side her and continues to grow in educating how to end Small Business failure…. amen! #SmallBizChat @SmallBizLady (I’m Lead Strategist on that team!)
  8. Miss Bobbie Smith- Who faced all odds, including starting over in her 30′s, put herself through college, has become a speaker, leader, and creative as she graduates college  this spring, an amazing force of fireball energy and brains. @TheMissBobbie
  9. Irene Bullock- a friend who not only lost her husband at a young age, but went on to raise her children and others in such a way that we are all amazed and blessed by her presence in our lives. She has given me the gift of hope and support throughout the journey to be who I am becoming
  10. The TCK Team- Who are simply the BEST at supporting and engaging the needs of special needs kids and their parents and professionals. Truly an amazing group @TheCoffeeKlatch  #TCK
  11. Heather Hetchler- Cafe Smom, who like myself, believes in a joyful place called home….even differently. Creating support structures and materials for mothers and stepmothers (S’moms) everywehre. ~Brilliant! @CafeSMom
  12. Wayne McEvilly- Who simply makes my world a happier place for what he shares with audiences of all ages in conversation, voice in writing and in performing. What a tremendous joy to know of his existence.
  13. Jason T Bedell- who loves his family and passion for technology in education in ways I have first hand experienced. His vision was simply to begin TeachMeet Nashville and it made a difference in my life.  #Thankyou @JasontBedell
  14. Kate T Lewis- The Civilized Minute author, whom I have yet to hug her neck in person, but who in less than a year has captured my heart and joy in a way I cannot explain through her writing, Skypes and joyful country spirit.  @KateTLewis.
  15. Sohan Singh  Who taught me how to laugh again. An amazing spirit who simply loves to learn and has given me perspective of why the right team matters, and how to fly without eyes even in the dark of the difficult there is light in laughter. @SohanWins
  16. Cybraryman1  A lifelong educator and one whom I trust and cheer on from any court he appears….an educator whose passion is to share amazing resources for educators andparents. @Cybraryman1 Jerry Blumengarten (and his wife quilts!)
  17. #LessChicks  The valiant technology ladies who are clucking Brilliance….I .love. these .women. #LessConfChicks  #LessConf
  18. Gail Hyatt Who grows me every.time. I read her blog or hug her neck on the way by in Nashville. Real. Responsible. Intentional. Fun. Excellence in motherhood and personhood….I.simply.value.her. @GailHyatt
  19. Kelby Carr who taught me a hole in one lesson at Type A Family Conf when she, in the middle of the wild, did what mattered, supported her family in a calm and amazing way as she led the amazing experience. Kelby is not someone I know well, but I sure intend to. @KelbyCarr
  20. Sarah Mae Blogs- Creator of Relevant Conference, a blog conference for Christian bloggers….again, never have met in person, but oh so cheering her on from here. She.is.doing.it.  Changing lives, educating hearts, and sharing the journey. @SarahMaeBlogs
  21. Allison Worthington who invited me into her home and heart (and has the most fab green toile loveseat) and who has taken up residence in mine even when we work and live in different worlds…I’m a full time fan and supporter of anyone who makes the world smile and aware in her smart sassy way. @AlliWorthington  #Blissdom
  22. Rick Dean, who inspires me with his win/win/win scenarios in business and in arts…@DeanofMusic…he’s one to watch and has the happiest Christmas this year ever….your friendship to Les and I rocks!
  23. David Bullock..who is a friend at many levels, always there in a storm. He literally talked me through the Alabama tornadoes when I was alone in the level 5 place with no one to tell me what was happening and no where to get to safety.  His presence is trustworthy in any storm and he shows me that storms simply help you define what’s important. @DavidBullock
  24. David Cooper` who has for over 38 years mentored entrepreneurs, authors, and speakers and has the gifts and abilities to help them fly on all planes of success. He has given to my life so many gifts of encouragement and empowerment through educating me at the level I can play. He is loved like non other because the truth is, he isn’t selling soft sales, he’s softly selling truths. @AskDavidCooper
  25. Thelma Wells @ThelmaW who is often known as MamaT….a wordsmith extraordinaire and one who has captured my heart for life. Her words feed my soul and her ever giving heart not only gives me the courage to do this, but her books are a continue read or listen to in my life…what a blessing she and Vikki are in my life.
  26. The Chatty Momma Tonia Sanders, who has given me the gift of joy in every situation we’ve worked together whether over lunch or in person. Family comes first &Tonia rawks! @TheChattyMomma (one of my favorite people of all time, a forever friend who has the gift of connecting with hearts of all ages)
  27. Lisa Leonard, again, from afar, but her inspiration for her business, her personal and professional growth are as beautiful as her spirit. AMAZING (just love cheering and praying Lisa on…if ever I could be a cheerleader and prayer warrior, this is one heart I invest with pompoms shaking high!)
  28. Karen Rabbitt who forever changed my world with a book. Trading Fathers. She identified that which I could not. Her wisdom and work on forgiveness is amazing @KarenRabbitt www.tradingfathers.com
  29. Lucy Ann Moll- @LucyAnnMoll, author, Christian counselor to hurting women and the women who lead them. Great friend, amazing spirit. Lucy is someone I truly am in awe of, her heart, her leadership and her transparency is beautiful.
  30. Peldi @Peldi  Who in one speech, forever changed my life at Less Conference and I will forever thank him for that moment. Entrepreneur extraordinaire, his speech at Less Conference in 2009 simply changed my world forever…his continued kindness to me a gift as he inspired our daughter to be who she is…what a joy to witness his words blooming in her life.

There are so many more people to list but the jest is, no one had perfect lives, they made different doable.  This moment in time is so poignant as I simply see that we can face anything if we begin where we are. Where are you? What is in your heart of hearts to do this moment of your life? What is step one?

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A rural perspective…Why #RR Matters

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I am from the rural deep South and one of the things I value about my rural upbringing is that in my small hometown, people have life-long relationships. I am blessed by the presence of decades long friends…so when I say Reliable Resource #RR (Twitter hashtag) as a product, service, person, or event…I mean that I personally wouldn’t risk saying they are worthwhile out loud without serious first-hand knowledge.  You see where I’m from the newcomer in town may have lived there forty years in the same house…so you have to live with a poor choice for a long time if you recommend the wrong introduction or without regard to caution, recommend something or someone.  Integrity matters there with a capital “I.”   After all the nearest variety stores were one hundred miles away and even the local gas station’s 3-aisle store, our version of the superstore, was over eleven miles to town.  Some popular media companies have made what we’d say in the South – “The Dog and Pony Show” a multi-billion dollar industry and they are laughing all the way to the bank while many times, they are leading us to a poisoned water, as though we’re silly cows who will drink any koolaid offered. Have you tried to feed a cow something they recognize as not their flavor lately?  They don’t drink it when they are aware you’re feeding them stuff we usually shovel out of the barn.  In my neck of the woods the boots to the left are used daily to clean up after such things in a barn. As country folk, we learned to look where we put our foot or to move the hay covering before sitting.  Things are not always what they seem. The warmth may look cozy, but it may be steaming for an entirely different reason. Folks need to know where solid values are supported, we like to say the folks to folks conversations on the front porch will make or break you in business and it’s absolutely true.

Today’s front porch is real time media, and thinking folks like @MichaelHyatt @PWilson, @USAA, @LollyDaskal  @Allyson7Lewis, @LollyDaskal @Bill_Roddy, @Cybraryman1, @TomWhitby @Classroom2.0 @VistaPrint @SmallBizLady, @DeborahMersino @FSonnenberg @GailHyatt and so many many more are sharing important concepts and ideals. Others like @MackCollier, @KateTLewis and so many others share the skills they’ve learned in meaningful ways without expectation in the open forums except conversation.  They know learning to learn matters, and they share what they’ve learned.  They help bird-dog point us to things that need to be addressed as surely as my lab does, even if she has to bring the problem literally to my attention. I so value @AlliWorthington and her husband for that in their scoping what matters in legislation often.  I appreciate that. I bet you do too.  It helps to have leaders who identify important concepts, who empower us. Thank you. You don’t have to have a PR machine to speak what you know out into space, let’s use our voices to support integrity. Change is coming and “we need to be paying attention” as Mr. Bullock would say.  You don’t have to agree, we just have to agree that it matters to discuss the important choices we’re making for our resources in leadership. I am not into politics, I don’t want to debate who is who, but I do care greatly that quality people, products, and processes are rewarded with our business, attention, and support.

So if you hear me say someone is a Reliable Resource or tweet #RR, you can bet that I have personally experienced or vouch for my dealings with that person. It’s not a made for TV version for marketing either…Les and I have built our family and business on the premise that we want to cultivate projects that empower people.  I thank @JenniCatron for that reminder of my roots, her vision realized in CultivateHer. Jenni reminded me that cultivating ourselves means hard work, planting for a harvest in our own lives and our children’s. We are responsible to grow ourselves then each other in community.  It was a foundational launch of a great early morning meeting,  that reminded myself who I am and whose I am…a country girl from the rural South who believes in putting on her boots and working out the messy parts of brilliance. (by the way, I’m the mule pulling the plow, not the girl in the house watching the workers) Life is messy, but relationships in business, products, and services shouldn’t have to live there with intention.

<warning…Southern girl on her soapbox….lesson plan from the hard school of life>

Tune in! None of us has time, money, or life to waste, we only have one to live to the fullest of our intentions. If we all work on encouraging those who value integrity and start walking in integrity ourselves more consistently, we will support an environment for change.  People like @SarahLCook  and @RachelAnneRidge who have spent countless hours helping moms learn skills to support home. People like @LucyAnnMoll who minister to hurting, broken leaders of women…and the women they lead.  People like Thelma Wells @ThelmaW who gives me personally the courage to face anything I face through her excellent writing.   Folks like @TheCoffeeKlatch who help us find help. These folks matter. Supporting the protection of our youngsters hearts and heads, and engaging in excellence with even the smallest things that we do matters.

If we learn to give more than we receive, my guess is that like my rural neighbors, life will just be worth living.  Big is not always better, small is not always an advantage. Weak is often truly strong. Where integrity, hard work, clarity of purpose,  and pardon is asked for when mistakes are made, life can be engaging.   When we engage in a good dose of thoughtful  awareness of those around us, we can choose and support values that we’ll be glad to call our own. We’re not asking nor do we want ugly call outs, perfection, or painting difficult days to turn out swell, we’re simply asking for you to recognize #RR Reliable Resources when you know they have worked for you and let’s help make things happen for folks who work hard to do right things for right reasons. Produce exceptional products, or are have such rare gifts as artisans that one should recognize their value and quality.

My husband has served in many wars, he’s currently home for the first time for Christmas in many years. We.are.civilians.  He chooses to serve our Department of Defense. It matters.  There are places and people that need to be defended and there are reasons we need to stand our ground in the U.S. Despite the popular rhetoric, we still have an amazing country, and its time we took back our homes and our towns where values are concerned.  Our home has decided, we’re firmly committed. Basics matter, and it’s time we simply begin to do what we know to do to refocus where our homes and communities are going.

Will you join us?

 

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