Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Bumping Off Bottom
April 26, 2006
Recently a few people that know me well have asked how I was doing with more than the normal concern. Maybe my countenance or voice tone indicate the internal troubles more than I expected.
This morning it was more difficult than normal to get out of bed. Thankfully I have been getting enough sleep. But deep inside there was a conflict that is being resolved. I lay there and prayed for a while. Then I lost all motivation to pray or even care. This has happened over and over again sometimes for hours during the last few days.
I am eating the same fairly healthy foods but not feeling satisfied.
My health is okay. There are no symptoms of illness.
Let me describe some of the factors. But first let me say that what has helped the most recently and over the years is when people pray for me. So somehow read this as a prayer request.
I am totally convinced that it is the will of God for me to get prepared and then go to the areas impacted by hurricanes this summer. That is a wonderful way to use my time and talents. Four Bridges has a good rough draft of how to follow through on the thousands of people I will meet all over the Gulf Coast. I also believe that after I have gone to 3 to 5 hurricanes I will have enough track record and supporters to afford to receive a salary from the ministry.
But there is an income gap between now and then.
The car is still out of order and I do not know when it will be running again. A part was special ordered for the 1994 Escort.
When the car gets going again I could somehow change my previous patterns and go out to habitually make fund raising presentations. That is possible but difficult.
Last week I sent out a message of reflections about my 53rd birthday. In that message I stated I was seeking how to best use this season with out a car. I mentioned the option about developing the web sites that make money using the Google AdSense ads. In less than a week God has directed my attention to that option many times and in many ways. I have invested dozens of hours doing online research. I have bookmarked more than 80 web sites. I am starting to go back and more carefully study those promising sites.
There are many and various experts that have all kinds of ways to use the Internet to earn an income. I had encountered a few of them before. But as I researched in depth I have found dozens. Often they charge 30 to 97 dollars for their eBook. Some have the instructions for free or a combination with items for sale. Besides all this specialized knowledge there are a few software programs that are developed for this purpose. Using the programs some money making web sites can be created quickly and easily. There are techniques to attract new visitors and lead them to choose to buy.
I have been learning all I can for free. It has been a steep learning curve. I have begun to write some text summaries of how I will use this and I have started to craft some overview diagrams.
Many things appeal to me about this direction including the following. The ways people are paid are for providing information, education and networking contacts. The AdSense web sites need to have useful articles that either I write or gain from many other sources. When the person clicks an ad then a small commission is made. There are many ways to improve the system to attract visitors and to tweak the site. After the system is in place and fine tuned then it just generates income without any more labor. Thus it becomes a passive income source. That could allow me to go to the hurricane zones and be earning an income at the same time. This could work for missionaries, seminary students, hurricane evacuees, those laid off and anyone else.
I have begun to identify more than a dozen market sectors and consider ways to appeal to each one. This means that I am thinking like a business owner instead of a nonprofit founder. Those are very different ways of thinking. That has caused deep mental and emotional adjustments that is affecting my energy level and attitude.
What complicates matters is that my cash flow is extremely thin as usual. I must make major changes. And this is the best option God brought across my path.
This is like finals week in the sense that I need to study the dozens of web sites I have book marked and then choose the few that I need to concentrate on during the short term. Then I need to quickly develop ways to apply the lessons I am learning.
My next step is to start a new blog that will provide an on-going journal of this new venture. I have begun the first entry. Then I will include updates as needed. That will allow you and others to track with me and pray.
It is very likely that this could become a source of income for me and many people I personally know today as well hundreds will encounter in the coming months.
Kindly pray for God to guide my thoughts, plans and actions.
John 9:43 PM
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