///Tuesday Briefing///

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Feeling Much Better

FEELINGS

God is reaching into the parts of my soul that no human could touch, including me. God is gracefully doing a transformative work in the depth of my thinking, perceptions and outlook.

My mind and emotions have been on a roller coaster. It has been like going from darkness to light a few times an hour. I understand the importance of spiritual warfare better than ever. I appreciate your prayers and the intimacy of Christ.

Yesterday I admitted to a friend that Jesus, my Good Shepherd, has been leading me out of a dark valley. There has been not only typical depression but toxic despair. They asked if I had gotten counseling. I told that I had called Crisis Hotline 214-828-1000. Over the years God has used them many times. They are trained volunteers who listen attentively, ask good questions and do not judge. They empathize and help me come up with an action plan for the next 24 hours.

I am learning that feelings are important. They are to be respected and not ignored. They are indicators of deeper issues. But they cannot be allowed to govern all other areas.

At the end of the day what pleases God is faith and not feelings or reason. Sometimes walking by faith can lead to unusual challenges. But the peace of God that comes from trusting and obeying the Lord Jesus is the compass in the storm.

DEVELOPMENTS

For years I have been asking prayers for raising 40 thousand dollars to build the Web Platform. Previously the focus was ministry and recently it has shifted to business. Then after the hurricanes hit the Web Platform can adapt to meet those needs too.

My biggest need has been meeting face-to-face with prospective supporters. Previously the aim was donors and now it is angel investors.

I have the names of some initial prospects. They can introduce me to others. And I can learn ways to get networked into meeting the other prospects.

A friend challenged me months ago to just go see 8 people. That will break the ice. Then I need to get into the habit of presenting to two per week.

The barrier has been to have suitable visual aids that will allow me to quickly communicate the Big Picture and the Game Plan to get from here to there. When I just talk with people I have tended to ramble and they get confused.

The goal is to have about five poster size mind maps of 2 by 3 feet each. That will allow me to just point at each part and explain how it relates to the other parts. I will give them a CD with the mind maps for them to explore later. Plus I seek to have a paper document of 15 to 20 pages with lots of bullet pointed lists and graphs.

When these aids are ready then I can go make presentations on short notice. And I can shift my attention to other matters.

My depression came because I had expected to have this ready by Monday at noon and then Tuesday at noon. My dashed expectations sent me into a tail spin.

The pressure of bills and debts increases the importance of clearing this hurtle.

I have about 40 small mind maps. If all of them were combined they might fit on to ten poster size mind maps. So I need to combine these into the half that are most relevant.

As another guess I have about 50 pages of text that are in documents ranging from a half a page to 5 pages. This also needs to be reduced.

OUTLINE

God gave me the smallest thread of an outline in the wee hours of this morning. Then I got distracted. He has reminded me of that a few times today.

Imagine how the spine of the body is the central organizing principle concerning all the other parts. This new spark that is giving me hope is just a hint of an outline.

Here are the highlights. When I talk with a supporter I need to establish a few main points.

1. Introduction: Attention grabbing opening that paves the way into the heart of the presentation.

2. There is a major need in the marketplace

3. This is the Big Picture of how Pie Bridges will meet that need

4. Here is a Game Plan of how we will get from here to there

5. Conclusion: your participation now will make a big difference for others soon and this is how you will be repaid with interest.

Pray for God to guide and bless me in using this 5 point outline to organize the abundance of mind maps and pages. From that spine could come an appealing narrative story. Then the story could be told in the short, medium or long version. Each slice of the story could become an online video.

PRAY

Pray for God to grant me clear and compelling mental images of the Big Picture. I seek for the love of God to flow through me to express His compassion for those I will encounter months and years from now.

Pray for my prayer life. I need large quantities and high quality times in prayer. Besides being in the creativity zone I need prayers to stay in the prayer zone. Amen?

John 7:50 PM

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Emotionally Very Low

I have learned over the years that it is best to be open and honest.

For me what works is to tell the truth no matter how ugly it is.

Using energy to hide, play games and wear masks does not serve.

This morning I have felt emotionally very low.

It has taken a major effort just to function.

I have battled negative feelings and stinking thinking for weeks.

But today they got me down worse than in a long time.

My health is okay and I have been getting plenty of sleep.

I have taken long walks as a form of exercise.

The cause is that I have fallen short of my internal expectations.

During the last week I have invested more than 20 hours on a major project.

By now I wanted to have a nice neat presentation ready to roll.

The project was much more complicated than I expected.

It is mostly done but there are more loose ends than I can count.

During the coming days I will deal with each loose end.

I need to change gears and start setting appointments.

I need to break the ice and get on the road to meet with supporters.

Meeting face-to-face is what I have been praying about for a year.

Actually doing that will cause this depression to dissolve.

The visual aids I have now are far from wonderful but they are okay.

All this will improve with practice.

Shebaa has had many minor set backs.

She has struggled and dealt well with each one.

This has strained our finances.

I need God to encourage me as only He can.

I do not have enough focus to make a specific prayer request.

Just be led by the Holy Spirit.

John 1:45 PM

One Day Delay

God is answering prayers is wonderful ways.

The hundreds of pages of notes are gracefully becoming simply summaries.

By the grace of God this project has come a long ways in a short time.

Last week I set a deadline of noon today for this to be complete. But that is less than one hour from now. Much still remains.

I believe that a one day delay of 24 hours will bring this project into a decent condition.

Then the visual aids during our time together plus print and CD materials I leave will be ready. There will always be room for improvement and with practice I will make changes.

The last time I made a face to face presentation was last April. It was related to serving in the wake of future hurricanes. Those ministry concepts are still valid.

This presentation is a simple summary of the online business that teaches others to earn passive business income.

The hundreds of pages of raw materials have become lots of small rough drafts for each facet. Now these need to be woven together into an orderly whole.

Again I request God to grant me many hours of anointed concentration in the creativity zone. I want to have a few poster size mind maps and a text summary. At this time the intended audience is consultants. Then after that version is ready I will show the highlights of that to the angel investors to indicate what their funds will help make into a reality.

THANKS again for your prayers.

God is answering them right one time in His way.

John 1:45 PM

Pray for Simple Summaries

I am in the middle of the process of crafting simple summaries.

I have gone through dozens of my computer and paper files.

The computer files go back a few years.

And some of the paper files go back as far as 1987.

Most of the materials are gathered into useful groups.

The purpose of this project is to prepare stream-lined presentations.

These hundreds of pages need to be distilled to their essence.

I have been using mind maps to graphically present the main ideas.

Then from these will come stand alone one-page text summaries of each facet.

I have many one-page summaries from other projects that I will adapt to this season.

Soon there will be brief audio and video versions of each facet.

I have more than a dozen websites and a hundred blogs related to ministry.

I have begun to create an online business to fund the ministry.

The online business will teach and support people in creating online businesses.

This passive business income will serve many kinds of people.

God is using my compassion for certain parts of the market to focus my planning.

These sectors include missionaries, work-at-home moms and college students.

I have spent more than a year in research and planning for the online business.

Lord willing next week I will begin to meet with prospective supporters.

I will be seeking angel investors that will loan the seed capital needed to get started.

Their 40 thousand dollars will be divided equally among four areas.

Those areas are Consultants, Web Development, Hardware & Software and Initial Payroll.

The first priority is to work with consultants to develop a five year plan.

This five year plan will blend the online and offline activities.

God has been gracious in bringing the websites, books and people I need right on time.

As I have been reviewing and reworking these notes the Lord has reminded me of much.

The central challenge is to wrap my heart and mind around the guts of these materials.

I am beginning to recognize the most common concepts in that bring these together.

Previously I had distilled the ministry to a few sound bite sentences.

I need to do the same for the online business.

These are very closely related.

The long term vision is for both of them to grow side-by-side like mighty oaks.

I hope to teach others to do the same so they can have an online income and ministry anywhere.

They use the Internet and quarterly CDs to provide information, education and inspiration.

I request your prayers for God to grant me many hours of anointed concentration.

I need the Holy Spirit to guide my plans, direct my attention and bless the outcomes.

The current focus is to get materials ready for the consultants.

After these heaps of materials are boiled down to that degree then lift out the highlights.

Those highlights will be shared with the angel investors.

By the grace of God I have recently come upon articles about how to find and approach them.

There are those who have made lots of money and it is their joy to help others get started.

May God guide our paths to meet soon.

May God grant me much favor with them.

May these simple summaries be used to start the online business

May the online business be used to help lots of people earn money online.

THANKS for your prayers.

Have faith that God is working all this together for His glory.

John 1:43 PM