The Power of a Mother's Promise

Twenty-seven years ago this month, my mom made a promise that changed our lives forever.
by Stacy Wiebe

Now that I'm also a mother, I've come to see that promise as a kind of spiritual umbilical cord, a maternal link God used to bring new to life me and my family, and to countless others.

Prayer from a mother's heart
On May 30, 1975 my sister Carey was born. She was a true angel baby - sleeping through the night from the day we brought her home. She completed a trio of girls; I was four, and Amy, two.

A week after Carey's birth, Mom knew something was terribly wrong. Her left leg suddenly stopped working, dragging behind her.

By the time she arrived at the hospital, her leg was dead black. An astute nurse immediately nailed the cause: blood clots. Two hundred of them, the doctor said, coursed through her veins. One passed through her lung, causing pneumonia and kidney failure.

In her hospital bed, Mom had a conversation with God - something that had often comforted her battered heart as a child. Growing up, her parents partied hard and often abandoned her; when they were home, they were more harsh than loving. God's was the best listening ear she knew.

Now she turned to it again: "Oh, God, I want to live to see my babies grow up and get married," she prayed. "Please help me. I will do anything…" And then she made a promise: "I'll… I'll read the Bible. From cover to cover."

After 10 days in the hospital, Mom came home. The doctor said that if the clot that had passed through her lung had been a hair bigger, she wouldn't have survived.

Revelation
As she recovered, Mom remembered her promise. Starting in Genesis, she plodded through the super-size Bible she had bought, even though much of it seemed to reinforce her childhood notion that it was decipherable only by men who wore stiff collars.

Even so, a lot of what she read moved her, and when she came upon the question "What must I do to be saved?" in the book of Acts, chapter 16, the answer spoke directly to her: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."

She responded then to God's voice in her spirit, and was filled with understanding of how His love had led Him to send His Son, Jesus, to take the punishment for everything she had ever done wrong in her life - and ever would do. "It was quite a revelation," she later told me.

One thing I remember around this time is an earnest, private conversation with my mom. She revealed to me the truth about Santa Claus, and afterwards pulled out a book and read about a woman named Mary who had a baby named Jesus. She told me, "This story is real."

The cross and the barber pole
When I was eight, Mom decided our family needed to go to church. We attended various services, but church felt like a foreign, impenetrable culture with its own language and customs.

Mom found herself offering up another big prayer, "God, if You really want us to go to church, You're going to have to send one to our back yard."

God answered three months later in the form of a short Norwegian pastor in his 70s. He came to our door to invite us to a new church starting up at the barber/beauty shop three miles down the road. By country standards, three miles is on your front porch!

We went to the inaugural service, walking past the hair-washing sinks to the main room of the A-frame building. Though we sat discreetly in the back, we failed to make ourselves invisible. In fact, that little community of about 20 people immediately embraced us and over time, through their lives, showed us the winsomeness and Truth of genuine Christianity. My mom grew in her faith, and it wasn't long before my dad, my two sisters and I each decided to follow Jesus as our Forgiver and Leader.

Life, BC and AD
In the following years, I had a front-row seat to changed lives. God re-fashioned my parents' character, their habits, their attitudes.

Their abundant affection and the inner experience I had of God's love under girded me during my awkward school-age years.

Then I became a teenager.

In ninth grade, I decided to change my misfit image for the gloss of popularity, whatever the cost. I'll come back to God later when I'm done doing things my way, I reasoned. I shrugged off any consequences and believed that to have a "good" testimony, like so many of the dramatic ones I had heard, that I had to have a "past."

At 17, I finally woke up. God helped me imagine how my life might turn out if I continued shunning His love and leadership. I thanked God for protecting me in spite of my unwise choices and I realized the incredible privilege of having been spared the pain that my parents had experienced before knowing Christ.

Three weddings and a baby
When my sisters and I each married, Mom relished in the weddings. God answered her prayer that she would see us wed, and the subsequent ones that each of us would choose a mate who loved God.

Her joy ballooned with the arrival of grandchildren, and when it was my husband Mike's and my turn to tell them we were adding to the brood, we flew home to share the news in person.

A few days into our visit , my nurse-practioner called. A blood test had come back positive for "Factor V Leiden," a genetic blood disorder that can cause clotting during pregnancy and post-partum. The nurse wanted me to start right away on injections of heparin, a blood-thinning medication. Without it there was a high risk for miscarriage, still birth or blood clots.

At first I felt sorry for myself. Suddenly I was having a "high risk" pregnancy. Sticking my stomach with a needle twice a day was not the way I had envisioned enjoying my growing abdomen.

Mom felt guilty: "How could I have passed this on to you?" she thought.

It wasn't long before our emotions melted to thankfulness. God had intervened and prevented me from suffering what my mother had - or something worse. My obstetrician told me that few doctors are screening for this genetic blood disorder, which was discovered just 10 years ago.

"Why me?" became, "Why have I been singled out for so great a grace?"

A new branch
On March 30, 2001 my mom witnessed for the first time the birth of a baby - my son, Liam.

My greatest hope for Liam is that he will respond to God's gift of grace and follow Him with all his heart. As he grows, I will tell him that God has a plan for his life, and that He intervened to protect him in the womb. I'll tell him this parallels the way God's grace intervened to touch the spiritual deadwood that characterized our family tree, grafting in a new branch - one that is spiritually alive.

And I'll tell him how it all began with a mother's promise.

~~~~~~

A new branch in your family tree could start with you!
As a young girl, my mom told her parents, " I am going to raise my family differently." They laughed and said, "You will see." She did not know then that the difference she would raise us girls with was Christ.

Following Christ and creating a Christian home is something no one can do though, by just "trying really hard." We need help - or better - the one Jesus called the "Helper."

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God has given you His Holy Spirit to help you live life according to His perfect plan. Why not pray this simple prayer and by faith invite Him to fill you with His Spirit:

Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have sinned against You by
directing my own life. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through
Christ's death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place
on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be
filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith.
I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank You for
directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit. Amen

If you prayed this prayer today, we would love to hear from you . Perhaps we could connect you with a mentor or provide resourceful links that could help you in this new journey.

Content By: Thoughts-About-God

Don't Get Hooked Into a Power Struggle Lifestyle

By Foster Cline

Say the words "power struggle" and every parent can relate. Much of our time and energy is spent on resolving power struggles with our kids. Wouldn't it just be a lot easier to avoid them in the first place?

When kids have serious medical issues and other special needs, power struggles can become elevated to the point of desperation. Parents can easily get hooked into a power struggle lifestyle with their special needs child that can, in some cases, become life-threatening.

So let's figure out why our special needs child engages us in power struggles. Some reasons are "kid driven":

- Obviously chronic pain or discomfort leads most of us to be more difficult to be around.
- The lack of control caused by being physically different or sick causes kids (and many adults) to show their need for control at times by being demanding themselves.
- Ill or otherwise disabled children who can't enjoy a lot of the freedoms and options available to other kids often feel like "life's unfair" and can easily slip into the victim role (and most people who feel victimized aren't easy to live with!).

Most of these problems can be handled by parents who show understanding and who talk the problem over with encouragement, acceptance, and if required, a strong dose of taking good care of ourselves. In a very shortened example, a parent might say something along these lines:

- Understanding and acceptance: "Gosh, honey, I know you must feel just awful"
- Exploration: "Tell me about what you are struggling with."
- Encouragement: "I bet you are really proud of the way you cope day in and day out with your health challenges."

And if the complaining appears to be becoming a SOP (standard operating procedure):
"Sweetheart, where do you think you could go to complain where it wouldn't be contagious other folks?"

Some reasons for power struggles are "parent driven":

- Parents often become more demanding when treatment regimens are absolutely necessary.
-Human nature says that when one demands, the other resists!
- Parents may give more demands and fewer choices.
- Pleading parents raise whiney children; guilty-feeling parents raise blaming children.
- Parents who consistently show frustration raise children who are consistently frustrating.

All of these reasons for negative behavior require parents to look at themselves. That can be tough. But it would be nice if the reasons for our children's snarky-ness were due to our parenting styles, personality or shortcomings because that's something that is under our control.

The easiest and quickest way for us to approach this problem (if we parents can bear the feedback) is to approach a friend who has great children our own child's age and ask directly:
"Dillon seems to be giving me quite a bit of trouble lately. You've been around us. Do you see ways that I could be more effective with him? Do I have any personality issues that you see that could be getting in the way?"

Be honest and explore the answers you get. Power struggles are often the same underlying issue being played out over and over again. Understanding our own role in the "power struggle pattern" is an important first step in learning how to avoid them.

Dr. Foster Cline is a child psychiatrist, author, and co-founder of Love and Logic. Lisa Greene is the mother of two children with cystic fibrosis and a parent coach. Dr. Cline and Lisa are co-authors of "Parenting Children with Health Issues: Essential Tools, Tips and Tactics for Raising Kids with Chronic Illness, Medical Conditions and Special Healthcare Needs".

For free audio, articles and other resources, visit http://www.ParentingChildrenWithHealthIssues.com

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The Power of Our Words

By Douglas Hoover

How important is our tongue? One obvious answer to this question would be, if it wasn't for our tongues we would not be able to communicate by forming and enunciating our words. The key to unlocking the sources, causes and reasons for Job's suffering and great loss can be found in the hidden truth about the "power of the tongue." The recorded history of human success and failure can be traced back to the power of words through the tongue.

For you to completely understand how God intended our tongues to be used, we must go back to the very beginning.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and everything that is on it, under it, and above it. What is written about how God actually created everything? Well, the Bible records in Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Genesis 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Genesis 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. Genesis 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. Genesis 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. What is the key word in the process of God's act of creating? SAID! He spoke everything into existence by the power of His Words! God and His Word are the same. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [This verse has been translated the same in all Bible translations with the exception of the Jehovah Witnesses.]

God used words to create everything. Everything was formed and made by God speaking everything into existence by the use of words. Jesus came to earth not only to save us from our sin and eternal death, but He also was here to show us the character and nature of the Father God and the power contained in our own words. Jesus said, if you see me, you have seen the Father, the Father and I are one. If He was here to show us the true nature of God the Father and how He expects us to live our lives, we will have to ask, what did we learn from Jesus?

Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly, and the thief [Satan] comes to steal, kill and destroy. So if there is any killing, stealing, or destroying going on, according to Jesus, who's doing it? Is cancer or sickness the abundant life? Is poverty or lack the abundant life? What is God's will in the area of sickness and/or poverty?

Well, let's take a look at the model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is-where? In heaven! Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What is God's will on earth? The same as it is in heaven! Is there cancer in heaven? Is there sickness or lack or poverty in heaven? Keep in mind, this is a model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray. So the next time you question whether or not sickness in your body is from God, you know the answer, no!

Once we understand where sickness comes from, we can understand why we are able to get rid of it! God clearly reveals that both death and sickness originated with sin and are being spread by Satan. Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. Romans 5:12-21 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Remember, Jesus showed us the true nature of our Heavenly Father. God spoke everything into existence with words and Jesus did the same using words.

Everything Jesus did, He did by faith in God. Jesus said in John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which has sent me. John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be removed, and be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says. You shall have whatsoever you say! Cont. Part2

Douglas C. Hoover; CEO of Aquamedia Corp, Master Waterfall Builder, architect, engineer, freelance writer, author, designer & builder of well over 1,900 waterfall and ponds in CA (26 years). Author of "Waterfall and Pond Construction Manual" and developer of the "Water Feature Digital Design Library 4.0" Free downloads, no sign in- http://www.askdoughoover.com

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Seven Things That Can Wreck Your Life

By E. Raymond Rock

Sex ... Money ... Power ... Fame ... Good Looks ... Ambition ... Success

If any of these Seven become tangled up in the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride), look out! Otherwise, they are simply to be enjoyed, but not to bet the farm on - it's only when we begin to grasp blindly at these things that we head down a precarious and deluded path. Grasping blindly means that we see these as some kind of truth, an unchanging truth where can find our eternal security and happiness. This is of course impossible; these seven things are transient, and they will disappear in a short period of time.

An ignorance of their extremely temporary status, combined with a refusal to acknowledge or even be aware of spiritual things beyond these temporal things, sets us up for tremendous suffering. When we expect things to be good, and they turn out not to be, this is a basic ignorance of how things really are.

If these seven things were ultimate truths, why must we continuously relive them?

Sex can be a bother. It's not as if you can have sex once and say, "There, that's it! I'm satisfied!"
No, you will have to revisit sex maybe as many as 18,000 times in a lifetime, or more!

And money can be such a worry. We worry about getting it, then holding on to it, how to spend it wisely, and how to get even more because we never feel that we have enough. Few rich people have a peaceful mind (until they give it all away).

Power is an enemy creator; someone will always be jealous of your power and want to take it from you. Few respect power; they respect leadership, power intimidates them.

Fame is a real inconvenience. Once we become famous and our lives become public property, seclusion is no longer an option. The short-lived high of attention quickly becomes a long-term liability.

Good looks, unfortunately, fade just as sand slips through an hourglass. Even with face-lifts and other cosmetic improvements, our speech and mannerisms change and give us away, as we worry constantly about getting old.

Ambition isolates us. When we become overly ambitious it's a bet that we become self-centered as well, and self-centeredness is the opposite of compassion.

Finally, worldly success is always destined for failure in the end. Success means that we have temporarily attained our intended purpose, but since everything in the world constantly changes, our success is always short-lived.

These seven things - Sex, Money, Power, Fame, Good Looks, Ambition, and Success never work out as well as we imagine they might. On the other hand, poverty, powerlessness, infamy, common looks, non-ambition, worldly non success, and the absence of sex; these are more or less the realities of a monk or nun's life, and perplexingly, lead to happiness.

Taking a stand between these extremes is what works for most people: Sex, but responsible sex; money, but only as much as you really need; control, but not overbearing control;
distinction, but always an underplayed distinction; natural appearance, not false representations; goals and aims, but within the restrictions of non-greed and honesty; and finally, success, but not restricted to only the world - success must include a sincere reaching out toward our Ultimate Reality.

Then the seven things that can wreck your life may change into the seven things that can save your life: Virtue, generosity, loving kindness, serenity, truthfulness, determination, and wisdom.

E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, http://www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-eight years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit http://www.AYearToEnlightenment.com

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What you Really Need to Know About Solar Power

By Clinton N. Maxwell

Many people may love the idea of building their new home in the middle of nowhere. Just imaging it, what could be better than having noisy neighbors, well no neighbors at all of course! However your dream could soon be cut short if you try to find ways to get power to your new isolated property. However, it doesn't have to be that way. The sun is a perfect supply of electricity you just have to know how to harness it. You can often use solar panels to generate the electricity to run your dream home.

There is just so much for owning a home in the middle of a wood, it's the perfect location for hunting, fishing or just to relax! But those benefits also come with things you have to give up.
Giving up the creature comforts we have all become accustomed to will be difficult for most people! Using a wood burning fire and reading by candle light is hardly how people want to spend the cold winter months nowadays. But it is possible to use off grid solar panels to provide electricity to run pretty much anything you want. The panels themselves are pretty expensive to install, however after this they should start paying for themselves.

Of course these panels don't solve everything, sure they provide you with the power but will you even get a TV reception out in the sticks? In that case you will need to buy a DVD and VCR just so you can get your TV working.

Install more panels
If you intend to use more power then it goes without saying that you will need to add more solar panels. Also what most people forget about is that you will need to add larger batteries in order to provide enough power throughout the night. If the area your house is built in gets enough sunlight then it should be possible to run most appliances. However if you plan on running refrigerators, or electric heating then you should consider extra batteries as these require a lot more power.

The usage of the power will need to be taken into consideration to work out the size and number of the solar panels that you need to install kitchen cabinets. If you just plan to run a couple of small lights at night then just a single panel and battery may be enough. However the more extravagant your plans are, the more juice you will need.

The collaborator Clinton Maxwell is particularly interested in themes relating to furniture and kitchen cabinet. Working on his detailed publications like http://www.kitchen-cabinets-tips.com, the reviewer improved his skill on news associated with ideas for new kitchens and kitchen cabinet.

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How To Lose Body Fat With The 11 Minute Power Session

By John Davenport

If you're looking for a way to lose a lot of body fat fast in the privacy of your own home, you've come to the right article. Use the 11 Minute Home Workout Power Session and you can lose an easy 120-180 calories each day.

The 11 Minute Home Workout Power Session
Minute 1: Do lumber jacks. Do them at a fast pace. This is a great exercise to loosen up all of your joints and warm up your muscles. It also gradually increases your heart beat.

Minute 2: Jump rope at a rapid pace. Make sure to rotate your arms from the shoulders and always land on the balls of your feet. If you live in an apartment house with neighbors below, it's best to do this on a rug or out on a balcony. While you do this, I want you to concentrate on the exercise and imagine the way your body fat is burning away.

Minute 3: Rapid biceps curls. Use two light dumbbells (5 pounds each is the maximum) and do biceps curls one hand at a time as fast as you can. I know that in the gym you usually do weight exercises slowly. That's the way to do it in order to increase muscle mass. The reason we do this fast is to lose as much body fat as possible. You'll feel you arms burning with strain. Just think to yourself that you're losing body fat with each curl.

Minute 4: Sprint in place. I want you to sprint as fast as you can where you stand. Make sure to swing your arms when you do this. This is very difficult to do and you may feel out of breath. I want you to push through the pain and keep thinking that you are losing more and more body fat.

Minute 5: Shoulder thrusts. Take the light dumbbells, stand with your feet apart and knees slightly bent with the dumbbells at shoulders level. Now thrust them up over your head as fast as you can. If this becomes too difficult, do it without the dumbbells. You will still feel the intensity of this massive exercise.

Minute 6: Another minute of jumping rope. The same as you did in minute 2. Imagine a calorie counter in your head racing up. These are the calories you're burning with each jump.

Minute 7: Squat and jump. I want you to do squats and when you return to your starting position, to jump high and bring your knees as close to your chest as possible. This exercises alone is worth a lot of calories each day.

Minute 8: Bicep curls again. Imagine yourself 2 weeks from now looking much leaner after you've lost all that body fat.

Minute 9: Sprinting in place, the same as minute 4. Chant in your head: "I am losing body fat. I am losing body fat, " at the pace of the sprinting you're doing. You're nearly over and doing so well.

Minute 10: Squat and Jump. The same as minute 7. By this time you will feel almost wiped out. I want you to try to give it one more small push. You will lose more body fat faster because of it.

Minute 11: Shoulder thrusts again. The same as minute no. 5. Think to yourself, I'm almost done. I've burned a lot of body fat.

Do some light stretches and congratulate yourself: You've finished the 11 Minute Home Workout Power Session, the effective and fast way to reduce body fat at home.

That's it. You've done so well. You should be proud of yourself. I hope you'll use The 11 Minute Home Workout Power Session to lose body fat fast and forever. I wish you the best of luck.

To rid about more exercise routines to lose body fat fast, click here: Tips and Secrets To Burn Off Body Fat Fast.

To discover 27 additional nutritional tips to boost your metabolism rate and more fitness tricks to take your workouts to a new level, click here: http://TruthAboutGreatabs.com. John Davenport achieved his flat stomach and six pack abs. To read how he did it, click here How To Get A Flat Stomach Fast.

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Power Of Freedom - Working For Yourself

By Tina Su

Have you ever watched closely, the animals and the birds at the zoo? When I was a little kid, taken to the zoo by my parents, I could see the sadness in their eyes. The chimpanzees, the lions, the elephants... All of them getting the best of attention. The best of perks. They and their families are thoughtfully looked after. No need to forage, it is served on the dot by dedicated HR department (oops, zoo-keeper) professionals. No need to moan and groan when sick - the best doctors take care of them, and the bill is footed by the company (oops, the government). So much fun and frolic on the weekends, with so many kids coming with their parents to gawk at them.

Why then the sadness? Why aren't they happy?
At the end of the day, it is a caged existence. A golden cage, but a cage nevertheless. That is not how nature had designed the animal and bird kingdom to be. They were born to be free. To survive and thrive by the rule of the jungle.

That is the case with us human beings too. To be free as the bird and to soar in the sky to the limits that one's wings can take one to. Without the restrictions and the cap of organizational (read: somebody else's) priorities, which dictate and decide what one should and should not be doing any given moment. And the moment after that. And the coming months and years.

The HR department and management of companies around the globe spend trillions of dollars to build nice facades and images of how people grow in a team, and how good it is for an individual to join and slog (sorry, work) for their company. Simply scratch the surface, and you see it is the same slavery and drudgery. At the end of the day, one still has to wag one's tail (sorry, appear for performance reviews) before the seniors who in their supreme wisdom decide the additional quantum of bones (oops, increments, promotions) that one should be given.

And then there is the politics and the watching of other people's faces. The comments and the remarks of fellow human beings who have to spend much time currying favors, juggling for this assignment or that project, all the time on the lookout for that next opening in some other zoo ... some other cage ... some other set of people with their own code of "supreme wisdom"... People who one gives the power to decide how one's life should be lived...

We are all here for a limited amount of time. If we're not careful, our life will flash by all the while living under someone else's intentions, someone else's dreams, without ever explore our own wishes and true desires. Make your life count. If you have dreams and passions, go after them. Use the freedom given to you as your birthright. You are never as stuck as you think.

Time is your most valuable resource, one where you will never get back once passed. Ask yourself, "Is what I am doing right now worthy to be trading my most valuable resources for?" Steve Jobs wakes up every morning and asks himself this insightful question: "If I have 1 month left to live. Is this what I would be doing, today?" to gage how his time is spent. Now, that's powerful stuff!

It's possible that your work for an employer is a worthy one, one where freedom, joy and fulfillment are found. But more cases than not, we are seeing typical individuals who are unable to wrench themselves out of their torment existence, accepting their situations as fact, refusing to see any alternatives, and 'forever' flowing in unconsciousness.

If you are working for someone else and if their goals do not align with your own, pause, think, and go back over this piece once again.

Tina is passionate about Personal Development and Spiritual Growth. She runs multiple businesses and has learned how to do so without any Stress. Visit her website at Think Simple. Be Decisive for her secrets to Productivity, Motivation and Happiness.

Toiling in the Dark - Africans' Power Crisis

By Fulbert Fools

In this article, we hope to share with you the many aspects that this important subject has to offer you.

LUSAKA, Zambia - It is not that Jacob Male minds irrigating the 11 acres of land he plows just east of Lusaka, Zambia's resources. It is irrigating his 11 acres in the flat of night that angers him.

Force failures are shared in Lusaka and greatly of southern Africa.

Two or three time a week, the Male plow abruptly loses power, like the homes and businesses of some of Zambia's 300,000 other electricity users. When the power takings, sometime postponed in the sundown, Mr. Male's plow hands work overtime, watering the fields by moonlight.

Going through the final part of this article, we will see just how important the subject can be too many people.

"If they fasten down the complete day, I have to work nights, and pay mega," Mr. Male, 39, grumbled. "Its homicide us."

Force brequireouts - "charge shedding," in function jargon - are scarcely narrative in sub-Saharan Africa, where many electricity grids linger chewing-gum-and-baling-rope contact. Even so, this year is different. Perhaps 25 of the 44 sub-Saharan states face crippling electricity dumpy ages, a power crisis that some skilled call unprecedented.

The causes are multiple: stalwart financial increase in some seats, financial breakdown in others, war, feeble forecast, population booms, high oil prices and require have united to give both activity and residents dumpy of power when many basic it most.

"We've had no significant resources shot into generation and transmission, from each the concealed or open sectors, for 15, perhaps 20 existence," said Lawrence Mustafa, the boss of the Southern African force kitty, a 12-state consortium of electricity utilities at the continent's tip.

The implications go outside candlelight suppers and mega blankets on beds. The require of steadfast power has already begun to fetter the province's development, clipping more than 2 percent off the yearly increase toll of the nastiest-hit African economies, according to the World deposit. Some states, like Ghana, have tried to split with their power crises by rental massive teams of gas generators, producing crisis power at exorbitant toll awaiting power plants can be built.

In Nigeria, Angola and some other states, near all businesses and many residents run concealed generators to supplement wavering open sacrament, saddling economies with added expenses and decline pollution.

"I've been on the 20th deck of an residence structure in Luanda, and there would be generators on all the verandas, with the racket, the fumes," said Anton Bernhard, a previous electricity watchdog and an skilled on power at the University Of Wrap City. "And the brighten isn't effective, because the highest power deliver is off."

In habitual time, South Africa's strong bind of power plants fills the gaps of its neighbors. But South Africa now could experience up to seven existence of its own electricity dumpy ages.
Rolling brequireouts blanketed parts of the country in January, and patchy power failures have persisted because.

The gravity of this year's dumpy age is all the more obvious considering how little electricity sub-Saharan Africa has to instigate with. without South Africa, whose family and power consumption dwarf other states', the province's lingering 700 million citizens have access to bumpily as greatly electricity as do the 38 million citizens of Poland.

Greatly goes to activity: a lone aluminum smelter near Mozambique's resources, Maputo, gobbles four time as greatly power as the whole surplus of Mozambique. On middling, the World deposit says, less than one in four sub-Saharan Africans are hooked to stately electricity grids.
Moreover, some grids are so feeble highest-toned that electricity suppliers get rewarded for as little as 60 percent of the power they make. The surplus is each stolen or helpless in ill-highest-toned networks.

For decades, the province had enough generating room - and few enough customers - to tolerate such ravage. No more: sub-Saharan states are adding about a thousand megawatts of generating room each year, World deposit skilled say, but basic up to double that to keep speed with require.

Some governments privatized chunks of their power activity in the early 1990s when liberated-soak solutions to open-sector evils were in craze, parting it blurred who is ultimately responsible for providing power.

Other governments, as in South Africa, abortive to encourage power plants that skilled warned were basined. The government monopoly Secom, the world's fourth-biggest power function, was advised in a 1998 inform that it would run dumpy of power in 2007, but forecast and financing evils - not all inside the function's restrict - mired upgrades. The forecast was actually optimistic: Secom began operation dumpy in 2006.

In closing, it will benefit you to seek out other resources on this topic if you feel that you don't yet have a firm understanding of the subject matter.

Fulbert Fools writes for http://www.illusionistthefilm.com where you can find out more about Illusionistthefilm and other topics

The Power Of Imagination

By Susan Velez

The power of imagination is the most powerful tool you can use to help you create the life you desire. The best part is that it is free and anyone can utilize it. You can also learn to have fun with it as you create your life in your mind and watch it become a reality.

We all used the power of imagination when we were children; but for some reason we stopped utilizing it when we were told by our parents or society "to get real, we can not do that."

As children we tend to think we can be do have anything we want. Ask any child and they will give you a response like:

• they want to go to the moon
• they want to become the president
• they want to play in the NFL
• they want to race cars
• they want to live abroad

Whatever they tell you; they use their power of imagination to think about what they want to be do have.

The cool thing is you can use the techniques taught in personal development combined with the power of imagination to begin thinking about what you would like to attract in your life.

Personal development teaches us how we have control over our lives; we can not blame anyone else for anything. Even though sometimes we would love to blame others for things that are not going right in our lives.

It is your job to find out where your passion is, then begin seeing yourself in that situation and the more you visualize yourself in that situation you desire you will begin attracting it to you.

This will work for you in both positive and negative situations. The more you utilize the power of imagination for things you do not desire, those things are drawn to you. So your job is to focus your attention and energy on the things that make you happy and take your mind off of things that do not make you happy or things you do not wish to experience.

So how can you begin to utilize this powerful tool to attract all the good to you?

1.) Read as much and learn about personal development and what it entails. After all this is the first step to begin taking control of your life and realizing that you have no one to blame but yourself for your life.

2.) Do not just read the information; after all anyone can read the information on personal development. If you do not take action and begin utilizing the power of the imagination then how can you expect things to be any different for you? It will work when it becomes a habit and you learn to utilize it on a daily basis.

3.) Patience. We live in a society where people expect things to happen overnight. Once you begin putting everything into action it does take time for everything to manifest. However believe that it is manifesting and begin acting and believing like it already has.

In order for anything to work in our lives, it must become a habit that we do on a daily basis, you too can begin to use the power of imagination to attract all the good you desire.

So take the time today to sit down and figure out what your goals are and what you expect from life. As you begin to figure it out begin envisioning yourself in the positive situation and be sure to keep your mind off of the negative.

Imagination is the key to living the life of your dreams. So it will benefit you to find out how to utilize it and make the most of it.

Visit http://www.personal-development-life.com for loads of free tips on wealth creation, meditation and other personal development techniques. Plus sign up for the free Powerful Living newsletter.

Student Car Loan - The Power You Need To Get Your Car

By Saurabh K Jain

A student who does have any income of their own or have less income that does not allow them to take a car on their own can take a student car loan. There are many types of car loan programs available to students. It is very important for a student who wishes to take a student car loan to understand the concept of car loans and the difference between one program and the other. You should pick out the program that is most suitable to your needs and present income. You can take the help of the net to find an online car loan lender who is offering flexible student car loan with easy repayment options.

Check All Important Issues
You can easily find a lender on the net who is offering lower interest rates than others are. Check out and see if the new car loan rates offered by the lender, matches with some other lender as well. If they do, then find out the other terms and conditions for student car loan, as the maintenance charges and insurance cover. In addition, also confirm that if they are going to pay these charges, initially, and if yes, then for how long. It is very important to see all the terms of the student car loan to see for any hidden costs or penalties, which are usually not given in the advertisements.

Keep on comparing all the important issues that are raised, like the repayment period, can it be extended later, and can you afford the repayment installment of your student car loan, which is being offered. Look for a car financing company with a good record of accomplishment in the past and has a list of happy clients. Auto loan financing companies and lenders with a good reputation care for their clients and do not want a blotch against their name. So, do not go for an unknown name in the field and search for an authorized dealer to take your student car loan.

You also have to pass the eligibility criteria to qualify for a student car loan. First, you have to be an American citizen. Second, your credit history will be checked to see your past record with regard to repayment of loans. All students usually have some form of bad credit against their name. This is because they are students and currently cannot engage in full time employment.
Students having bad credit usually get higher rates of interest for a student car loan than those who have a good credit. You can get car loans even if you have bad credit, albeit at a higher rate of interest. However, at the same time it also gives you an opportunity to improve credit with regular repayments.

Student car loan can give the power of finance to the students to help them get the car of their choice. With many companies competing to offer car loans, it is necessary that you compare new car loan rates before finalizing on any auto loan financing offer.

The Power of Words - How to Avoid Stomping on Personal and Customer Relationships

By Sandy Reed

The power of the word is real whether or not you are conscious of it.
Your own words are the bricks and mortar of the dreams you want to realize. Behind every word flows energy.

Sonia Choquette
One of the most profound powers we have, in our business or personal life, is the power of speech. The way we talk to people, and ourselves, shapes our relationships; and these relationships shape our world.

When you speak to someone in a gentle, loving tone of voice, you will most likely receive a gentle, loving response – and build a relationship of caring and trust. When you talk to someone in a condescending manner, being sarcastic, hateful, or just plain nasty, you will probably get back the same.

I had an experience recently with the latter situation. I'm in the process of setting up a new blog in WordPress for Inner Clarity. I chose a web hosting company based on a recommendation from another coach. This whole blog scenario and its set-up is new to me, so I've been getting a lot of mental exercise learning about cpanel, Fantastico, and MySQL, etc. Sounds like a foreign language, doesn't it?

I've been working my way through the steps of learning this new language, so I can create my blog, without much support except online documentation. When I had questions for my new web hosting company, I expected help – not ridicule. In the beginning they were somewhat helpful, but obviously irritated about my lack of experience. As time went on, and other issues came up, they became downright condescending in our email communications. Every day I dreaded having to contact them about any questions or concerns I might have encountered.

This whole situation came to a climactic end when I asked them to make a change in my domain name set-up. As a result of the change they made, I lost all the work I had already entered into WordPress. They didn't inform me at any time that this was a possibility. Nonetheless, they managed to make it appear that the loss of data was my own fault, and had nothing to do with the changes they made.

It seemed that the words they used and the tone of their emails were geared towards making me feel inadequate and ignorant - and they succeeded! While their evaluation of my skill level, at that point, may have been accurate, that is certainly not the way to keep customers – not to mention get referrals. It became crystal clear that this was not a company I wanted to deal with on an ongoing basis, so I cancelled my account with them. My only regret is that I didn't cancel it sooner…

What's the point of this story? If you want to build a successful business, be aware of the impact your words have on your customers and the people who support you. If you're trying to irritate your clients so they'll move on, then the condescending, sarcastic words and tone of voice may be appropriate. But if you want to have happy customers and support people, you probably want to take a different tactic.

Here are 3 tips for choosing the right words to fit your situation.

1. Use the "positivity sandwich". When you have a need to correct someone, express disappointment, or give feedback, use the "positivity sandwich". This is a term coined by Dale Carnegie; author of the classic "How to Win Friends and Influence People". This concept operates on the basic premise that you can tell anyone anything if you sandwich it between two positive statements.

When using the positivity sandwich, the ACT with Tact approach may be helpful. ACT is an acronym for Appreciate, Correct (or Communicate), and Thank. In the book by Linda Kavelin Popov, "A Pace of Grace", she writes about the ACT with Tact approach for giving feedback about sensitive situations. Here's an example.

My ex-web hosting company could have said something like, "I appreciate and understand you're trying to learn something new. Why don't you try doing it this way? We value your business". Can you imagine what a different relationship we would have had!

2. Use the "Would you be willing" approach. When there's something you want, but don't quite know how to get it without offending the other person and starting an argument, try asking them "would you be willing to…" This is an approach used by Marshall Rosenburg, in his enlightening work on Nonviolent Communication. When you use this gentle approach to a sensitive situation, it shows you are caring and considerate of the other person's feelings and whatever may be going on in their life. In this way, you can ask for what you want without criticizing, condemning, or complaining. Just be sure you're using a tone of voice that says you're being sincere in your request.

3. What do you say when you talk to yourself? You tend to show the world the feelings you have inside of you. If you're being critical and condemning yourself on a regular basis, it's tough to be in a state of graciousness to others. The solution to self-criticism is to catch yourself when that internal critic takes over, STOP it in its tracks, and instead look for things you have done right – things that you can appreciate about yourself. Elevate your negative self-talk to, "I know how to do this", or "I'm clear about the next logical step to take", or "I know I can figure out how to….", etc.

We all have our unique approaches to life. Just because your internal guidance led you to do something a particular way, and someone else did it differently, doesn't mean you were wrong. It just means you're different. We need different viewpoints and creations in this world. Be willing to give up the self-criticism and celebrate your uniqueness. Don't get hung up on the "good opinion of others". Here's a wonderful quote that expresses the beauty of diversity.
"You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note." - Doug Floyd

The power of your words, whether external or internal, shapes your world and carries over into your physical and emotional state of being. Your internal critic may be replaying those critical and condemning words you heard as a child. These are the words you came to believe because other people were describing you to you, and we tend to believe other people more than we believe ourselves – especially as a small child. You can learn to replace these hurtful words with words of love and support for yourself.

If you're having a challenge in your life, whether it is health, finances, personal, or business; look to see if your words are supporting or hindering your progress towards your goals. You may find the answer to your challenges just by listening to what you say when you talk to yourself.

Sandy Reed, Certified Life Coach, ex-corporate manager, and small business owner, is the coach to call for support when you’re ready to break out of the corporate prison, and create a life of freedom and flexibility. Visit her website at http://www.innerclaritylifecoaching.com for more tools and information and to sign-up for her free mini-ecourse “7 Steps to Personal Power”.

The Power Of Link Building

By Tim Whiston

The Web is built on links, and a solid link building strategy is absolutely essential for any business that wants to thrive online. In essence links that point back to your site do two things:
they bring you targeted traffic and they enhance your search engine rankings.

By placing your links on another site that is related to your content, you can bring visitors to your site who are interested in the sort of content you offer. And Google, king of the search engines, places more value (and therefore greater rankings) on sites with multiple links pointing back to them.

I’m sure you’ve heard just about every urban myth imaginable regarding the right way vs. the wrong way to generate links back to your site. Let’s forget about all the hoopla for now and look at the simple basics that apply to a good link building campaign.

The first obvious step is to identify placings that offer you targeted exposure. If you have a website about auto repair tips, you need to find sites and directory categories pertaining to auto repair and place your links there.

Simple enough right? So let’s focus on some of the specific types of sites you should be looking to get links from.

Link Directories:
This almost goes without saying, but just to be safe I’ll include it. One way link directories are a good place to submit your links.

Avoid services that offer to broker reciprocal linking between you and other webmasters, as these programs are often viewed as link farms by Google and can get your site booted from the search engine rankings.

Article Submission:
A fantastic way to acquire links back to your site is to write articles related to your site content and submit these to article directories and newsletter publishers. At the end of each article you write you’ll include a resource box (see mine below) that provides links back to your website.
Forum Signatures:

Join forums that are related to the theme of your site and get involved in the discussion. Please do not join a forum and just post a blatant ad about your site, as this will get you ridiculed and possibly deleted; actually join in the conversations, and include a link to your website in your forum signature.

Blog Comments: You definitely need a blog of your own, but that’s a subject for other articles. In this piece about link building I want you to understand the power of simply posting comments on other people’s blogs.

Find 10 to 20 blogs that relate to your website, and bookmark them or subscribe to their RSS feeds. A few times each week, visit these blogs and post comments on some of the more interesting articles.

You see, when you fill out the comment form you will be asked for your name and website URL, so you can create a hyperlink with your name or business name that leads right back to your site. Be sure that your comments are legitimate contributions and not just some silly ad for your website.

As blogs are often updated regularly, and have many incoming links to them, your comments (and therefore your link backs) are likely to receive a lot of traffic from search engine spiders and real people. So blog comments are a simple but very powerful method for linking back to your site.

Take the contents of this article and put them to use. This is a totally easy, but definitely effective outline for starting a long-term link building campaign that will bring you lots of traffic and good standing with the search engines.

Tim Whiston is an entrepreneur, website developer, and Internet marketer who lives in the southeastern U.S. Be sure to check out his website design service and have a look at his web business for sale listings.

The Power of Pursuasion in Negotiation

By Jan Potgieter

It is always interesting to take a look at some of the ways negotiators go about their business. Before reading through some of the content that follows, it is important to note that it is regarded as of the utmost importance to use all methods of persuasion honestly and not with the sole purpose of benefiting yourself at the cost of others.

It is important to use all methods of persuasion and influence ethically. The use of these methods should create something of value to both sides in any interaction.

1. The trade off

Sales Person: "Those letter heads that you wanted to be delivered by the 20th, unfortunately we've had a problem. They will not be ready before the 30th. I'm very sorry, but I have done everything possible. I hope this is OK?"

The average consumer is likely to accept an excuse from a service provider. On the other hand, a skilled negotiator will see this as another moment of power to negotiate a concession. It stops a further process of "grinding down".

Manager: "Well, that will pose a problem for me. We have a tight deadline. I'll have to see what I can do to push out those deadlines or to find a work around. If I am able to come up with a work around, what will you do to ease my pain?"

Sales Person: "I don't know.What if we run an extra 1000 copies at no cost?" (This "promise" could also be banked for future use).

2. Funny money
Sales Person: "You've made a brilliant decision. Congratulations! I'll write up the lease. By the way, before I do, do you know that for a mere £3 per day you could get the deluxe model. It's really worth it. What do you think?"

Be careful of this one. You are about to spend thousands of pounds more than you intended. Negotiating with funny money works!

3. The walk away
Once a negotiator has decided that he or she absolutely must have something, a big erosion of power takes place. Know this, there are no once-in-a-lifetime deals. Do not become so emotionally involved that you cannot walk away. You only have real power if you are prepared to walk away.

4. Delaying & stalling
When the other party deliberately uses delaying tactics you should not focus on the behaviour, but rather on the intention behind stalling. Do they want to wear you down to make you give up or become more flexible? Stay emotionally detached and make sure you do not have a deadline, especially not a self-imposed one. Counter this tactic by telling the other party you know what they are doing and that it will not work. You could also consider giving them a deadline that is well within the ultimate deadline you might have.

5. The pre-condition
This is where a negotiator obtains concessions for merely consenting to negotiate.

Purchaser: "If you give me the sole right to market your product we can talk, but only then."
The unskilled negotiator may easily fall into the trap of limiting their options even before the negotiations start. Such a concession belongs in the bartering phase where a counter concession can be asked. Counter this by setting aside this issue for a while and just continuing with the negotiation.

6. Personal attacks
Personal attacks are often a deliberate tactic to throw you off balance or to make you emotional. Watch out! Remain emotionally detached and recognise it as a tactic. Interrupt the pattern by smiling. Keep people and issues and people and their behaviour apart. You could also respond by reminding the other party that you together framed the negotiation as "agree-to-agree" and working towards a win more/win more outcome.

7. The Withdrawn Offer
This tactic can be used at any time in the negotiation, especially when the other party is deploying the walk away tactic. It involves a bluff by suggesting or threatening to take away agreements that have already been made. "I'm sorry, but my sales manager has just informed me that I misquoted the price. It is far too low. I'll have to withdraw the offer."

This could often result in a response such as this: "I'm sorry, it's too late! We are accepting your offer!" The other party then reluctantly lets the item go. This results in one party feeling that they have secured a good deal. A good counter to this tactic is to walk away and test the validity thereof.

****To learn about the other 18 tactics that are available to you, see my article entitled "Did You Know: Negotiation is Pursuasion" on http://www.ezine.com/***

Jan Potgieter is CEO of The Negotiation Academy - Europe (TNA)
http://www.negotiationeurope.com/

TNA is a global management consultancy specialising in business negotiations, including sales negotiation training and procurement negotiation training.

Become part of The Global Negotiation Network and have your questions answered for FREE--- http://www.negotiationeurope.com/contacts/enquiry.php

How do you compare to other negotiators? Take this FREE online aseesment and you will receive a report directly into your inboxhttp://www.negotiationeurope.com/tools/power-meter/

Internet Marketing - The Power of Blogging

By Marenda Hughes Taylor

Bloggers are quickly becoming centers of influence on and offline. More and more people are turning to their favorite trusted blogs for information, recommendations, and to exchange ideas. The most popular blogs are updated daily and provide faithful readers with fresh new information. This constant flow of fresh content attracts new readers and keeps them coming back.

Blogs are “A Must” for webpreneurs. Blogging is a free and effective internet marketing opportunity that can take your business to the next level.

The Power of Blogging:1. The Internet is known as the information super highway because Internet users are seeking information. Blogging allows you to be a provider of information. Demonstrate your expertise in your field or niche. Blogging enables you share your knowledge and experience with others.

2. Blogging gives you a platform to introduce your products, services, and/or business to people interested in what you have to say and what you are doing.

3. Blogging daily increases your search engine rankings, making it easier for people to find you.
4. Blogging increases website traffic and backlinks to your website.

5. Blogging creates opportunities to establish credibility, gain referrals, communicate, network, establish dialog, and get valuable feedback. A blog is like your own online community and you are the center of influence. Being an influential blogger opens doors of opportunity for joint ventures and additional streams of income. As your blog grows so will the opportunities.

The Law of Opportunity- Your greatest possibilities will often come from the most common situations around you. Your biggest opportunity probably lies under your own feet…-Brian Tracy

Blogging is an opportunity in which the possibilities are endless. Use the power of blogging. Start blogging today.

About the author: Marenda Hughes Taylor is Chief Operating Officer of 1st Love Records, a living life abundantly motivator, an Internet business owner, and mentor. Get more online marketing tips, tools, and resources, including YouTube and CraigsList marketing secrets by visiting: http://www.onlinemarketing.marenda.biz/