Three strikes....

...and I'm out.

Double points for almost bonking my head against a wall while leaning back on my bed five minutes ago.

Triple points for scratching myself with my own nails twice inside of ten minutes.

Accidentally, of course.

I also get points for giving into worry and fretting, for running away from problems instead of dealing with them, and for blaming other people when circumstances make me unhappy. Lots and lots of points.

And in this game, like golf (though I've never played the game and have no interest in it), we're trying for the lower end of the score card.

So, if I make mix my metaphors, I've struck out. So0000 glad it's bedtime! Kinda.

(Which, incidentally, means I should be in bed, not here, especially since I have to get up at 5:00 am [which is my own fault] but who's paying attention to little details like that? I could use another point.)

Don't you just love run-on parenthetical remarks?

I admit it; I am NOT writing this blog post because I have any remarkable bit of wisdom or advice to share, or a funny story, or a heart-warming tale. I'm clattering away at the keyboard because I need to release a bit of frustration and grief, and you poor readers are always so sweet, to hear me out.

I had "one of those days" today. From start to finish, things went wrong, I didn't have enough time to do what I wanted. The computer was slow, I woke up late, I didn't have ingredients, I double-booked my schedule...you know how it goes.

But that wasn't what was so hard. We all have days like that. Sometimes they just give us a day to laugh at ourselves, and everything is okay. Other times we learn through struggles, and we're okay.

I didn't feel okay.

All day long, a fluttering panic-y feeling was growing in my heart. Worry. Fretting. Anxious. I couldn't stop thinking about issues as small as, "WhatEVER am I going to find to wear tomorrow when my closet is empty and I don't have time to do laundry today?" or as big as, "How in the WORLD am I going to pay for everything I have to pay for next month?"

I was a failure. I knew it. I was miserable. My life wasn't going anywhere. I was on a treadmill and couldn't get off. I could feel my emotions getting the better of me, and that was what bothered me. Difficulties are a part of life, and it's just part of being an adult to expect them, but when I succumb to them instead of facing them, that.....that is horrible.

Sometimes the problems are not truly world-threatening issues - like "what am I going to wear?" Other times they are truly problems; like, "what are my customers going to think of me if I can't bake their order because I don't have the ingredients?!?!"

But my response is real in either case. If I fall into tears and frustration and worry because of clothes, it's just as much of a pit as if it were something more important. And I'm not supposed to live in pits. I'm a child of the King.

And I knew that. I kept telling myself that. "Snap out of it, Amber - you're silly to mope like this with all Christ has done for you!" But I didn't want to snap out of it. I was miserable and wanted to mope. ...Sorta.

The only verse that kept going through my mind was, "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Okay, Lord. This is Your will. And that is Your will. And that too? Okay, that too. All this stuff is happening to me because You let it. And it's going to be okay. All right. Okay. If You say so.

I held onto that idea like a lifeline, for that is what it was.

I lived long enough to know that if I hold on long enough, all the sudden my eyes adjust and I can see the Son again. He is there all along, but I just have to be patient. It seemed a long wait today.

So I sat down to vent while I was waiting.

You know what's funny? As I wrote my list of "point achievements," I started noticing what I couldn't write down. Strange, huh?

I wrote down "Rotten Attitude," then thought "well, I was tired and sad, and sighed a lot, but I wasn't exactly rotten. God gave me grace to have several kind moments toward others, actually, now that I think about it." Backspace that.

I typed out "Being Lazy," and remembered the hour I wanted to spend doing something - anything - mindless on my computer, but instead forced myself to be glued to a chair working on measuring garments for my website. And I remembered the photos of those same garments I wanted to put off doing, and didn't. And I cleaned the living room. And printed out flyers for my bakery business. And wrote a blog post on my other blog. And made breakfast. And practiced my fiddle.

I may not have accomplished everything I wanted to today, but I know in my heart I wasn't lazy. That started a warm flutter in my chest.

Maybe today wasn't a waste. Maybe God answered my prayer of this morning - that He would use this day for His purposes. And tomorrow isn't going to be so bad - even if I have to get up at 5:00. God is in control. This is a beautiful life. The weather is gorgeous. My bedroom window is open. The crickets are chirping, and cool air is flowing through the screen. No cats fighting beneath it tonight, unlike last night. :)

God has whispered to my heart. Circumstances haven't changed. I don't have an extra hour in my day tomorrow, and I'm certainly no richer, but I'm okay. In fact...I feel a smile coming on. My first smile in several hours.

I did. I smiled. And what's this? Tears? I managed not to really cry today. But now I am. I'm happy. It feels so good to smile. It feels so good to let go and know that He is God. The big things, and the little things, are in His hands.

I think I'll sleep well tonight.

Starting a Web-based Business, Part 3 (Finally part)

Welcome back. This is part 3 in "how-I-stumbled-into-web-business-and-didn't-drown." (For part 1, click here, part 2, click here.)

If you haven't caught on by now, let me repeat that I'm not expert in this field. My sister and I started into web businesses with our online thrift store, Simply Modest, and we're learning as we go. It's been a trial-and-error process, but I do believe it's been an upward climb.

So far in this series, we've discussed what to think about before you get into web businesses, and traits to develop in yourself to help you in your endeavor. Today, we get more practical.

How do you actually take your business online? Well, first things first.

Let me assume that your business deals with items, rather than services. That's the type of web business I'm most familiar with, because that's what I do.

You need to set up a website. Thankfully, it's much easier to do that now-a-days than it used to be. You don't really need to know HTML to set up a site; many companies exist solely to help people like us - who don't know HTML - get websites up and running. Running a website with these companies is like blogging - you click on what you want, and the program takes care of the HTML. If you can blog, you can run a website. If you are starting from scratch, and haven't done any blogging, it might take you longer to get the hang of it, but, trust me, it's not impossible.

When you have a website, you'll be paying for two things; a web host, and a domain name. I've heard of free web hosting, but I'm not familiar with it, and, as you may have noticed, I'm trying to stick to discussing things I've actually done, here.

I investigated many web hosts before we bought our business, but in the end I didn't chose our web host because we bought an already-established business, and kept the original host.

Papa Shop is our web host. I've had a wonderful experience with them, and have nothing but good things to say about their service. I've had site trouble only twice, I think, since being with them, and both times I got to chat online with a representative, and they fixed the (minor) problem in a couple of hours or less. They are also very reasonably priced.

Most hosting companies that I've checked out charge by the month or by the year, or by several years at a time. If you're determined to be in it for the long haul, I strongly recommend going "in bulk" - it's usually cheaper. But if you're not sure this is all going to work out, don't pay for 5 years in advance! Start with 6 months or so. We pay for our hosting on a month-by-month basis, but we've committed to a long term, so we get the cheaper rates. In most cases, you can set up this fee to be paid automatically (so you don't forget one month, and shut your website down for several days!) but be sure to keep track of that in your bank account!

Your web hosting company is where you will get the tools to design your website. This is where you pick colors, fonts, and set up shopping carts. I've found most of this to be very self-explanatory. Think of Blogger. If you can blog, you can do this.

The web host you choose must have an option for an online "catalog" or "shopping cart" if you are going to sell on it. Most hosting companies offer this, but not all, so make sure you double-check that the options available are what you need to sell on this website you're creating. Once you start designing the site, you'll learn how to list items, enter shipping fees, etc. Always do a test order on your shopping cart to be sure it works!! Also, get a web host that offers free support for when you have questions...because you will have them.

You will also need to buy a domain name. Think of it as the copyright to your website; it's a guarantee that only you can use your website address. Nobody's going to steal it. This is usually paid for in 1-year, 3-year, or 5-year chunks, or something like that. It's no big hassle; just be sure to do it on time! Your web host will usually recommend places to buy a domain name (from THEM, quite often!), but you can have a domain name with a different company than your web host. It's up to you.

Hmm...what else?

- Keep your passwords, log-in information, user names, etc. written down somewhere OFF computer (as in "ON AN ACTUAL PIECE OF PAPER") in case your personal computer crashes.

- Set up a business-only email, to avoid having all the junk mail a website generates delivered to your personal email. But do check your business email every day.

- Be prompt when shipping orders.

Oh yes - advertising. This is a whole post in itself. Proper exposure for your site is crucial to its success. Send an email out to everyone in your address book. Facebook it. Start a facebook fan page. When creating pages in your site, do type words in the "keywords" box. Those are the words that will trigger your site to pop up in searches, when people type in those words. Talk about your site. Get business cards printed up professionally and place them wherever you can, all over town. Have a newsletter. Anything you can think of.

I'm running out of time right now, so I'll close this post with a hearty "best wishes!" to any of you embarking on the adventure of a web business. I'd love to hear thoughts on this matter - both from newbies in the field and those of you who know tons more than I do. What do you think is most important in choosing a web host? What will you be looking for? Companies you recommend?

I've enjoyed doing this series. I'm sure I've bored some of you, but I hope at least some of you found it to be beneficial.

Bye for now! Talk to you soon!

Starting a Web-based Business, Part 2

Welcome back!

In this series, we've been discussing how to start earning income from home through a website-based industry. (If you missed part 1, go here.) In other words, in the kind of business we've been talking about, there's more to your business than just the computer screen; you're selling a product or service.

Last time we covered how important it is to count the cost before getting involved in an entrepreneurial venture. You don't want to put your hand to the plow and then quit when the going gets tough. You've got to be in it for the long haul, and be committed to hard work.

You also must realize that even if your business is based around something you love to do (sewing, for example), you will probably have to do things in that business that you hate. I love shopping for our Simply Modest business, for example, but I hate loading inventory on the site.

Guess what? I have to do it anyway; because I'm not only the boss, but also the employee. There's no passing the buck.

So be prepared to be challenged and stretched. It's quite the adventure! Reward yourself every so often. Sometimes I hold myself back from something I want, until I finish uploading "such and such" amount of inventory - then I treat myself.


Today I want to talk about the traits you will need to develop in yourself as you become a business owner. You may be good at some of these things already - in fact, it's highly likely that you've got at least one covered, judging from the fact that you want to start a business, and these are business skills.But few people start out having all these bases covered. I know I didn't. And I still don't. It's a learning process. But little by little, I'm growing.

#1: Organized

You've got. to. be. organized. Absolutely. You can run a business slip-shod (ask me - I did it the second year of our website!) but you will end up bouncing checks (I didn't quite do that one, but came close!), re-selling products that have already been sold to someone else, and forgetting to ship out orders.

If you aren't the naturally organized type, consider a business partner who is great at those things, or just whip yourself into shape. Ask yourself "could I make myself stay organized if I worked for an organization where my job depended upon my organization skills?"

Yes? Good, because you do.

If you want to be more organized, but aren't sure how to be, take the time to learn. The word "organization" is often thrown around as if everybody knows how to do it. That's not true; you have to learn. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll have your workspace neat and clean, but spend many precious minutes finding everything, because the space doesn't work.

#2 - A Good Accountant
Let's face it; a business means dealing with money. Can you balance a checkbook? Will you balance a checkbook? Do you know how to figure costs and profits? Can you keep track of everything?

No? Work on it. Get somebody who's good at it to teach you.

#3 - Skilled
This kinda goes without saying, but you must be good at what you do. This has to be something you can do in your sleep. That doesn't mean you have to be the best, just that you have to be good.

Aim for high quality, and be proud of your work. You're building a brand, and you want your name to be associated with high standards. Practice, practice, practice, and be confident in your ability to turn out good results every time, before you start marketing your skill or product. No customer wants to be a guinea pig.

#4 - Somewhat web-savy
Relax - you don't have to know html to run a website. Not now-a-days. But you do need basic computer skills. If you can blog, you can manage a website.

I'm sure that if you are looking into starting a web business, you want to know all sorts of information on which web hosts are the best, how much websites cost, what to look for in hosting, etc., so I'll probably deal with that in my next post. It's an important topic, so stay tune!

Starting a Web-based Business, Part 1

Recently, I received a question about websites:

Naomi said,
I noticed that you have a good number of websites. I am trying to start a sewing business online and I was wondering, how much does it cost you and how do you get your a websites started?

I read this, and had to chuckle. Me? Know anything about websites and web businesses? Yeah right.

But an honest question deserves an honest answer, so here I go.

To begin with; yes, I have quite a few "websites," or other web presences. To sum it up briefly...too many:

~ 10 blogs (yes, ten. No, they aren't all public.)
~ 1 Online Thrift Store, Simply Modest
~ 1 Online Bookstore, Better Books

This blog, The Fruit of Her Hands, is my oldest one, and the one on which I am most active. In just a few days, it will be 3 years since I began blogging. Simply Modest has been running for several years, but I only became a co-owner of it in 2009. Better Books is fairly new, and I'm still working all the bugs out on that venture.

So you can see that my experience with web presence has been limited to the past three years, at the most. My time in web business has been a short year and a half or so.

That being said, I feel that I've learned several things very fast - many of them the hard way. If you, like Naomi, are considering a web-based business, perhaps I can save you some hard knocks by mentioning things I've learned in the past couple years. Keep in mind that this is all based on my own experience, and is by no means an exhaustive list of advice. If you are better grounded in this topic than me (and that wouldn't take much!) please leave additional suggestions - or corrections - in the comments section.

For the sake of time, let's forget about blogging in this discussion. Blogging can be a money-maker, but it blogging for income isn't an avenue I've chosen to pursue at this time, and we want to discuss business right now. Let's talk about home-run businesses that are mostly web-operated.

In other words, the kind of thing a stay-at-home daughter can do, to have an income and still be involved on a day-to-day basis with what's going on at home.

It sounds so inviting, doesn't it? Make money, still be a daughter who lives at home, earn an income from your hobby, and wala!

It's not that easy. Truly, I went into web business with no idea of the tremendous amount of work a successful business takes.

That would be my first piece of advice to the entrepreneur seeking to start a web business; take good thought to what you're getting into! Even Jesus said that nobody goes to war without counting the cost, numbering his soldiers, and determining if he has a chance to win.

By started a web business, you are, in affect, becoming self-employed. That isn't for every personality. Not everybody thrives when they are their own boss. Be honest with yourself; do you have self-discipline? A lot of it? Are you self-motivated? Do you pay attention to details? Can you manage money? Do you inspect your own work, and hold yourself to high levels of quality?

Beyond the question of personality and character traits, there's the issue of time. If you treat this like a part-time job, you'll earn part-time, minimum wages. Or less.

Many young ladies work from home because of conviction. They want to be under their father's authority, and they don't want to treat their home like a hotel/fast-food place combo. They aren't afraid of being out and about, doing things outside the home, but they don't want to leave their focus out there.

But they also want to earn an income - not to build a career centered around personal ambition, but to become a asset to their home, rather than a liability.

That's not to say a job-less girl is a liability. In a non-material way, a helpful, kind, loving daughter and sister is worth much more than her weight in gold. And, even in a financial context, a frugal girl can be saving her family much more than she costs it.

But an income is nice. It's great to be able to not only help cover your own expenses, but also give gifts to others. And how wonderful it is to be able to give to the Lord's work, and further God's kingdom with money you've earned yourself!

So go ahead, if you feel led of God to do so; try a home-based business.

But the world of supply and demand doesn't soften just to deal with young ladies who are trying to be the "Proverbs 31" woman. Few people are going to say "Aw, look - so sweet! She's working from home; let's help her business along." Some people will, but not many. You cannot depend on good intentions to carry a business. Your motivations mean nothing if they aren't backed up by sweat, and time. If you don't put work into this thing, it will fail.

So count the cost. Do you have time? And the determination to see this thing through?

End of point one.

Somehow, I feel a series beginning.

Swag Bucks: it works!

When I heard about swag bucks, my first thought was "if it sounds too good to be true...."

Y'all can finish that phrase, can't you? Haven't we all been bitten by something that sounds too good to be true ....and is?

But when I thought about this for awhile, this program made sense. Swag bucks is basically a search engine (branched off of google, I believe) that is actually profitable to use. I suppose they make their money off of advertisements, and they must make a bunch, because they give stuff away to people who use their search engine!

If you use the swag bucks toolbar thingy to search the web, every so often (turns out to be around every 8-12 searches for me.) A sign pops up saying "You won 1 swag buck!" or "You won 5 swag bucks!" or "You won 10 swag bucks!" (That's only happened once to me!) You click "return to search" and go on about your business. But the points (or "swag bucks") keep piling up.

When you get a nice tidy pile, you can trade them in for things in the swag bucks online store. Now, please be warned: there's quite a lot of weird stuff in there. I'm don't really care to own most of the things they sell. ....But there's a section of gift cards. And of course I want to encourage them to sell more goody stuff like that, right? :)

I've just earned my first prizes from swag bucks - two amazon gift cards, for 45 points each. I am having so much fun browsing Amazon.com, with "free" money in my pocket, so to speak! I mean, really - earn free books and stuff just for browsing the web like I already do? That's cool!

Why not check it out? Click the above picture, or the link on my side bar. Now, you know I like to be honest and upfront with you: I earn points every time someone who signs up through my website earns points. :) There - I told you. But, really, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't let you in on a way to get free books? *grin*

Saving electricity...and dishes!

Today, I'd like to share a little kitchen tip that my marvelous mother came up with.

My Dad says that we have 8 dishwashers. I guess that's strictly true...but they aren't the electric type. No, Sir. These kind of dishwashers have hands and feet....and look a lot like the members of our family. :)

Seeing as how people always eat, and dishes always need to be washed, I'd say we've become experts on how to use just a few dishes. (Don't use the 1 cup and the 1/2 cup! Use the 1/2 cup twice to equal 1 cup, and that's one less thing to wash!...Better yet, if the recipe calls for 1 cup, 1/2 cup, and 1/4 cup of something, you can use the 1/4 cup for everything! That's two less things to wash! Did we mention that math comes in handy in the kitchen?)

So maybe Mom got this idea when she was trying to save on how many dishes she used. Or maybe, because Mom is so hard-working that she really doesn't mind washing a few extra dishes, maybe she got the idea when she was thinking on how to save electricity. Or maybe she just likes the way it looks.

In any case, I've borrowed the thought from her, and I am using it this morning, as I do prep. for supper tonight.

Tonight I plan to make chicken/broccoli casserole. Instead of boiling the chicken in one pan, and steaming the broccoli in another, and using two burners at once, I'm using a large pan, with a shallow steaming insert on top. The chicken boils in the water down below, and the broccoli steams above. The broccoli finishes cooking first, but it can simply be lifted off, and the chicken left to finish cooking.

Cool, huh?

To Be or Not to Be...

Some time ago, I was sitting in church, listening to our pastor tell about a fellow missionary he knew. This man was very different from the average American.

He worked with our Pastor as a missionary in a European country. Whenever he bought something from the natives, he purposely paid extra. He didn't try to get the best deal.

Whenever he sold something, he took less than the thing was worth. He didn't try to get the best deal.

Why?

He didn't want anyone to be able to say that he was trying to cheat, look out "for number one," or pushing and shoving to promote his own interests. He was there to be a witness to these people. He would do whatever it took to keep his testimony clean. Going the extra mile.

How different this is from the greedy average American! Sadly, even Christians seem to be afflicted with this disease.

I was thinking about frugality today. I like being frugal. It makes me feel like I'm being a good steward. There's certainly plenty of Christians who act like their money belongs to them, instead of God. I don't want to join that crowd.

But neither do I want to swing to the other extreme. I'd rather pay $10 extra, and have a good witness, than save $1o and lose my chance to be a good testimony.

How 'bout you?