judi free!

I had the very rare opportunity to sit in a room with 150 brilliant CEOs – incredibly accomplished individuals to say the least. They had all gathered to hear the CEO of my company give a presentation about “The Politics of International Business”…sounds so boring…right? What they got instead was a sincere message from an incredible man about his family, faith and business.

He spoke about the explosive growth our company experienced in the past 10 years, and he also detailed the anguish of watching the company stock go from $70 to $2 within 6 weeks. I was completely captivated by his personal story and journey of the past six months. Above all, I was completely shocked and inspiried with his transparency about his faith. He didn’t hold back in this very initimidating room. He let everyone know that “with God, all things are possible” and when he was asked how he managed his way through it all, he simply said, “I have to be honest…I pray alot. And through prayer, I gain the wisdom and strengh I need to do my job.”

He described his job as CEO of a Fortune 500 company as a ministry.

Maybe you’ll never be in “full time church ministry”, but you can inspire and change people right where you are. My CEO changed my life…and he’s not even a pastor.

The economy sucks…and I can’t do anything about it.

BUT –

I have a knack for writing, editing and formatting resumes for my friends, family, and even former co-workers. If you need some help with your resume, I really want to help you. Here’s some quick tips, but feel free to leave a comment and I’ll email you if you need additional help:

• Customize your email for the job you are applying for. Each job requirement is different – so should your resume!
• Keep it to one page if at all possible.
• Keep it clean and SPELL CHECK!!!!
• Focus on your skills and strengths – not your daily tasks and duties.
• You are marketing yourself so be creative and make your experience jump off of the page.
• Reach out to placement agencies and head hunters. They have trusted relationships with tons of companies. Many companies won’t hire anyone unless it’s through a placement agency or head hunter.
• Convert your resume to PDF before sending. MS Word formatting doesn’t always “keep”.
• For examples, templates and more tips, visit Resume Resource.

In addition to helping with your resume, I’ll pray that you find a job – a GREAT job!

Start Writing!

What moves people? How can you get them to listen to your message? How do you get them to come to your church?

I say, the only way – ONLY WAY – is through the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ which is the only thing that can compell a man’s heart.

If this is true, why do we have to spend so much time on programs, gimicks, get togethers, and great lighting? I challenge us to look at the great revivals of our past. Revivals set up in dirty tents with uncomfortable seating. The people were hungry and desperate to experience a move of God.

I don’t believe the people who attend Hillsong Church go for the amazing light show – the Holy Spirit is truly present in that place. If your church is dwindling in numbers, I promise, it’s not the hole in the carpet or the lack of a 30 something group that’s keeping people away.

The people are still hungry and desperate!

At work, I really think about everything I’m going to say or email. I take a breath and think, “How will this impact the situation/person/problem?” I’m very diligent and respectful about this and I usually do not say anything out of pure emotion.

However, I don’t do the same thing at home. Instead of thinking about my response to Mark or my parents, I usually blurt out my first emotionall and irrational response. It usually takes a 5 or 10 minute conversation for me to back out of my “blurt” and tell the person that I love what I really meant to say.

When it comes to the people we love, why is it so hard to treat them with the same respect we do our co-workers or boss?

I’m safe. I still have my job. God is good (and he still would have been good if I lost my job today).

My company announced today that our CEO resigned and that they will be laying off 20 – 25% of staff. The layoffs will take place next week.

I have some options here on how I will react…

fearful, paniced, gossiping, angry, frustrated

OR

full of faith, love, peace, joy, patience, self control, kindness etc…

Even if I lose my job next week, I know who my provider is. I am the head and not the tail. Above and not beneath. I am a child of God. I have the mind of Christ. I have Godly favor…there, I said it!

TODAY IS STILL THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE;
I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!

• sing like an angel
• relate better to my friends when they are going through hard times
• be more knowledgeable about Scripture
• listen better – much better (sorry Mark for the constant interruptions)
• win $1,000,000 playing McDonald’s Monopoly
• start my own business
• lose 15 lbs.

The funny thing about this list is that only one of these things requires luck…the rest, I just need to work at. I can do it. I know I can. SUCCESS IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO EFFORT. Luck is for losers (even though I did win a $50 gas card) - and the rest is in our hands to work hard and become everything we ever dreamed of.

I shop for a living. It’s every girls dream. I purchase the promotional gifts (swag as some are inclined to call it) and corporate gifts (these tend to be nicer in quality).

Anyway, my job is alot of fun, but there is one occupational hazard – ACQUIRING JUNK!!!! I have so many companies sending me the latest and greatest stuff that my desk becomes a pile of junk. I clean it weekly and I can’t keep it tidy. Here’s a quick snapshot of what I accumulate in just one week…

Swag

• Playing cards
• 5 water bottles
• Maglight
• 2 USB Drives
• Paperweight
• Cuff Links
• Puzzle Game
• Pen

The law of diminishing value definitely applies here…the first USB drive was really exciting, but the 36th was just a hassle to find a spot or person to give it to. I guess it’s my cross to bare!

I have spent most of my teenage and adult years resenting the fact that I am a “jack of all trades, master of none.” I can do many things well, but I am not exceptional at one particlar thing (like Mark is with music).

I have been tormented at the thought that I would always be someone’s assistant. Always busying myself with helping others accomplish THEIR dreams and not my own. Stroking the egos and money that make up the corporate world. There was a quote on the House season opener that frightened me to my core:

I would rather live among the birds than waste it wishing I had wings.

Is this true of me? Am I OK with just living among the birds and never living for myself. Never chasing my own dreams…the big, fat, undeniable answer is NO.

Maybe being a jack of all trades means that I will be good at starting my own business someday or good at coming up with something different to blog everyday – HA! For now I’ll embrace the fact that I’m a jack of all trades.

But listen up cruel world: JudiFree is here to stay and she has wings…huge, purple, pink, and sequin studded wings!

I am an encourager. I am an exhorter. I am a cheerleader. I think that this is my greatest gift in life. Sometimes, though, I think that enouraging can cross a line and becomes leading people on.  

Example: I had a meeting with a small town, Nebraska-based promotional company today. They had mediocre products and are not a good fit for my company. However, I wanted to be positive and encouraging, so I told him that they had really great stuff and that I appreciated the visit. I know the guy left thinking that he has a good shot at landing a huge account – but the reality is that there’s no way we will be doing business with them. I totally led him on for the sake of wanting to encourage him. Now, I know that he will be calling me every week to follow up.

I have to let my no be no and my yes be yes. No leading on. No grey area. Only encourage what is worth encouraging. This is a lesson I’m learning today. I can only imagine how frustrating it can be to any sales person. Wouldn’t you just want to know that you aren’t getting the business and what you can change to get the business?

Have you ever unintentionally led someone on because you were just encouraging them?

It’s officially the beginning of the end.

my usename is none other than: judifree…check me out!

…an iPhone so I could remotely blog all week during the DNC.

It should be an amazing week for me!! My company has me in Downtown Denver all week long to manage DNC parties and media lounges (I have such a cool job) It will be quiet around here, but I’ll try to upload pictures everynight.

Let the crazy parties begin!!!

How do you chase your dreams?…

I’ve been struggling with this question lately. I have huge dreams and not sure what to do to bring them to reality. I’m realizing that all I need to do is: Live in the “right now”.

Do everything I can do right this moment – TODAY – to live for God, to follow his commandments, to love people.

That’s how you do it. That’s it.

My dreams include writing a wedding resource guide. Being a mom. Being a wife. Leading worship. Leading young women. Being a daughter. Being a home owner. Reaching the desperate and lost. Owning my own company.

I can do about 90% of the things that I listed TODAY. The other dreams will come if I stay faithful today. If I push ahead RIGHT NOW on what God has already given me.

DREAM BIG, BECAUSE DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE!

Oh yeah…if you were wondering, the Pickle Juice Sno-Cone was delicious (maybe bringing pickle juice sno-cones to the world will be how I make my millions…):

I’m stressed out. Work is still sketchy. My parents move to town on Thursday and no one can help them move in until Friday. I’m sleepy and hungry. THESE ARE MY CIRCUMSTANCES….

Yesterday, someone at church (sorry, I don’t remember who cause my eyes were closed) said, “Don’t look at your circumstances, look at God’s promises.”

I didn’t really understand this statement until I started complaining on my blog and I realized that I was so focused on my problems that I can’t even write a decent blog post.

Here are God’s promises to me: God has given me power, love and a sound mind. God is my provider. All things work together for good for those who love Him.

What circumstances are standing in the way of your promises???

We had the opportunity to hang out with a great lad named Adam from Leeds, UK for the past 2 weeks. He is passionate about social justice including refugees, missions work and the environment. He is devoting his whole life to it! His passion made me think…

What is my role as a Christian? What should I care about and spend my time and money on (biblically speaking)? Am I really serving Christ with the actions in my life? Should I care more about refugees (or insert any other issue)?

As I pondered these questions, I read a blog post from Jenni which really sums it up for me.

We are the body of Christ. Each member does something different. God ignites a passion in each one of us to further His Kingdom. Some will create worship music, some will train the next generation, some will stand up for women in leadership, some will fight for clean water and medical supplies around the world, some will care for the sheep - all working for the good of the Kingdom.

We should not be filled with guilt if we aren’t personally passionate about doing all of these things. 

In a company, you don’t feel guilty that you aren’t doing the payroll if your job is to do marketing.

Trust that God is putting the right desires in the right people’s hearts to fulfill His mission.

We are part of a community (also called the Body of Christ) that is doing the whole work. I may be passionate and focusing my time on mentoring teenagers, but I can also support Shelly, Whitney and Pastor Sarah in Ethiopia – and they support me too. This makes us connected in the body…We can’t do it all ourselves, but we can be true to the passion God has put in our hearts.

I may never go on a missions trip…that doesn’t mean I’m not doing what God planned for me.