It's that time of year when everything begins to get a little crazy. We don't travel a ton in Fall, but we always go to Boise in September for Scentsy's annual SuperStar Director Summit. It's an annual gathering of Scentsy's top leaders, and we wouldn't miss it for anything. This year I was asked to teach a workshop which is exciting, but it also makes everything a bit more busy as we prepare to head out of town. 

Brian is out of town tonight tending to some family business, so I'm left here to prep all the meals and clothes and packing and my presentation for next week. Oh, and everyone's crazy schedules. Plus there is some weird smell coming from underneath the desk in my kitchen that I am going to have to hunt for as soon as I'm done here. 

So I guess we're busy. I like being busy, but I don't like being this busy. We may have slightly overbooked ourselves, but it's just for a moment, and it was sort of because of a thing Brian needed to go take care of. (More on how much I love and admire and adore my husband later.) Really, I'm a lucky gal. 

The kids and I spent some time outside with the chickens tonight. We have 11 now. Yes. We are officially those people. And it's awesome. 

Addy has the runt that we have affectionately named Condor....because, look at it. It looks like a condor. Brian got it for free with the last bunch that he bought. The other chickens were picking on it, and they weren't sure if it would make it, so we rescued it. 

And the reason I keep saying "it" is because there is no way to tell at this age if these are hens or roosters. We think we have a few roosters, but it's too soon to tell. Despite the fact that we don't know their gender (for sure), most of them have names. 

The tiniest one is Condor (or Squirt as Addy calls it). We have a Curly, a momma Cindy (named after our nanny's momma.....and there were actually 2 momma Cindys until we renamed one of them....and for the life of me, I can't remember what we re-named it.) Anyways, we also have 2 Sweeties, an Oprah, a Blue (who has blue toenails...that we painted), and then a couple new ones who don't have names yet. The one Luke is holding is a newbie with no name yet. 

Who knew? Naming chickens is fun. 

On another note, this is what my life looks like right now, and I have plans to get up at 5:30 am, so I think it's time we parted ways. More useless information to come tomorrow.......stay tuned. 

Oh and for the record, the jammies they are wearing in the above pictures, are the jammies they wore ti bed last night and all day long. When you go to church on Saturday nights, that's how Sundays roll. 

Grandma's 80th birthday, wrestling matches, and matching t-shirts.

I didn't write yesterday. There are few things worth taking a night off for, but family is definitely one of them. 

Last night we drove to Hobart, Oklahoma to celebrate Grandma Dalke's 80th birthday....well, maybe I should back up. Before we did that, I spent a few good hours at Addison's school helping set up for a Grandparent's Day Tea. 

It was a lot of hard work, but we had so many moms who helped out, and the event was a success. There was a second when I thought we were going to run out of cookies (we had 300 of them), but we made it. 

The kids performed, "If you'd Like to Swing on a Star," and got to show their grandparents' their classrooms. There were a lot of people there, but it was a fun afternoon. 

As soon as we cleaned up at school, we headed to Hobart. We knew we were going to miss Grandma's surprise party, so we planned to meet everyone at the stadium for my father in law's first football game as the head coach of the Hobart bearcats. (and no, I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a bear cat. I don't even know if it's one word or 2.) 

We left Wyatt at home with my mom since his bed time is 6:30. He would not have been much fun at a high school football game. 

We all had birthday bash shirts to wear at the game.

And front row seats. The kids loved watching their Papa Bill out on the field. 

I know this picture is blurry, but I love it. Someone is always holding Grandma's hand. She falls easily, so we take turns.

 I love these boys. Dalke brothers.

There may have been a little wrestling match on the field after the game. And yes, that's my husband. I know...he's so mature. He'll always be a wrestler. 

 At the end of the night....this is what matters. The whole family, standing on Phil Dalke Field for a family photo. I must say, I'm proud to be a Dalke.

A little at war

I kissed her on the crown of her head and whispered to her that she was so special to me. And the corners of her little mouth turned up into the biggest grin. 

She wants to be adored. Like all women do. We want someone to notice us, love us, cherish us, tell us that we're special. I want to be the person who tells her everyday how special she is. 

Tonight was good, but this morning was rough. She and I have a battle of the wills more days than not lately. I realize that that is part of parenting, but I don't want to settle for just saying "that's just how it's going to be." 

In the summer, we rarely have it out. During the school year, we butt heads. I can't explain. Maybe she's tired. Maybe there are too many other influences in her life. Maybe I'm just not there enough. I don't know what it is. 

But what I do know is that something is wrong in my soul. I am uneasy and unsure and as I type those words, tears fill my eyes. 

I feel vulnerable and inadequate and unsure of myself and what I'm being called to. There is a definite prompting in my spirit to homeschool her. It's a prompting that I can't seem to explain away. 

And the devil is having his way with me...or at least he is attempting to. I find it interesting that the devil is concerned with me considering homeschooling, but he definitely is. There has been definite and obvious opposition today. I feel worn and defeated and completely incapable, not to mention full of doubt. 

In the same breath that I say I feel full of doubt,  I also feel full of peace. I almost feel like the only thing I'm missing is the courage to do it. 

The truth is, I don't want to homeschool. I feel the holy spirit leading me there (for some unknown mysterious reason), and I am very adamantly digging my heels into the ground. 

This is hard. How do we decide what is best for our children. I mean, do we even know? Probably not. But there are some things I know.....

I know I want to question everything. I don't just want to do what everyone else has done. 

I know my heart desires more time with my 6 year old. 4 hours a night isn't enough. And as I think about the 3 of them (hopefully 4 of them...one day) getting involved in extracurricular activities, then where does that 4 hours go....probably straight out the window. 

I know I don't want my children to doubt who they are in Christ. I know they will, but I want them to know who the Bible says they are so they can stand on it's truth when they need to. 

I know I want our family to be Christ centered.....not child centered. 

and I know something isn't well in my soul right now. I feel a little at war. So be it. She's worth fighting for. And I'll fight until I figure it out. 

I love Duck Dynasty and a few other sentences

So I know that you guys love business posts. Sometimes it's hard to put into words things that have become second nature to you. 

To be honest, I'm not really great at any certain part of direct sales. I've never won Scentsy's annual sales award. I've never won the annual mentor award. I've just never seen them as extremely important in my eyes. They are great goals to shoot for, but earning them was never a big goal for me. 

From the beginning, I looked at the compensation plan and set my goals based on what I needed to do to move up to the next title and stay there. That meant building relationships and focusing on others. 

In direct sales, you simply can't succeed on your own. It's impossible. I love the qualifications for our incentive trips. You earn points based on when your frontline consultants promote. It's a big fat reminder that you have to put other people before yourself if you really want to succeed. 

I was lucky that the people who started this journey with me were my family and friends. I wanted them to succeed as much as I wanted to succeed, and that attitude helped us all. 

I think last night I mentioned how important relationships are in business. In reality, that's all it comes down to. I've been thinking lately about how vitally important it is to have healthy boundaries in those critical relationships. 

Maybe that will be tomorrow night's topic....healthy boundaries in business relationships....I think that's a great idea. 

{Can you tell I have writer's block?....I'll work my way out of it.....hopefully something up there was helpful in some way.} 

Sometimes you get bad writing when you commit to writing everyday. Think of this post as a brainstorm. I'll work on it. I promise. 

On another note....I love Duck Dynasty. Since we're working on our relationships here, what is your favorite TV show? 

To Lead

I'm smack dab in the middle of preparing a presentation for my peers, and I'm re-reading one of my favorite books to prep for it. Jeb Blount's People Follow You is one of the best books I have ever read on leadership. 

The contents are no secret. To lead means to love, to serve, to put others first. The question becomes, what does that look like in the world of direct sales? 

I never knew that I would be in a leadership position. I had no clue. But it happened. And like many other people, when it happened, I looked around wondering what the heck that meant, and what I was supposed to do with this newly earned "director" title. 

The problem so many people have with leadership, is that they make it a bigger deal than it really is. Good leaders don't have all the answers or do everything right all the time. They aren't the best at everything, and if they're honest, they often doubt themselves. But what a good leader does do well over and over again is build relationships. 

If you want to know the secret to leadership, it lies in other people. It lies in putting others first and setting up circumstances for them to succeed. It's knowing people, and understanding them, and loving them. 

As People Follow You states, "The best leaders are the best relationship builders. These leaders understand that success as a leader is directly and entirely related to the quality of the relationships they build and sustain with the people they lead."

I have the opportunity to work with some amazing directors in our organization. They "get it." They understand that by helping others succeed, they are succeeding. 

But then I have directors who get on our monthly chat and only want to talk about themselves and what they're doing and how their personal business is going. They know very little of what is happening with their team members or how they doing. 

This advice goes to anyone in any area of direct sales. If you want to find success in leadership, build relationships. Put the success of the people on your team first, and you'll see your own success happen as a product of putting others first. 

This age old image of man conquering the mountain on his own, is not success. (You will see this picture if you search google images for "success" though.) You don't get up there by yourself. Don't be so naive. It takes a lot of other people to make a leader.

Because, let's face it, you're not really a leader if no one is following you. Just something to think about tonight. 

Joy

I have the great honor of helping a dear friend tell a story to the world. It's a story that has and will continue to change lives. 

Ellie Kate's story isn't over yet. Though she is in Heaven as we speak, I believe without a doubt that the Lord will continue to use her story to change lives all over the world. It is a beautiful story. 

I wasn't a part of it when it started, so to go back and read it all now, knowing what I know, is hard and beautiful and a perfect reminder of God's grace. I mean, He's continuing to change me this very day through the parts of her story that I didn't know about.

To read more about Ellie Kate, click here if you want to cry, or here, or here, or here. She changed me. And she continues to change me. And tonight I miss her with a heart of joy that only Jesus can bring. 

Ahhhh September

I really wish I could put on some boots and a sweater (and maybe some pants too) and watch the leaves fall in my yard while drinking a Pumpkin Spice Latte and smelling the delicious smell of Pumpkin Roll coming from my Scentsy warmer. 

Yes, that is Fall my friends. 

And it's not here yet, but September 1st is like the red carpet to Fall. It's coming. 

So in preparation for Fall, I'm loading up on Fall scents and the most to die for warmers we have had yet! 

Yes, I'm talking about the new Scentsy catalog. I'm just saying it's a good thing I'm a consultant, otherwise, I would owe someone else a lot of money. 

Here are just a few things I'm ordering for myself: 

Meet Twiggy. Isn't he precious?! And he smells good. And his turtle shell comes off. Put him in the cart. He's too cute. (And he has friends.....like a super precious owl.)

 Yes, that's Chevron. Enough said.

If you have chickens, you have to have this silhouette wrap. I mean, look at it!

The new lampshade collection....big, glass, and beautiful. I'll show you mine in my entry way as soon as it comes in. They are gorgeous!

And Service and Sacrifice....our Charitable Cause warmer. (More on this soon....awesome things surround this warmer.)

Bring on the Fall. I'm ordering Pumpkin Roll, and Orange you Glad, and Cozy Fireside, and Very Merry Cranberry, and so many more. My house is going to smell like Fall before it drops below 100 degrees here. 

Happy September friends!