“It’s easy to count how many seeds are in an apple, but only God knows how many apples are in a seed*”

It was a nice thought and I left it there. But recently I heard something that again made me realize that fruit carries the seed for more fruit and that it is just as true spiritually as it is horticulturally (is that a word?).

The fruit of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. When we practice patience, more patience grows from it. When we exercise self control, the seeds of more self control are sown. Love produces love.

It’s not just a small brown kernel inside the apple – it is countless more apples. And it’s not just one moment of peace, it’s the potential for a lot more peace to grow from it.

* a quick google tells me that quote can be attributed to Robert Schuller

How many apples are in a seed? is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online

Working Women of the Bible by Susan DiMickele

*** update*** – Lisa and Rebecca won the copies – I’ll email you gals for your addresses!

I’m reading Working Women of the Bible by Susan DiMickele. I’m really enjoying seeing these women come to life on the pages of her book and getting encouragement from how they managed their professional lives.

Susan and her publisher – Leafwood Publishers – have given me two copies of the book to giveaway to my readers! Leave a comment down below about why you’d like a copy and I’ll use random.org to pick a winner on Saturday morning (April 6th).

I’ll post a review on here when I’ve finished it, but until then – join me reading it. Pick it up at Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or enter to win below!

Book Giveaway – Working Women of the Bible is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online

While eating delicious waffles on Sunday morning one of the families brought out a book by NASA called Earth as Art. We knew our friend Lawrence worked at NASA, but it turns out he actually led the effort to create this book.

I must say – it’s amazing.

You can get a PDF of it for free, or download the free iPad App. Unfortunately the print version of the book isn’t available to the public yet.

The Zagros Mountains in southwestern Iran present an impressive landscape of long, linear ridges and valleys. In the lower right corner of this 2000 Landsat 7 image stands a feature of the area—a white-topped salt dome called Kuh-e-Namak, or “mountain of salt” in Farsi. Thick layers of minerals, such as halite (common table salt), typically accumulate in closed basins during alternating wet and dry climatic conditions. Over time, the layers of salt are buried under younger layers of rock. The pressure from overlying rock layers causes the lower-density salt to flow upwards, bending the rock layers above and creating a domelike structure. Near the bottom of the image, the Mand River resembles a lavender ribbon as it winds around the base of Kuh-e-Namak. The city of Konari and several other towns and small villages nestle nearby on the valley floor.

A few days after I saw the book, NPR did a profile as well:

Some of the instruments aboard the satellites collect data in different ranges of wavelengths of light. These “spectral bands” break up all the visible and invisible light into chunks: the reds, the blues, the greens and even infrared, a wavelength of light that humans can’t see.

When researchers piece the image data back together, they can be selective about which “bands” of light are displayed in the final image. “The selection depends on the intent of the analysis,” Friedl wrote in an email. “An analysis of vegetation would probably select the red, green and infrared bands — vegetation is ‘bright’ in those bands and the analyst could differentiate between the types or health of vegetation.”

Friedl says analysts generally don’t go out of their way to make images look surreal, but this kind of spectral analysis can be used to great effect. “There are whole books written on what band combinations to use to bring out certain features,” he told me. Like rocks: When studying the retreat of the glaciers of the Himalayas, Friedl says, you can train software to recognize the light signature of exposed rock. And instead of directly measuring the glaciers themselves, you can see where new rock is getting exposed year over year.[1]

Stop and… Explore the Earth as Art is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday – which is the not-so-spiritual practice of going on a bit of a binge before you give stuff up for Lent.

Fasting from something for 40 days reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice for us. We forgo something we like or enjoy to create more margin, and we use that margin to reflect upon God’s generosity towards us in His Son. Many people “add” something along with their sacrifice: they give up TV and instead write a letter a day to someone who has made an impact in their life. They give up meals and give the money they would have spent on food to a food pantry.

The Lenten Season snuck up on me this year and I’m not prepared – I don’t know what I’m going to give up just yet. As I was pondering it today, I started wondering what “fat” I have at work that I could cut? Things that aren’t necessarily bad on their own, but if I gave them up I could be more attentive at work, more generous towards my colleagues and more “present” with my tasks.

Social media comes to mind. When I have a few minutes between meetings and I don’t have enough time to get into actual work I mindlessly check Facebook or Twitter. Could I use that time more wisely? What could I do with those in-between minutes?

Or podcasts – I plug my ears and I think I’m getting some “professional development” by listening to an educational podcast. But am I communicating to my officemates that I’m unavailable? And would my work improve if I were more focused on it rather than splitting my attention?

I could cut the literal fat – no trips to the vending machine for 40 days. I could replace it with a lap around the building to provide fresh air and re-focus on the tasks at hand.

There’s nothing wrong with social media, podcasts or the vending machine (all in moderation, of course). And these “sacrifices” seem meaningless in the face of Christ, I know. But I wonder if cutting even those small little bits of fat can make a difference in reminding me of the One I work for.

Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return. – Genesis 3:19

Cut the Fat is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online

When we examine our hearts in the light of Scripture, our lives begin to change. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, the Apostle Paul reminds us of the good news that “we are being transformed into his image.” We are mirrors of God to the world around us; it is our privilege to reflect Him to others.

Earlier today I went to my neighborhood pool. In the locker room they have those Plexiglas mirrors where you can’t quite see yourself, and when you do see yourself, it’s not quite you. We’ve all seen ourselves in funhouse mirrors where we become distorted. Likewise, the imperfections in us distort the image of God that people see when they look at us. We’ll never be able to clean off every spot with a squirt of glass cleaner and good behavior. But that’s not the point. Cleaning ourselves up so we look better to others will only exhaust us. We need to invite and allow God to clean up our imperfections so that we may reflect Him better. That’s our goal. We need to bring our distorted mirrors to Him, and let Him use his “holy” glass cleaner to remove all our blemishes.

Usually God cleans up our mirrors by first showing us where the spots and distortions are and then by helping us acknowledge them. There are the big ones – like an affair or embezzlement. But then there are the smaller areas where we are prone not to mirror Christ and maybe not even notice it. Generally, people agree that having an affair is bad, but telling white lies is something people rarely think twice about. Or we may say we think gossip is bad, but we do it anyway. Gossip, dishonesty, complaining – all are distortions in our mirror that make us a poor reflection of Christ.

ps – I can’t think about glass cleaner without thinking of My Big Fat Greek Wedding – “just put some windex on it!” (okay – now go back to reflecting on the seriousness of the post!)

Imperfect Mirrors is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online

Many people who write about faith-and-work stop after they make the point that it’s important to combine the two, and that God values your work. J.B.’s blog makes those important points, but goes beyond that and includes real-life work situations. You get a glimpse of how he handles challenges, setbacks or success. His tone is approachable and conversational (and occasionally irreverent, which lets you know he’s human). Given that his book is a collection of blog posts, it follows that I really enjoyed At Work as it is in Heaven.

I originally read through the book when I first picked it up downloaded it in September. At that time, I breezed right through it. I enjoyed it, I wished it were longer, but then I set it aside.

As I’ve recently found myself a bit more stationary than usual, I took the opportunity to re-read the book. I started going through it at the same clip as last time, but then I got to Chapter 6. While not the main point of the chapter, Wood wrote about the importance of really thinking about and reflecting on the Scripture you are reading. His book isn’t Scripture, but it reminded me to take more time to reflect on what I was reading and how the different topics applied to my life.

So then I  slowed down and paid more attention to his writing. That chapter, Investing in a Spiritual Economy, is about how our perspective on the economy impacts our feelings of security. Most of the time when we hear the word “economy” our mind turns to money – either our personal finances or the finances of the country. When I think about my own financial economy I get a little antsy. Like most people I’m dealing with some uncertainties: new expenses like a baby (and unpaid maternity leave); or new opportunities like the book. Plus the country’s (world’s?) economy is still shaky and that can make me nervous.

But Wood encourages readers to look at the spiritual economy: one “made of relationships and from giving and loving,” which leads to spiritual security. He doesn’t say the financial economy is unimportant, he just encourages you to realize that your security doesn’t come from there.

“There really is no security in life. That’s the first lesson, numero uno. Which is kind of hard to swallow for us hard-core, independent-minded control freaks. But maybe once we grasp that point, then the verses that follow in Luke 12:22-23 about not worrying start to make sense. Jesus is saying there is so much more to life than the raw economics of money and transactions.

The spiritual economy is going on all around us, right in front of us, and the beauty is that it is based on eternal, unlimited abundance. But we get distracted and driven by the financial economy, which appears to be bigger, more important, more tangible and more threatening.”  (pg53-54)

That chapter caused me to ask myself:  am I hoping to find my security in the financial economy? am I making investments in the spiritual economy?

That chapter also caused me to slow down and really think about what I was reading. I found the book really enjoyable the first time, and a lot more challenging the second time. I could include a ton more quotes from him in here, but instead I’ll just encourage you to read it!

More about the author: Aside from his day job as a Senior Vice President, JB Wood is a Content Editor at the The High Calling. His writing has also been featured in The Conference Board Review magazine, Christianity Today’s Men of Integrity, and The Chicago Sun Times.

Book Review: At Work as it is in Heaven – by J.B. Wood is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online

If it’s not immediately evident: in the background are solar panels and in the foreground is a baby!

Over the past year, my husband and I have been “going net zero.” It’s a long, long story that I will let Andy tell, but we’ve done everything from changing our light bulbs and adding insulation, to watching as drillers put 180-foot-deep holes in our small DC yard for a Ground Source Heat Pump, and installers put 9.7KW of solar power on our roof. It’s been a big project (as most home improvement projects are) but we’re almost finished. When all is said-and-done we should be net-zero: producing as much energy as we consume.

And in addition to that, over the last 9 months I was cooking a little person inside me. Everett joined us in the second half of October. We’re all getting to know each other, and we’re even starting to sleep a little!

So that explains my long absence. But I’m getting back in the saddle with writing – keep your eye on the blog for more posts!

Here’s one more picture of him from the other day, when he was being particularly charming:

Getting Back in the Saddle is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online

Her credentials were impressive and her experience was pretty much all any organization in this new sphere could ask for. She pounded the pavement for months looking for a job: doing numerous informational interviews, reaching out to old contacts, making new contacts, submitting countless resumes and applications, going on formal interviews, starting negotiations for specific positions.

She was *this close* to an offer for the type of job she was looking for several times. It looked like everything was lining up, and yet it never quite did.

This job she finally got (and is very excited about) came through just when she was near the end of her rope and near the end of her savings account.

I was reminded of several important lessons while watching her job search:

-       Network, network, network: most of the “close” offers she received were a result of relationships she had built, and being recommended for positions by people who knew her.
-       Be prepared to wait: I’ve heard an anecdotal statistic that for every $10,000 you hope to make in your salary, expect one month of concentrated job searching. It takes that long to network with the right people, for enough of the right types of positions to open up, and for your skills to match with enough of those positions to be considered. I don’t know if her salary lines up with that statistic, but I do know it is rare that you start looking for a new job and find one in the first month or two.
-       Don’t be afraid to say no: while she was getting anxious to find a job, she closed down negotiations on a few positions that were moving towards an offer. She knew they weren’t a good fit for her. Taking the “wrong” job out of fear or desperation just leads to another search in a few months or years. Or, even worse, you could end up being stuck somewhere you dislike for a long time all because you weren’t confident enough in what you wanted to say “no thank you.”

• I know this is a tough one when your finances are tenuous – some people don’t feel they have the “luxury” of saying no to a job because they need the income right away. But even if you have to take a job for financial reasons, keep looking for the “right” job.

-       Follow Up Again: the job she is now working in was a result of an informational interview she did back in the winter. She emailed them a few times between then and now letting them know she was still available and interested. If it were me, I might have taken their first “no thank you” and walked away, thinking that were the end of the conversation. She was persistent, but not pushy, reminding the company of her skills, interest and availability. It resulted in her getting this job.

Finding a new job is hard work – it almost seems like a full-time job itself!  Be prepared financially and emotionally for a longer search than you might want. But network, be patient and keep following up!

Looking for a new job? is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online

Poster promoting good oral hygiene from the Work Projects Administration Poster Collection (Library of Congress).

It’s a word a former associate used to describe all the seemingly insignificant little stuff that, if ignored, can become a big deal. It’s things like filling out your time sheets or leave requests, or sending a weekly update to your manager so they can inform the client, or approving documents that allows someone else to proceed with their job. In your personal life it’s things like paying bills, grocery shopping, or doing the dishes. Not exactly glamorous, but necessary.

What are the parallels between bad dental hygiene and bad business hygiene?

It distracts others. Once, when I was on jury duty, I sat next to a man who had severe halitosis and I couldn’t think about anything else. My focus was on not getting sick rather than on what was being presented in the courtroom.  If you neglect your dental hygiene, you’ll start to get bad breath, and if you neglect to do your business hygiene – your “smelly business practices” will become a distraction to your colleagues, your clients, or your manager.

You might say, “But I’m really good at my job. Why does this little stuff matter?” There are a few people I love well enough to overlook their bad breath, but there are only a very select few, and even then it’s still a distraction. It’s possible that you’re the one rock star at your organization who doesn’t have to worry about “administrivia,” or maybe you have a way to outsource the annoying little tasks, but for the rest of us this is a necessary part of our jobs.

It nags at you. Not only is this lapse a distraction to other people, it’s a distraction to me. All day I’ve been aware of the fact that my teeth feel mossy and I’m worried about standing too close to someone.

When I don’t approve documents that other people need, I know it. Even if I forget for a little while, it’s never far from my mind. I’ve spent more time being annoyed by or worried about the neglected task than it would take to actually do it.

If you don’t do it, your teeth will fall out. You can get away with not brushing your teeth once in a while, but if you stop doing it all together, you’ll have to spend the rest of your life eating meals through a straw. Likewise, if you don’t fill out your timesheet, eventually you won’t get paid.

So what should you do? Brush your teeth. And do all the little things you think are a hassle. How should you do it? Use bubble-gum flavored toothpaste – figure out ways to make it fun! Okay, these tasks may never be fun (and frankly, bubble-gum toothpaste really doesn’t taste that good), but you can figure out ways to make it more palatable:

• Do all the “boring stuff” at one time so you get it out of the way. I usually brush, floss and wash my face all at the same time so I don’t have to keep going back to the bathroom. Similarly I keep a notepad by my desk where I write down tasks as soon as they come to my attention so I’m not distracted by them one-by-one or I don’t have to try to remember them; then I set aside a separate time to knock them all out at once.
• Do your hygiene tasks as soon as possible to get them over with. I don’t like being left with a pile of dishes at the end of the night (or worse, facing them the next morning). If I do them immediately after dinner, I can legitimately relax later; if I leave them in the sink my mind keeps returning to them. Even when you’re working on a huge, strategic task it usually takes less mental energy to do things you love than things you dislike, so do your business hygiene tasks first and then move on to the work you enjoy more.
• Keep these tasks in context – they may be small and tedious, but they enable the big things you want to

I forgot to brush my teeth is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online

EKO: Tell us about RE!
Alyssa: Real Eyes is a copy editing business that primarily services Christian thought authors. I do copy editing, copy writing and social media content.

EKO: What prompted you to start your own business?
Alyssa: Last fall I didn’t land a business job the way I thought I would [Alyssa and her husband took a year off from their jobs to travel to Costa Rica and Mexico to grow their Spanish fluency. When she returned, she didn’t find a job as quickly as she was expecting to.]

I started to think back to conversations Matt and I had when we were traveling, we talked about our dreams and what we would do if we didn’t have any limitations. Those conversations prompted me to do more writing while we were traveling, and I even picked up a few freelance jobs and an editing project for a family friend while we were gone.

But when we got back, I tucked that away. The easiest route was to go back to what was comfortable, what was known, and what made consistent money – the corporate world. But when those traditional doors were closed, it forced me to re-ask the questions we’d asked ourselves while we were traveling.

By early October we made the decision I would really invest in this, in starting a copy editing business.  Doing more than an odd job here or there, I moved day-by-day into the details of starting an official business.

EKO: How have you leaned on others who have gone before you?
Alyssa: Heavily – very heavily. Prayer has led me to wise counsel. I’ve met other editors, other freelance editors, other entrepreneurs – there’s something I can learn from everyone. I don’t know how much to stress how much I’ve depended on other people, helping point me in the right direction as a result of what they’ve done.

EKO: How do you approach people for help? What do you ask them?
Alyssa: I just ask people to do coffee and then I listen to their story. I think sometimes when I ask specifically for advice it gets a little awkward, they feel pressure. But when I ask them for their story, I hear “I started at my kitchen table.” Or “I didn’t get my LLC until 4 or 5 years in.” I can glean a lot of advice from their stories without them feeling pressure to say something really profound or wise.

When I first started, I thought there was ONE WAY TO DO FREELANCE EDITING. Turns out, there are TONS of ways.

EKO: How would you encourage other women thinking of starting their own business?
Alyssa: I would really encourage them to “Start with Why” – Simon Sinek’s concept. Why do you really want to do this? What is your real vision? How does it work with your natural skills and abilities? Does it line up with your long-term goals?

Once all that checks out, then go for it! Trust the Lord. It’s scary! At one point I was in a parking lot crying “I don’t know how to get clients… what am I doing? Matt’s going to think I’m a failure.” But I knew that all I could do was be faithful with what I’ve been directed to do by wise counsel, and trust God. I’ve learned not to let worry or anxiety consume me. I have to operate on faith – without faith it’s impossible to please God. (I took that one from the Bible).

Thanks Alyssa, for your time, and for sharing what you’re learning about starting your own business.

Anyone out there in need of a free-lance editor – check out Real Eyes!

Interview: Alyssa Miller – taking risks and starting your own business is a post from: Elizabeth Knox Online. Subscribe to my RSS feed, or sign up to receive blog posts right in your inbox!

by Elizabeth Knox Online