A group of about forty women were delighted to hear an entrepreneur success story at a recent “Women In Business,” luncheon in Layton, Utah. Two women who seemed like your next door neighbors, spoke about how they created a product that is now being sold by over 35,000 business consultants in the United States and bringing in revenues over $100 million annually.

Kara Egan and her sister-in-law Colette Gunnell, shared their story of creating a simple product that would bring many people pleasure. They created a wickless candle that was warmed by a low wattage light bulb. With many different scents for people they decided to name their company “Scentsy.”

Kara and her family were struggling financially because of her husband’s health problems. After watching an Oprah show on Millionaire Moms, Kara became determined that there must be something she could do to help her family. If regular people like the people she saw on the Oprah show can create products, then why couldn’t she do that too?

After watching a neighbor melt some of her old scented candles in an old potpourri burner, Kara got the idea to create scented flameless candles. She got on the phone with her sister-in-law and asked her if she would go into business with her. Colette said, YES!

Building your own company from scratch is not without challenges, but these two women conquered them with their determination and ingenuity. One important strategy they used was to make sure they knew about all the products currently available that were similar to theirs. They surveyed the market place and purchased any products that were similar to theirs. Repeatedly testing existing products and then creating a new product seemed to be the correct formula for their eventual success.

After manufacturing the products on their own and developing enough product for people to purchase, they started selling at local trade shows. It was at one of these trade shows that they met Orville Thompson and his wife Heidi. During one of the breaks at the long convention, Heidi took some of Scentsy bars home to share with her family. Her family and friends enjoyed them so much and that got Heidi’s husband’s attention.

Orville could see the business potential in this new product. Kara and Colette allowed Orville to help them take their business to the next level. It was the contact that they made with Orville Thompson that began the transformation of their business from a local business to a nationwide business.

Orville and Heidi Thompson bought the entire company from Kara and Colette, who are now Scentsy consultants, on May 1, 2004. They decided to market the flameless candles through direct marketing which opened up a new team of sales people. The Scentsy products are manufactured in Meridian, Idaho where there are over 500 employees.

The two mothers, Kara and Colette, that created Scentsy are heroes to many women who strive to build successful businesses. Their determination, creativity and desire paid off for them as well has thousands of other Scentsy consultants. An entrepreneur’s dream come true. Congratulations!

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sherry_Tingley

http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Scentsy-Was-Created&id=4319726

Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries. Each time the heart beats (about 50-60 times a minute at rest), it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is at its highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When the heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure.

As the source of High Blood Pressure is generally stressed, the Alternative Treatment of High Blood Pressure teaches the patient a course in meditation. Another positive advantage of alternative treatment of high BP is that the patient gets relief, as s/he begins to increase the hours of meditation.

High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms: -

* Even if high blood pressure does cause symptoms, the symptoms are usually mild and nonspecific (vague or suggesting many different disorders).
* Alcohol addiction
* Blood pressure medication can be stopped when blood pressure is within normal limits.
* Thyroid dysfunction
* Thus, high blood pressure often is labeled “the silent killer.”
* People with high blood pressure can take any over the counter medication for cold and flu.
* Coarctation of the aorta - A narrowing of the aorta that you are born with that can cause high blood pressure in your arms
* Use of birth control pills
* People who have high blood pressure typically don’t know it until their blood pressure is measured.
* Chronic kidney disease
* Tumors or other diseases of the adrenal gland

Change of Diet: -

* Salt: - Too much salt in the food increases blood pressure, especially in salt-sensitive people.
* Fats and Oils: - Overall fat consumption and fatty acid levels have been found to have only a minimal direct influence on high blood pressure. But hypertension is frequently associated with other risk factors of atherosclerosis, e.g. with increased cholesterol.

Natural Treatment: -

* An advantage of an Alternative Treatment of High Blood Pressure is that the treatment can be undertaken without wasting time on establishing a diagnosis. Even herbal medicines for High Blood Pressure can be administered after a proper diagnosis, verifying the extent of the High Blood Pressure rise. An Alternative Treatment of High Blood Pressure is thus an easier option and can be undertaken in the most primitive conditions.
* Vitamin C have the effect of relieving symptoms of high blood-pressure and helping the body detoxify by removing toxic substances that can cause high blood pressure.
* Keeping fit through regular walking and exercise is a good and natural way of keeping High Blood Pressure in control. The lack of physical activity increases the risk of heart related problems and hence creates High Blood Pressure. Also, quitting and cutting down on smoking, is absolutely essential for High Blood Pressure sufferers.
* Tobacco products are horrible for your blood pressure. One of the natural remedies for high blood pressure includes cessation of smoking. By eliminating smoking from your daily routine, you’ll be doing your entire body a whole lot of good.

After only 2 days into Joaquin’s life, I told my wife, “it’s amazing how something so little can make me feel so inadequate.” For the next few months, I experienced periods of intense anxiety. Realizing that I needed to grow just as Joaquin was growing, I started looking for resources to support me in what was sure to be an emotional journey. To my dismay, I found very little. Sure, there are father’s advocacy groups and organizations dedicated to maintaining the traditional family structure, but as for resources that addressed the personal development of fatherhood - nothing. This was a sharp contrast to the wealth of resources for moms. I found magazines, support groups, books, blogs, and newspaper articles for new and expectant mothers. What I found for dads was mostly re-packaged how-to guides originally directed to mothers.

Even as a new father, I recognized that failure to acknowledge the inner work that must accompany fatherhood could have dire consequences on my personal and family life. This is not, of course, a new idea. In a recent article in Newsweek, a father shared that his wife had to parent him as much as his children, which led to a painful divorce. My own father told my mother that he wasn’t ready to be a father after I was born. If we fail to understand, acknowledge, and do something about the emotional challenges that we experience as fathers, we run the risk of alienating our partners, our children, and, most of all, ourselves. We may end up leaving our loved ones and our emotional well-being behind. The logistical aspects of fatherhood aren’t what tear families apart through neglect and divorce. No father ever abandoned his child because he couldn’t figure out how to change a diaper.

The path of fatherhood has never been more rich or challenging. Provision of shelter and food are no longer acceptable as the standard by which fathers are measured. Our children, our partners, and our own innate intelligence dare us to be more - to be nurturers, companions, guides, and counselors. The dramatic increase in stay at home dads proves that the model of fatherhood is changing rapidly for the better. The fatherhood paradigm shift should not be underestimated. Without recognition that change requires inner work, we run the risk of missing out on all the opportunities that fatherhood provides to become a better man, a better partner, and a better global citizen. A fellow new dad once told me that fatherhood was wonderful because it burns up all of your bad habits. I don’t know if I’ll ever shed all of my negative patterns, but I know that I owe it to myself and my son to be as available as possible both emotionally and physically. If I don’t, I might just give in to the urge to run out of the room the next time he decides to do something wonderfully unexpected.

Copyright (c) 2009 Lome Aseron

Lome Aseron helps dads on the journey of fatherhood through workshops and one-on-one coaching. Recognizing that fatherhood is a personal journey for fathers as well as their children, Lome strives to balance the more traditional responsibilities of bread-winner with newer models of father as care-taker. For free resources and more information about how to be the best dad you can be, go to http://www.newdadforlife.com

Below are five ideas to prioritize your life and business:

1. Be honest - You probably didn’t start your work-at-home career to climb the “corporate ladder” of your at-home business. Chances are that you started your business with the best of intentions – to be able to be at home with your children, to contribute financially to your family, or simply to have a little spending money of your own. Spend some time in prayer and ask the Lord to show you the things that you need to change.

Take a moment and honestly ask yourself how you’ve been handling the time commitment of owning a business:

• Are you spending too much time on the phone, the computer, etc?
• Are your kids spending more time than usual in front of the TV?
• Do you snap at your children because of the stresses of your business?
• Do you worry about your business – to the point that it distracts you when you are with your family?

2. Make a list – Sit down and write out a list of things that you see that you’d like to change. This can be a list of things you can do differently to limit the time you spend on your business; or a list of ways you can “de-stress” so that you can deal kindly with your family.

3. Log your time – Buy a notebook or create a spreadsheet that you can use to log the time you spend on your business each day. Make a column for each day across the top and a row of half an hour increments down the side. Every time you sit down at your desk, write “IN” in the box that corresponds to the time and day. Every time you leave your desk (or complete a task), fill the appropriate box with the word “OUT.”

At the end of the week, total up the hours each day that you have spent on business tasks. Are you surprised or is it about where you thought you’d be? This can be a real eye-opener and show you in black and white if your priorities have gotten off track. Take special note for how much time you spend on e-mails and things that aren’t billable.

Diana Ennen of Virtual Word Publishing, http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com also recommends that you plan ahead and schedule your time. Prioritize things and have the work that will require the most effort and concentration scheduled for your peak time. Try and not get sidetracked and stay on task focusing on what you need to do. You’d be amazed how much more work you can get done by simply changing how you work e-mails. If you only answer them at set hours, you save yourself from being online all day and not accomplishing much.

4. Take a break – If you get to the end of the week and your time log has you in shock, it’s time to take a break. If you normally work during the weekend, make it a point to take this weekend off. Shut down your email, turn off the ringer on your phone and shut the door to your office. You’ll be surprised at how refreshing this will be.

Use this time off to re-evaluate how you need to be spending your time. Try to plan out when you can work on your business without losing out on time with your children. If your children are in school, make it a point to stop working when they get home. If your children are still small, maybe you can limit work hours to naptime or, if possible, have a grandparent watch them once or twice a week to allow you a bit more work time.

5. Plan an activity – Now that you’re ready to make a change in your routine, why not plan an activity once a week? This can be an outing with your child or just something simple like setting aside time to make cookies together.

If possible, find another work-at-home mom and hold one another accountable to keep to your new schedules. Make a weekly play date where your children can spend time together – you can talk business if necessary or decide to make it a “no business talk allowed” discussion time.

The years that you have at home with your children are a gift as is your business. The time necessary for each will be different for every family and situation. Take the time to find what works for you and set your schedule accordingly. Make it a point to evaluate your priorities every few months to make sure that your time in spent properly. The rewards will be well worth it, when your family not only is proud of your accomplishments in your business, but also more importantly your accomplishments as their mom. Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. This site is dedicated to providing work at home moms with opportunities to promote their businesses while at the same time providing them spiritual encouragement and articles. Visit CWAHM.com for additional information. Jill and her husband, Allen of CWAHD.com (Christian Work at Home Dads) reside in Nebraska with their two children.

We all know that New Year is a time of celebration, a time to join with family and friends to say goodbye to the problems of the past and welcome the fortunes that the future holds. But have you ever wondered why January 1 marks the beginning of the year? Have you ever thought about why we celebrate in the way that we do?

New Years Traditions and Superstitions

There are a number of superstitious traditions that began many years ago that have lost their meaning in present day. Typically these traditions were enacted to influence the luck one would have in the coming year. For example, the New Years Eve parties that we all know and love began due to the belief that what one did on the first day of the year could affect their luck. This is why parties go past midnight and into the new year and it also explains why they involve lots of family and friends.

When the clock strikes midnight it’s common for us to kiss our loved ones and make lots of noise to celebrate the beginning of a new year. While most of us just do this without really thinking about it, there is a superstitious reason behind this. Traditionally, people kissed each other to ensure that the relationship lasted for the rest of the year and they made a lot of noise as they believed it would scare the evil spirits away.

History of New Years Day

The origins of New Years celebrations date back thousands of years. In around 2000BC the Babylonians celebrated the new year over an 11-day period. This period did not begin on January 1 as we would expect, it actually started with the first new moon after the first day of spring (also known as the Vernal Equinox).

It was not until 153BC that January was declared as the beginning of the year by the Romans. The month was named after Janus the mythical god of beginnings. The calendar year became much more like that used in present day in 46BC when Julius Caesar established the Julian Calendar. After consultation with an astronomer he matched the calendar year with the movement of the sun and marked January 1 as the start of the new year.

New Years Resolutions

The popular tradition of making new years resolutions also has origins in Ancient Babylon and Rome. The Babylonians would typically return farm equipment that they had borrowed during the year, while in Caesar’s time Janus became the symbol for resolutions because he had two faces that could look to the past and into the future.

Today we make New Years Resolutions to try to improve some aspect of ourselves in the coming year. Popular resolutions include quitting smoking, losing weight and getting out of debt. This sounds good but the sad truth is that most of us break them well before the year is out. In fact, a recent study found that 22% of people give up on their resolution in the first week and by the end of March more than half of New Years resolvers have fallen off the bandwagon.

Happy New Year!

How Does Santa fit into a Christian Christmas? Christian and non-Christian alike have heard of him. As children, we imagined the sleigh, decorated with gold and jewels. Small pointy-eared people stuffed dolls, train sets, trucks, and other treats into a bottomless red bag. The sleigh driver is a plump, kindly man sporting white hair and a red outfit, sat at the ready to lead his reindeer team across the night sky in search of deserving girls and boys. I remember not being able to sleep on Christmas Eve, my body filled with nervous energy as I waited for Santa Claus to arrive.

The aforementioned images have been a tradition in America, and in the Philippines as well, for the last two centuries, even in Christian homes. Today, we have to ask ourselves: does Santa Claus have a place in Christian celebrations during the Christmas season? The modern Santa Claus was loosely based on an actual person who possessed qualities every Christian should imitate.

The name of St. Nicholas has been used interchangeably with that of Santa Claus but they are not the same. Saint Nicholas was born in the third century A.D. He came from a Christian home and believed in the teachings of Jesus Christ. He used his vast resources to help those in need, thus fulfilling Christ’s mission. Stories grew from his extraordinary deeds, each more fanciful than the one before. Once Europeans colonized America, the stories evolved into tales to entertain children and our version of the Santa Claus legend began. Please take note that the Americanized Santa Claus is in no way related to Saint Nicolas (who may not even be aware of a North Pole). I do not want to delve into the reasons behind the confusion.

As Christian individuals, we have a responsibility to represent Christ in all aspects of our lives. What greater opportunity exists to show the world God’s love than during the celebration of Christ’s birth? God sent His only Son into the world to give mankind a second chance that we did not deserve. Our children deserve the truth. Make-believe stories are fun, but when they appear to be more popular than the truth, they can mislead our children.

The Santa Claus legend must be replaced with the facts. Saint Nicholas existed and he lived his life in service to the Savior whose birth we celebrate during the Christmas season. That’s the truth. At Christmas, nothing should overshadow the birth of Christ, God’s ultimate gift.

Pass on the Good News.

Want to give a special gift to a friend or coworker? Give them the gift of God’s Word. Share the Christmas story, and I don’t mean “‘Twas the Night before Christmas”. Pre-printed leaflets recounting the miracle of Jesus’ birth can be purchased from a Christian bookseller. Or, add that personal touch and create a booklet of your own. A small item, such as a candle, can be included too. Fill a weary heart with God’s message.

Share His love.

When someone invites a person to their house, it signifies that they wish to share their good fortune with them. When we accept Christ into our lives, His home becomes our home. Invite a friend or coworker to God’s house for an Advent service or a Christmas program. They will be glad they came.

Get involved.

For the middle class and the poor, life gets a little bit harder around the Christmas holidays. Suicide rates increase. Those in urgent need, like the destitutes, become more so due to the weather conditions this time of year. God cries out for us to show His love.

Volunteers are a welcomed sight at holiday time. Soup kitchens and food banks seek extra people to prepare and serve hot meals and help with food box deliveries. The social services agency can provide particulars on families in the area that want to be “adopted” for Christmas. As a church body, everyone can pitch in and provide gifts and other necessary items. Providing gifts for orphaned children can also be a church project or one taken on by individual families within the congregation. If you see a need that has yet to be met, begin your own program to provide it.

The object here is to let Christ’s light shine in the life of another. During His lifetime, Jesus met each person at their level of need. Someone whose belly has been filled with food you helped to provide will be ready to hear more about the God you serve.

Our commitment to Christ is a commitment to communicate His life and love to others. If Christ is number one in our lives, our actions should let everyone know it. As Christians, we have a unique opportunity to bring to the world, a true understanding of the Christmas season.

“Here on earth, Christ as man came to reveal what prayer is. To pray in the name of Christ, we must pray as He prayed on earth, as He taught us to pray, in union with Him, as He now prays in heaven. We must study Him in love and accept Him in faith as our Example, our Teacher, and our Intercessor.”

Jesus has so much to teach us about prayer. He is our example, our teacher and the greatest intercessor throughout all of history. No wonder his disciples called upon Him to teach them to pray. He taught by example, He taught by passion, and He taught by words. The heartbeat of Jesus was for prayer and communion with the Father. Take a moment, be silent and imagine the King of Kings coming into your home and sitting down in your living room. Lean over carefully so as to catch His every word, and ask Him, “Jesus, what are the most important things we must personally learn about prayer? The following are nine lessons that Jesus wants you to personally incorporate into your own prayer life.

Prayer Lessons from Jesus

“‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ No one can teach like Jesus. A pupil needs a teacher who knows his work, who has the gift of teaching, who in patience and love will descend to the pupil’s needs. Blessed be God! Jesus is all this and much more. It is Jesus, praying Himself, who teaches us to pray. He knows what prayer is. He learned it amid the trials and tears of His earthly life. In heaven it is still His beloved work. His life there is prayer. Nothing delights Him more than to find those whom He can take with Him into the Father’s presence, clothing them with power to pray down God’s blessing to those around them, training them to be His fellow workers in the intercession by which the Kingdom is to be revealed on earth.”

Here are nine fantastic lessons on prayer by Jesus. He was the greatest, most outstanding example of prayer for all of us. His life and His words on prayer are vital for a victorious prayer life. It would do us much good to practice these lessons. If Jesus taught them, they are absolutely critical to a successful prayer life.

· Pray with Sincerity - We must pray in spirit and truth to God. The Pharisees did not pray from the heart but only to be seen by man. Their lives contradicted their prayers.

God wants us to pray with sincere hearts.

“Yet a time is coming, and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).

· Pray in Humility - God hates pride and selfish ambition. He loves the meek and lowly.

A good example of both the proud and the lowly is the story about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The Tax Collector found favor with God.

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted’” (Luke 18:13-14).

· Pray with Faith - God wants us to pray in faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Great intercessors are those who pray with great faith without doubting.

“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does” (James 1:6-8).

· Pray with a Forgiving Heart - We can’t expect to be forgiven by God unless we are willing to forgive others. Forgiveness was a major theme in the teachings of Jesus.

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-16).

· Pray with Persistence - God wants us to pray with determination. We should have the attitude that we will pray persistently until God answer. This can be seen by example in Luke 11:5-10 and in Luke 18:1-8.

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up…” (Luke 18:1-8).

· Pray in Privacy - Jesus often went away to lonely places to pray to His Father in solitude. Often He would go out into the hills to pray (Luke 6:12). We must also do the same and cultivate that alone time with the Father.

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).

· Pray in Accordance with God’s Will - We must know God’s will when we pray. If we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we can pray with assurance and know that He will answer our prayers.

“This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him” (I John 5:14-15).

· Pray in the Name of Jesus - We should pray to the Father, in the Spirit, through the Son. Praying in Jesus’ name means that we are praying as he would pray if in our place.

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

· Pray with Fasting - Jesus emphasized fasting with prayer as a means of power in the spiritual life. Every believer should practice some form of secret fasting.

”When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:17-18).

“Lord Jesus, enroll my name among those who confess that they don’t know how to pray as they should, and who especially ask You for a course of teaching in prayer. Lord, teach me to be patient in Your school, so that You will have time to train me. I am ignorant of the wonderful privilege and power of prayer, of the need for the Holy Spirit to be the spirit of prayer. Lead me to forget my thought of what I think I know, and make me kneel before You in true teachableness and poverty of spirit.”

As you study these lessons, carefully evaluate where you are in your prayer life. Are you like Jesus? Which one does God want you to personally work on this year? Let us each pray and ask God to help us to become better prayer warriors and worshippers for the glory of God and the furtherance of His Kingdom.

Lord, teach us to pray. May we grow deeper in prayer this year than we ever have grown before. You are showing us how important it is to pray. We are experiencing a greater grace for prayer, and you are bringing us into higher dimensions. Teach us to pray according to your will. Teach us to pray with sincerity and in humility. Help us to be forgiving towards everyone. Help us to be persistent in our prayers and never give up. Increase our faith to pray big prayers, supernatural prayers in Your name. Give us the discipline to get alone with you even when others don’t. Help us to practice fasting on a regular basis. Lord, teach us to pray, and help us to teach others to pray by example and words. We ask this in the Name of Jesus. Amen

“Christ’s life and work, His suffering and death were all prayer. They were all dependent on God, trust in God, receiving from God, surrender to God. Your redemption, believer, is a redemption brought about by prayer and intercession, because your Christ is a praying Christ. The life He lives for you, the life He lives in you, is a praying life that delights to wait on God and receive everything from Him. To pray in His name is to pray as He prayed. Christ is our example because He is our head, our Savior, and our Life.” Quotes by Andrew Murray