How many times do you lay out the Christmas gifts you bought for the kids—side by side, calculator in hand—re-checking again to make sure they all got the same. And that it looks about the same. It’s that time of year again and about now I’m thinking it’s a good thing Christmas comes on a set date and not necessarily when I feel satisfied that everything is absolutely fair.

I just keep asking myself—how much is enough??? And the question goes way beyond presents for the kids. How much is enough money in my paycheck, or food in my belly, or free time for relaxing? The definition of “enough” seems to fluctuate even more than the stock market! For instance, when we were first married we crowded into our tiny “dog house” apartment a card table with two folding chairs and a foam mattress (we put on the floor) that the nearby jail had disposed of because it didn’t meet regulations for the prisoners. It wasn’t enough for them, but we slept just fine on it! Did we have enough? Today we budget for car repairs and no longer have to use grocery money when the exhaust has to be replaced. Yet we worry more about enough now than we ever did then. How much do we really need?

The term “financial security” is thrown around today like it’s a constitutional right when actually it is an oxymoron. The more money I have the less secure I feel. Bottom line--if security is defined by the amount of money in the checking account, there will never be enough.

When is the last time you heard somebody say, “I have enough”? How radical is that! It changes everything. It’s not waiting for a particular dollar goal to be met. It’s now. With whatever I have, I have enough. It is contentment. It is living responsibly while trusting God to make up the difference.

• Enthusiasm: --If you wouldn’t buy it, don’t sell it! .Your genuine enthusiasm will sell more than anything else..
• Inexpensive: Most people want to contribute but at $10 or $15 per fundraiser, it becomes necessary to be selective about which ones they support.. By using an inexpensive product, everybody is able to give--and without hardship to their budget. They will thank you for it!
• Quality: Judge a product by it’s quality and re-sale value and NOT by the profit you will make. A high profit margin product is of little value if it is not easily sold. Keep in mind, high profit usually means low quality.
• Want/Need: Find a product that people buy because they want/need it. Makes for easy sales.
• Consumable: Next time you fundraise, they will want/need it again.

There is a fine line between faith and foolishness. By faith I do not mean “hearing voices.” In fact, it makes me nervous when someone starts a conversation with the words, “The Lord told me to do such and such.” I think God has been credited with a lot for which He does NOT want credit! When it comes to starting Nanipops Inc; I do not know if the initiator was faith or foolishness. I just know I was compelled to do it.

It is never foolish to take seriously what the Bible says. So when I read, “Make other people’s needs more important than your own (Philippians 2:4 my paraphrase), I decided I was on solid ground for a business philosophy. And two of the needs I saw around me merged to create a win/win prospect for the whole community. In our local area, we are desperate for employment opportunities, and the schools and non-profits struggle for needed funds. Designing a fundraiser tailored to help them raise funds also created demand for the production of a locally made product, which in turn creates jobs for area residents.

I feel like the little boy who gave his lunch to Jesus. Did he have faith or was he a foolish child? Anybody knows 5 little loaves and 2 fish will not feed the hungry thousands. And anybody knows you do not use a woman who has been at home raising children for 32 years to start a manufacturing company! Like the little boy offering his meager lunch, all I had to give was an unusual hobby of hand-painting chocolate lollipops.

Currently in our third year of production, we are now shipping to eleven states and offering much more than just fundraisers. We are still an inexperienced David in the shadow of many mighty Goliaths that threaten our existence. But being small and agile, we are able to move unencumbered by bureaucracy.. We can see the needs of our customers and simply move in the direction to meet them.

Recently my husband, Ed, took an early retirement from his Quality Manager job at a near-by manufacturing plant to add his expertise to Nanipops. Faith or foolishness?

I never send forwards. Never. But I just had to share the above youtube with you—or bust. Nanipops is all about communicating—male or female. And this little girl has an awful lot to say. She’s a master at being heard. A child prodigy communicator. And yes, I hope her parents have been blessed with exceptional listening skills!

Google effective communication and you will get 61,900,000 hits. That’s a LOT of people thinking about how to connect with others in a meaningful way! Why so many? Could it be we are connecting globally 24/7, yet remain untouched, unsatisfied, internally disconnected?

I do not believe this need for verbal connection is a gender thing—though my husband is rolling his eyes as we speak. Words are absolutely amazing whether used by guy or girl. With them we can take a thought in our heads, or a feeling in our hearts, and create this same thought or feeling in another human being. We can touch them without using our hands. Because of WORDS! Is that not astounding? Communicating effectively is a part of being validated as a person—and validating others.

I am driven to communicate—which is not the same as yakking. I enjoy interactive conversations with all kinds of people, helping them find a way to say it with chocolate!