{"id":3174,"date":"2011-10-03T13:41:15","date_gmt":"2011-10-03T13:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=3174"},"modified":"2011-10-03T17:05:55","modified_gmt":"2011-10-03T17:05:55","slug":"important-preparation-for-a-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=3174","title":{"rendered":"Important Preparation for a Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When I get close to the opening days of a workshop or tour I do the most important thing I can do to assure a successful trip, I pray.<\/p>\n

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1 John 5:13-15 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>New Living Translation (NLT)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a013<\/sup> I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 14<\/sup> And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15<\/sup> And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.<\/span><\/p>\n

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My most important responsibility to my friends and Guests when I run a workshop is to prepare the way for a great event, and I can only do that with God’s direct help. \u00a0Before I pray I have to examine several things to be assured that I will get the answer I desire;<\/p>\n

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1. \u00a0What is my motive?<\/span> \u00a0Is my request self directed or directed outwardly to those that will be in my care during the workshop. \u00a0My motives have to be pure in that I am more concerned for the welfare of the guests than my own. \u00a0God honors a heart that reaches out to others, he abhors a heart that thinks only of itself.<\/p>\n

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2. \u00a0Does my request line up with what I know is God’s wil<\/span>l.<\/span> \u00a0That one is simple, learn from the Word what God expects of us and pray in accordance with those desires of His.<\/p>\n

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3. \u00a0Is my Pride under control? \u00a0<\/span>is God increasing in my life as I am decreasing? \u00a0If not I need to re-examine my heart. \u00a0Zig Ziggler said, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care!”<\/p>\n

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If I have those three things in order then I can ask God’s blessings on my activities and those of my friends and expect a great outcome to my prayers. \u00a0So what do I pray for? \u00a0Here is my list:<\/p>\n

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A. Safety<\/span>.<\/span> \u00a0I pray for every person involved to arrive safely, travel safely during our time together, and return home safely after the workshop is over.<\/p>\n

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B. \u00a0That each participant and leader will arrive with the right mindset; excited, expectant, ready to learn, make new friends, and enjoy the workshop.<\/span><\/p>\n

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C. \u00a0I pray that the conditions, (color of leaves), \u00a0and weather will help us have lots of great photographic opportunities.<\/span> \u00a0I further pray that when conditions are less than perfect we will lean how to make lemonade out of lemons!<\/p>\n

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D. \u00a0I pray that our team will arrive prepared and ready to share valuable information with our Guests.<\/span> \u00a0I pray our critiques will be gentle enough, not to offend, but strong enough to help our fellow photographer’s improve their work.<\/p>\n

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E. \u00a0I pray that the Guests arrive ready and able to receive the teaching we will share.<\/span> \u00a0If a student thinks they know everything already, or they don’t think that know enough to be able to learn, they are wrong in both assumptions.<\/p>\n

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F. \u00a0I pray for warm and wonderful fellowship.<\/span> \u00a0In over 35 years of leading workshops I’ve learned that people matter most, and that people that are laughing and having fun, learn more, and gain more from the workshop experience. I pray that we allow no one to ever feel left out.<\/p>\n

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G. \u00a0I pray for the opportunity to witness to my faith.<\/span> \u00a0I don’t evangelize in words, but I pray my conduct, my demeanor, my actions speak loudly about what I believe, and Who I serve. \u00a0I pray that I never judge another, but love them right where they are, and trust God to provide for them, what they need.<\/p>\n

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I have been often asked by participants before a workshop how they can prepare to have the most fun and success possible at a workshop, here is my list of suggestions:<\/span><\/p>\n

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First: \u00a0Pray the prayer above!<\/span><\/p>\n

Second avoid these pitfalls, the 5 things that can ruin a workshop for you and others:<\/span><\/p>\n

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1. \u00a0Unreasonable expectations<\/span>. \u00a0Not every moment will be perfect in terms of weather, conditions, traffic, parking, etc etc, \u00a0Take a deep breath and know it will get better,<\/p>\n

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2. \u00a0Reacting badly to circumstances.<\/span> \u00a0You dropped your lens, you forgot to pack your cable release, you locked yourself out of your car, your room was cold, your bed was too hard, and on and on. \u00a0Things happen, learn how to take a deep breath, get over it, accept the help of your fellow travelers, and laugh it off, you’ll laugh later, might as well start now!<\/p>\n

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3. \u00a0Not Leaving your cares behind.<\/span> \u00a0You go on a workshop to immerse yourself in the here and now, as much as it possible leave, home, office, cares, and concerns at home and use this time to concentrate on your photography and fellowship! \u00a0 Trust me those cares will still be there when you return from you trip……<\/p>\n

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4. \u00a0 Avoid centering on the big three (Me – My – I).<\/span> \u00a0Take a break from pure self interests and see what a wonderful difference it makes in your ability to learn. \u00a0When I first started out trying to become a good shooter, I was crushed by everyone’s work that was better than mine, so, I stayed crushed a lot!!! \u00a0Get over it, even if you were the best photographer in the world at this moment, that moment won’t last very long, so don’t sweat it! \u00a0Work hard at being better than you were yesterday……<\/p>\n

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5. \u00a0Fatigue.<\/span> \u00a0If you are tired you won’t function well. \u00a0Take breaks, carry some snacks to keep up your energy, try to get some good sleep every night. \u00a0If you feel you’re running down, let the leaders know, and take some time to catch up on your rest.<\/p>\n

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Come to a workshop, excited, ready, focused and expectant, and go home thrilled that you came………<\/p>\n

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When I get close to the opening days of a workshop or tour I do the most important thing I can do to assure a successful trip, I pray.   1 John 5:13-15 \u00a0\u00a0New Living Translation (NLT) \u00a013 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3174"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3178,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3174\/revisions\/3178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}