Merry Christmas just isn't saying enough.... So here is my Christmas prayer for you and yours...

Friday 12/25/2009

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas seems just so over used.... So here is my Christmas prayer for you and yours...

May you know how much God truly loves you on this day and how special you are in His eyes. There is no one else on the planet who holds your place. Even if you have a twin, there is not another like you who holds your place in this world. Even if there were not another soul on the planet, he would have sent Jesus (the Baby who was King) just to rescue you. He also wants to give you wisdom, strength and courage to face whatever comes. You simply can humbly ask as would a little child.

You see, we are born into a natural family but adopted into a spiritual one. Our earthly fathers (though there are many fine ones) are far from perfect. Natural birth carries with it a certain set of attributes, attitudes and some measure of inheritance. Spiritual rebirth brings an inheritance that transcends the natural predisposition. There are spiritual rights, privileges and promises that are ours by faith and adoption by Our Heavenly Father. Our spiritual family joins us to a King and a Kingdom and a Royal Birthright. Our Heavenly Father, the King knows each of us better than a natural father ever could and He has set promises and decrees that provide for us if we will but discover them and receive them by faith. May you discover your birthright as a child of the King.

I am reminded on this day of our freedom to choose truth and life and love. Giving you choice to accept and believe or to reject even His existence is a sign of love and freedom and respect for you and your dignity. You see, if God required or forced our love, it wouldn't really be love would it? If we weren't given the choice to believe (or not), we wouldn't be made in the image of an infinitely creative creator who holds ultimate freedom for all time. While we cannot choose what the world brings us, we certainly can choose our response to each new day's arrival and the adventures it brings us.

May life giving thoughts frame your world. May truth and God's Word (both written and spoken) light your path and guard your heart. May clarity be yours and abundance of true wealth. May you grow in the depth of love, insight, wisdom and tenderness with your creator and with those around you. May you grow in the knowledge of who God is and who you were created to become and stay the course in that journey.

May you choose truth, life and love consistently..

Believing for God's best for a great 2010 with you...

Shalom,

Matthew and Amy Ledford and the Ledford family

ps

We all have thoughts that frame our world, lenses as to how we see things. Sometimes our world of experience causes our thoughts and view to get clouded or even broken. Our thoughts and lenses can become colored with disappointment, unforgiveness, bitterness, rejection, cynicism. Usually, these are rooted in lies that we adopt that bind us to a small distorted place that is far less than God's best for us. I pray you be refreshed and renewed to shake off anything that would keep you living in a place that is less than worthy of your birthright.

"This is your life, are you who you want to be?" Switchfoot Concert was AWESOME Tonight!

Switchfoot Concert was AWESOME Tonight! Took Jordan and Summer and they loved it!

We saw lots of friends, the Orange Peel had the sound RIGHT!

They played the entire Hello Hurricane Album and our favorite older stuff!!!

Thanks Switchfoot for a great concert!

ML OOO Dec 4-14, Email Amnesty Day Declared 12/15/09

Dear Friends, Clients, Colleagues (or "Spammers" if the 'shoe fits'),

I'm out of the office from essentially 12/4/09-12/14/09 in Nicaragua with limited cell phone and internet access. (We do expect to have power, indoor toilets and running water occasionally-just in case you wondered.)

If I owed you an email or otherwise had a ball on my side of the court before Delta removes me from North America, please accept my apology.

Friends, As does most of America now, I'll be checking and posting on Facebook first while travelling and when I return first. If you haven't heard me say it yet: "Facebook is the New Top Drawer of the Email Inbox. " There, I've said it and this is the proof. This is also where I'll blog and post links to our trip photos and videos as power and time allow.

Colleagues, After I check Facebook, I'll peek at my inbox at Linked-In.

Clients, I have designated the following really cool FastPivot Team Members and their unique talents to cater to your every whim while I'm out of North American airspace:

• New Accounts, Positivity and Very good alternating Texas and Yiddish accents: Leta Kreiger leta@fastpivot.com 888-770-8883 x327
• Business Affairs, HR, Payables, Receivables, My Appointment Calendar, AshevilleTriClub Business and Tireless Encouragement, etc Daphne Weimer dweimer@fastpivot.com 888-770-8883 x326

• Press Inquiries, Fan Club Applications, Marketing or Advertising Opportunities (and any mechanical issues with your bicycle) Jen Boos jen@fastpivot.com 888-770-8883 x312
  
• All things FastPivot Software, holding down the West Coast Office while simultaneously keeping the Golden Gate Bridge Golden and California from slipping into the ocean, Ken Lubeck ken@fastpivot.com 888-770-8883 x315

• Current Accounts, Vice President for Operations and Project Oversight and General Pooper Scooper, Sweeper & Clean Up Batter where all the above leave off- Keith Enloe kenloe@fastpivot.com 888-770-8883 x302

Given that incredible matrix of coverage and masterpiece of delegation, I hereby declare December 14-15th (depending upon your time zone Aussie and Kiwi Friends) as EMAIL AMNESTY DAY!

On this day, I'll archive all my email for the year to date and will start with a fresh inbox and new ideas.

If you have something that needs specifically my attention and doesn't fit any of the above categories, please contact me again after 12/15/09 and I will read it from my squeaky clean inbox.

Sincerely,

Matthew Ledford

President,

FastPivot LLC and FastPivotSoftware.com

ps... If you are synchronous and retro enough, you could also call the office sometime after 12/15 at 828-225-8883 x301 and I'll do my best to answer!

PPS... Spammers, even though you aren't reading this... Don't call me, I'll call you. Merry Christmas! ;-)

If you would like to schedule an appointment, please call or contact Daphne (dweimer @fastpivot.com) at 828-225-8883 x326 and she can help you!

Google Commerce Search, it is a gamechanger? Where is Yahoo?

Product search is such a critical feature of most sites and is lacking in many as the product inventory grows... Google brings another solution to the table -however at a serious price!

"The pricing model for Google Commerce Search is based on the number of products/items (SKUs) in your data feed and the number of search queries entered on your site each year. Pricing starts at $50,000 per year."

I think we can improve store search for a price that is far less...

in reference to:

"Visitors spend an average of just eight seconds before deciding whether or not to remain on a website, so having a good search tool is important for turning visitors into buyers. Google Commerce Search is hosted by and uses Google search technology to make online retail searching both fast and customizable"
- Official Google Blog: Introducing Google Commerce Search: Finding holiday gifts faster (view on Google Sidewiki)

Flock+Univision=Spanish Browser for 22mil Hispanics

Very excited about the Flock/Univision.com partnership. This is a good reach into a growing vibrant and social market that has been under served! A sign of things to come!

in reference to:

"Of the 22 Million Hispanics who are online today, 40% frequently spend time on social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. With the Univision Edition of Flock, this vibrant and fast-growing community can now remain connected to their friends, their favorite social networks, and stay up to date with the best Spanish content available from Univision."
- Flock Browser - Flock Teams Up With Univision To Distribute Spanish Language Flock Browser | Flock (view on Google Sidewiki)