Dec. Jan. Feb. March. April. and then it is May! Orange Conference 2019 is happening May 1st-3rd this year! Every year, Orange Conference seems to be so close yet so far away. For me, it’s personal. One way or another, I have not missed an Orange Conference since 2004. I have been gifted tickets. I have had to fundraise for my ticket. I’ve been a volunteer. And I have had the privilege of working at a church that saw this as an investment and purchased the entire trip. Can you relate to one or multiple of those experiences?
It is so easy for us to just continue to move forward in ministry at lightning speed, and sometimes we get so caught up in working on and in ministry that we forget to invest in ourselves.
I love this quote by Eleanor Brown: “Self-care is so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.”
Today is your day to invest in yourself as a person and the wonderful way that God made you! If you were to eliminate all of the excuses as to why you can’t make it to OC19, you would be left with a plan. I would be willing to bet that one of the first reasons for opting out is money! As singer Jessie J. sings in the song, “Price Tag” . . . It’s not about the money, money, money. We don’t need no money, money, money. . . . Ugh. Clearly, she has never had a limited budget! LOL
Let’s start by saying, “How can I get to OC19 on a budget?” instead of, “I can’t get to OC19 because of my budget.” Repeat after me, “Budgets are good!”
Timing
Start planning for next year this year! The early bird does catch the worm! At the end of OC each year you get the dates for the following year and a chance to get combo tour and OC tickets! (Best deal ever.)
Flights
Book early, and invest in a frequent flyer card—start saving those miles, year-round. If you don’t travel much and don’t see a need to, ask a close relative if they have some extra miles they might be able to share.
Volunteer
Consider being an Orange Conference volunteer, and save on the conference ticket and get some meals covered!
Share
Share a room, share a car, share a shuttle , share your meal, share your clothes! Okay, well maybe not the last one, LOL. But your friends might have some great orange swag!
Save
Say no to something so you can say yes to OC. Start a no-Starbucks challenge. For some of us coffee addicts, this can be a big savings! That’s $5.00 a drink saved . . . put it aside, and in a few months you could have as much as $500.00! For you non-coffee drinkers, what can you intentionally not buy and set aside those funds instead?
Gifts
Christmas is just around the corner, and I’m pretty sure you have a birthday coming up. Tell your amazing friends and family that the best gift they can give you is funds for OC! This will add up! “Instead of treating me to lunch, would you consider. . . .” “Instead of buying a cake, would you consider. . . .” “Instead of getting me that purse, would you consider. . . .” See how this works?
Lodging
Use your rewards card points. Decide to choose a less luxury hotel and save tons—even choose an option that has free breakfast. Have a big group? Consider renting an AirBnb.
Food
We all know how to cut back here. I mean, Costco has free samples! Just kidding! Plan to go to a store, and PB&J it up for that week! I actually love when I go on missions’ trips that we have a simplified meal plan, and it’s good and I survive! If we are smart, we can eat for as little as $15 a day for food! Save coupons, or collect gift cards year-round and plan to use only those that week.
Price-Breaks
Finally, every conference uses tiered pricing—that’s when ticket prices incrementally change as the event gets closer. The sooner you buy a ticket on or after the official “open registration” date, the cheaper the ticket. There’s a price-break this week you don’t want to miss! Register for OC19 by December 20 and save $70 off the regular ticket price! That makes your registration to OC19, $279!
We know some of you have families to think about as well, health issues, fear of flying, and we hear you, but we also want you to know that we are here to help you get there or stay connected as best as we can! Connect with your OS today and start dreaming of what could be!
Hopefully this list helps to get you thinking about how you can personally save up and give yourself the gift of investing in you! You are doing important work! We can’t wait to see you at OC this year and every year to follow.
Read more on this topic:
https://orangeblogs.org/orangeleaders/2018/12/17/personal-orange-blogger-week/
