It’s Tuesday, the true start of the work week. Monday’s agenda has disappeared. The hard stuff is on your plate today. Let’s be honest. Too much of yesterday was spent talking with your office “buds” about the games on Sunday; the weekend “honey-do list” that “honey didn’t do” much of; or talking about the church sermon that didn’t measure up to your impossibly high homiletic standards. Now, as the coffee cools in your cup, you’re staring at blinking message lights on your phone, a long list of un-opened emails on your computer screen, and an increasing recollection of all the tasks that you didn’t get done on Friday because you said they could all wait until Monday. But now it’s Tuesday and they’re all late.

Well, you have clicked on the right email because this week’s topic is about jumpstarting your work week with a sense of humor.

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I remember it clearly. It was a Tuesday, late in the afternoon… The call came in asking us to design and print 60,000 special offering envelopes to be delivered to the West Coast by Friday. I thought, “There is no way.” But I said, “Let me see what I can do.”

I made a few calls and we were, in fact, able to deliver. Instantly, we became a hero to our client. Our printer became a hero to us. Everything was great until four weeks later, when we got a call from the same client, with the same request again.

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Who\’s on FirstThe batter steps up to the plate. He adjusts his batting helmet, twists his grip a few times on the bat and takes a long look at the 3rd base coach for the right signal. Ninety feet down the line, the third base coach sends ten seconds worth of shoulder tapping, chest swiping, chin touching and arm dusting signals. The real message is buried somewhere in that seemingly meaningless flurry of gestures. So the two had better know the code or the opportunity to score has a good chance of being lost.

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This morning I turned on my computer to find several dozen messages that had arrived overnight. A few of these messages were from my friends and colleagues – but others were from ministries and companies across the U.S. and around the world.

I found myself drawn to certain messages, while putting off opening or even deleting others.

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I am often asked, “What is the difference between marketing and public relations (PR)?” PR is about managing perception and developing relationships. Marketing uses the media to send a message, while PR engages the media in what you are doing so they send the message for you.

According to PR News, PR is defined as, “The management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.”

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