Answered and Unanswered Prayers
My journal entry from April 17th, 2020
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my entrepreneurial career is that even though profit is important, cash flow is critical for survival. If you’ve ever looked at a profit and loss statement for your business, have seen a net profit, and thought, “Well, ok. Where’s that money?” then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Without cash in your business, you’re done. Period.
Now, if you read my journal entry where I listed the debt we had, you already know the weight this had on me. So, in April of 2020, with a pandemic now shaking things up, my eyes were even more awakened by the problem we were in.
If you have debt, ask yourself this… “Am I in a place where I am just used to making payments?”
I was. Every year I would plan around interest payments I’d have to make instead of making plans to pay off the loans. We became stagnant. We became “comfortable” with our monthly payments. That is… until we couldn’t make them anymore.
In April 2020 during the Covid-19 Pandemic, the United States Government created the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), an SBA-backed (forgivable) loan that helped businesses keep their teams employed. This would end up doing two things for me:
Work exactly as the government intended. 100% of the PPP money we received, we used for payroll.
Wake me up and make me realize I should never have been in this position in the first place and that I don’t ever want to depend on the government to save my business.
We were days away from being out of business, but just like he always does, God shows up…
[Retyped and elaborated for clarity and context…]
Friday, April 17th, 2020 8:38am
Jesus, thank you for the relief you have given me. As I reflect back these past few months and the cash flow issues we’ve had, I have to be honest, when this pandemic hit and we had to close our showroom, having all of our business income disappear (for the most part) did not give me confidence that cash flow would get better, but again you prove me wrong. [I hope Jesus doesn’t mind run-on sentences.] 3 days ago, we received the PPP from the government (payment protection plan) [actually called the Paycheck Protection Program] of $85,200.00 and as long as we use it for payroll, rent, and utilities, it should be forgiven. This should help us get to mid-June. [I have to give a quick thank you to Florida Credit Union which played a vital role in helping distribute this money quickly. They were amazing in this process and showed extreme care for my small business and all the others in our community.]
In addition, thank you for the heart and graciousness of [our commercial property mortgage holder] who hold the mortgage of the property. As of now, we have a verbal agreement, but it looks like they are going to give me 6 months of no payments and defer the interest until November where it will be tacked on the back of the loan. That’s nearly $60,000 of cash flow freed up. In a time of struggle, you are there and I’m sitting in a fairly healthy cash flow position, especially compared to the recent normal, so thank you Jesus. Please know how grateful I am. What a surprise for cash flow relief to show up in this form and not in the form of sales necessarily. What a pleasant surprise to look back and see how you work.
[Just a couple of quick notes here… God really showed up in unexpected ways during this period. All of this money and payment relief on the mortgage was completely unexpected and His timing was perfect. If we hadn’t received it when we did, I’m not sure we would have survived another week. As humbly as I possibly can, I do want to mention that I believe my integrity and character helped put me in a position to receive help from the mortgage holder on our commercial property (at the time, we were in an owner-financed private mortgage). Would six months of no payments have been offered to me during this crisis had I missed payments to them prior? I don’t think they would have. Plus, they volunteered it… I didn’t come asking for it. What a blessing. Remember… healthy relationships built on integrity are vital in life.]
Thank you also for the wave of support for the podcast. Lord, I pray blessings over [businesses that showed up to sponsor and support the WHOA GNV Podcast during our “Coronavirus Sessions”] (who messaged today and said they were interested [in sponsoring], [business owner] is such an amazing asset to this community, all of the sponsors are frankly. [I] Love them all.) [more businesses that sponsored]. Bless these people and their businesses Jesus. May our podcast shine a light on these amazing people. I’m so thankful for them.
Lord, I’ve been asking for direction, and I believe you are showing me direction, but please make sure I don’t screw anything up. After our podcast recording with [name omitted for privacy] we dove into a conversation and she asked me why I don’t dive into the podcast full-time. We were talking about “what if’s” and “what if we could never service another scooter, what would our business look like?” The conversation has been on my mind more than anything because I realize that as much as I love NS4L [New Scooter 4 Less], I want to focus on this podcast and building up others through this platform. I’m ready for the NS4L chapter (for me) to close. I’ve realized that I have comfort in the stability of NS4L. Though it certainly has the cash flow issues you know about, the fact is the business has paid me, and the business pays the mortgage on that property and I’ve feared not having that, but I feel like recently I’m seeing your nudge. [Names of good friends omitted for privacy] really encouraged me this past Monday in our mastermind group. They know it’s my passion and I have so many ideas. It would be a blessing to focus on it full-time. Lord, if it is YOUR will [always come back to this - pray that God will open doors when it’s according to HIS will and close them when it’s not], I’d like to be out of the scooter business personally by 2021 {Lol. That didn’t happen and I’m so grateful that it didn’t. His plan was different.]. Help me put together an exit strategy, help me find a buyer, help me prepare to really dive into this media and podcast work. These conversations that have been popping up have made me feel like this is the direction you are calling me. Make my path crystal clear. [He eventually would and guess what… all signs pointed to scooters, haha.]
[When people ask me about prayer journaling, one of the reasons I advocate for it is because you have the opportunity to see where God answered your prayer AND you get to see where He didn’t, BUT you're able to see why. In my case, it’s because He had a much better plan than I did though my heart wanted nothing to do with New Scooters 4 Less during this time and wanted everything to do with the WHOA GNV Podcast. Trust HIS plan. Spoiler Alert: New Scooters 4 Less would end up having its most profitable year EVER shortly after in 2021 and then again in 2022. I can’t wait to share how this unfolds with all of you in upcoming posts!]
Through these deeds, may you be glorified, may people see you in me. Forgive my sins when I screw up so I don’t mislead people that are looking for you. I want Gainesville, I want the world to see you and me. Jesus, let me follow this passion, let me practice what I preach in life, and allow me to follow this passion and let the words I speak be your words. Thank you for the sponsorship revenue that has started to come in. I’m so grateful. I want to use this platform to educate, entertain and empower our community. Help me create more positive content, more positive influence, and help me make Gainesville one of the greatest communities to live in. Most importantly, let this community learn about you, turn to you, and may you be glorified.
Finally, Jesus, I pray for healing. My insides still hurt. My ribs hurt. I’m still coughing, though not as bad, but in your name, Jesus, I pray that you would lay your hand on me and heal me. Bring me to 100% Jesus. Heal me.
Finally finally Jesus :) take care of my wife and children. Keep them healthy during this time. Bless them. Help me be the husband and father they need. I love them so much and I’m so grateful that you placed them in my life. I love you Jesus. Thank you for being so good to me.
Your son. Collin.
When I reread this, I find myself thanking God for answered AND unanswered prayers (This reminds me of a Garth Brooks song). I lean into HIS plan for my life. I always know that it is better than my own.
I know that it can be difficult. The number of times I’ve muttered the words “But God. . . .” (this makes me think of my own kids and how they “But Dad. . .” me, lol.) is too many to count.
Ask.
Ask God to help you release control to HIM.
EVERYTHING.
ALL OF IT.
ALL OF THE TIME.
You will not regret it.
Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
Thanks for reading! Until next time, may God bless you and yours.
Collin