My prayer journal entry from March 19th, 2021…
[Added notes and elaboration are italicized…]
Friday, March 19th 2021 9:24am NS4L Office
Jesus,
What an incredibly busy week. Not necessarily from a “make money” / work standpoint, but from an event, meetings, “busyness” standpoint. It seems like the energy is shifting and things are feeling more normal, but remind me how much I want to make THIS time a priority. I should have journaled more this week. I can’t believe it has been a year of this pandemic. Still blows my mind. Thank you for my health and thank you for my family’s health.
Last week I sat down with [team member] and “released” him. He didn’t quit and I didn’t fire him, but I know he has been “done” for some time. His drive back and forth from Jacksonville has been killer on him, I know. I’m grateful for his support and loyalty. Selfishly, I feel like a “reset” is needed without his presence because I feel he hasn’t been “present.” Shows up late. Leaves early. I know that is because of the “wear” of the drive though, so I try not to let it bother me. I love the guy and his loyalty to me and this organization, so I pray I will be able to reward that one day.
[I believe this team member would tell you that he was also ready for a reset - a fresh start. The pandemic and all of the underlying circumstances had been mentally draining on all of us. Though I was leaning in and trusting God’s plan and giving it time to play out… telling team members “I don’t know what’s going to happen” didn’t bring comfort for everyone. Looking back, I think it was very much the Lord’s way of giving everyone, myself included, permission to reset. Many of my team members did move on to new things and so did New Scooters 4 Less. Not a single person on my team today was on my team in 2021, except for me of course.]
It was great to see [friends] last night as the passed through Gainesville. Thank you for their friendship. Bless their beautiful family.
[I love those friends you may not see or even talk to often, but when they are passing through, they make time for you and you can pick up right where you left off.]
This morning I was listening to Dave Ramsey’s podcast and I texted my mom and dad to tell them how grateful I am for parents that are responsible with money. I hear some crazy situations on that show and I’m glad that I don’t have that additional stress of carrying my parent’s financial burdens. Thank you for giving me such amazing parents that are a blessing.
[The stories you will hear by listening to The Ramsey Show are insane. Parents that destroy their children’s credit by taking out credit cards in their child’s name and running up the balances and never paying them off. Then, all of a sudden, the child is an adult and realizes his/her credit score is destroyed and they have thousands of dollars of debt they didn’t know about. This is one example of many. Because of my parents, their love of Jesus, and their love for their children and grandchildren, our households will live out the Proverb (13:22) - “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children…” - I know that is my goal.]
Finally, thank you for the speaking engagement at [my friend’s] business, [company name], this week. It feels good to speak in person once again. Thank you for his friendship and for all the goodness in his heart.
Thank you for the opportunity to network with amazing creators at our first creator networking event. It was awesome to meet such talented people. Can’t wait to do it again. Thank you for [great friend and mentor] and his support, coaching, and friendship too.
Thank you for putting us [Shannon and I] in a position this month to buy those foster children at Foster Florida the quick queue passes at Busch Gardens. To just donate [amount of money] to something like that to benefit others was so good for the heart. I look forward to the days I can do that a lot more. Thank you for that blessing.
[I almost didn’t put this paragraph above in the blog because I never give money to be seen by others and knowing others would read this made me uncomfortable. I decided to leave it for a couple of reasons: 1. Even though my family was facing our own trials with the business during this time, (I believe because we remained faithful in our tithing and remained in a state of being completely dependent on Him) God kept randomly blessing us with additional revenue. In this instance, we wanted to do something special for others. We had heard that a group of foster children were headed to Busch Gardens. My family had recently been blessed with season passes to Busch Gardens as a gift and our family definitely got the value out of them. One of our favorite upgrades was the Quick Queue to skip the lines (waiting in line is the thing that I despise the most about theme parks, lol). We thought it would be so much fun to bless these children with those upgrades. 2. There are some incredible non-profits in our area and Foster Florida is one of them. I’m grateful for all they do for the foster community. If you are able to support them, please do.]
As we head into the weekend, thank you for this week. Let this weekend be filled with quality family time. Allow us to have safe travels to Orlando for soccer, etc. Please let us arrive back home safely each evening.
Jesus, I’m so thankful. Thankful for this journey. Thankful for the trials. Thankful for this time of uncertainty in business… knowing you have a plan. I love you.
[When you know God is in control and that in all things, He works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)… you can be thankful for ALL of it.]
Collin
When I reflect on this prayer, I see so many areas where the Lord took what was old and made it new.
New Scooters 4 Less was made new. New team members. New changes. New processes. Overall, new company.
Finances were made new. I (my family) was drowning in debt when this prayer journal journey began. At the time of this prayer in March of 2021, we were free of consumer debt. Today, we’re debt free personally and professionally (except for the mortgages - they are next).
My perspective was made new. I used to stress and pull my hair out over the business. Today, I’m at peace and (usually, I’m still human, lol) thankful for the challenges. I know the Lord is in control.
Looking back, it looked like all the circumstances related to the pandemic were going to end this season in my life, but instead, God took what was negative and used it for my good. (Romans 8:28)
I tell people today, that the pandemic was the best thing to happen to me professionally.
Through surrender to Jesus, we are made new. Because of His death on the cross, because of His blood, our sins are washed away. We are cleansed. I just think it’s AWESOME to see the waterfall of tHis love into all of these other areas of my life and to see how they have also been made new.
I pray you will reflect and see this in your life as well. Praying you have an amazing rest of your week!
Collin
Here is a recent talk I had the opportunity to give to a Christian Business Group called Business by the Book. This is probably the most transparent talk I’ve ever given (up to this point) if you are interested in checking it out! I would love it if you shared it with someone.
As I am writing this, it’s Wednesday, May 29th, 2024 11:11a. I am sitting on the back porch of a beautiful house we are in with my entire family for vacation in Marathon Key, Florida. The weather is perfect and I’m just so grateful for moments like this…
(Selfishly, I wanted to remember where I was when I wrote this blog. 😊 It’s such a blessing to revisit these years down the road and remember when I wrote and where I was when I wrote it.)
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