Rocking Boats
My prayer journal entry from April 20th, 2021
We fear change.
Let’s face it. When we are comfortable and we know what to expect, life is just less daunting. I’d be willing to bet that if most people could remain in a good, comfortable place, they’d be willing to stay there instead of risking something for the possibility of reaching greatness. Why rock the boat for what’s unknown?
At times, the choice wasn’t mine. The boat was rocking whether I wanted it to or not. I would just be trusting God.
(Other times, the boat rocked because I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if I stopped paddling and strapped a jet engine to the back. Different stories for a different day, lol.)
Here’s a glimpse of the change I feared as I realized that a sale of the business and/or the commercial property wasn’t God’s plan…
[Added notes and elaboration are italicized…]
Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 7:37a Bedroom
Jesus,
These are interesting times. [Beloved and now former team member] working for [a friend] in Jacksonville. [Another beloved and now former team member] starting a new job at SharpSpring on Monday. Me feeling all alone once again. I know that this reset is needed, but I am nervous about having an enormous amount of work put on my plate.
[When you own a small business and someone calls out sick or in this case, leaves the business, all their responsibility falls back on you. I’ve been there time and time again and was nervous about two key players moving on to their next chapters and having their workload fall on me once again. Little did I know at the time, it would end up being the best thing for me.]
I haven’t heard from Dan Drotos or Jason Hurst at Colliers [the GNV Commercial Advisors at Colliers Gainesville (yet)], so I assume that there was no counteroffer to my counteroffer. It’s becoming more apparent that for some reason you want me to hang on to this business, that my time here is not yet done.
[This was a difficult pill for me to swallow at this time.]
I get worn out just thinking about the grind of this business, but I trust you. I know as my father you want what is best for me. I know you know what is best for me [as I said in my last blog post, having faith is tough], so I pray these things… Bring me the personnel and the resources necessary to make NS4L a profitable machine. Let meetings like the one I have with [HR professional] today be very productive, foundational building, and seeds to the best, most profitable, most impactful version of NS4L [New Scooters 4 Less] yet.
Don’t let the dealership become overwhelmed by customers all at one time. Let it be spread evenly throughout the day. [Our business feels like you have zero customers or 50 customers all at once. The rushes make it extremely stressful at times and can be very difficult to navigate with a small team.] Help me build an amazing team, one stronger than we have ever had in the past. If I am staying in this business, I need your help. I’m willing to work super hard, but I want happy customers, low stress, high profits, high impact, and feeling purposeful once again. [I’m human, lol. Here I am saying, “LORD - make it easy for me! I need no more refining in the fire!” Lol. These things don’t come UNLESS there are challenges and trials.]
I also pray that I would be able to maintain the podcast through this and that I would some way somehow be able to pay [our close friends and our Repaint the Wall Media Company investors] their money back for their investment into Repaint. Please help me. Please help me rent these buildings out if we will be staying for a long while.
[It’s fun to read this back because (after converting their investment into a loan (which I didn’t have to do but felt called to do) due to all the circumstances related to Covid, etc.) I did pay our close friends back faster than I thought we would. $125,000 would soon be paid back.
The podcast continued through the end of that year, and I paused it by choice at the end of 2021 because I saw how the Lord was moving. I had faith in His plan.
Lastly, we would reach a point where I didn’t even want to lease part of the property anymore because things were turning around, but the Lord would keep bringing an interested party back again and again, and it was clear we were supposed to rent it out. We did.]
I love you.
Collin
Today’s final thoughts…
Lean in. Change is always uncomfortable. So much of my journey during this time felt like chaos, but it was the Lord laying the groundwork for something better—something I couldn’t see at the time. So, embrace it. Stand up, rock with it, and enjoy the ride.
God won’t only refine us, but He will show us His faithfulness. Prayers I whispered in fear and exhaustion several years ago are the praises of today.
Take heart. Trust the One who knows the waters and holds your future. Sometimes the boat rocks on its own (and other times, we decide it needs a jet engine). Either way, God is in control and is working for our good.
Have a blessed weekend! Thank you for reading!
Collin
Isaiah 43:19 NIV
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
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