Stepping Stones and Faith

Sometimes I can scarcely wrap my mind around the growth that our business has been blessed with over the course of 7 years. 

When I took on a single booth at First Monday Trade Days in 2005, it was just for fun.  I had no idea where the path would lead. 

The business has grown from the very first day and year after year we have blown away the sales on record for the year before.  

From one booth in 2005, we grew into 5 booths by 2008.  Mind you, we never relocated from our original booth location and we never asked for extra space.

But every time an opportunity would present itself

we would take the step.

The same held true when the little yellow building, that would be our first permanent storefront, came up for rent in 2008. 

We weren’t looking, but the opportunity presented itself and we took the step. 

We kept our permanent storefront there in that little 1600 square foot yellow building until 2010 when the shopping center next door was half empty and had tons of space for us to grow.  

And like before, we weren’t looking, but the opportunity presented itself and we took the step. 

We’ve flourished and bloomed right here for almost 2 years when our landlord called to say that our neighbors, Old World, had decided to move downtown and their two spaces were available if we wanted them. 

Once again, we weren’t looking, but the opportunity presented itself and we took the step.

We were still trying to wrap our mind around the new lease for an additional 2600 square feet when Fred Hunt of Willows, our neighbor to the other side, called to tell us that they were moving back to a booth on the First Monday grounds and that their space would be available in July if we wanted it. 

And yet again, we weren’t looking, but the opportunity presented itself and we took the step.

The enormity of the upcoming expansion is by far our largest leap and was a bit unnerving at first.  I suppose that comes with the territory when projects of this size are not planned.  But as I reflect on all the previous unplanned crossroads of growth, and consider that this, just like the others, fell right into our lap.....

I am completely at peace about it.

I’d love to say that all of our growth has been the result of some brilliant business plan and that I knew exactly what I was doing from the beginning, but that wouldn’t be anywhere close to the truth. 

You see, we've never had a master plan for the business, and we’ve never sought out opportunities for growth. 

The fact is.....

we’ve never had to. 

God has always laid the stones exactly when we needed them,
and never before we were ready.

It has always been in His perfect timing.  

Never too late.....

and never too soon. 

The opportunities always presented exactly when it was time to grow, even if we didn't recognize it until then.

Our job is merely to pay attention to the stones,

and have Faith to take the steps. 

Isn't that the sweetest and simplest thing?