Matt and I are self-employed, running a variety of businesses as a means to provide for our family’s needs. We own storage units which we rent out; Matt does lawn care/snow removal for several individuals and downtown businesses; and together, we work the business end of Heavenly Homemakers. Matt also helps coach our local ladies’ soccer team, does small construction jobs for people occasionally and does a wide variety of other odd jobs depending on time and need. When people ask, “What’s Matt doing these days now that he’s not working at Southside Grille?”, I find it a little bit difficult to give them a short answer. He’s definitely not just doing one thing, nor does he really have a specific “job title”. We both stay very busy with work, but it is definitely quite different than having a job.
Because Matt has a business mind and is very “visionary”, we are often looking into other business and investment opportunities. I love how my husband thinks “outside of the box”. I feel very secure with Matt as our provider, because he is an incredibly hard worker and has an unlimited number of ideas for ways to create income for our family.
For the past six months or so, we’ve been working toward a possible investment opportunity. We’ve put hours of time, prayer, discussion, number crunching and research into making a decision about purchasing a local, downtown commercial property. Matt saw great potential in making this investment and had a vision for improving the building in many ways so that it would provide additional income. Not only have we considered this purchase, we actually made two offers over the course of the past few weeks. The offers were countered and a few days ago, we came to a cross-road in this decision: make a higher offer and more compromises on our end…or choose to walk away.
A higher offer still would have been a pretty good deal for us overall. The income potential from this property was promising, as long as Matt could spend the time needed to improve the building and the business to create these extra income opportunities.
And that’s when it hit us – We are already maxed out. Our boys, our marriage, the ministries we’re involved in, obligations, our current businesses, our own home improvements and to-do lists – they all need Matt. We should not take on something this large at this time.
I’m sharing this with you because I thought you might appreciate knowing what we’ve been working through for the past several months. Now that we have made our final decision on this matter, we feel content with our decision. There is peace that comes from listening to God and honoring Him by our choices.
And today, we feel at peace.
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It sounds as though you all have had a lot to pray over! It’s good to know that you are at peace with your decision. My husband and your husband sound a lot alike. When people ask what my husband does, I have to stop and think what he is doing at that particular moment in time. He is a CPA by trade, but he has a side business reconditioning parts for John Deere tractors, he does consulting work for CPA firms and he is a fraud examiner. Isn’t it wonderful that God gave us hard working husbands? I will pray that God continues to lead your family concerning your business ventures.
Thanks for being so transparent.
What a blessing that feeling of peace is. Praising God with you for a wise decision.
Laura, thanks so much for sharing this. I think it’s wonderful that God gave you guys enough time to figure out what He’s probably been trying to tell you. :) Isn’t it great that our God cares enough to SPEAK to us?!
What a blessing it is to have that peace! I, too, have had peace recently about saying “No” to some seemingly good things to allow for more time and energy for my family!
This is kind of a random comment, but I just found your blog and wanted to write a quick comment saying how much I have enjoyed reading some of your past posts. Very inspirational and encouraging! I’ll be coming back for more.
It sounds like a wise decision. I pray continued blessings on the work of your hands and your family.
Shalom,
Gail
So wonderful to hear about a time when others made the choice for family!
Peace through prayer is sooooo good! And, recognizing when you are maxed out is so important, too. I recently realized I needed to spend more time in prayer myself and made a little Mommy retreat Basket (http://traininghappyhearts.blogspot.com/2011/11/mommys-retreat-basket-mini-project-17.html) to help me do so. Now, I need to make time to pray WITH hubby, too/. Not easy with three little people around, but will find a way through God’s grace.
As a couple trying to work our way out of traditional “jobs” we sometimes struggle with passing up opportunities, but the peace when “no” is finally said is often tangible. It sometimes seems like stepping away from something takes more faith than stepping toward something. Thanks for sharing!
So glad God gave you and Matt this discernment! Love it when He speaks peace into our lives! :)
Thank you for sharing how you relied on God to help you in making your decision (a BIG decision!). Sometimes we forget to involve Him in our decision-making!
I love that you share your decision making process. It’s very important to remember that all things are permissible, but not all things are profitable, or edifying. Thanks for being an example of that.
Thanks for sharing. I forget, sometimes, that there is a real story of life behind the blog. I love Heavenly Homemakers! Thanks for the opportunity to link-up!
tbe right decision is always the one you are at peace with may not be easy but at peace.
Our church has been talking a lot lately about being still and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit–allowing Him to lead us. It’s inspiring to read your story about how you and Matt truly wanted the Lord’s will out of this even if it meant giving up on a potentially exciting investment opportunity. Praying you are blessed abundantly for your faithfulness!!
I think you guys were very wise to realize you might be biting off more than you can chew. Or more than you want to chew. While it’s important to be driven and motivated it’s also really important (IMO) to be content, at least for the moment. When one door closes another one opens (or however the saying goes lol) and I am confident that this is your path.
I’m so glad you are both at peace with the decision. It can be hard to cut back. You obviously know where your priorities lie!
Isn’t it wonderful how our Lord works all things to our good and His glory? What lessons will He have for us today? May we have the wisdom to see His hand in both the little and the big things of life!
Today I’m sharing about simple random blessings; thanks for the inspiration to share each week what God is doing in our lives, Laura. :) ~Lisa
Wonderful Laura. Good for you for making the right/God-led decision. Blessings upon Blessings in that Wisdom from the Lord on this. The right things will definitely come and be of Him.
I am grateful for the life of my grandmother, who will probably go to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ today. God has supplied my grandad with abundant peace this last week. I also praise God that the Gospel will be clearly shared at her funeral, and several family members will hear and hopefully accept His free gift of salvation.
Ahh, those are the worst decisions! Even though that was a tough decision, the fact that you felt peace about it shows that God was with you in the process.
My husband and I are kind of going through the same thing, only on a smaller level. We keep honey bees and we’re trying to decide if we want to use the wax we get from them to make all natural soaps and lotions. So many things to consider!
It’s difficult to “cool your heels” when it’s a good thing fueled by good intentions. But, when it’s God’s timing, you know that the BEST thing is to come.
Don’t have a blog, so I’ll share. Our family has been through the wringer for the past year. And today, as I was reflecting on all of the difficulties, the yet-unexplained and unsolved, and the scary, I was thankful, because I knew that without these difficulties, I would never have drawn as close to the Lord as I have in these last 8 months. I couldn’t believe that I was thankful for that, but I was.
God does bring peace when we seek Him in our decisions/lives. We have struggled with having to wait longer than we expected to get pregnant with baby #2 (I have struggled more). I tried Clomid for a month. I felt no peace about it. Then I decided 1) God is bigger than whatever the reason the medical community tells us about how to get pregnant faster. We need to trust Him.
2) God opens and closes wombs and He has a reason for it.
3) God hears our prayers and He will answer them, maybe in a way we do not expect, but they will be answered.
Thanks for sharing. I feel like we experience things like this to be even better testimonies to God and what He does in our lives.
Thank you so much for sharing this.
Blessings,
Pam