Why the Heck Are We Starting a Business?
“What are we doing?” was a question I literally asked Ashley, my wife, last night as we got ready for bed, and a question I ask myself at least once a day. There are a million reasons why our family should not start a business right now on top of everything else we have going on in our life. I have a solid counseling job that provides great benefits for my family. I have a 1 year old daughter that I want to make sure I don’t a miss a minute of her life, especially right now as she is growing up so fast. We still have some personal debt, which we are working hard to get rid of. And the list of reasons why we shouldn’t start a business could go on and on…
But (and it’s an important ‘but’), I have a burden. I have this personal “problem.” I’ve been healed. I’ve been set free from a mental illness that plagued my life for years. And now, I have this insatiable desire for others to receive that same healing that occurred in me 7 years ago. I am not Jesus. Hopetown is not Jesus. There is only one Jesus. However, the Apostle Paul says that those folks who have been made right by Jesus have consequentially now been given a mandate to make things right in other people's’ lives. That is one of driving forces in our vision for Hopetown. One of my favorite pastors, Andy Stanley, says
“Vision is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.”
We know and believe what could be in a person’s life. And we are convicted that we should do our part to make sure that it ‘should be.’ And hence...Hopetown.
So that’s why we’re starting a business, Hopetown. We want to facilitate the same healing that happened in us. In fact, we’ve already seen people step into a life of freedom through the message that God has given Hopetown! This is the message that we can’t wait to share with anyone who wants to listen!
We are scared, excited, insecure, and hopeful about starting this journey. Stanley also says “If you decide that what God is asking you to do with your life is just too much on you and is just a little too inconvenient, then you will never see the miracles he has for you.” As a husband and a new father, I want my family to be about seeing the life-changing miracles God has for us. So Hopetown is our step of obedience towards that miracle-inspired life.
It doesn’t have to be something as “big” as starting a business, but what simple, God-ordained act of obedience is he calling you to? Would you pray for us as we take this one?