SOMETIMES THE TIMING JUST ISN'T RIGHT

About 8 years ago, I was working on Navy Pier. It was just beginning to get really good there. A bunch of little shops, restaurants, a 20 story Ferris Wheel, dinner cruise ships, conferences and exhibit halls, huge venues would come to the Pier to have their conferences and exhibits. It was fast becoming one of the premier tourist destinations in the city. And I was interested in grabbing a piece of the pie. I wanted to open a little cart and sell hot dogs. That's it, just hot dogs! I could have been a millionaire by now off of hot dogs!

Well, it didn't happen. I went to Greece because my dad passed away, and then I moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts for 4 years. When I came back, I was getting my feet back on solid ground. My mom had been dealing with breast cancer, and I had an emergency appendectomy when I got back that first autumn. Now when I go back there this past summer to work, there are hot dog stands and Italian Ice stands and "Dippin' Dots." There are ice cream parlors, popcorn vendors, coffee stands, Cinnamon roasted nuts, fudge shops, t-shirts, novelty shops, there's even a "Build-A-Bear." There is an I-MAX theater, and a Shakespeare Theater, and a Grand Ballroom. It just kept expanding into the tourist attraction I knew it was becoming just a decade before. Except I was still just the same person with a dream to open a business there. And they all had their spots.

This year I put in a proposal to open "SLUSHY'S." Whether they let me in or not for next summer, has yet to be determined. It's a bit political (as is anything you do in Chicago). But as far as putting together an idea and putting all the pieces in place to do it if they let me, that is all done. Hopefully next summer I will be selling my slush beverages, slushy t-shirts, hats, slushy character dolls, and Slushy will finally make me an entrepreneur in the hottest destination for the summer in Chicago. After a couple years I can start working on opening drive-thru coffee kiosks around the city and suburbs. And little by little, work on building an income generating real-estate portfolio.

I don't see my past setbacks as bad things. Every experience I have had in my life has been a preparation to bring me to where I am today. Every failure, every trial and test in my life. All of them are gifts to me. I have never been one to get in on the ground floor of anything. I am a low-moderate risk taker. I don't bet on something unless I am almost certain of its success. Although, I have in the past, worked on any short range possibilities, like Amway, Quorum, Reliv, etc. Today, working on the first substantial savings account I have ever had, I am less of a risk taker.

I see the first part of my life as an education. I may not have degrees from some university, although I did have some college. But I have so much more of my life to look forward to. The timing just wasn't right until this moment. This is the moment to thrive. This is the moment to not let anything take me off course. This is the time that I need to work hard to enjoy the fruits of my efforts. If I ever died without realizing those fruits, its ok, because the journey was enjoyable. I know that I did my best with what I had in life. I took what was given to me, and I made the best of every possible situation.

I have been faced with some really hard times in life. But at every moment in time, I came to a point when I faced the fact that I was not in control. There is nothing that I can do to solve any problem on my own. This is where my faith comes in. I am reminded of the verse in the Bible which says, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge the Lord in all of your ways, and He will direct your path." What a wonderful promise! What a blessing! I don't have anything to do in those trials in life but to trust in the Lord. I don't even have to try to understand it, because my understanding is so clouded by being in the middle of a great big mess (usually caused by my own idiocy). God's understanding is so superior to mine. I don't have to understand it. Then when I see all the stuff sorting itself out... it's GOD! It's GOD! There is another verse I remember from the book of Psalms, "Be still, and know that I am GOD!" That is the one verse that gives me peace in a huge anxious moment... and at every worry, I recognize that God is so much greater than anything I could possibly control.

If I am ever in a position when the timing just isn't right for something, there is something to be said for just leaving it in God's hands. He has the power of making a situation that is just endless and miserable, gracious and good. He doesn't want to make us suffer, He wants to make us stronger! So I will wait on His time to make all my work bear much fruit. I will be still, and know that He is GOD! And in those silent times, when I hear Him speaking to my heart, I have to just be still and listen to the soft voice in those Bible verses I learned when I was a little kid in the youth group, and I don't have to understand how it happens, but everything works its way out of the miserable and transforms into the blessings that He has in store for me.

I hope that in the months to come, I can come back to this blog and write about the challenges of building out my little SLUSHY kiosk... for the summer. That is, if they let me come to the Pier in the summer!