Revisiting the Slumps

September was a difficult month for my business. We did some research and found that we weren’t the only ones! September is the end of the quarter, kids are going back to school, parents (many who are small business owners) are paying for school clothes and also those activities and extras that they hadn’t planned on! …etc., etc., etc. I wasn’t anticipating this and it threw me for a loop.

For 6 months straight my business had steadily increased to the point of needing a full leadership team to help run things. Then mid-September everything came to a grinding halt. For 3 entire weeks. LONG weeks! I’ll be honest: I was nervous. My prayers went something like this: “Lord… you’ve brought us so far! Are you seriously going to just remove your favor and send us all packing?”

God’s Word tells us that He gives and takes away (Job 1:21) and that our response is to trust Him enough to still say “blessed be the name of the Lord.”

I struggled with that but in the end, my heart was set on the fact that everything I’ve done is from Him and for Him. He can do with me and my business whatever He chooses.

If I hadn’t been so busy worrying, maybe I would have gone back through my notes and sales from last year at this time and I would have found evidence that this had all happened before! Different circumstances but the fundamentals were quite similar.

In fact, I even wrote a Moms of Faith article about this last year! Can you believe that? Written on October 16, 2009 entitled Down in the Slumps! Apparently, the phone wasn’t ringing and those e-mails weren’t coming in just about the same time last year, too! (I’m putting a reminder in my Outlook Calendar right this minute to go on a long vacation next September so I don’t freak out all over again next year!)

I’m happy to say that we’re picking up right where we left off and business is greatly improving again! It was another lesson learned for this MomPreneur! Hopefully next year I’ll be more prepared (and happily otherwise occupied at Disney World) for the 3 week slump.  :-)

I’ll leave you with the same thing I wrote in last October’s article:

What do you do when you are “down in the slumps?” You know…when you seem to be doing everything right…but the phone still doesn’t ring? When you have worked yourself to the bone…but nothing seems to be going right in your life or business? This happens to all of us in the course of a healthy business. It happens in our spiritual life, too. In my own life, I believe God has allowed these dry times in business and life to grow me as a person…and grow my faith and trust in Christ.

Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

Until next time…

MariLee Parrish

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