Closing the Doors

We are filled with many emotions as we move into the new year. After four and a half years of being in the Candy Bouquet business, Steve and I closed the doors of our store on December 31st. This decision did not come lightly and took much time and prayer.

With the economy the way it is and not knowing for sure "when" the economy will begin to recover, coupled with the fact that our contract was coming up for renewal in September 2010, we decided to take a step of faith and shut the doors early.

I say a step of faith because the decision left us with commitments we still needed to honour such as a monthly rent, franchise fees and other leasing fees.

Amazingly enough, I am here to tell you that God is still on the throne! Sometimes we make decisions we don't always understand, but know we are doing what we are suppose to be doing.

In the last two weeks, God has moved mountains. First of all, although the place we rent out has not been rented, we have seen four people show interest in the space (please pray that we can get the space rented by the end of this month). This is awesome because there has been a space for rent right next store that has been available to rent for over seven months. See God's hand working?

As far as the franchise fees go all I had to do was write the company and tell them I was closing my doors. Now, I don't have to pay the franchise fees! Yeah!

We also had a lease with Crystal Springs, which is a bottled-water company. Check this out scenario.

I called them last month to find out when my lease ended. They told me not until March 2011, 2011! So, I figured I would move the bottled-water unit to my house and use it there until the lease was up. Well, this past week, I called them to make the transfer.

This is how our conversation went while I was on the phone with the representative:

Me: "Is there any possible way I can get out of my lease?

Representative: "No, then she said, Well, the only way you can get out of the lease is if you pay a termination fee."

Me: "How much is the termination fee?",

Representative: "$100".

Me: "How much is my average monthly bill?"

Representative: "Between $20-$30". (Can you do the math?)

Me: "Cancel my service, I'll pay the termination fee."

Representative: (As she begins to put in the request, she states), "Oh, your termination fee is only $50".

Praise the Lord! Amen! God is so good.

Isn't it wonderful how the Lord orchestrates everything in our lives!

So you may be wondering what in the world I am going to do with myself. Don't worry, I already have my time divided up. I am working part-time for a RE Agent in the mornings and will be spending two to three days, in the afternoon, out in the print shop at church.

Steve is still spending much of his time working for ITT Tech in Everett and still tutoring students on the side.

Overall, we are so excited to see how the Lord is going to use us and what he has in store for us this year. Come on 2010!