Wednesday February 2, 2011
Im not full of wisdom or inspirational sayings, (alot of peeps say Im full of other things and I agree). I have weathered many great storms and by the grace of God have always made it through.... tougher, kinder and stronger. The recession hit my restaurant and my family like a full blown hurricane, and at times I did not know how we would survive. When the lord blessed me with the CIG, I did not need an income. My husband had his own business and he was very successful at it. He had provided the kids and I a wonderful life, wanting for nothing. What a blessing that income was not needed from me, it allowed me to hire and pay a full staff and pay all of my bills, without going into any debt. I did not take a dime from the CIG, I worked for free for 2 years. I opened in the fall of 2007. 2008 was a building year and we grew. By 2009 my monthly numbers were more than I imagined. We were being blessed with business. On oneside I was full of excitement and on the otherside my heart was growing concern for my husbands business. The recession was hitting him hard. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would loose his business, Shelby was a fighter.... this does not happen to us..right?The fall of 2009 brought the dreaded news, we were loosing his business. my first thought.... I'm a christian and the Lord is in control, we will be fine. Well both of those statements are true but we still suffer and our hearts break and we try to have no fear and sometimes its hard. I took my 1st paycheck in October 2009. I was now the financial provider for my precious family and for the 1st time the CIG became a job.My paycheck was 50% less than what we were living on but I was exhilerated to bring home an income and support my husband as he had supported me for 16 years. Of course my story of this recession would not be complete without the other side. The bottom fell out of the CIG in October 2009 the same time his business was closing. It was like someone turned off a faucet. Every month my numbers kept falling, I almost thought it was comical, that now when I needed a paycheck.... my business was suffering. We had the talk with the boys, life is going to be different, our family is going to have to make some big changes. Changes are tough, no we were not one of those families that was going to loose their house but we lost other things. I work alot of hours the minimum is 11 hours a day on up to 15 hours sometimes 7 days a week, together we decided Shelby would umpire and work my caterings so one of us would still be able to take care of our boys. In the spring of last year, things were bad. How ironic each piece of equipment in the kitchen started breaking I prayed before every food bill, that the money would be there, payroll made me sick to my stomach and purchasing new equipment, seriously OH MYLANTA I knew I was at my breaking point. I knew something had to change when one of the girls said to me " You have changed, these 6 months have changed you" Instead of being strong I wanted to start yelling and crying and tell everyone we may have to shut the doors to this place I love so much. I felt broken and defeated and then a quote came to me from the radio.... Is it the Great Recession or will the recession make u GREAT, wow what a powerful phrase. My situation was not changing but my mind set was. I realized the Lord gave me the CIG because he knew my husbands situation was going to happen, he provided a job so we did not loose our house. I still drove to work every morning crying and then would put on a brave face, because I knew even though things were hard we were going to be ok. Its been 15 months since the recession hit the CIG, and I know that my Lord took this wonderful little place and placed it on his shoulders and carried us. I have aged 10 years in a year, and have learned life lessons that I will keep tucked in my heart. My business is coming back and Im starting to breath a little easier, but I will never forget the last months, I do believe I have become that phrase, Not so much that I am great, but I have become a better and stronger person, the recession did not break me. As I sit here and write this tears stream down my face, the CIG is still fragile, and doubts still linger of what will come, but Im here and my family is better and stronger..... and I'm blessed.
Im not full of wisdom or inspirational sayings, (alot of peeps say Im full of other things and I agree). I have weathered many great storms and by the grace of God have always made it through.... tougher, kinder and stronger. The recession hit my restaurant and my family like a full blown hurricane, and at times I did not know how we would survive. When the lord blessed me with the CIG, I did not need an income. My husband had his own business and he was very successful at it. He had provided the kids and I a wonderful life, wanting for nothing. What a blessing that income was not needed from me, it allowed me to hire and pay a full staff and pay all of my bills, without going into any debt. I did not take a dime from the CIG, I worked for free for 2 years. I opened in the fall of 2007. 2008 was a building year and we grew. By 2009 my monthly numbers were more than I imagined. We were being blessed with business. On oneside I was full of excitement and on the otherside my heart was growing concern for my husbands business. The recession was hitting him hard. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would loose his business, Shelby was a fighter.... this does not happen to us..right?The fall of 2009 brought the dreaded news, we were loosing his business. my first thought.... I'm a christian and the Lord is in control, we will be fine. Well both of those statements are true but we still suffer and our hearts break and we try to have no fear and sometimes its hard. I took my 1st paycheck in October 2009. I was now the financial provider for my precious family and for the 1st time the CIG became a job.My paycheck was 50% less than what we were living on but I was exhilerated to bring home an income and support my husband as he had supported me for 16 years. Of course my story of this recession would not be complete without the other side. The bottom fell out of the CIG in October 2009 the same time his business was closing. It was like someone turned off a faucet. Every month my numbers kept falling, I almost thought it was comical, that now when I needed a paycheck.... my business was suffering. We had the talk with the boys, life is going to be different, our family is going to have to make some big changes. Changes are tough, no we were not one of those families that was going to loose their house but we lost other things. I work alot of hours the minimum is 11 hours a day on up to 15 hours sometimes 7 days a week, together we decided Shelby would umpire and work my caterings so one of us would still be able to take care of our boys. In the spring of last year, things were bad. How ironic each piece of equipment in the kitchen started breaking I prayed before every food bill, that the money would be there, payroll made me sick to my stomach and purchasing new equipment, seriously OH MYLANTA I knew I was at my breaking point. I knew something had to change when one of the girls said to me " You have changed, these 6 months have changed you" Instead of being strong I wanted to start yelling and crying and tell everyone we may have to shut the doors to this place I love so much. I felt broken and defeated and then a quote came to me from the radio.... Is it the Great Recession or will the recession make u GREAT, wow what a powerful phrase. My situation was not changing but my mind set was. I realized the Lord gave me the CIG because he knew my husbands situation was going to happen, he provided a job so we did not loose our house. I still drove to work every morning crying and then would put on a brave face, because I knew even though things were hard we were going to be ok. Its been 15 months since the recession hit the CIG, and I know that my Lord took this wonderful little place and placed it on his shoulders and carried us. I have aged 10 years in a year, and have learned life lessons that I will keep tucked in my heart. My business is coming back and Im starting to breath a little easier, but I will never forget the last months, I do believe I have become that phrase, Not so much that I am great, but I have become a better and stronger person, the recession did not break me. As I sit here and write this tears stream down my face, the CIG is still fragile, and doubts still linger of what will come, but Im here and my family is better and stronger..... and I'm blessed.
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