My wife gave me two bible verses one day. I am positive her intentions were not to point out my faults, but was reminding me of God’s calling for us. So, one night as I crawled into bed, I noticed I had a post-it note on my pillow. Written on it were two references of bible verses from Thessalonians. Can’t say I ever read them before, honestly I had to look up where Thessalonians was. The verses were a warning about the dangers of being idle or lazy and hanging out with those that are.
1 Thes. 4 10-12
…we exhort you, brethren, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you; so that you may command the respect of outsiders, and be dependent on nobody.
2 Thes. 3 6-15
Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, we did not eat any one's bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you. It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our conduct an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If anyone will not work, let him not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living. Brethren, do not be weary in well-doing. If anyone refuses to obey what we say in this letter, note that man, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not look on him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Shoreline Farm Supply
About 6 months ago I was becoming frustrated with the availability of non-GMO, open source seed, good quality local feed for our animals. It was nearly impossible to get. What was available was filler byproduct feed from the large Agri-companies was very abundant and filled with stuff I wouldn’t dream of feeding my family. I presented my wife with a thought. We should open a feed store. I can’t remember what look she gave me or why she agreed. I am sure she didn’t really know what she agreed to…although I didn’t know what I was getting into either. About 5 months ago, we formalized the beginning of our new feed supply business- a venture my 8 year old is very proud of (she tells everyone my dad and I started a feed business). My father joined us in this venture as well, a big step of faith for both him and me considering our challenged relationship of the past. Staying at home with my two girls and continuing to push or responsible living series, this gave us the sort of needed flexibility in the workplace I needed.
Sourcing as much local, open seed source, sustainably farmed feeds seems like a simple good idea. Not overcharging for it seemed like a good idea too. The mission of Shoreline Farm Supply was hence defined.
The First Feed Run
With $500.00 and just enough gas to make a round trip my father and I made our first feed mill pick-up. It was a grueling start, we had truck problems almost ran out of gas, and was hauling feed with my two young children and a dog on a 5 hour turned 14 hour adventure. But we made a friend at the mill; Tom, the owner. It wasn’t until 5 weeks later that we realized that we had a friend. He was a hard nut to crack and eventually he came around to embrace our business model- cash up front only, we will never ask for credit…oh yeah…and we are a little bit out there. He still probably thinks we are crazy. After it was all said and done, we figured we made about $0.50 on the first feed run- if you don’t count the cost of the gas or vehicle repairs, don’t pay ourselves or reimburse ourselves for anything and add $400 in my dad’s money, but we did it. Things have improved a little bit since then, although not much.
We have since cultured wonderful relationships with customers, farmers, mill operators, warehouse managers and family. We are now talking about moving tons of feed versus bags. We are supplying feed to hundreds of customers, helping out small struggling farms and families when we can and using good old fashion bartering and hard work where necessary.
I am not sure I am a good business owner, only time will tell. I am sure that I couldn’t do it without my wife’s or father’s support. Of course, when it comes down to it, we are only God’s stewards of what He has entrusted to us. God willing, we will continue.
