This week has been one long lesson in faith.
I've spent hours pricing equipment, looking for a vehicle, working on recipes, planting my garden, researching vendors, and trying to prepare for my next business venture.
The stress has been real.
My mind kept asking the same questions:
What if I don't bring enough supplies?
What if my menu is too complicated?
What if I run out of produce?
What if I invest in the wrong equipment?
What if I'm not ready?
I told myself months ago that I refused to get a pet.
Not because I don't love animals, but because I feared the emotional attachment and distractions. Instead, I decided to invest my extra time into something that could feed both my soul and my business.
I planted a garden.
My garden would become my therapy.
My garden would supplement my produce.
My garden would remind me that everything grows in its season.
This week, after spending hours behind a computer screen researching and planning, I suddenly got up and started cleaning my house.
Cleaning has always been my stress reliever.
Ironically, cleaning is also another source of income for me.
So if you book me for a cleaning and your house is already spotless, understand that you may be witnessing me work through pain, anxiety, uncertainty, or frustration.
I clean because it helps me think.
I clean because it restores order.
I clean because I love to see things shine.
In fact, one of my favorite sayings has always been:
"I love to see you shine."
Whether it's a home, a business, a child, or a dream, I genuinely enjoy watching things become better than they were yesterday.
As I prepare for retirement, I've realized something important.
Every skill I learned while raising my children is becoming part of my retirement strategy.
Sales.
Customer service.
Cleaning.
Cooking.
Event planning.
Marketing.
Writing.
Consulting.
I've decided to convert every work-from-home income stream I've ever used into a business asset that can help secure my future.
Entrepreneurship isn't something I learned.
It's who I've always been.
My first business started on the porch of my grandmother's home in Maywood, Illinois.
There was an ice cream factory near First Avenue and Lake Street. They would throw away excess ice cream and frozen products.
Most people saw garbage.
I saw opportunity.
I'd gather what I could save, rush home to freeze it, and later sell it at baseball games and swim parties at Fred Hampton Pool.
Looking back, I didn't know I was building a business.
I was simply learning how to create value from what others overlooked.
Years later, while living at 4 Meadowoods Lane in Lithonia, Georgia, I found myself teaching the same lesson to my oldest son, Diandre.
He wanted to play football for the New Birth Eagles.
I had four children to support and simply couldn't afford all the costs involved.
Instead of saying no, I gave him a challenge.
I bought him $30 worth of snacks and told him to flip it.
He turned $30 into $75.
We reinvested the $75.
He turned it into $127.
We reinvested again.
Within seven days, he had made over $300 in profit.
Seven days.
Not because we were lucky.
Not because someone handed us money.
Because we believed in using what we had and making it grow.
That lesson has followed me throughout my entire life.
Faith isn't just believing.
Faith is planting.
Faith is preparing.
Faith is taking action while trusting God with the outcome.
This week, after all the stress, all the searching, all the planning, God gave me a different set of instructions.
Get out from behind the computer.
Go meet your neighbors.
Go meet local vendors.
Go build relationships.
Go learn who is around you.
Find out who can help when you need supplies.
Find out who has resources.
Find out where to get ice in Las Vegas.
Find out who your future partners might be.
Find out what opportunities are already waiting for you.
Sometimes we spend so much time searching online that we forget our blessings are standing right next door.
As I begin this new chapter in Summerlin and Las Vegas, I feel hopeful.
Excited.
Ready.
Ready to meet new people.
Ready to build new partnerships.
Ready to serve new customers.
Ready to restart my life.
Most importantly, ready to trust God with the process.
I've always spoken my dreams into existence.
And today, I'm speaking another one.
One day, my final resting place won't just be a house.
It will be my dream home in Summerlin.
A place built from decades of hard work, faith, sacrifice, entrepreneurship, and perseverance.
A place that represents everything God helped me build.
Summerlin, wait for me.
I'm coming soon.
Bless God, it's Sunday.
Don't tell me what God can't do.
#BlessGodItsSunday #FaithOverFear #EntrepreneurLife #WomenInBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #GardenLife #RetirementPlanning #Summerlin #LasVegas #SundaysSoulFood #CleaningBusiness #MyStory #DontTellMeWhatGodCantDo
