College is billed as a great time of learning -- some of those lessons actually last a lifetime, and hopefully the lessons last at least longer than the loan payments!
Some say college is the best 5 (plus) of your life. For me, it was 4.5 years and filled with challenge and adversity including the death of my dad to a long, hard-fought battle with cancer. Yes, cancer sucks.
All these years later, a few things stick with me today.
First, through my involvement with Athletes in Action and some fatihful friends, I learned to put my own interests aside and put my faith in Jesus. It has been anything but an easy journey and one with many stumbles along the way, but I would not exchange it for the world.
Second, I met my wife and mother of my children, and well, that is priceless as well. Anyone who has met the two of us would also say that I must be pretty good at sales as I have a face for radio.
Third, the one, real lesson I learned from any class was that the primary objective of business is to "stay in business". While there may be larger ambitions we have with our business, we need to first "stay in business" in order to carry out any further ambitions. In my C12 circles, we call it, no margin, no ministry. As anyone who has run a business for any period of time can attest, it is fashionable at a dinner party, but otherwise, it's just plain work, mentally, physically and emotionally.
Probably more than any other year on my entreprenuerial journey, those lessons have been needed for 2020 (and likely 2021). From lock-downs, to elections, to PPP loan calculators and every day temperature checks with social distancing, 2020 is a year to both forget and to remember.
As the year comes in for a (bumpy) landing let's be thankful for the lessons learned, for the people who matter most in our lives and for hope in the future.
Oh, and for anyone hoping to add some yummy calories to our team with an appreciated holiday gift basket, please consider a donation to a local food bank instead. One particular option that we are donating to this year is the United Way Foodstock program.
Frank
PS, the fourth thing I learned in college was that the LA Lakers were not going to draft me. Big disappointment, but all these years later, I am (mostly) over it.
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