How to have Childlike Trust in God,
while running a Catholic business
By Rita Davidson
How do we have childlike trust? You might think; well I can’t stop worrying? But I’m about to share with you a secret of the spiritual life.
You see we’ve had Little Flowers Family Press for 17 years. Much of those 17 years have had one crisis after another, (I won’t bore you with it today). But this past week was a real clincher. You see I woke up not realizing that would be the day the rug would be pulled out from under us.
I got a phone call from our bank manager telling us they had reviewed our accounts and were pulling our credit lines. Well, as my head recovered from reeling, I asked her half-joking,
“Are you trying to shut us down?”
She answered, “well, yes.”
So, after I got the facts, I sat stunned for quite a few moments. Darkness started to creep in. Self-Doubt, then worry, then the overwhelming feeling this was out of my control. How did we get here?
All I could think of was, we don’t have the resources to fix this or the savings to make this right? God help me, I pleaded.
We give up so much of our personal comfort to keep this apostolate going.
The thread bare furniture we own.
Yes, this is the same one from another picture, with the cover off now.
The broken walls in my house,because of my special needs boys, we can’t repair.
Yes, this is the wall, just ‘above’ my favorite chair. The taped ‘hole’ where our autistic son would bang his head and put it through the wall. The tape around light switches because he had to cover everything with tape.
The rusting van that needs replacing before winter.
the frame has rotted away from our harsh winters and salt on the roads.
The roof, that will not last the winter.
Yes, those are lifted shingles on this very old house, with leaking damage already present.
Yes, each of these issues are continuing gnawing issues for me. I don’t share this private part of my life with you to make you feel sorry for us, or to make you feel guilty. But to give you a glimpse of the real life we live ‘behind the scenes’ here.
When you run a Catholic business, and have the rug pulled out, like we just did, the first thing I thought of was how will I save this business? I mean even our accountant frowns upon the ‘numbers’ of this ‘business’. (Thankfully he’s a catholic too.)
It’s not like we ever made a profit. Nor are we protected with incorporation, or LLC, that doesn’t exist in Canada.
You see, we put our heart and soul into this business and it takes a mighty creative mind to juggle the money to make sure it all gets covered in the end. In fact, it’s truly a miracle as I watch it work out every month.
It had become a real feat of huge proportions to keep things covered after we started up again after our Family Crisis of 2010. A tight ship indeed, with three newly diagnosed boys with autism. But, now my biggest question was,
“How will I continue to serve my families, and get out their orders sitting here?”
It wasn’t the first time things were so dark. We have too many stories. But this was the end of a long fight after an internal error on my account that I had fought them to compensate us for. I should have known this was coming. But how do you recover from the overwhelming feeling that you just can’t get out of this one?
I prayed for light, for help and realized again, that when things are too impossible, is when you must rely entirely on God. “Entirely” is a deep word. Childlike trust is for children, that is why we must become as children. But that really is the secret to the spiritual life. It is only when God can bring us down so far, to our knees that we finally realize we must look up. Look way up to the God who can fix the impossible things. This applies to family emergencies, personal struggles, financial troubles, not just in business. Give it to God, and let Go.
Then I started making phone calls.
It’s one thing to own a business, it’s another thing to try serve God in business. As this world turns more and more away from God, the Catholic remnant is becoming smaller and the laws are becoming more anti-Christian. The devil himself gets in the details to try squash any enterprise that even attempts to push back the darkness. Even St. Maximillian Kolbe talked about how the ‘devil’s tail used to get into his printing presses’. That is why we brought him in as one of our patrons, early. He understood the devil in business.
Starting a Catholic business is like getting into the ring, an announcement to the devil that your ready to fight. And quite the foe he is. We have many scrapes and bruises to prove it. We’ve lost quite a few.
As we sit here, we are waiting. Waiting on God to figure this out. Waiting on news from our bank and the few people who have stood with us in the past. Those blessed warriors we call our friends. Those generous souls that are sending us their ‘widow’s mite’ to see our apostolate get through this. God bless you!
The swell of rare souls that are looking deep into their pockets to save this apostolate because they believe in this work; they are comforted to know there is hope in the world.
It is now, that although I can’t see the end of the tunnel, that I am comforted that God has again showed his power. That through this darkness, many hands are moving to help us. God’s will, will be done. Even though we do not have all the answers for this latest cross yet, we know that God will choose save our apostolate only if we have served Him well. Just as we hear the sad news of another good Catholic publisher closing, I am humbled that we will have a second chance. Why? Only God knows that answer. All I can hope is that we have done some good in this world. As Niki just reminded me, “ In the end my Immaculate Heart will Triumph”
Who can fail, with God on your side?
Would you please pray for us? Thank you!
Copyright 2013 Rita Davidson All Rights Reserved.
Rita is a Catholic wife and mother of seven children. Mark is her ever patient husband. She reverted back to the faith when her oldest was making her First Communion. By then, she had completed degrees in Hairdressing and Make up artistry. She went on to receive a degree in Natural Health and another degree in Art. At age 26, Rita suffered a minor stroke. With no lasting effects, this dramatically changed her outlook on life. In 1996, Rita began ‘Little Flowers Family Apostolates’ to reach out to other families with her new found faith, by creating unique Catholic books and resources.. In 1999, she wrote the bestselling, ‘Immodesty; Satan’s Virtue’. She was editor of ‘The Catholic Health Letter’ for 7 years. She has been a homeschooling mom for 20+ years, and has written for various magazines. She is honored that families have trusted her with their questions, needs and concerns over the years. She continues to write and reach out to Catholic families with her husband, Mark and their 4 boys through http://www.LittleFlowersFamilyPress.com
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