Most businesses start very small and insignificant just like a seed.  But when protected the smallest of businesses can produce a great harvest.  By Gary Shotton #000331

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Seeds

By Gary Shotton

Hello, my name is Gary Shotton and today we are going to talk about seeds, you know these are seeds like you plant in a garden. Like a corn seed or a wheat seed and we are going to discuss how that is kind of an example of how we can grow and excel in our business affairs. First, it’s amazing that a seed is what it is it’s just a very small item logically, there’s only two things you can do with seeds that are productive you can either plant it. Which we are going to talk about and grow it, water it and fertilize it and cause it to grow into something that produces a harvest. You can take those seeds again and plant again or you can eat it, grind it up normally for flour or something. A digestive thing and so we are going to talk about the planting side of it. I got to mention this, I’m so happy that I was raised in a farm and ranch, my dad was a wheat farmer and that meant I work for him as a youngster. All the way through college and boy so many of the Bible stories, and examples have I think another meaning to me. If someone that is in agriculture compared to somebody that’s not, because so much of the Bible and New Testament especially is tied to what was a common thing. Their agribusiness and I’m familiar with seeds and planting them, I will just give a quick example. In the start here I had read the that parable, that God gave different talents different people in some 2040 sixty and a hundredfold return on the planting of a seed and a hundredfold return would mean if you planted one seed you would gain back.

A hundred seeds, well I took that literally I went out to our farm and I watched where we plant one seed of wheat and I couldn’t believe it. That seed of wheat would bring up some twenty to thirty shocks, that would be shoots coming up out of the ground. On the top of each one of those shoots is a head of wheat, and on top of each one of those heads of wheat was where the kernels were there. The rows of kernels and sometimes there’s two rows or three rows. If we got enough moisture well there would be between 20 and 30 chutes, that’s things came up out of the ground. The stock on top of that, there could be an inside of each head of wheat there’s two rows or three rows there could be anywhere from twenty to thirty seeds on each stock what if you do the math 20 times 20 is 400 returned and 30 times 30 is 900 seeds. If I got that right and so there could be 900 seeds come from one stock one seed into the ground, I thought that’s so interesting. Well back to the main course here the seed is so small, and we have become now accustomed to believing that. If we plant that seed in the ground and there is a little bit of water, a little bit of moisture and a little bit of fertilizer, that it will grow and sprout and produce more seeds. Well that is a perfect example of seed time and harvest where we have to recognize that ideas, that come our way, or many times are so small. So insignificant like that seed is so insignificant to my need that one seed put in the ground, would reproduce at least 100 200 300 400 times over and yet we are accustomed to that. But in the natural world a lot of times we overlook that little seed, that little thing that God has provided for us to get started in our business we are thinking there is no way that’s going to make any difference.

I got to find something bigger I got to sign something that is faster, and I have got to find it quick. I can’t wait for the process, this to happen well that is not. I believe the best way for you to learn I believe you need to start many times with something’s quite small, as for sure in your first business. Grow step by step with that it’s interesting, we have now phone calls going to developing nations. I had a several phone calls to the nation of Haiti with sometimes, 20 30 or 40 people in the room, and I would find out that in that room there’s not one person that has a job. Not one person has a regular income and I’m thinking how I can help them financially. Why don’t I send them money that is not the answer, so I concluded? it’s this lesson of seeds there is some seed there’s something in your presence, there’s something before you right now. That if you would take that and take your first action step that God would see, and he would cause that to multiply far beyond your expectation. I still believe that God will never forsake us, never leave us alone there’s his faithful. Will not allow us to be tested above that, we are able to make success in that. But we’ll with that success with that opportunity, make a way of escape that we can come through that together. So, some countries are just desperate they don’t have any set of any income, yet I believe there’s an answer. I convinced that God will not leave you without help, and he has placed things in your path now, here are some other things, we could consider. We shouldn’t in this situation blame others certainly don’t blame God for our situation. We are looking around in a difficult financial situation and we say what is the answer don’t blame people it’s my parents they made me be in this situation it’s in my society.

It is not my economy it is the government; the government gets a lot of blame for a lot of stuff. So, don’t fall into that trap and look instead of blaming others, look inwardly to yourself and say no what can I do with this. What are the lessons that I’m learning how can I learn from this experience, there’s always lessons that are adding to your experience that’s to be beneficial to you being taken care of down the line and I’m going to give some examples at least one good example here sometimes you have to look deep and realize that that there’s some mistakes that caused you to be in this financial situation so being truthful to yourself correct that being accountable with funds accountable with your monies don’t let pride come in that you won’t lower yourself to do something that’s like it’s beneath me to pick up a shovel and dig a dig a ditch maybe that’s what you’ve gotten that for the time being maybe you need to work there just a little bit to be humbled just a little bit who knows and that normally though work is a big part of the answer when you’re first getting started and just be very willing to start small and start grow step by step just like that little bitty seed well let me give you one quick example I moved to my new town here about 35 years ago and I had three small children they’re grown now they have children bigger than my  kids when they were there so my grand-kids are much older than my kids were at that time and we had come here with an expectation that I would get a good nice job because I already had a college degree I had ten years’ experience and I’m just telling you there was no job of any nature that was satisfactory and I heard this message.

it was a sermon use what you’re what’s in your hand there’s a seed, there’s something in your hand that you can get started and I looked out my front window at my house where I was staying and I had parked there a horse trader it’s a trainer that we had used to move furniture from our old home to our new home. Here more than a thousand miles away to the new home my new arrangement and I looked out there and here’s this trailer just sitting there I said well that could work so I put in the paper that, said let me help you move it’s like moving furniture from one house to the other and I gave the dimensions. I said it’s a five foot by 16-foot trailer I was used normally for hauling horses, but I didn’t use that word in my advertisement. I just started moving people I had to do what I’m talking about, I had to humble myself I am a degree engineer with ten years’ experience what am i doing out here just moving furniture that was humbling but I swallowed my pride and then I said man this is so small but you know right away, I started getting a little money and I got money to feed my family. Money for tuition and money for the rent money for my expenses and I’m on a roll here and so I started with what I had. Step by step and I can’t go into details on this right now, but it went from that horse-trader that was a pull behind my family car, to one truck and then from that truck to a second truck. And then I decided this could be a real business up until then it was part-time just to fill in the gap make a little money to pay the bills, but then I said I’ll make it a business.  I grew to the point over 17 years where I had a large warehouse and I had many employees that had several trucks that could drive anywhere in the United States. Moving furniture, moving people I move people internationally to multiple countries around the world. I had what we call truck rental services and so I’m telling you that I lived this I had a very small seed an idea. I planted that I watered I took care of it and it took me through 17 years raising my family my kids all went through college I bought and built a large building that later on became an equity that I could use for this business and so I’m just telling you that, God has a plan for you. If you are willing to start small, it’s like a seed plant that seed find it plant it water, it fertilize it, and watch it grow take care of It and you will see some results thanks for being a part of inspiring better business.