On August 15, 1987 Howard Schultz purchased a small chain of coffeehouses in Seattle, Washington. That was what it was--a small chain. Howard at the time said it was his biggest goal to open a store in Portland, Oregon. A few decades later there are 11,000 stores in 37 countries and every week there are approximately 35 million customers! You have probably guessed what Howard bought back in 1987--Starbucks--yes that is right. His biggest goal then was to open a shop in Portland and for the record Starbucks opens 5 new stores everyday, 365 days a year!! He almost passed up the opportunity because it was in his mind a little pricey, $4 million. He knew he had to seize the opportunity, if he let too much time slip by and not step out of his comfort zone the moment would pass. On June 26, 1992, less than 5 years after Howard stepped out of his comfort zone Starbuck's stock went public. It was the second most active stock traded on the NASDAQ and when the closing bell rang its market capitalization was at $273 million. Do you remember he only paid $4 million. Not a bad investment.
With all that said and the history of Howard and Starbucks the point is this: You don't have to have $4 million to buy a business. All you have to have is the heart to seize opportunities around you. The bible says this in Colossians 4:5, " Make the most of every opportunity". We are surrounded by God-ordained opportunities--opportunities to love, laugh, to give, to learn, and to serve. Seeing and seizing those opportunities is exactly what it means to follow Christ and be filled with the Spirit.
What we have to understand is that "Starbucks opportunities" don't come to us gift wrapped on a silver platter with a neon sign saying this is our opportunity! It often times comes at the most inopportune times and in the most inopportune places. What we as Christians have to ask God to help us see are the opportunities not the problem. The Chinese language captures this truth. The Chinese word for "crisis" is made of two characters--one means danger and the other means opportunity. Problems are really opportunities in disguise.
So, it is easy to read and say Colossians 4:5, "Make the most of every opportunity", but how do we do it. The answer is found in verse 2, "Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful". Those who live in prayer mode see further than others, before others see them and things that others don't see.
In closing, the biggest opportunity we can seize is to accept Jesus as our Savior. John 1:12 says "But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God." All you have to do is agree to a set of terms like the ones in Corinthians 5:21. "God made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." God says to us let me have all your wrong and give them to me. I will give you everything Jesus did right and give them to you and we will call it even. Very simply put we put our faith in who Christ is and what he has done for us.
So why wait--SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY!!
Oh yeah, another girl for the Miller household!! I think we are still in shock from the news but once she is here we won't know why we ever thought we needed a boy. Kelly on the other hand may disagree in about 10 years. I'm sure we will deal with lots of drama!!
Kenley just celebrated her 5th birthday this week. Can't believe she is that old already. She loves horses and all that goes along with them. She got to go and help Robyn do a photo shoot for Coolhorse by helping get the horses where they needed to be-with a little help of course!
With all that said and the history of Howard and Starbucks the point is this: You don't have to have $4 million to buy a business. All you have to have is the heart to seize opportunities around you. The bible says this in Colossians 4:5, " Make the most of every opportunity". We are surrounded by God-ordained opportunities--opportunities to love, laugh, to give, to learn, and to serve. Seeing and seizing those opportunities is exactly what it means to follow Christ and be filled with the Spirit.
What we have to understand is that "Starbucks opportunities" don't come to us gift wrapped on a silver platter with a neon sign saying this is our opportunity! It often times comes at the most inopportune times and in the most inopportune places. What we as Christians have to ask God to help us see are the opportunities not the problem. The Chinese language captures this truth. The Chinese word for "crisis" is made of two characters--one means danger and the other means opportunity. Problems are really opportunities in disguise.
So, it is easy to read and say Colossians 4:5, "Make the most of every opportunity", but how do we do it. The answer is found in verse 2, "Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful". Those who live in prayer mode see further than others, before others see them and things that others don't see.
In closing, the biggest opportunity we can seize is to accept Jesus as our Savior. John 1:12 says "But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God." All you have to do is agree to a set of terms like the ones in Corinthians 5:21. "God made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." God says to us let me have all your wrong and give them to me. I will give you everything Jesus did right and give them to you and we will call it even. Very simply put we put our faith in who Christ is and what he has done for us.
So why wait--SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY!!
Oh yeah, another girl for the Miller household!! I think we are still in shock from the news but once she is here we won't know why we ever thought we needed a boy. Kelly on the other hand may disagree in about 10 years. I'm sure we will deal with lots of drama!!
Kenley just celebrated her 5th birthday this week. Can't believe she is that old already. She loves horses and all that goes along with them. She got to go and help Robyn do a photo shoot for Coolhorse by helping get the horses where they needed to be-with a little help of course!
Brylee loves cats of all ages. She got kinda attached to one during our photo shoot and named it Elena. Because we have 2 dogs we decided that taking home a kitten might not be a great idea, Grammy got to take it home with her.
No comments:
Post a Comment