#007 - God is Our Provider (and even provides in advance what we need)

I wanted to follow up from yesterday's episode and today I want to talk about God being our provider. Welcome back to this episode of the Hit Splits private podcast. My name is Shelli Hits and I just share honest, open, real, you know, in real time on this podcast. And so when I shared yesterday about expectations to expectancy, I shared about how difficult 2022 has been for me personally. And I just wanted to follow up with that and say one thing that I have learned is that God is our provider. And when you follow him and when you're, you're doing the things that he's inviting you to do and he's called you to do, he will provide. And it may not always be the timing we want, how we want as much as we want, you know, all the things. But, you know, I know a lot of you struggle with this, you know, because self publishing is not completely free. You know, there are costs to self publishing, especially when you're wanting a quality book. Yes, you could create your own book cover, but I don't recommend it unless you're a book designer that's designed lots of book covers. And so there are ways to save on cost. And we have been able to help our members save thousands of dollars on costs for self publishing. And you, you can check it out@christianbookacademy.com you get the whole training in our self published module or at procrastination of publication. Com. But what I want to say is that whether it's publishing your book or marketing your book or whatever it is, there are costs involved. And I just wanted to remind you today that God is your provider. And I just wanted to share a testimony. So as I shared in the last episode, we lost a huge contract. And you know, it's public now, so I can, I can share it. We had a contract with God's Glory Box, a subscription company, and they went out of business this year. And so that was a huge hit for our income that we had just expected. You know, it had been like five years we had been in a partnership with them and it was a huge amount of income for us. And so it was really, it was really difficult. And I shared in the last episode that I struggled. I struggled. And yet when I look back, you know, it's so, it's so amazing when we look back and we can see God's faithfulness. And it literally is bringing tears to my eyes right now because God knew, like, he knew this was coming. He knew this was not a surprise to him. Yes, it was a shock. To us. It was a surprise to us, but it was not a surprise to him. And he was setting us up to be able to continue on with what we're doing. Like, if. If for some reason we lost a huge amount of income and all of a sudden, like, we can't pay our bills, we might have to go get other jobs and. But yet the Lord provided for us so that we wouldn't have to do that. And when I look back, it was in 2011 or 2021. I said 2011. That's when I quit my physical therapy job to go full time in our business. And so it's been 11 years now. Amazing. We have. I mean, there's so many times that the Lord has just come through for us. But anyways, last year in 2021, there was a moment, the beginning of the year, when CJ and I seriously thought about selling Christian Book Academy. And I've talked about this publicly a few times. So some of you may have heard this, some of you may not have ever heard this, and it might be a shock to you, but we were thinking about possibly going in a different direction with our business. I had gotten some fitness certifications, you know, and nutrition coaching certification. And then my background is in physical therapy. So it just kind of made sense. CJ is a running coach. He is passionate about that as well. And we just thought maybe it was time to go in a different direction. But we tried to sell, and at that time, crickets, nobody was interested. And we were just kind of like, all right. So we just kept praying about it. And I really sensed the Lord leading us at that time to continue with Christian Book Academy. And he gave me new ideas in my business meetings with him. Right. He gave me a renewed passion. And we really began to see some amazing things happened in the last year and a half. I took a workshop all about launching workshops, Right. And so the book writing lab, the mini marketing messages, procrastination to publication, all those workshops were birthed as a result of that. And I just know that God led me to that training. And so there's times when God will lead you to a specific training, to get an understanding, to learn a new process for skill sets, you know, not necessarily to follow their blueprint exactly, which sometimes, like I've shared in a previous episode, I sometimes can. Can get in the trap of doing too, but to learn a skill set. So I learned that, and I really felt like God had given that to us for that time. And then In September of 2021, I decided, you know, Again, I just. I had this strong on my heart that it was from the Lord that we were to do our first Kingdom Writers Conference. I almost thought, like, let me just wait till next year, because I didn't feel like I had enough time. But the Lord provided someone to help me to write the emails and the landing pages, and he just provided everything. All of the speakers were. Got lined up and it was incredible. We had over, like, I think it was 58 new members join CBA just as a result of being involved in that conference and getting to know us. And then after that, we had our May conference of this year. It was count the cost, all about self publishing. And then another conference in September. That was our courageous writer conference. So, you know, he gave me these strategies of the workshops and then the conference. And it really did grow our business in incredible ways. And really, I mean, it has helped and served so many of you. I know some of you have told us, like, I wouldn't have published my book had I not attended your conference and then joined Christian Book Academy. And so I know that God is not done with us yet in this area. But also.

It'S like he knew. He knew that we were going to need this increase in income because of what was gonna happen with God's glory box. And amazingly enough, it filled. It has filled the gap. And I'm like. I'm like, mind blown. I'm like, how did that happen? I would have never thought that that was possible. But God knew. And way back in the beginning of 2021, when we were wanting to sell CBA and God just kept closing the doors for us to do, he knew not only that he was not finished with us yet in this whole area of helping writers like you, but he knew that this was going to help provide for us, you know, and it's just like, lord, you are so good. Thank you so much. And he just keeps leading and guiding me. So even though a lot of 2022, like, I struggle with worry and. And stress, and I'm not proud of the way I handled some of the circumstances, I was still connecting with God. I was still meeting with him, I was still listening to him, and then I was taking the steps he was leading us to take with our business. And he. He just keeps leading and guiding us into the next step. And it's just. I mean, it just is. It really is just amazing. It's mind blowing to me of how he provides for us, even in providing the right trainings that we need or the next strategy. And now we're moving into a new season, 2023, and he's giving us, he's giving me a new strategy for Christian Book Academy and how we're going to be marketing it and just different things. And I'm looking forward to, you know, rolling out some of these things and you'll be hearing about them in the future, but we can trust Him. And so I just wanted to share that testimony as a follow up to, to yesterday that even when the circumstances are screaming at us and saying, you know, how are you going to survive? How are you going to make it through this? How are you going to X, Y, Z? These things are happening. It doesn't make sense. The world is going bananas, right? I mean, it's just so many things are happening, yet we can keep our eyes on Jesus and listen to his still small voice. And, and when you are meeting consistently with him in your business meetings with God, you know, it may not be today, may not be tomorrow. It may not be an amazing epiphany every time, but as you keep meeting with him, he will reveal to you the next step, the strategies, the things that you need. And you may not even know it today, but the things that he's revealing to you today may be exactly what you need a year and a half from now. You know, I mean, it just brings tears to my eyes because the Lord knew, He knew what we were going to walk through in 2022 and he provided in advance. So I heard somebody say this about Zacchaeus too. It's like God provided in advance the tree that Zacchaeus was going to climb up to so that he could see Jesus and have his life be turned upside down by Him. And God provides in advance for us to too. You know, that tree, it took years and years to grow for Zacchaeus and for us. I mean, it took a good 18 months for us to really get to that place where now we're able to still pay our bills without the God's glory box income. And so, you know, God began preparing us for that 18 months ago when I didn't even realize what was going to happen. So I just want to encourage you. He sees you. You are not alone. Keep pressing in, my friends. Turn off the noise from the world, turn off the notifications and get, you know, intimate and one on one with God. Continue having your business meetings with Him. Allow him to lead and guide you. He will not let you down. All right, I will talk to you in our next episode. Bye bye.