Words That Get A Bad Rap..."Suspend"

There are certain words in our language that just have negative connotations almost as soon as they are uttered.  Their reputation proceeds them, and no matter how hard one might campaign on their behalf, they will probably always be received with a cringe.

"Audit."

"Accident."

"Emergency."

When you see or hear those words, your reaction is almost a reflex.  You start to brace yourself for some news that is not good.  Right?  What about the word "suspend?"  When you were in school, and you heard the word "suspend," what feelings were associated with it?  Does your stomach drop to your shoes?  Most sports fans never want to hear any form of the word "suspend" associated with any of the members of their team.

 sus·pend   [suh-spend]

to debar, usually for a limited time, from the exercise of an office or function or the enjoyment of a privilege: The student was suspended from school to come to a stop, usually temporarily; cease from operation for a time.

 But "suspend" also has some other meanings that are not negative at all:

to hang by attachment to something above: to suspend a chandelier from the ceiling. to hold or keep undetermined; refrain from forming or concluding definitely:  to suspend one's judgement.

 This last definition is why I think that this word has gotten a bad rap.  To suspend one's judgement.  This is something that we ask of ourselves and of our staff everyday.  To suspend our judgements of people and situations for long enough to allow God to speak about the persons or situations is part of the greatest commandment given in the Bible.  

Love God...and love your neighbor.

It can be a difficult thing to do, because it is our natural leaning to set ourselves up as judge, so that we can either feel better about ourselves; justify our thoughts, words, and actions/inactions, or have the illusion that we are in control of a particular situation.

The rub is that we suspend our judgements of most everything we believe in thirty minute to two hour increments in order to be entertained nearly every day.

Yet, we won't suspend our judgements of people...what they wear, what they drive, how they talk...for thirty seconds in order to see them or hear them for what and who they really are...

 A miracle...

 A gift...

 Just like you...and me.

How I Got Here...Part 1 "Tim Anderson"

My name is Tim Anderson.  I am the marketing director for NewSpring Thrift Stores.  

I have occupied many roles in my time here.  That is part of the game when one is involved with a non-profit, or a ministry.  Almost everyone in our little family multi-tasks, and we make it work.

I'm not complaining, it is the state of what is. The title associated with my name on a particular day means nothing...except that the title might give an overview of what activities I might be engaged in on a particular day.  What is important about my title is how I got it.

I don't have a degree in marketing.

I don't have a degree in advertising...or even business.

I don't have a degree.

So how did I get here?

I met Lawrence Gunnells, the COO of Africa For Jesus/NewSpring Thrift stores about six years ago, when I was operating a coffee shop in Springfield that my wife & I owned.  Lawrence was working for a local newspaper that he owned, and he often held staff meetings at my shop.  After we had owned the shop for about a year, I took on an additional volunteer position with a local church as their worship pastor.  I occupied a few other roles during my stay there, eventually being named the associate pastor.

I had never owned a business of any kind before.

I don't have a theology or divinity degree, nor am I an ordained minister.

Fast forward to early 2010.  Lawrence and I had a lunch meeting with a mutual friend.  I asked Lawrence what he was doing, and he said that while he was still working for a paper, but he was really excited about this ministry that he was working for called Africa For Jesus.  He told me what they were doing in Africa, and I began to get curious.

I have never been on a mission trip of any kind.

I did some online research, and I called Lawrence and told him that I would love to get involved somehow and would pray about it, and I asked him to do the same.  A few months later, I still found that this ministry was in my mind and on my heart, so I called Lawrence, and he said that he wanted to meet with me because some things had changed, and that there might be a place for me.  We had a couple of meetings where Lawrence outlined a position that he called Director of Store Operations. My wife, Ana, and I prayed about it for a couple of weeks, and got clearance from the Lord to accept the offer.  Lawrence told me that he didn't offer the job to me just for my management skills, or the way that I cared for people, or my gifts for dealing with the public.  No, he said that the deciding factor for him was that every day that he was in my coffee shop, I was always talking to people about Jesus.

Nothing that I could ever list on a resume will ever top that for me.  Someone hired me because he saw me doing my everyday thing and telling people about Jesus in the process.

I don't write this to boast about myself, or anything that I might have achieved.  I have nothing to brag about...other than my God.  Anything that I have, any position that I have ever occupied, the provisions that are my wife, my son, my family and friends, are all gifts that He gave to me because He loves me so.

And I do love Him.I'm not just a bit taken with Him.I love Him.  I want to be just like Him. 

The most powerful thing about my resume is that I didn't write it.  God has continuously brought me into situations that are "far above my pay grade," saying to me over and over again, "Trust me, son.  I made you for this moment...& I will be your Provision."King Jesus is still in the business of taking the things that the world calls foolish to confound the wise...And that...is how I got here.

-Tim Anderson

Director of Marketing

NewSpring Thrift Stores

newspringthrift@gmail.com

@NewSpringThrift on Twitter

Don't Call it a Comeback!

At the end of November, last year, NewSpring Thrift had no open stores.  From a business perspective, we were flatlining.

We had just lost the lease on our Clarksville store and moved out, and our Hopkinsville store was already closed.  It seemed like things were sort of coming to a close for us...at least that's how it appeared, based on what we could see with our eyes.

God, then, intervened, and did what He does best.  He saved us.  We moved the Clarksville store & its contents into a space in Springfield that the Lord providentially found for us and re-opened in seven days.

That's not all...there's more.

After that, we completely renovated a space two doors down from our old space in Hopkinsville for less than $1500.00.  We moved out of the old space and into the new one...and then there were two.

But wait...there's more.

We then found a new space in Clarksville that we remodelled for less than $500.00.  We put inventory in this new space and opened our third store. Now how much would you pay?  

But wait...there's even more.

We moved our corporate offices to an old two-story house in Pleasant View.  We refurbished the bottom, and opened our fourth store in three months.  We also merged with another African ministry, that turned out to be like a homecoming for all parties involved.  

Operators would be standing by...if we were selling this idea...But we're not.

We are merely prostrating ourselves and giving honor and praise where it is due.  He, God, King Jesus is worthy of all of our praise.  Even if he hadn't raised our ministry from the dead, He would still be just as worthy.

And now...we are committed to worship him with everything that we do and say...both here...and in Africa.