Reflections from Henry Ford
In early 2011, I was seriously considering leaving the financial business and going into ministry.
I think part of it was that I was looking for something more. I’ve learned this about myself over the years: if I’m not pushing toward something or don’t feel like there’s a new opportunity in front of me, I can get restless. Sometimes my instinct is to go find the next new and exciting thing.
At that point in my life, I thought ministry might be it.
Business as a Ministry
Then one day, a client walked into my office and handed me a book called Mover of Men and Mountains by R.G. LeTourneau.
LeTourneau was a successful businessman and inventor who had wrestled with a similar question. He had considered leaving business to pursue ministry, but someone challenged him to think about it differently. He was a gifted businessman. What if that was his ministry?
That idea hit me pretty hard.
Business is my ministry.
It changed the way I thought about the decision in front of me. Maybe I didn’t need to leave the business world to do something meaningful. Maybe I needed to think differently about how I used the abilities I’d been given right where I was.
Recognizing the Gifts You Already Have
Looking back, I believe I’ve been gifted with an ability to understand business, to look ahead and see where things may be going, and to help people work through complicated decisions. I started to realize that walking away from those abilities wasn’t necessarily the answer. The opportunity was to use them well.
What happened next made that realization even more meaningful to me.
At the time, I had a business partner, and I couldn’t see how this new perspective would fit with where we were as a company. I remember praying about it and wondering how I was supposed to move forward.
An Unexpected Path
About two months later, my business partner unexpectedly told me he wanted to leave and asked if I would buy him out before the end of the year.
I had about a month and a half to figure it out.
I said yes.
I probably looked a lot more confident than I actually felt, but we made the transition work. We already had a buy-sell agreement in place, which gave us a blueprint for moving forward, and I became the sole owner of LifeSteps.
Looking back on that season, I believe there was some divine intervention involved. I thought I was supposed to leave business to pursue a different calling. Instead, the path opened for me to take greater ownership of the business I already had.
More than fifteen years later, the idea I took from Mover of Men and Mountains still influences the way I think about work.
Business gives us an incredible opportunity to serve people.
In our world, the conversations may start with investments, retirement plans, taxes, or a business decision. But those decisions are rarely just about numbers. They’re connected to families, employees, and businesses that people have spent years building, and the lives they hope to create with all of it.
Being invited into those decisions is a responsibility I don’t take lightly.
I also think that’s an important idea for other business owners.
Purpose doesn’t always require leaving what you’re doing to pursue something completely different. Sometimes it’s worth asking whether the work already in front of you can be used differently.
Finding Purpose in the Work Already in Front of You
What are you good at? What opportunities have you been given? Who are the people your business allows you to serve?
Mover of Men and Mountains helped me answer those questions differently.
I didn’t need to leave business to find my ministry.
I needed to recognize the ministry that was already in my business.
