Un.Be.Lievable

I had a bit of a mind-blower yesterday. My brother and his wife (A & M) dropped by for a visit after a year or so not dropping by. That was pretty cool in itself. They came bearing gifts, and a playstation for my son to borrow - even cooler! They stayed for 2 hours, and brought their dogs to visit - very cool. My son was not feeling great, so they made the trip to the nearest shop, using their own money, and stocked up on VitC, medicine and a box of Smarties - wow... A then offered to get 40 metres of fabric at a huge discount for me to make slipcovers for my couches - great!

And then came the mind-blowing stuff. We somehow got onto the subject of my web design studies, and perhaps using that as a future career. Then got into my dream of opening a vegetarian restuarant/coffee shop/deli in the area. M is vegetarian, A was raised one. They know how difficult it is to find good vegetarian food, and they know that I am good at making it. They've received home-made gifts of bread and muffin mixes, they've over-eaten my cooking when we spend mealtimes together.

But this has been one of those impossible dreams, dreamed for years with no chance of fulfilment. I cannot afford to start my own business at all. I can barely afford to keep food on the table most months. Which makes what happened next so incredible.

My brother, my "rich" businessman brother, has offered to get me set up in business! Not sometime in the next few years, but as he put it "now is a good season to get going on this". As in NOW...

OK Lord, I know I've been praying "get me outta here!" every time I run into yet another hassle at work, I know I've been dreaming about doing something different, something I'd love to do, but this is kinda sudden, You know? And I do like my view, and the fact that we're safe here, and that it's so comfortable that it's hard to move.... But is this Your answer to all those questions about "what next"?

I didn't sleep very solidly last night, my mind in a whirl, amazed that my brother would do something so huge for me, jolted into thinking of possibilities, and a little bit terrified at taking such a big step.

However, this IS going to take a little research, market probing, starting from home to see what will sell and what won't, establishing of a client base etc. It's not about to change overnight. It's going to mean getting off my (slightly oversized) butt and making things happen. It's going to cost me time and effort and energy. I'll have to work at unique and wonderful products that will guarantee income in the future. I'll have to register my label/trademark. There's a pretty lengthy list of things that need to be investigated and done!

But wow - this is just so completely mind-blowing, and I'm still sorta in a state of shock...