I can remember an evening when my friend’s daughters knocked on my door. They asked if I would like to buy shirts they were making for one dollar. The youngest daughter stood modeling a thin pink t-shirt that had child-like handwriting and some sort of design in plain black permanent marker. I could not help but be impressed at their boldness and entrepreneurship at such a young age, so I said I would buy shirts for my kids. They asked for me to write down the shirt sizes and said I could pay when they delivered the shirts. I could not help but feel concerned for their business plan. I could not imagine how they could afford to sell shirts at such a low price. I could imagine that their plan required their mother to go purchase them. They obviously had a heart to make their own money but with no concept of the cost it required.
A few minutes after leaving, the girls returned with two other young business partners who obviously had a little more knowledge of the cost. They politely asked for payment in advance in order to purchase the shirts. I could not help but consider how whatever little profit they might make would have to be split four ways. When I handed them the quarters for the shirts they were all so excited. After they left I sent a text to my friend letting her know what the girls were up to. We both laughed over it. Weeks later I still had not received the t-shirts but I settled with the girls by instead receiving four very creative book markers made of purple and zebra patterned duct tape. (This was their newest business venture and one that obviously counted the cost.)
I spent some time thinking about the girls and their business plan. As I thought of it on a larger scale one thought kept lingering in my mind; it is so important to count the cost. What is the cost? It is the investment you may lose out of your own pocket. It is the confidence you may lose with people. It is your reputation and the reputation of those closely involved. It is the time you spend and commit to spend and the time of others committed in advance without any security of a return. A good plan is a plan that counts the cost and a great plan can pay off the debt accumulated from previous poor planing.
I thank God that he had a great plan for me. He counted the cost of all my poor planning, my sins and wrong choices, and paid my debt in advance. I pray that I remember to count the cost of my plans and to continue to extend grace to others who face failures due to obvious poor planning. After all, God extended his grace to me and that is what matters most.
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” –Luke 14:28
