This is part of our Faith Journey Series. If you want the full context, click on this link to read the earlier posts: https://www.simplycampbell.com/blog/categories/faith-journey-series
It was September 10, 2022. We went into the Flipped Lifestyle event thinking we would pick up a few pointers on how to manage our Simply Campbell blog and gain some insight into how it could possibly be monetized.
We quickly resonated with Shane Sams, the co-founder of Flipped Lifestyle and speaker of the event. He had also spoken at the main Life Surge event. We had loved his story then. Shane had a down to earth, southern charm and a deep love for Jesus. He was passionate about helping people leave their 9-5 jobs and succeed in starting their own online businesses. He and his wife, Joselyn had once been in the rat race themselves. Their incredible story can be found in this link: https://flippedlifestyle.com/our-story/
The Life Surge event stressed the importance of having multiple streams of income. We were beginning to agree that having an online business would be a good addition to stock trading. It was in line with our goals and it still would utilize our God given talents of writing, speaking, photography, and videography.
Shane was all about practical application. He wasn't just about giving an inspirational message, though he was exceptional at that, too. He had us do a bunch of activities that forced us to really think through what we were gifted in, experienced in, and drawn to. We had to research topics, do math, and interact with others. Shane challenged Ralph and I to think bigger.
Written on the post-its:
Ralph: My why is my family. To be with them more!
Courtney: My why- Short term- To get my husband home with our three boys
Long term-Christ-filled influence in the world.
The activity that affected me the most was having to write a letter to myself. It had to be as though I had already accomplished what I envisioned for myself a year from now. The kicker was that they would be mailed to us in a year (at this point in time, three months from now). That's really good accountability that I took seriously because I believe that words have great power.
Not so coincidentally, we were assigned the Chief Operating Officer of Life Surge’s son, Tyler Marcell to help us answer questions. We showed him our blog, shared our story, and expressed our concerns for managing it all. We needed more time to pray and discuss whether we would invest in this, too.
Tyler was inspired by our story and said that we needed to meet Shane Sams. We decided to hang out at the end of the day hoping for an opportunity to meet him. While waiting, Tyler’s dad, the chief operations officer of LifeSurge who "happened" to be at this event, walked by us, stopped, and introduced himself. His name was Shawn Marcell. He was down to earth, relatable, engaging, and was genuine in his care for our well being.
During our great conversation with Shawn, I shared with him about my letter to Priscilla Shirer and her response. He was stunned. He jokingly said, “I can’t get her to respond to me and I’m her boss.” When he was walking away, he turned around and said to me, “that must have been a heck of a letter to get a response from Priscilla Shirer.”
I remember thinking after that about how God was putting so many interesting people in our paths. I have continued to reflect on our interactions with Priscilla Shirer, the chief operations officer of Life Surge, Shawn Marcell, his son, Tyler, and Shane Sams. I can't help but believe that God has done it for a purpose that I can't even see or make sense of yet.
On the way home from our first day at the Flipped Lifestyle event, we talked about moving forward with their program and prayed again that evening. It seemed evident that this was a good next move and that it went right in line with what we were trying to accomplish.
(We stopped for ice cream at our favorite little place, Twistee Treat and talked about Flipped Lifestyle while watching traffic.)
The following day, we took the plunge and invested. We were also able to get a photo with Shawn Marcell, his son, Tyler, and Shane Sams. Even though we still hadn’t had a conversation with Shane yet, he had somehow heard about us. When he passed by us, he made a funny comment about how he still needed to meet this famous couple.
We stayed behind at the event for an extra meeting with those that had signed up. We waited patiently as people talked with Shane. We were the last ones. I had one question for him. It was burning inside of me. I knew that Ralph had to quit his job and live off of our savings in order to do these programs, but I wanted to hear what Shane would say.
As soon as we told Shane our story, he called over a team member named Nicole Michelen who was in the same boat as us only months before. They had sold their house, had six kids, homeschooled, one was ready to take the plunge and the other wasn’t, but eventually they did.
Knowing our situation, Shane didn’t think it was necessary for Ralph to stay at his job in construction for much longer. Ralph being the “safe” individual that he is was not ready to up and quit without any money coming in. I completely understood him, but my faith is big.
We left that event so excited. God had answered our prayers again in unexpected ways. We had clear direction as to what our next steps were to be. We had another great tool that could help us replace Ralph’s income and bring him home.
I was also super encouraged as I reflected on our interactions with Priscilla, the Chief operations officer of Life Surge, and Shane Sams. I do not idolize people, but I do believe that God raises some people up to higher platforms for His purposes. To have had conversations with some of the people that He has used in big ways, to me, meant that God was trying to do big things with us and I wanted nothing more than to be a part of it.
(Left to right: Shane Sams, Courtney, Ralph, Tyler Marcell, and Shawn Marcell)
The next post will be called, "Juggling and Waiting" for obvious reasons. ;)