June 15, 2023 • 34 mins
152: Pt. 1 Sink or Swim Moments | Jon George on Spirit-Centered Business™
This is one of my favorite shows! I got to hear Jon’s amazing and inspiring story for the first time as we recorded it. You will be blown away with his adventures and everything the Lord has done through him.
BIO:
Landscape Designer by trade, Jon George is often caught tending Father's creation on a small farm that he shares with his wife, Kim, their five children, and numerous chickens. Jon started Cottage Gardens after traveling the world working and doing missions and has since incorporated design ideas of 'heaven on earth gardens' taken from his travels in France, Hong Kong, and Japan.
GOLD NUGGETS:
- Miraculous healing at 17; a leg grew out to match the other
- Feeling love in a healing session that changed his life
- French immersion college, jumping in the deep end with the Lord
- Responded to the call to ministry with 2 conditions: 1) I don’t want to be poor and begging for money all the time. 2) I want to see the power to change people’s lives
- Learned to change the world through Youth With a Mission
- Worked with Chinese drug addicts
- Getting prayer language before accepting Jesus
- Prepping Hong Kong believers to go underground
- Praying in tongues four hours a night - having encounters with Jesus
- Pursued and beaten by Chinese mafia
- Outreach through gardening
- Every modality of inner healing
- “Whatever it takes” attitude…not just waiting for the check to come in
- Green thumb and heart-touching gardens
- Bicycle with basket door to door with flowers business start
- Not a mover & shaker, but knows the One who is
- Absorbing other peoples’ superpowers
- Had to let go of “missionary boy” identity and understand that this IS the “something”.
- Loving children from hard places
LINKS:
- Check out Jon’s gorgeous gallery of work: TheCottageGardener.com
- Follow him (and see more stunning pix) on Facebook: search Jon George
- Take our FREE Business Assessment:
SpiritCenteredBusiness.com
- Join the Activation Ekklesia for Business: http://SpiritCenteredBusiness.com/activation
- Join the SCB Tribe: http://facebook.com/groups/scbtribe
Be sure to answer the membership questions so we know you’re legit! ;-)
Copyright 2023 - Bralynn Newby Int'l. All rights reserved.
This is one of my favorite shows! I got to hear Jon’s amazing and inspiring story for the first time as we recorded it. You will be blown away with his adventures and everything the Lord has done through him.
BIO:
Landscape Designer by trade, Jon George is often caught tending Father's creation on a small farm that he shares with his wife, Kim, their five children, and numerous chickens. Jon started Cottage Gardens after traveling the world working and doing missions and has since incorporated design ideas of 'heaven on earth gardens' taken from his travels in France, Hong Kong, and Japan.
GOLD NUGGETS:
- Miraculous healing at 17; a leg grew out to match the other
- Feeling love in a healing session that changed his life
- French immersion college, jumping in the deep end with the Lord
- Responded to the call to ministry with 2 conditions: 1) I don’t want to be poor and begging for money all the time. 2) I want to see the power to change people’s lives
- Learned to change the world through Youth With a Mission
- Worked with Chinese drug addicts
- Getting prayer language before accepting Jesus
- Prepping Hong Kong believers to go underground
- Praying in tongues four hours a night - having encounters with Jesus
- Pursued and beaten by Chinese mafia
- Outreach through gardening
- Every modality of inner healing
- “Whatever it takes” attitude…not just waiting for the check to come in
- Green thumb and heart-touching gardens
- Bicycle with basket door to door with flowers business start
- Not a mover & shaker, but knows the One who is
- Absorbing other peoples’ superpowers
- Had to let go of “missionary boy” identity and understand that this IS the “something”.
- Loving children from hard places
LINKS:
- Check out Jon’s gorgeous gallery of work: TheCottageGardener.com
- Follow him (and see more stunning pix) on Facebook: search Jon George
- Take our FREE Business Assessment:
SpiritCenteredBusiness.com
- Join the Activation Ekklesia for Business: http://SpiritCenteredBusiness.com/activation
- Join the SCB Tribe: http://facebook.com/groups/scbtribe
Be sure to answer the membership questions so we know you’re legit! ;-)
Copyright 2023 - Bralynn Newby Int'l. All rights reserved.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to the Spirit Centered Business podcast, where we blend the spiritual with the
practical for supernatural results. Now here'syour host, Berlin Nuby. Hello,
they're welcome to Spirit Centered Business.I'm here with John George today, a
(00:22):
brand new face for spirit centered Business. I'm excited to introduce to you guys.
And here's my housekeeping. You guysare probably used to this by now,
but go over to Spirit centered Businessdot com catch that business assessment if
you'd like to know the trajectory ofhow your business is spirit centered or not.
Making sure that you're established in theheavenly realms and all of that good
(00:44):
stuff that the Lord has for yourbusiness. That's over our Spirit Centered Business
dot com. And of course youcan watch all the shows there on the
podcast and check out the store.There's other stuff going on over there.
Also some free stuff in the storeif you're just looking for a little tidbets.
So, without any further ado,John, this is really cool to
(01:04):
have you here. Thank you foragreeing to just jump on with me.
Absolutely pleasure to be here. Goodgood. So you have the Cottage Gardens
in or Cottage Gardens in Newberry,Florida, and you do all of these
gorgeous landscaping designs, and you nursery, you grow all of the stuff that
(01:27):
goes on them, and I'm justI'm astounded by the beauty that you bring
to the world. But I've alsoheard some cool miracles that happen in your
business or that have happened around andthat's why I wanted to bring you on
the show for the audience. Johnand I are part of Terry Spencer's groups
(01:51):
and sometimes we crossed paths over there. I don't get to join all that
often, but when I do,it's always a pleasure to see John on
there and hear his story. Worries. So, so, John, why
don't you tell the peeps about yourjourney and into the kingdom age, you
know, out of the Churchianity,stepping into the kingdom. I want to
(02:13):
hear this story too, because Ihaven't heard it. Well, I'll start
even a little earlier than that,because the journey into getting into business was
also an adventure, and I thinkpeople might be interested in that. Perfect
because even though we grow a lotof plants and then we design, we
have people, I have helpers,and we do all sorts of digital imaging.
(02:38):
So people could actually walk through theirlandscape and three D space and it's
yes, and so just only limitedby the imagination. So it's amazing.
And then we have a team andhouse team that puts these gardens together and
curates them and even takes care ofthem afterwards if needed. So how did
(02:59):
I get into this occupation. Itdidn't start out this way. My degree
is in cross cultural studies and theology. Believe it or not. Oh wow.
So as a young person, Ialways geeked out on plants. I
was always the one you could findme outside with the birds and the butterflies
(03:23):
and the plants. And I justhad a huge vegetable garden on the side
yard. And my dad would helpme build greenhouses over Christmas break that was
Those were my best Christmas presents weregreenhouses built with Dad. He was a
builder, so great memories and soeverywhere I traveled and worked. So I
(03:44):
took that theology degree and cross culturaldegree, and I wanted to get out
and change the world. My traditionalupbringing church upbringing was like, well,
the next track is to go toseminary and become a pastor with one of
the additional denominations. But I feltanother tug. I had already had an
(04:05):
encounter with Holy Spirit at age seventeen, where one of my legs was shorter
than the other and it grew outmiraculously, And so I didn't know a
lot about Holy Spirit or anything supernatural, but I just wanted to find out
more of where that came from.And the other encounter I had with Holy
(04:25):
Spirit was love. I encountered morelove in that healing session, and I
didn't realize it at the time,but it was a kind of filling of
the spirit. I saw light dancingall around me and I experienced more love,
and that moment, I knew Iwas not just a social Security number
in the sky. I knew,you know, that I was loved,
(04:48):
that he loved me, and thathe wanted good things for me, which
I had not fathomed before. Sothat set me on a journey instead of
just going off to university, Ireally said, I want to get out.
And I had been on a summermissions experience to France. We had
(05:09):
a cousin over there that hosted usall summer, and I love France,
so I was like, I wantto get out and go to another country,
learn another language. So I wasaccepted into a school that taught theology
and history and music language, butthey only allowed us to speak French,
and so it was an immersive experience. And so while I was there,
(05:36):
it's a little nerve wracking. I'moff, I'm feeling a little bit of
blood pressure rising. It was sinkor swim. Yeah, So this is
kind of the fun thing is likeit's sort of like in follow in pursuing
God, in pursuing yahweh, it'sbeen this like, well are we going
to jump in the deep end together? And it's been a series of sinker
(06:00):
moments and then he's always been therefor me. So here I was right
and I almost didn't make it becauseI had a struggle learning the language and
taking college courses. But he helpedme through and I figured out while I
was there, he was like,hey, you came here for other reasons,
(06:20):
but would you be willing to dothis for me? And I was
like, ministry, what are youcrazy? Like I had had relatives in
ministry, and I had grown upin church, and I did not really
want to be a part of it. And I said, well, I'll
do this ministry thing and I'll pursuethis track if you do two things for
(06:41):
me. One is, I don'twant to be poor and begging for money
all the time. I've seen somany ministries of missionaries, always like wondering
where the next meal is coming from? And I said too, And now
I realized he answered my prayer ata round a way that I did not
expect by leading me into business later. And then two was I said,
(07:04):
I want to see the power tohave lives changed. I had seen powerless
Christianity, and I wanted to knowGod's power to see people's lives really changed,
really encountered, just like I hadencountered him when I was seventeen in
healing my leg. And I waslike, that changed the trajectory of my
(07:25):
life. So if other people couldhave that encounter, then wouldn't it change
the trajectory of their life too?And so it was good. So then
I ended up going. I waslike, I can go anywhere in the
world because I grew up in Florida, that's where we have our business now,
and I never thought I would endup back here, and I can
(07:45):
tell you that story, but Isaid, I can go anywhere in the
world. So I went to Minnesotaand my parents denomination. Their church sponsored
a college, Bethel College and nearSaint Paul, Minnesota, and so I
transferred there. Do you know,I went to Saint Olaf in Northfield.
You're kidding throw in fact, Ithink it's the same network. I probably
(08:13):
we played you guys at football.Oh man. I wasn't there long.
Well, I finished up my degreethere, but I was itching to get
out and change the world. SoI did a radical step and I went
with a youth with a mission trainingschool. Everybody else was accepting jobs,
(08:39):
and I was like, I'm goingto go learn how to change the world.
And actually, in that discipleship trainingschool, I learned more in you
know, one less than a yearthan I did I think in four years
of university because it was applicable,this whole learning by doing, because we
learned how to do things like preyand relationship ships and the power of God.
(09:01):
We learned about things and then weinstantly applied them. And that's a
whole move now, right with JoeRogan and all these other people saying trades
people, you know, like it'slet's focus on actually applicable jobs instead of
just you know, pie in thesky. You know, degrees that may
(09:22):
or may not lead to anything.So I was wanting to get on and
change the world. So we wentand we did an outreach in Hong Kong
and I was borrowed over to agroup that did work with drug addicts,
with heroin addicts, and so Ijoined them, and again God tapped me
(09:46):
on the shoulder and said, wouldyou come back here and help these Chinese
drug addicts heroin addicts And I waslike, wow, yes, I will
so less than a year or later, I was back and working hardcore.
These were guys that were coming offof years of heroin addiction, and in
(10:09):
our program it was all spirit led. So they would come into a newcomer's
meeting, they would hear some worship, they would receive a prayer language instantly,
they would instantly have relief wash overtheir body, like if they were,
you know, jonesing for a fix. They would instantly have relief.
And then we would come over andthey would say this is They would say
(10:31):
this is so wonderful. We wouldcome over and lay hands on them and
we were like would you like moreof this? They were like yes please.
We were like, well, thisis Jesus, this is the spirit
of Jesus, would you like toaccept him? And so it's all backwards
because they had already received a tongue, they'd already received a prayer language,
they already received a healing in theirbody, and then they mentally agreed to
(10:52):
receive Jesus under their hearts. That'samazing that they got their prayer language before
they even received Jesus. That's that'sso cool. Wow, I never even
thought about that having being a thinglike that could happen. That's amazing.
So, so how did you getaround the Communists like shutting Christianity down?
(11:13):
Or wasn't it as bad? Then? Actually, we were looking forward to
China assimilating Hong Kong, so wewere actually getting the believers there ready for
that assimilation. Wow. And soyes, and so that was that was
a big deal and all the wayleading up to that time period, so
(11:33):
the church was really getting ready togo underground, and that was part of
that whole movement. So we hadsmall groups where we would the government.
The Hong Kong government loved our missionSaint Stephen's Society so much because we had
a success right like no one other. So they would give us like these
(11:56):
rundown properties that we would fix upfor just a very small amount of rent
per year, and they would say, if you're rehabbing our citizens, he
or have this property and this property. And then we would move in and
have like twenty or thirty people thatwere detoxing. And so during this time
of detox it would be a periodof four or five days and we would
(12:18):
do prayer watches on them and takefour hour shifts, and so the instructions
were you were to pray with thepatient or the detoxing person, and if
they woke up in pain like goodspasms, then we were to say,
remember the prayer language you received atthe newcomer's meeting. Yes, okay,
we're going to pray like that.We're going to pray in the spirit,
(12:39):
pray in tongues, and then you'regoing to feel better. And they always
would always fall back in bed,sleep it off, the pain would go
away. And we did this overand over for four days straight. But
the instruction was when we were doingthe prayer watch with them, we were
to pray in this spirit for fourhours straight. So I had some amazing
(13:01):
encounters with God in these night hours. It was very intense, and I
ended up burning out because I waschased by drug addicts. They stole money
from our organization. They set upa little alternate mafia that was then chasing
me. And I had a wordthat came in and said your life is
(13:22):
in danger, get out now.And I gave my two weeks and I
was out of there very quickly becauseI knew I was being pursued by the
Chinese mafia. So that was likean epoch of missions that I was like.
I was in full years, youknow, speaking Cantonese with all the
(13:45):
nine tones, I was translating.I was teaching Bible courses. I was
helping lead, you know, firstand second stage and all sorts of and
we also did gardening there so toteach the guys how to rehab, I
led a gardening program because I hadalways gardened all my life and enjoyed.
When I went to France, Istudied Manai's gardens. When I was in
(14:05):
Hong Kong and Japan, I studiedall the Asian gardens and the temple gardens.
And we lived on an island,and so we we bought seeds in
from New Zealand and sprouted them andthen shared with the villagers. It was
a whole outreach. And then theguys learned how to garden and how to
work their frustrations out in the garden. So this became a base for me
(14:28):
of like I can do this,and I had a green thumb. Obviously.
I love the working frustrations out inthe garden. I totally get that.
Yeah. Especially I like heavy equipment, so I like to work the
(14:50):
tractor. I'm like, I needto move a dirt pile right now.
It's just really getting something a plush, right. Yeah. So I came
home though a broken person. Ihad looking back now, I had you
know, post traumatic stress disorder forsure, because I had been beat up
(15:13):
and you know, almost drowned,and it was one of those I looked
back like. I felt like Ihad adventures of the Apostle Paul in a
very short time period. But thenwhen I came back home, I wanted
just to hide out. I didn'twant anything to do with anybody, and
I had some people from my localchurch scraped me up off the floor,
(15:35):
bring me to their home and justdo massive like detoxing and the spirit and
it was a lot of inner healing. And but here I by this time,
I spoke three languages, I hadall kinds of I did inner healing,
we did deliverance, We did youknow THEOPOSTI we did, I mean
every kind of modality of healing.Because it was the British circuit. So
(15:56):
everybody in the UK that was renewed, anglo or on the spirit filled circuit
came through and taught us everything thatthey knew. So I was just loaded
and just like, I'm ready togo. What country next am I going
to go to and help change theworld? And nothing. I had heard
nothing for an entire year. Andso how old were you at this time?
(16:19):
I was in my I was laterin my late twenties, probably like
twenty seven, twenty eight, okay, yeah, okay, and so excuse
me. So I all I couldhear God say at that time was garden.
You loved a garden, and youlove being with me, and I
(16:41):
want you to heal. So Itook a year off. My parents graciously
let me live in an apartment attheir place for one year, and all
I did was garden and talked toGod and heal up. And then I
was raring to go, and Isaid, where am I supposed to go?
In Africa or Asia again, orEurope right back and or Latin America
(17:02):
where and again it was nothing,and I was and so I went to
a counselor and I said, trustedspiritual friend, and I said, what
do you think this means? Andhe said, well, have you ever
thought that you're supposed to stay hereand do something? And I was like
in Florida where I grew up,are you kidding me? Like, I'm
(17:26):
surely you jest right, And sohe was like, pray about it.
And so this was the big thingof like God was saying, indeed,
you were going to start a business, and you were going to do something
you love. And at first Iloved aquariums, and I thought I could
set these aquariums up for people andmaintain them and I could really do this
(17:47):
as a business. And then Ichecked into the insurance and it was really
crazy high because of the liability ofan aquarium exploding in someone's home. But
and so I was like, well, what about what about gardening? And
so some friends of mine had somegarden work they wanted me to do and
(18:07):
they and so long story short,everything I touched from that point on like
just turned into people admiring, andthey were like, this garden is touching
our hearts. We can't leave it. We want more. And so my
friends and my church folks were saying, you've got to do this for a
living. And then so I hadno money to my name. So I
was coming off the mission feel Ihad spent a year healing up with just
(18:32):
a few supporters. So I hadprobably fifty dollars in my bank account and
a bicycle with a basket that somebodylent me from the church, and a
vision to start a business. Andeven my own mom was like, are
you sure you're gonna make it,honey? And I said, you know
what, if this doesn't work out, I can always go get a job
at McDonald's, like fallout spies.So I rode the bike from door to
(19:00):
door with a basket of flowers.This was the fall you can plant year
round in Florida, and that wasthe fall of ninety five. And so
I went door to door and Idoor would open and here was a big
basket of flowers, and I wouldsay, would you like me to plant
all of these plus a lot morein your yard? I can make a
garden for you. And that's howI began to develop the first customers,
(19:26):
and from the bicycle I was givenan old car, and then from the
old car an old van, andthen a truck, and then several years
later, the first employee, andthen the second employee. And then things
really took off when I met andmarried my wife, Kim Kimberly and so,
(19:47):
and when she moved, she movedfrom her job, and then we
combined her efforts and the business doubledbecause she's a very I'm the creative,
she's the administrative person. God,so did you ever have to do any
like training to do landscape architecture oranything? So here's here again, this
(20:10):
is kind of a backwards way ofdoing it. So what we would do
is I became known in this areafor high creativity and using all kinds of
plants that I'd had experience with allover the world and seeing if they would
grow under North Florida climate. Sothe word was out, so the University
of Florida would send end turns overto intern with us from the UF Landscape
(20:33):
Architecture School. So as I beganto work with each one of these very
talented horticulturalist or landscape architect, students. I began to absorb their superpowers.
Oh my gosh, yeah, god, that is that's amazing. And so
you know, here it is twentyseven, almost thirty years later, and
(20:56):
you know, though I don't havethe degree, we're very sought after because
I do have now people with mastersin landscape architectures on staff in fact,
a very talented person and other designersthat help me put it together. But
then I can, but I cando everything from starting to finish myself because
(21:18):
it was like I had to learnfrom a bottom up. Wow. Wow.
Well so then how this intersects withback to the spirit and your question.
So I wanted to tell your listenersbecause a lot of people are praying
about getting into a business or startinga business, and I get you know,
as you know, being an entrepreneuris not for the fate of art.
(21:40):
But you know, so one ofmy mottos was whatever it takes.
And one of the things that Idid was, I'm going I have a
vision to become a designer and todesign these landscapes full time. But until
I do, I'm going to sweeppeople's you know, front porch. I'm
going to mow their lawn. I'mgoing to do anything it takes to pay
(22:03):
the bills to get there, soI'm not just going to sit on my
rear and wait for the check tocome in. The Other thing is that
one of the spiritual aspects, andI brought this over from Hong Kong and
seeing the power of God, wasI would spend hours a day jumping on
the mini trampoline and praying inst tonguesthat that releases a lot. Yeah,
(22:27):
that's funny. I kind of Idon't necessary. I guess I don't pring
in tongues out loud when I'm jumpingon the trampoline, but I definitely am
worshiping and yeah, commuting, yeahwow. So that and honestly that I'm
actually an introvert, even though Ilove talking to people one on one,
(22:48):
but if you put me in acrowd, I'm an introvert. I go
find the corner to talk to oneperson. So going and unless unless I'm
speaking, then I'm good. Thenyou can don't don't corner me and don't
don't come after me. And theco was like, oh, then I
got to run to the bathroom,right, so, and so I was
(23:11):
honestly petrified of going and asking peopleif I could do work for them or
building the business, Like how doI do this? And so that's why
I would jump and pray and reallyask God for open doors because I did
not have the wisdom, or thegumption, or or just even the the
(23:33):
fortitude to go make things happen.I was not a natural mover and shaker,
but I knew the one who was, so you know, that was
like, Okay, you're going toopen the doors, and he has um
and so that was just something Ithought would encourage your audience because there's a
lot of unknowns, but if God'sputting the pieces together, he will open
(23:55):
the doors. Um and then umand then the other thing that was really
awesome and funny and terrifying was Idecided at one point several years in,
maybe five years into the business,I was like, I know you have
me going back into ministry. SoI'm going to take every Wednesday and I'm
going to set my business aside andI'm going to fasten prey. I had
(24:18):
my Bible out, I was kneelingby the sofa. I'm going to fasten
prey and wait for directions. Andagain here's what happened was I was waiting
on the Lord and a proverbial andit was very real to me, but
it was in a spirit. Abolt of lightning came down and hit my
thumb and my thumb was on fire, and I was like what, oh,
(24:45):
no, what are you doing tomy thumb? It was burning.
It was like on fire. Iwas like trying to put the fire.
I was like, what are youdoing? It was like Big zapped with
his power and his electricity, andthe only thing he said was I have
given you a green, now useit. Oh oh my gosh. So
I was like, oh, that'samazing. So that's like, okay,
(25:10):
ministry is going to happen as Igo because you're taking care of that.
I don't understand. I really hadto let go of that identity and maybe
people understand this of being ministry boyor missionary boy. I really had to
let that persona go because it hadtaken a lot of courage to go do
that and then to separate myself fromthat and say, you know what,
(25:32):
finding the next best plant for myarea is the call of God in my
life, and that is the Kingdomright now. And I had to be
okay with that. And actually,if I d joy in that. But
I joyously was able to jump inand say, there's no hesitation. I'm
not like just waiting for something elseto happen. This is the something.
(25:53):
Oh that's so good. So thatwas big old life lesson. And so
your question about how you know,going from church age to kingdom age.
So this has been such an amazingprocess and so many stories. I'm just
(26:14):
trying to pick out which stories becausethe next adventure. So after meeting and
marrying my wife, and yes,I could see you're you're about to say
something. Well, no, Ijust was thinking in segment too, we
can hear more of those stories,so don't. Yeah, it's all good,
it's all good, keep going awesome, awesome. But the next assignment
(26:40):
that that father had for my life. So by this time I'm married,
everything's going well with the business,and we are wanting kids. We are
wanting children, and we try foryears. It was almost seven years that
we tried having children, all thefertility treatments we consider an adoption internationally.
We went through all the steps anda lot of heartbreak. So finally a
(27:06):
social worker that we knew, dearChristian person, said she goes, I
know of three siblings, They allseem highly adoptable. The parents are losing
the parental rights, they lived nearby, and nobody will take in all three
at once. But if you're ifyou and Kim, if you guys are
willing to take all three children inat once, there's a good chance that
(27:29):
you could adopt them and they couldbecome your new family. And so wee
goal, set a prayer, andin two weeks decided we're yes, we're
going to one our little Hunter apremium right out of the hospital, Sierra
two and a half, still indiapers, and Caitlin I, terrified four
(27:49):
and a half year old, whohad been moved seven times to different foster
homes before she came to us anddid not even know how to set at
a table and have a meal withus. So we brought them all in
in two thousand and eight and knewthey were We knew because of what God
had spoken to us in so manyways, that they were our children.
(28:11):
Even though all the social workers werelike, you're just fostering them, we
were like, yes, and webelieve they are our kids. So it
was a two year process to adoptthem. But in that first year,
though very intense. It turned ourlives upside down to have so many uh
I need you know, kids fromhard places is now the term, but
(28:33):
such the kids that were so brokenand so needy. And so then in
that first year we realized Kim waspregnant. Oh my goodness, Oh my
goodness. And we find out inher third trimester. So because we were
she was so engrossed with the children. So we find out and the technician
(28:56):
who's doing the ultrasound and says,I see a baby, and I don't,
And this baby is almost fully formed. In fact, in two months
you're going to have her, andsurprise, it's a girl. We almost
fell on our chairs, but wewere so happy, we were in tears.
We were like, we always havewanted a baby. We have three
(29:17):
we're adopting at home, but yes, bring it on. So that was
instant family. Four kids in oneyear. Yeah, and then just one
more is a nice surprise because theysaid we'd probably never have children again.
So that was So that's been thelast fifteen years of just intense focusing on
them and their needs and their wellbeing and learning all kinds of things about
(29:42):
how to parent through that. Sowe've become I believe now a resource for
loving children from very hard places,because it is not easy and it is
not a walk in the park.So all the while we're growing, we're
(30:03):
bursting out of a little model home, little three bedroom home in a planned
community. We're just bursting out,and we're needing more room for the children,
we're needing more room for the business. We were renting warehouses to house
everybody, and by this time wehad we had about a staff of fifteen
people, and so um Kim wasresearching excuse me, on the internet and
(30:30):
found a beautiful little fifteen acre piecethat had an old horse barn and a
big mobile home at one end.And so long story short, we ended
up moving our entire family, endedup mobile home with a hope to build
one day on the land. Andthen we remodeled the horse barn into our
studio so that we can have clientscome in and we have grow all these
(30:52):
beautiful things to show them and wedo the presentations with the computer modeling,
and they can walk through their gardens. Julie, and this is where this
is happening. Wow, that isso cool. And and that's in Newberry,
Florida. That's a Newberry, Florida, very close to the Gainesville area,
and you mentioned o'calla. That's onlyabout forty five minutes away from o'calla
(31:14):
in north central Florida. Okay,yeah, cool, very cool. Chris
Carter is over there in Gainesville.Now, yes, yes, christ Yes,
oh good. He comes to ourfarm on a regular basis. Melissa,
we're actually just here last night,sitting under old barn and looking at
(31:36):
the view and we did a littleascension with them. Oh nice, how
is he doing? He is actuallylooking amazing good. It was his first
trip out since other than doctors inhospitals. But he was like, I've
got to get out and see someof God's creation. Oh my gosh.
Yeah, he's amazing. Um andI love Melissa kids as well. So
(32:01):
we have fence lines blooming with wildflowers, we have growing areas where we have
we have a display garden we're buildingwith a pergola. We have window boxes
at this old barn overflowing. Soit's a very creative space. And maybe
in the next segment I can tellyou some stories from the barn because it
(32:22):
also is a meeting place where wemeet clients but also have some spiritual communities
that are meeting and seeking Father togetherand knowing. Yahwe and it's it's really
a very special place. Oh verycool. Well, well let's leave that
cliffhanger for this part one because Ilove that Stories from the Barn. That'll
(32:45):
be the second segment. That'll bereally good. Okay, you guys,
if you loved this and you lovethe story, please share this with your
friends, like subscribe to follow whereveryou're listening or watching. We so appreciate
at your support and we definitely prayfor you. So thank you for spreading
the good news of spirit centered businessand the good news of John George and
(33:10):
Cottage Gardens, Inc. And youcan find him and check the show notes.
This will be in there too,but it's the Cottage Gardens dot com,
a gardener, the Cottage Gardener dotcom. And I'll make sure that
they put it correct in the inthe show notes and on the banner here,
So the Cottage Gardener dot Com.All right, you guys, until
(33:34):
next time, stay spirit centered.He's up. Hey there, SCB peeps.
I want to give a huge shoutout and deep appreciation and thanks to
Candace Benton. She has become asuper sponsor for the Spirit Centered Business show,
so I would appreciate you helping mein sending blessings and abundance back to
(33:59):
her. Thank you so much,Candice, and you are well loved.
Thank you for listening to Spirit CenteredBusiness with Berlin NUBI. Be sure to
like, subscribe and share with yourfriends. The next age of doing business
by being spirit centered is coming togetherin collaboration, working with spiritual principles,
(34:20):
and knowing our destiny. Join ourtribe at spirit centered Business dot com and
we'll catch you on the next broadcast. Peace Out,
Welcome to the Spirit Centered Business podcast, where we blend the spiritual with the
practical for supernatural results. Now here'syour host, Berlin Nuby. Hello,
they're welcome to Spirit Centered Business.I'm here with John George today, a
(00:22):
brand new face for spirit centered Business. I'm excited to introduce to you guys.
And here's my housekeeping. You guysare probably used to this by now,
but go over to Spirit centered Businessdot com catch that business assessment if
you'd like to know the trajectory ofhow your business is spirit centered or not.
Making sure that you're established in theheavenly realms and all of that good
(00:44):
stuff that the Lord has for yourbusiness. That's over our Spirit Centered Business
dot com. And of course youcan watch all the shows there on the
podcast and check out the store.There's other stuff going on over there.
Also some free stuff in the storeif you're just looking for a little tidbets.
So, without any further ado,John, this is really cool to
(01:04):
have you here. Thank you foragreeing to just jump on with me.
Absolutely pleasure to be here. Goodgood. So you have the Cottage Gardens
in or Cottage Gardens in Newberry,Florida, and you do all of these
gorgeous landscaping designs, and you nursery, you grow all of the stuff that
(01:27):
goes on them, and I'm justI'm astounded by the beauty that you bring
to the world. But I've alsoheard some cool miracles that happen in your
business or that have happened around andthat's why I wanted to bring you on
the show for the audience. Johnand I are part of Terry Spencer's groups
(01:51):
and sometimes we crossed paths over there. I don't get to join all that
often, but when I do,it's always a pleasure to see John on
there and hear his story. Worries. So, so, John, why
don't you tell the peeps about yourjourney and into the kingdom age, you
know, out of the Churchianity,stepping into the kingdom. I want to
(02:13):
hear this story too, because Ihaven't heard it. Well, I'll start
even a little earlier than that,because the journey into getting into business was
also an adventure, and I thinkpeople might be interested in that. Perfect
because even though we grow a lotof plants and then we design, we
have people, I have helpers,and we do all sorts of digital imaging.
(02:38):
So people could actually walk through theirlandscape and three D space and it's
yes, and so just only limitedby the imagination. So it's amazing.
And then we have a team andhouse team that puts these gardens together and
curates them and even takes care ofthem afterwards if needed. So how did
(02:59):
I get into this occupation. Itdidn't start out this way. My degree
is in cross cultural studies and theology. Believe it or not. Oh wow.
So as a young person, Ialways geeked out on plants. I
was always the one you could findme outside with the birds and the butterflies
(03:23):
and the plants. And I justhad a huge vegetable garden on the side
yard. And my dad would helpme build greenhouses over Christmas break that was
Those were my best Christmas presents weregreenhouses built with Dad. He was a
builder, so great memories and soeverywhere I traveled and worked. So I
(03:44):
took that theology degree and cross culturaldegree, and I wanted to get out
and change the world. My traditionalupbringing church upbringing was like, well,
the next track is to go toseminary and become a pastor with one of
the additional denominations. But I feltanother tug. I had already had an
(04:05):
encounter with Holy Spirit at age seventeen, where one of my legs was shorter
than the other and it grew outmiraculously, And so I didn't know a
lot about Holy Spirit or anything supernatural, but I just wanted to find out
more of where that came from.And the other encounter I had with Holy
(04:25):
Spirit was love. I encountered morelove in that healing session, and I
didn't realize it at the time,but it was a kind of filling of
the spirit. I saw light dancingall around me and I experienced more love,
and that moment, I knew Iwas not just a social Security number
in the sky. I knew,you know, that I was loved,
(04:48):
that he loved me, and thathe wanted good things for me, which
I had not fathomed before. Sothat set me on a journey instead of
just going off to university, Ireally said, I want to get out.
And I had been on a summermissions experience to France. We had
(05:09):
a cousin over there that hosted usall summer, and I love France,
so I was like, I wantto get out and go to another country,
learn another language. So I wasaccepted into a school that taught theology
and history and music language, butthey only allowed us to speak French,
and so it was an immersive experience. And so while I was there,
(05:36):
it's a little nerve wracking. I'moff, I'm feeling a little bit of
blood pressure rising. It was sinkor swim. Yeah, So this is
kind of the fun thing is likeit's sort of like in follow in pursuing
God, in pursuing yahweh, it'sbeen this like, well are we going
to jump in the deep end together? And it's been a series of sinker
(06:00):
moments and then he's always been therefor me. So here I was right
and I almost didn't make it becauseI had a struggle learning the language and
taking college courses. But he helpedme through and I figured out while I
was there, he was like,hey, you came here for other reasons,
(06:20):
but would you be willing to dothis for me? And I was
like, ministry, what are youcrazy? Like I had had relatives in
ministry, and I had grown upin church, and I did not really
want to be a part of it. And I said, well, I'll
do this ministry thing and I'll pursuethis track if you do two things for
(06:41):
me. One is, I don'twant to be poor and begging for money
all the time. I've seen somany ministries of missionaries, always like wondering
where the next meal is coming from? And I said too, And now
I realized he answered my prayer ata round a way that I did not
expect by leading me into business later. And then two was I said,
(07:04):
I want to see the power tohave lives changed. I had seen powerless
Christianity, and I wanted to knowGod's power to see people's lives really changed,
really encountered, just like I hadencountered him when I was seventeen in
healing my leg. And I waslike, that changed the trajectory of my
(07:25):
life. So if other people couldhave that encounter, then wouldn't it change
the trajectory of their life too?And so it was good. So then
I ended up going. I waslike, I can go anywhere in the
world because I grew up in Florida, that's where we have our business now,
and I never thought I would endup back here, and I can
(07:45):
tell you that story, but Isaid, I can go anywhere in the
world. So I went to Minnesotaand my parents denomination. Their church sponsored
a college, Bethel College and nearSaint Paul, Minnesota, and so I
transferred there. Do you know,I went to Saint Olaf in Northfield.
You're kidding throw in fact, Ithink it's the same network. I probably
(08:13):
we played you guys at football.Oh man. I wasn't there long.
Well, I finished up my degreethere, but I was itching to get
out and change the world. SoI did a radical step and I went
with a youth with a mission trainingschool. Everybody else was accepting jobs,
(08:39):
and I was like, I'm goingto go learn how to change the world.
And actually, in that discipleship trainingschool, I learned more in you
know, one less than a yearthan I did I think in four years
of university because it was applicable,this whole learning by doing, because we
learned how to do things like preyand relationship ships and the power of God.
(09:01):
We learned about things and then weinstantly applied them. And that's a
whole move now, right with JoeRogan and all these other people saying trades
people, you know, like it'slet's focus on actually applicable jobs instead of
just you know, pie in thesky. You know, degrees that may
(09:22):
or may not lead to anything.So I was wanting to get on and
change the world. So we wentand we did an outreach in Hong Kong
and I was borrowed over to agroup that did work with drug addicts,
with heroin addicts, and so Ijoined them, and again God tapped me
(09:46):
on the shoulder and said, wouldyou come back here and help these Chinese
drug addicts heroin addicts And I waslike, wow, yes, I will
so less than a year or later, I was back and working hardcore.
These were guys that were coming offof years of heroin addiction, and in
(10:09):
our program it was all spirit led. So they would come into a newcomer's
meeting, they would hear some worship, they would receive a prayer language instantly,
they would instantly have relief wash overtheir body, like if they were,
you know, jonesing for a fix. They would instantly have relief.
And then we would come over andthey would say this is They would say
(10:31):
this is so wonderful. We wouldcome over and lay hands on them and
we were like would you like moreof this? They were like yes please.
We were like, well, thisis Jesus, this is the spirit
of Jesus, would you like toaccept him? And so it's all backwards
because they had already received a tongue, they'd already received a prayer language,
they already received a healing in theirbody, and then they mentally agreed to
(10:52):
receive Jesus under their hearts. That'samazing that they got their prayer language before
they even received Jesus. That's that'sso cool. Wow, I never even
thought about that having being a thinglike that could happen. That's amazing.
So, so how did you getaround the Communists like shutting Christianity down?
(11:13):
Or wasn't it as bad? Then? Actually, we were looking forward to
China assimilating Hong Kong, so wewere actually getting the believers there ready for
that assimilation. Wow. And soyes, and so that was that was
a big deal and all the wayleading up to that time period, so
(11:33):
the church was really getting ready togo underground, and that was part of
that whole movement. So we hadsmall groups where we would the government.
The Hong Kong government loved our missionSaint Stephen's Society so much because we had
a success right like no one other. So they would give us like these
(11:56):
rundown properties that we would fix upfor just a very small amount of rent
per year, and they would say, if you're rehabbing our citizens, he
or have this property and this property. And then we would move in and
have like twenty or thirty people thatwere detoxing. And so during this time
of detox it would be a periodof four or five days and we would
(12:18):
do prayer watches on them and takefour hour shifts, and so the instructions
were you were to pray with thepatient or the detoxing person, and if
they woke up in pain like goodspasms, then we were to say,
remember the prayer language you received atthe newcomer's meeting. Yes, okay,
we're going to pray like that.We're going to pray in the spirit,
(12:39):
pray in tongues, and then you'regoing to feel better. And they always
would always fall back in bed,sleep it off, the pain would go
away. And we did this overand over for four days straight. But
the instruction was when we were doingthe prayer watch with them, we were
to pray in this spirit for fourhours straight. So I had some amazing
(13:01):
encounters with God in these night hours. It was very intense, and I
ended up burning out because I waschased by drug addicts. They stole money
from our organization. They set upa little alternate mafia that was then chasing
me. And I had a wordthat came in and said your life is
(13:22):
in danger, get out now.And I gave my two weeks and I
was out of there very quickly becauseI knew I was being pursued by the
Chinese mafia. So that was likean epoch of missions that I was like.
I was in full years, youknow, speaking Cantonese with all the
(13:45):
nine tones, I was translating.I was teaching Bible courses. I was
helping lead, you know, firstand second stage and all sorts of and
we also did gardening there so toteach the guys how to rehab, I
led a gardening program because I hadalways gardened all my life and enjoyed.
When I went to France, Istudied Manai's gardens. When I was in
(14:05):
Hong Kong and Japan, I studiedall the Asian gardens and the temple gardens.
And we lived on an island,and so we we bought seeds in
from New Zealand and sprouted them andthen shared with the villagers. It was
a whole outreach. And then theguys learned how to garden and how to
work their frustrations out in the garden. So this became a base for me
(14:28):
of like I can do this,and I had a green thumb. Obviously.
I love the working frustrations out inthe garden. I totally get that.
Yeah. Especially I like heavy equipment, so I like to work the
(14:50):
tractor. I'm like, I needto move a dirt pile right now.
It's just really getting something a plush, right. Yeah. So I came
home though a broken person. Ihad looking back now, I had you
know, post traumatic stress disorder forsure, because I had been beat up
(15:13):
and you know, almost drowned,and it was one of those I looked
back like. I felt like Ihad adventures of the Apostle Paul in a
very short time period. But thenwhen I came back home, I wanted
just to hide out. I didn'twant anything to do with anybody, and
I had some people from my localchurch scraped me up off the floor,
(15:35):
bring me to their home and justdo massive like detoxing and the spirit and
it was a lot of inner healing. And but here I by this time,
I spoke three languages, I hadall kinds of I did inner healing,
we did deliverance, We did youknow THEOPOSTI we did, I mean
every kind of modality of healing.Because it was the British circuit. So
(15:56):
everybody in the UK that was renewed, anglo or on the spirit filled circuit
came through and taught us everything thatthey knew. So I was just loaded
and just like, I'm ready togo. What country next am I going
to go to and help change theworld? And nothing. I had heard
nothing for an entire year. Andso how old were you at this time?
(16:19):
I was in my I was laterin my late twenties, probably like
twenty seven, twenty eight, okay, yeah, okay, and so excuse
me. So I all I couldhear God say at that time was garden.
You loved a garden, and youlove being with me, and I
(16:41):
want you to heal. So Itook a year off. My parents graciously
let me live in an apartment attheir place for one year, and all
I did was garden and talked toGod and heal up. And then I
was raring to go, and Isaid, where am I supposed to go?
In Africa or Asia again, orEurope right back and or Latin America
(17:02):
where and again it was nothing,and I was and so I went to
a counselor and I said, trustedspiritual friend, and I said, what
do you think this means? Andhe said, well, have you ever
thought that you're supposed to stay hereand do something? And I was like
in Florida where I grew up,are you kidding me? Like, I'm
(17:26):
surely you jest right, And sohe was like, pray about it.
And so this was the big thingof like God was saying, indeed,
you were going to start a business, and you were going to do something
you love. And at first Iloved aquariums, and I thought I could
set these aquariums up for people andmaintain them and I could really do this
(17:47):
as a business. And then Ichecked into the insurance and it was really
crazy high because of the liability ofan aquarium exploding in someone's home. But
and so I was like, well, what about what about gardening? And
so some friends of mine had somegarden work they wanted me to do and
(18:07):
they and so long story short,everything I touched from that point on like
just turned into people admiring, andthey were like, this garden is touching
our hearts. We can't leave it. We want more. And so my
friends and my church folks were saying, you've got to do this for a
living. And then so I hadno money to my name. So I
was coming off the mission feel Ihad spent a year healing up with just
(18:32):
a few supporters. So I hadprobably fifty dollars in my bank account and
a bicycle with a basket that somebodylent me from the church, and a
vision to start a business. Andeven my own mom was like, are
you sure you're gonna make it,honey? And I said, you know
what, if this doesn't work out, I can always go get a job
at McDonald's, like fallout spies.So I rode the bike from door to
(19:00):
door with a basket of flowers.This was the fall you can plant year
round in Florida, and that wasthe fall of ninety five. And so
I went door to door and Idoor would open and here was a big
basket of flowers, and I wouldsay, would you like me to plant
all of these plus a lot morein your yard? I can make a
garden for you. And that's howI began to develop the first customers,
(19:26):
and from the bicycle I was givenan old car, and then from the
old car an old van, andthen a truck, and then several years
later, the first employee, andthen the second employee. And then things
really took off when I met andmarried my wife, Kim Kimberly and so,
(19:47):
and when she moved, she movedfrom her job, and then we
combined her efforts and the business doubledbecause she's a very I'm the creative,
she's the administrative person. God,so did you ever have to do any
like training to do landscape architecture oranything? So here's here again, this
(20:10):
is kind of a backwards way ofdoing it. So what we would do
is I became known in this areafor high creativity and using all kinds of
plants that I'd had experience with allover the world and seeing if they would
grow under North Florida climate. Sothe word was out, so the University
of Florida would send end turns overto intern with us from the UF Landscape
(20:33):
Architecture School. So as I beganto work with each one of these very
talented horticulturalist or landscape architect, students. I began to absorb their superpowers.
Oh my gosh, yeah, god, that is that's amazing. And so
you know, here it is twentyseven, almost thirty years later, and
(20:56):
you know, though I don't havethe degree, we're very sought after because
I do have now people with mastersin landscape architectures on staff in fact,
a very talented person and other designersthat help me put it together. But
then I can, but I cando everything from starting to finish myself because
(21:18):
it was like I had to learnfrom a bottom up. Wow. Wow.
Well so then how this intersects withback to the spirit and your question.
So I wanted to tell your listenersbecause a lot of people are praying
about getting into a business or startinga business, and I get you know,
as you know, being an entrepreneuris not for the fate of art.
(21:40):
But you know, so one ofmy mottos was whatever it takes.
And one of the things that Idid was, I'm going I have a
vision to become a designer and todesign these landscapes full time. But until
I do, I'm going to sweeppeople's you know, front porch. I'm
going to mow their lawn. I'mgoing to do anything it takes to pay
(22:03):
the bills to get there, soI'm not just going to sit on my
rear and wait for the check tocome in. The Other thing is that
one of the spiritual aspects, andI brought this over from Hong Kong and
seeing the power of God, wasI would spend hours a day jumping on
the mini trampoline and praying inst tonguesthat that releases a lot. Yeah,
(22:27):
that's funny. I kind of Idon't necessary. I guess I don't pring
in tongues out loud when I'm jumpingon the trampoline, but I definitely am
worshiping and yeah, commuting, yeahwow. So that and honestly that I'm
actually an introvert, even though Ilove talking to people one on one,
(22:48):
but if you put me in acrowd, I'm an introvert. I go
find the corner to talk to oneperson. So going and unless unless I'm
speaking, then I'm good. Thenyou can don't don't corner me and don't
don't come after me. And theco was like, oh, then I
got to run to the bathroom,right, so, and so I was
(23:11):
honestly petrified of going and asking peopleif I could do work for them or
building the business, Like how doI do this? And so that's why
I would jump and pray and reallyask God for open doors because I did
not have the wisdom, or thegumption, or or just even the the
(23:33):
fortitude to go make things happen.I was not a natural mover and shaker,
but I knew the one who was, so you know, that was
like, Okay, you're going toopen the doors, and he has um
and so that was just something Ithought would encourage your audience because there's a
lot of unknowns, but if God'sputting the pieces together, he will open
(23:55):
the doors. Um and then umand then the other thing that was really
awesome and funny and terrifying was Idecided at one point several years in,
maybe five years into the business,I was like, I know you have
me going back into ministry. SoI'm going to take every Wednesday and I'm
going to set my business aside andI'm going to fasten prey. I had
(24:18):
my Bible out, I was kneelingby the sofa. I'm going to fasten
prey and wait for directions. Andagain here's what happened was I was waiting
on the Lord and a proverbial andit was very real to me, but
it was in a spirit. Abolt of lightning came down and hit my
thumb and my thumb was on fire, and I was like what, oh,
(24:45):
no, what are you doing tomy thumb? It was burning.
It was like on fire. Iwas like trying to put the fire.
I was like, what are youdoing? It was like Big zapped with
his power and his electricity, andthe only thing he said was I have
given you a green, now useit. Oh oh my gosh. So
I was like, oh, that'samazing. So that's like, okay,
(25:10):
ministry is going to happen as Igo because you're taking care of that.
I don't understand. I really hadto let go of that identity and maybe
people understand this of being ministry boyor missionary boy. I really had to
let that persona go because it hadtaken a lot of courage to go do
that and then to separate myself fromthat and say, you know what,
(25:32):
finding the next best plant for myarea is the call of God in my
life, and that is the Kingdomright now. And I had to be
okay with that. And actually,if I d joy in that. But
I joyously was able to jump inand say, there's no hesitation. I'm
not like just waiting for something elseto happen. This is the something.
(25:53):
Oh that's so good. So thatwas big old life lesson. And so
your question about how you know,going from church age to kingdom age.
So this has been such an amazingprocess and so many stories. I'm just
(26:14):
trying to pick out which stories becausethe next adventure. So after meeting and
marrying my wife, and yes,I could see you're you're about to say
something. Well, no, Ijust was thinking in segment too, we
can hear more of those stories,so don't. Yeah, it's all good,
it's all good, keep going awesome, awesome. But the next assignment
(26:40):
that that father had for my life. So by this time I'm married,
everything's going well with the business,and we are wanting kids. We are
wanting children, and we try foryears. It was almost seven years that
we tried having children, all thefertility treatments we consider an adoption internationally.
We went through all the steps anda lot of heartbreak. So finally a
(27:06):
social worker that we knew, dearChristian person, said she goes, I
know of three siblings, They allseem highly adoptable. The parents are losing
the parental rights, they lived nearby, and nobody will take in all three
at once. But if you're ifyou and Kim, if you guys are
willing to take all three children inat once, there's a good chance that
(27:29):
you could adopt them and they couldbecome your new family. And so wee
goal, set a prayer, andin two weeks decided we're yes, we're
going to one our little Hunter apremium right out of the hospital, Sierra
two and a half, still indiapers, and Caitlin I, terrified four
(27:49):
and a half year old, whohad been moved seven times to different foster
homes before she came to us anddid not even know how to set at
a table and have a meal withus. So we brought them all in
in two thousand and eight and knewthey were We knew because of what God
had spoken to us in so manyways, that they were our children.
(28:11):
Even though all the social workers werelike, you're just fostering them, we
were like, yes, and webelieve they are our kids. So it
was a two year process to adoptthem. But in that first year,
though very intense. It turned ourlives upside down to have so many uh
I need you know, kids fromhard places is now the term, but
(28:33):
such the kids that were so brokenand so needy. And so then in
that first year we realized Kim waspregnant. Oh my goodness, Oh my
goodness. And we find out inher third trimester. So because we were
she was so engrossed with the children. So we find out and the technician
(28:56):
who's doing the ultrasound and says,I see a baby, and I don't,
And this baby is almost fully formed. In fact, in two months
you're going to have her, andsurprise, it's a girl. We almost
fell on our chairs, but wewere so happy, we were in tears.
We were like, we always havewanted a baby. We have three
(29:17):
we're adopting at home, but yes, bring it on. So that was
instant family. Four kids in oneyear. Yeah, and then just one
more is a nice surprise because theysaid we'd probably never have children again.
So that was So that's been thelast fifteen years of just intense focusing on
them and their needs and their wellbeing and learning all kinds of things about
(29:42):
how to parent through that. Sowe've become I believe now a resource for
loving children from very hard places,because it is not easy and it is
not a walk in the park.So all the while we're growing, we're
(30:03):
bursting out of a little model home, little three bedroom home in a planned
community. We're just bursting out,and we're needing more room for the children,
we're needing more room for the business. We were renting warehouses to house
everybody, and by this time wehad we had about a staff of fifteen
people, and so um Kim wasresearching excuse me, on the internet and
(30:30):
found a beautiful little fifteen acre piecethat had an old horse barn and a
big mobile home at one end.And so long story short, we ended
up moving our entire family, endedup mobile home with a hope to build
one day on the land. Andthen we remodeled the horse barn into our
studio so that we can have clientscome in and we have grow all these
(30:52):
beautiful things to show them and wedo the presentations with the computer modeling,
and they can walk through their gardens. Julie, and this is where this
is happening. Wow, that isso cool. And and that's in Newberry,
Florida. That's a Newberry, Florida, very close to the Gainesville area,
and you mentioned o'calla. That's onlyabout forty five minutes away from o'calla
(31:14):
in north central Florida. Okay,yeah, cool, very cool. Chris
Carter is over there in Gainesville.Now, yes, yes, christ Yes,
oh good. He comes to ourfarm on a regular basis. Melissa,
we're actually just here last night,sitting under old barn and looking at
(31:36):
the view and we did a littleascension with them. Oh nice, how
is he doing? He is actuallylooking amazing good. It was his first
trip out since other than doctors inhospitals. But he was like, I've
got to get out and see someof God's creation. Oh my gosh.
Yeah, he's amazing. Um andI love Melissa kids as well. So
(32:01):
we have fence lines blooming with wildflowers, we have growing areas where we have
we have a display garden we're buildingwith a pergola. We have window boxes
at this old barn overflowing. Soit's a very creative space. And maybe
in the next segment I can tellyou some stories from the barn because it
(32:22):
also is a meeting place where wemeet clients but also have some spiritual communities
that are meeting and seeking Father togetherand knowing. Yahwe and it's it's really
a very special place. Oh verycool. Well, well let's leave that
cliffhanger for this part one because Ilove that Stories from the Barn. That'll
(32:45):
be the second segment. That'll bereally good. Okay, you guys,
if you loved this and you lovethe story, please share this with your
friends, like subscribe to follow whereveryou're listening or watching. We so appreciate
at your support and we definitely prayfor you. So thank you for spreading
the good news of spirit centered businessand the good news of John George and
(33:10):
Cottage Gardens, Inc. And youcan find him and check the show notes.
This will be in there too,but it's the Cottage Gardens dot com,
a gardener, the Cottage Gardener dotcom. And I'll make sure that
they put it correct in the inthe show notes and on the banner here,
So the Cottage Gardener dot Com.All right, you guys, until
(33:34):
next time, stay spirit centered.He's up. Hey there, SCB peeps.
I want to give a huge shoutout and deep appreciation and thanks to
Candace Benton. She has become asuper sponsor for the Spirit Centered Business show,
so I would appreciate you helping mein sending blessings and abundance back to
(33:59):
her. Thank you so much,Candice, and you are well loved.
Thank you for listening to Spirit CenteredBusiness with Berlin NUBI. Be sure to
like, subscribe and share with yourfriends. The next age of doing business
by being spirit centered is coming togetherin collaboration, working with spiritual principles,
(34:20):
and knowing our destiny. Join ourtribe at spirit centered Business dot com and
we'll catch you on the next broadcast. Peace Out,
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