All of us have been experiencing frustrations and fears about a wide assortment of circumstances over the past several weeks. Many concerns are beyond our individual control. So, what are we to do?  

With this in mind I want to share a situation that I always considered to be private. Some years ago, at the request of the former rector of my church, I agreed to discuss my personal experience at one of our services. I ask that you understand that this was not an easy subject for me to discuss then or now, but with your patience and understanding I will tell you about a segment of my life that was exceptionally challenging and hopefully will be helpful for you to face the unknown.  

This happened in the economic crash of 1975. At that time, I was president of a wholesale building material firm in Florida with over 50 employees. Our business prior to May of 1975 was booming. I had gone to a trade show in Arizona and as always when I was away, I called our office daily to see how our business was progressing. This particular day when I called, I was told our sales had stopped as a result of the housing crash.

I was stunned. However, what my controller told me was reality. 

I hurried back to Florida and it was evident that we were in the midst of a major crisis. I searched for every conceivable way to reduce our overhead, but found nothing to help us operate at a profitable level.

To complicate our situation further in January of ’76 I was in an automobile accident when I collided head on with a tractor trailer. At the small local hospital that I was taken to, they performed surgery by sewing together my internal organs that were lacerated.

I had been in the Intensive Care Unit for 12 days, when early one morning I had a life changing experience: a vision of Jesus. I was told that I would survive and two days later I was discharged.

There is no question the Lord had gotten my attention. Prior to the accident I had proceeded on a course of doing everything that I worked on my way. Without question I was on the wrong track feeling that if I worked hard consistently, I would be successful regardless of the challenge I faced.   

 After arriving home and beginning to recover I began a practice that I had never done previously. I began daily Bible readings along with daily prayers. Within several weeks I was back on the job trying by the hardest to turn our financial losses around, but to no avail. My world was falling apart and then, one August night, I woke up at 4 in the morning with my pajamas soaking wet with perspiration. I got up and went downstairs to our family room and sat in my La-Z-Boy chair.

Finally, I started to pray and I said “Lord, please hear me, I need your help as my business is collapsing and if I lose all that I have from now on I will do whatever you want me to do your way without hesitation.”

Within a very short time I experienced the feeling that a heavy load was being lifted off my back. A few days later I met with my attorney and reluctantly filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. During this period I continued my new spiritual path.  

I had only five employees who opted to stay with me as I attempted to find a possible way to function. Our fleet of trucks was gone, with the exception of a 14-foot flatbed. I was able to utilize $14,500 from our key man insurance policies for working capital. I wanted to try and develop a plan to operate in a limited manner and try and repay our obligations as much as possible.  

After the creditors meeting was over I met with the bank — to which I owed over $1 million — and was told that if we were able to operate that, any account receivable we generated, that 100% of the sales when collected would be applied against our loan balance. I was also told that any cash sale we generated that we could keep 40% of it for operations.

After prayer I went to 20 of my former accounts scattered across Florida and told each I wanted to try and stay afloat. I then had to ask each one if they would work with me on a COD basis. I knew this request to be a significant nuisance to any business. I was asked for how long, and I said for at least a year. All but one agreed, and the one who did not was also in a huge financial hole.

Actually, each of these customers worked with me on that basis for a year and a half as we began to regain our footing and to begin to repay our creditors. During this period of time I never knew on Monday how I was going to pay my employees on Friday. But, I never missed paying each of them timely. 

This was the most difficult time in my life as I made sales calls, helped load our truck, and worked weekends at consumer sales. By turning all our receivables into cash, significantly reducing our inventory, by completing the sale of our warehouse property and, along with our seven years of sales efforts, we repaid the bank the $1 million loan and repaid our creditors approximately $643,000, and I started my life over again.

There is no doubt in my mind that without the guidance of the Lord and the thoughtfulness and encouragement from my faithful wife that I could never have overcome this challenge. I look back on this today as the best thing that ever happened to me in spite of our personal financial losses.

Hopefully this column will be helpful to others facing their own crisis. 

Another View is a weekly column written collaboratively by Dale Landrith of Camden, Ken Frederic of Bristol, Paul Ackerman of Martinsville, Jan Dolcater of Rockport and Ralph “Doc” Wallace of Rockport.