Post Two

     Greetings, fellow Romans!  Today I would like to tell you more about my life story. I have decided to continue to tell you next about when I first took over the pottery shop from my father.
     When I was seventeen years old, I finally took over the shop from my father due to his inability to make pottery anymore because of his old age.  At that time, I had been helping my father in the shop in one way or another for about twelve years, and I had therefore become a skilled potter.  However, that did not make me a skilled businessman.  When I first took over, my father was still able to guide me along with managing the finances, but by the time I was nineteen, he had died and I was on my own.  I tell you what, nothing helps you grow in your faith better than having to trust God to help you get enough money to eat and pay rent for many years, let alone a day.  I trusted God more than ever before, and he did provide.  I was living and working on my own, which meant I had to work more than my normal six hours many days just to make enough pottery to sell to support myself.  By the time I was twenty, I was worn out with the work, but I just had to keep going.
     Five days a week, I worked in the pottery shop about six hours per day (usually, as I mentioned above).  On dies Saturnii, I would head to the front of my shop to sell my wares.  These days were the most tiring.  I spent a great amount of time each day waiting for customers, and when my shop was visited, I always found my heart racing, wondering if the potential customer would buy anything or not.  It took me awhile to build up a customer base, but over time word spread among the plebeians and soldiers that I had nice, practical wares at reasonable prices.  By the time I was twenty-five, my business was going well, at least well enough that for a period of time I was not totally dependant on my weekly grain dole and was able to eat at the nearby restaurants on occasion.  This would be the high point of my career, as I will tell you about in my next post.
     Many of my Christian supporters may be interested to know that I was very active in my faith during this time.  As my customer base became more sure, I began to tell my customers about Jesus Christ and his teachings.  Some of my customers even joined the Church.  God truly blessed me during that time, and for that I am truly grateful.  I would encourage other Christians to do the same thing.  After all,

"If God can work through me, he can work through anyone."

Francis of Assisi

      I will contact you all again soon with another part of my story.  May God bless you and keep you all safe!