Summer Changes

There are going to be a lot of changes happening around this house this summer.  Let's just say God knew what He was doing when He pressed on my heart "keep your calendar free".  I am not crazy busy. I manage my time fairly well with a dose of down time, family time, friends and doing many things I love. I love filling up the days with fun activities, outing, and friends over etc.   Yet this summer, the June-July-August slate clean, and I start thinking. Keep this summer clear.  Why?  I had no idea what was in store.

Have you ever worked on a project that you are really good at?  I mean the kind of good that you just know it's going to launch like a rocket because it's been something you have been good at your whole life. Something that just thrills you to be doing, and when you are in the midst of that doing, you are constantly thanking God for giving you such a lovely gift of what it is you are doing. 

And then, you keep doing, working hard and realize that it does not matter how good you are at something.  Some things are going to take more doing that you ever dreamed of.  Many of you may have noticed that I have become a bit of a geek with technology.  Starting a website, doing what I have been doing for the past 20 years seemed like a no-brainer  to carry over to a web-store.  Was I wrong about that.  Not one person in all that world of web shopping know me. Know my reputation for kids room design.  I am a face to face and love my customer kind of gal, so how on earth do I take a personable business into faceless strangers and make it work?  Lots and lots of doing. Lots of work. Lots of research.  And  lots of is PRAYING.  Daily telling God, thanking God, grumbling at God, thanking God again and then one day stopping.  Hours on the computer reading what it takes to have a successful web-store.  Learning all the terminology, the manner in which to navigate, the platforms to grow and build. Hours a day on the computer. More like hours per night. And then I stopped. I had to be done. This is to hard.  I sat in my dining room crying. Reading the Bible, journaling and that fist waving we sometimes do at God, "I know this is what I am suppose to be doing, but I just don't get the science of technology.  God how am I suppose to make this work if I don't understand."

Do you believe that random thoughts come to mind in moments like this are just that random?  I had this thought to contact this person on twitter who I had been following for several months.  A social media expert who consistently wrote really good articles, and linked others who wrote really good articles. Sitting in my dining room, pleading for God's help and I get this guys twitter handle tweeting across my brain.


I sent him a message.  Asked his fee-base for time to ask questions.  He gave me his number,  A random guy out of thousands, even millions of people on twitter I choose this one guy.  A Christ follower who practically lives in my backyard.  His parents, lovingly have poured love and encouragement into my daughter.  Random acts of God, pushing us to keep doing, even when it's hard. Even when you can't get a grip on a process, you still keep getting up and moving forward.  God is not random.  It's no fluke on timing.  The value of research I had done months before is what made it possible for me to begin to master new concepts in online business. That doing needed to happen. As painful and time consuming as it was and still is at times.  Yet, God sends a person to come alongside and teach me.  Two hours a week, for weeks now I have an expert teaching me what I need to know. It has not been easy.  Two weeks ago I broke down and cried at this person helping me, because it's work, and it can be hard.

All this work and I wake up one day, with a clear slate for summer and what is in store?

Just half a block off 23rd Ave.  

2237 NW Raleigh St.

Portland, OR

 Just that a new store.  A store front. A boutique.  A gift and a blessing.  Moving what has become an operation of blood sweat and many tears to opening a new boutique here in Portland, OR.  It has been my dream.  No running two large showrooms with over 40 employees as I did in the past.  Those were wonderful years, but now I am a little older. I am still that person who loves to connect face to face and God in His orchestration of my life delivers a blessing, a gift and more work is to be done. An entire summer wide open to invest in the time.

David and the boys are very excited.  I had the boys in the store yesterday to check things out. Ethan is excited that he is now tall enough and strong enough to be a paid employee.  My Portland friends, starting in mid-July you know where to find me.  I am expecting that you stop by to visit, enjoy some coffee.

My web store is going to be a continuation of a real store front.  The web store is going well.  After months of time invested I am learning that even on the web, my customer's have lovely faces, and I am getting to know them well. Getting to know their hearts and new friendships are developed.  

What is hard in your life right now? That kind of ugly face crying hard-shaking a fist at God kind of hard?  Hang in there. Wake up every morning thanking God that you have something to be doing, even if it's hard.  Don't give up on your dreams and the passions that burn in you to be doing what you were born to be doing.  Others may be looking in thinking you are crazy. I have been dished out some of that.  Other's don't know your heart.  God knows your heart. He wired you.

I had so many people think I was crazy when I gave up my career for 5 years. Crazy because "this is your business, and you are good at it.". Yes, I appreciated those who cheered me on.  My crazy was to pour into a deaf child day and night to see that he could come along in life with language.  That was hard.  That was ugly face crying out to God kind of work.  A day does not go by that I look at that boy and thank God that he gave me endurance in the harder times.

May your day be a blessing to others as your hard because a blessing in the doing. Did I mention there will be many changes this summer?