I Hear You, God - LOUD and CLEAR

Things have been a-changin’ around here at inAWE.  Almost a month ago, I said goodbye to my accounting firm co-workers and became self-employed.  Year after year (for seven years), inAWE has continued to grow.  It seems that making a business work might be a little part luck, a lot of God’s blessing, and moving ahead one step at a time – even if they are baby steps.

I had been thinking of making the jump since March when work at the accounting firm was fast and furious and during inAWE’s busiest season of the year.  I know…you would think Christmas season would be my busiest, but often my customers are  purchasing gifts for confirmations, first communions and baptisms which peak in the spring. 

So, I decided I would work at my day job through the summer and then quit before my youngest headed to college in the fall.  But then, my day job decided to train me for some new tasks.  This created a dilemma for me, so I started talking to God about it again;  asking Him if I should go ahead and take the plunge into self-employment.  We went back and forth one morning – well, mostly, me doing the talking.

However, later that day God yelled.

I received a request via Etsy from Proverbs 31 Ministries asking me to provide thank you gifts for their speakers at their annual She Speaks conference.  Ummmm…..can you say YES?!?! The speakers for this conference include some amazing influencers and Christian leaders (like Lysa TerKeurst and Jamie Ivey).  I greatly admire these women because they speak the truth of God all the while sharing their personal stories and struggles.  

As per the usual for every post on my blog, I was surprised and AWEd yet again:  Because these are my kind of people, and they found my tiny shop on Etsy.  I equate this to finding a needle in a haystack.  There are literally over a million sellers on Etsy.  If you search for Christian journals, you will receive over 6,000 results.  Only God could make this happen on the exact day that I am trying to determine my future as it relates to inAWE.

It was as if God was yelling – IT IS TIME! 

I truly enjoyed my day job.  God knew He would need to raise His voice a little to get my attention and coax me to follow my dream rather than hang onto something safe.  Have you ever been there?  It is never easy to let go of that branch and put your feet down somewhere new.

I am so very glad He yelled at me that day. It gave me the courage to let go and follow my passion.  These past few weeks have been amazing.  I jump out of bed excited to start my day and mark things off my Trello list.  If you know me personally, then you know that making lists is normal for me.  However, jumping out of bed is not normal for me.  I’m more of a drag out the waking process through five or six settings of snooze kind of girl. 

One of those first early mornings in late May, God directed me to 2 Corinthians 4 through the You Version app – where He spoke these words over me and I’ve added my commentary {here}.

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry {inAWE}, we do not lose heart.

…by setting forth the truth plainly {through spiritual products like these} we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

For what we preach {or print} is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power {of a growing business} is from God and not from us.

All this is for your benefit, so that the {amazing} grace that is reaching more and more people {through increased exposure} may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God {who deserves it all}.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen {a regular paycheck}, but on what is unseen {God working on my behalf}, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. {God’s Ancient Word Eternal working in our hearts}

God has humbled and surprised me, yet again, as He continues to overwhelm me with His guidance, provision and, yes – even yelling – when necessary.