It's a pretty simple story really. When I was 7 years old, I was riding in the back seat of my Mom's minivan with my two brothers and cousin surrounding me. Everyone was fighting or shouting or trying to tell Mom about their day as I think we were heading home from school. I can recall turning the corner from Highway 24 to head north on Highway 63 in St. Marys. I look back towards Highway 24 and that's when I heard the call. I knew it right then and there. At 7 years old, in the back of my Mom's Dodge minivan, the Holy Spirit painted a picture for me of what I was going to do with my life. That was to open a retail shop that specialized in Christian gifts. That wasn't QUITE that specific at the time, but He did tell me it would be a shop that all believers, all followers of Christ could come and feel comfortable. No matter what their denomination was. No matter where they were at along their spiritual journey.
You see, I grew up in a very religiously segregated community. At the top of America's Bible Belt, our midwestern small town was predominately followers of Christ, but my family was the minority as Protestants. When I was in early elementary, I had a little boy tell me I was going to hell for not believing the same things. I didn't even know what I believed then, but surely it wasn't that innocent me could be banished so easily! The confusion and strife became worse the older I grew. That segregation impacted my friendships and everyday circumstances. So as that evolved in my life, the Holy Spirit continued to work inside me. He explained that I would create a place that others could come and find resources to elevate their walk with God, find gifts to encourage others, or apparel that helps them live boldly in claiming Christ's reign over their lives.
In what seemed like a random set of events, I ended up in a career focused on retail. For many years, I forgot about the call. Just going about my life doing the my best at starting a career, family, and continuing on my own walk. However, about the time my second child was born, the Spirit began to work deeply in me with messages of 'time to prepare' and 'stop fighting it'. I was fighting the fact that I did NOT want to work retail forever and I did NOT want to own a business. So I prayed. A lot. And He continued to put situations, people, and places in my life that would build up my knowledge, passion, and strength to fulfill this call. I still don't understand it to the fullest, but that's okay! During the middle of the hardest year of my life, the Spirit began to provide me messages of 'the time is now' and 'go now'. Share with others that we are one body of believers in His Kingdom.
So...here I am. Going. Doing. Answering. Fulfilling. The Call.
"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." 1 Corinthians 12:12