These past few weeks have been intense.
In February, one of the platforms we sell on had a huge financial mess. Things were slow before that, but afterward, views and sales there have been almost non-existent. I’ve averaged 17-20 sales a week since then. Across ALL shops. Together.
This business has been our sole income. We don’t have a second job or a fall-back.
Honestly it’s been terrifying. Watching income dwindle instead of rising is scary. But it has been a wild ride too…..
Every step of the way, God has provided what we needed, just when we needed it.
We had one week where I didn’t have the money to even ship the orders that came in. We started selling off the old design stamps I don’t use. There was more than one time when the money would come in Paypal just in time to transfer it to pay for shipping.
It’s like the woman and the cruse of oil. There is just enough money, every day, to do what is needed. Not any extra, but we have not overdrafted. It’s been really hard.
It been hard to run my business too. I haven’t had the money to buy supplies when we need them. I’m making necklace cards again, stamping boxes myself, using different sizes instead of what I prefer, to use what we have. I started making necklace chains again, because making them is a cheaper investment than buying chains (and from a supplier with $100 minimum).
This is not how I imagined we’d run our business.
Last fall, Stephen and I both felt God calling us to shut down the supplies arm of the business. That was great at first, because of the extra family time it gave. We were free.
Then time went on and it set in that we weren’t making the money we used to. It got tight. Then tighter. And even tighter. And then terrifying.
We both feel that shutting down supplies was the right thing to do.
So the purpose of this post is to document to see what God does. He has truly supplied everything we have needed, right when we needed it. We are truly living by faith. It’s both terrifying AND freeing at the same time.
One thing that really encouraged me was watching how God has provided other needs when we needed them. On Wednesday right before supper, Anna was telling me she thought she’d need a pair of size 4 tennis shoes next time she gets some. We’ve been super gluing the soles on her shoes for a while now. I prayed right there that God would provide new shoes for her.
I kept Joy home that night because she’d been sick. Anna walked in the door with a bag of clothes from Stephanie. In it was a pair of almost brand new Nike shoes, a size 4. Of course. 5 hours after I prayed God answered my prayer……and He had provided the shoes for that need before I even prayed for it.
That’s my God.
It has been amazing to watch. I can’t wait to see how else He provides.
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