Seasons of Change

Hello,

Although we are still in August there is a faint whisper of fall in the air. I think mother nature is a little confused this year and who can blame her, we have all had some very odd weather this year.

I love Autumn, with the crisp air, warm sun and changing colors the Lord reveals himself not only in his beautiful handiwork but also that He is a God of seasons.
 Yes, he is forever the same but he also is a God of seasons and change. I think it is safe to say most of us do not like change, we get comfortable in one thing and even though many times change is for the good, we fight it. It is the unknown we are afraid of. It is in that state of uncomfortable change that God works. When I am out of my comfort zone I lean on God a little harder, I seek his face a little longer, I depend on him a little more.

The past few years, my seasons have changed immensely. I should  be comfortable with change as my life has been nothing but change. Like many, some of it has been very hard and some joyous. 

I am currently in change again.

 After closing my shop a couple of years ago, I am now on a new path. 

It wasn't easy closing the shop. 
It had somewhat defined me.

 I had some success, some publications and selling to the right people. I had several different locations and then took a big step of faith and opened Simply Posh. 
Three thousand square feet and high rent in a trendy Chicago suburb. It was the right time, where I was on the cusp of the new look "shabby chic" and was making my mark with my signature look in vintage fabric pillows. I was getting 400 dollars a pillow and selling to people like Norman Lear who had bought 7 of them.
 I had Simply Posh for 7 years but it wasn't fulfilling my creative desires. It got too big and my time was mainly dealing with reps and book work, two things I disliked the most. I lost touch with my creativity, which is why I started all this in the first place.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, "declares the Lord," plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Each of our lives is customized to a plan that God has laid out for us if we are trusting in him.

Psalm 139:16 You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book.

Does that mean everything we do will be a raging success? 
No, at least not in our earthly eyes or by the standards of the world.

"You were born in response to the determined plan of God, not as an afterthought. Before you took even one breath, every day, every step and every circumstance in your plan was recorded. God's plan uses our strengths as well as our weaknesses."

Taken from a paragraph in Girlfriends in God website

 We all have strengths, they are gifts from God, we also have weaknesses or limitations, they are also a part of the plan. In our weakness He is made strong. It is usually in my weakness that I learn the most because I must stretch my faith and depend on him more.
 Our spiritual successes come from recognizing the seasons of our life that are essential to the plan God has for us. 

Our success is recognizing the plan and yielding to the season in life as God's avenue of perfect timing. God's plan is customized just for you, we are all apart of the larger whole and each of us fits into this magnificent tapestry that God has laid out for us. 

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart.

 (My work space... a little messy)

God is always faithful to give us the power to fulfill the plan he has for us. He is a loving father and has our very best interest at heart. It might not always be in our thinking or what we would want. 

It is a good plan, it is for the best.
 Just as a earthly father knows best for his child, so it is even more with our heavenly father who has perfect love for his children.

I Thessalonians 5:24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Sometimes the choices are hard and our understanding is weak.

But I have come too long on this journey not to blindly trust in my father. I may not understand what is happening at the time, but I simply trust him. 

Closing the shop was not easy and I went on to open another 3 years later called Vintage Living. 

Simply Posh was a gift out of his mercy. 

Vintage Living was another season and it did not enjoy the same success that Simply Posh did, but it taught me so much more.

Christmas 2001

 Please join me in my next post as I explore the seasons of 

Vintage Living and what God is doing now.

Blessings

Rebecca