An Attempt to Stay Authentic in a Digital World

 

Just a few months ago, this blog turned five years old!

In those five years, we’ve covered all sorts of topics–from how to shop at flea markets to how to do a DIY kitchen renovation, with tons and tons of furniture makeovers in between.

It’s kinda fun to look back at some of those first posts and think about how much Lost & Found has grown.

And to those of you who have faithfully followed along with me over these past five years, I owe you a huge thank you.

Without readers, there really is no blog!

I’m grateful for this community and for how it has been knit together by a mutual interest in flea markets, furniture, and all things paint.

It’s been a blessing to have a place to go where I can share about these areas of my life and know I will be with people who understand!

 

Being Authentic in a Digital World

Over the years, I’ve tried to be authentic with you and also let you in a little bit to the rest of my life.

I really feel like it’s important to be real on the internet; in our digital world, it’s so easy to only see the highlight reels of others’ lives posted online and walk away feeling like our realities just don’t measure up.

So in that spirit, I want to take a minute and update you all on what’s been going on behind the scenes here at Lost & Found . . .

 

 

Back in December I told you about several major changes happening with our family, including my husband’s job loss.

Since January, Lost & Found has been our main source of income while he looked for a new church staff position.

I have been amazed and incredibly grateful to see how God continues to meet our needs and provide for our family through this little side business of mine–thank you for being part of that provision!

During the whole spring semester, our future kinda hung up in the air as the two main job opportunities my husband was considering were both out of state.

I kinda mentally prepared to have to shut down Lost & Found locally as the summer approached, and started considering what all I may be able to take with me.

Well . . . to make a long story short, both of the job positions were great opportunities, but we decided that neither of them seemed like the right fit for our family.

So in late March, my husband decided to withdraw his name from being considered for either position. Instead, we were going to find some way to make staying in our current location work.

The kids were happy–they didn’t have to change schools! My husband and I were somewhat relieved too–neither of us was too excited about getting our family ready for a giant out of state move.

But there was still that pesky issue of him needing to have a job . . . .

 

 

 

The Opportunity We were Never Looking For

Well, you know how sometimes opportunities come out of the middle of nowhere?

One day in mid-March my husband was doing some reading and research to help with marketing the online portion of Lost & Found when he came across a new training program being offered by his favorite marketing company, StoryBrand.

And to make another long story short . . . He decided to jump in full steam ahead and attend the certification training to become a StoryBrand Guide.

This is actually the photo on the StoryBrand website right now, and I just had to share because you can see my husband front and center!

 

 

What in the world is a StoryBrand Guide?

Basically, it is a person, trained in the StoryBrand method of marketing, who businesses can hire to consult with and/or build their online marketing platforms.

While we are both super excited about the work, it’s a little nerve-wracking because he is essentially starting his own business.

There are no guaranteed salary coming or health care benefits, but here’s what we figured– we’ve already been living that way for 6 months now and it’s worked, so why not give it a go?

 

The Health of Untangling Your Identity

Now you may remember that my husband has been a pastor for 9 years, and worked in full-time college Christian ministry for 5 years before that.  So . . . this is a major career switch for him!

And some of our friends and local connections have kinda struggled to get it–why would he leave church ministry after almost 15 years experience and a Masters Seminary Degree?

To be completely honest, it has been tough untangling our identity from being “church staff” and learning how to be “church members”.

We’ve had to find a new church and we don’t know anyone there, nor do they know us.  It’s strange just kinda sitting back and watching it all happen and not being able to jump in and offer opinions or leadership.

But . . . it’s been sooooo good for us too!

And ultimately what we came to realize is that whether we are officially “working” for a church or not, all of the things we know God has called us to do we can continue to do as vibrant members of our local church body.

This past year has been a difficult one for our family on many different fronts.

And the prospect of packing up and moving to a new place across the country just didn’t feel like a healthy move for us.

We need time to heal, time to be together as a family and focus on just the daily things of life.

So while that option involves a few more months of financial uncertainty for us while my husband starts up his business, it felt like the right option.

So if you or anyone you know is looking for marketing help with your business–website, email lists, sales pitches, etc–I know just the guy for you 🙂

Seriously though, thank you for following along this journey with us.

I’m super hopeful that I can come back in 6 more months and share how well he is doing and how his business has taken off!

In the meantime, I’m gonna keep painting!