I JUST WANTED TO SELL T-SHIRTS
Three years ago as I finished my Morning Prayer time I heard the Holy Spirit clearly say “I have given you a t-shirt line”. At that time I was producing a Web Series called Fight for the Family and was looking for ways to sell merchandise to help raise money for production cost. I thought this was Him telling me to design and sell t-shirts for the show... So I took off doing just that. The shirt initially sold well, soon sales began to dry up. So I came up with another design called THE POWER OF A PRAYING MOTHER. Once again, sales were really good then they would trickle in inconsistently. I took several online classes to help me.
I created my third shirt for kids called “Believe in Yourself” hoping to get sales to pick up again. After giving my grandchildren a shirt, my middle daughter called me and said “Mom it’s something about that shirt that I don’t like. It’s a beautiful shirt in all, but I think the message is wrong. You taught us to always include the Holy Spirit in our plans. When I read “Believe in Yourself” I feel like we are replacing God with our natural thoughts and plans. After a long discussion she said "Just pray about it momma before you release them. Hearing this drove me to again seek God in prayer. These words came to my mind “Uniquely Made”. I took out my bible and began to search scriptures to understand what this could mean. (Genesis 1:27 Psalms 139:14 Jeremiah 1:5 Ephesians 2:10)
I decided to scratch that design and do Uniquely Made instead. In my heart, I knew there was something special about this shirt and that my plan of action had to be different. So I took another online class this time from one of my youngest daughter’s clients who is very successful in selling shirts and accessories. I asked my daughter to help me come up with a branding strategy. After a couple of meetings she said “Mom I think you need to step back and figure out your why”. I was baffled. My launch date was a week away and I didn’t understand. I responded with a resounding “that’s obvious I just want to sell t-shirts”. I shared with her the conversation I had with her sister and I felt this was a better shirt so I was going with this one. She said, “I don’t think shirts are your brand. “I think shirts are a tool to promote what God has called you to do.” She suggested that I create a blog. That sent me to my knees again. I prayed again to gain an understanding of what my why was and how a blog would help. She gave me three days to come up with the answer.
The launch date was quickly approaching and I was frustrated. I sat at my computer and cried out loud “Father I don’t want to do this anymore. You said you had given me a t-shirt line. I didn’t ask for it so either I misunderstood you or the time has ended for t-shirts.” I heard nothing and I had no idea how to start a blog, I barely knew what a blog was. Two days before I was to meet with my daughter, I Googled Mommy blogs. I looked at a few and said to myself this is so not me”. Just as I was about to give up, my eyes fell on the caption "HOW TO RAISE A STRONG-WILLED CHILD". That captured my attention, because my youngest daughter (whom I was working with) was a strong-willed child growing up and I remembered some of the struggles I faced while raising her. The first sentence of the blog read PARENTING IS DAMN HARD and it doesn’t come with an instruction manual. The Holy Spirit quickly spoke these words to me.
"I am the helper. If my people would just ask me to help them raise their children I will. I created each one uniquely and I know them inside and out. Who better to help them but the one who created them?” Then He had me remember praying at the birth of each of my daughters and giving them back to my Heavenly Father. I asked Him to help me not mess them up. No earthly person told me to do that. I acted on instinct and it was the best thing I ever did! I was also reminded of the day I was frustrated and challenged with my youngest and yelled out to her “why can’t you be like your sister?” That child looked at me and said “look at me Momma, I am not my sister!” And she was right. Each one of my daughters were uniquely made by God and I desperately needed Him to help me raise them. The Holy Spirit was my guide book.
Why Uniquely Made? I do not have a Doctorate in childcare behavior nor am I a therapist, but I am a mother and grandmother. I want to help mothers build an inner image of their uniqueness in their children. Psalm 139:14 says that God made all the delicate, inner parts of my body. He knit me together within my mother’s womb. I was made wonderfully complex. God knew me as He was painstakingly designing me with much loving care. They should never feel the need to compare themselves to no one else.
-Just another way "We Fight for the Family"