The Doors Have Opened!

One thing I know for sure is that when God opens the door, the possibilities are endless. For several years now I have been sitting on the dream and an opportunity to open my own shop. I have dreamed about stocking fabrics and sewing accessories and about teaching women to sew, and encouraging them to create beautiful things in a lovely environment. I have dreamed of a centre where people would come and feel welcome and just want to sit down and enjoy the atmosphere of love and learning and like minded people gathering together. That they would never want to leave, but when they do, that they would feel content, fulfilled and keen to return another day.

I have tried several times to ‘poke this with a stick’ and each time it has been ‘not yet’, ‘too soon’, ‘WAIT’, ‘Be Still’. Obviously I haven’t been quite ready. My vision has been written down with pencil in a black note book for at least 4 years. Some parts of that vision have been rubbed out, other bits have been added. Every time I have opened the book to add, the vision has become clearer, more specific and increasingly refined.

I am reminded of the scripture that was given to me 2 years ago when I last tried so hard to make things happen my way… Habakkuk 2:2-3 Then the LORD answered me and said, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run. “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.

I am delighted to announce today that the waiting appears to be over. We have felt for a while that we would be moving again, and that our lovely home in the country was just our transition place, where The Eye Of A Needle would be birthed. Since we returned from our travels in China there has been a real sense that we WILL have a shop; it’s just been a matter of asking the Lord where HE wants that shop to be.

On a recent trip south to visit our fathers and family, we stopped off to have a coffee and met with a dear friend from school days. My friend Liz had just put in an offer on a house which she hoped to use as a rental property. When we spoke of our vision for our shop, the obvious question was ‘Why not here’? Somehow that question stuck with us all weekend, and the sense that it may be our next home town started to grow and feel warm in our hearts. Everything else we had considered kind of fell away and we started to think ‘Why not?’

So on our way home we decided to poke potential shops-for-lease with a stick, and made a couple of calls to meet Real Estate agents to show us properties which might be available. In my last blog I spoke of our disappointment in finding what we thought was the perfect building and it fell through. Clearly God knows best. He told us to keep walking along the path, and in due season…we would receive every blessing…

We met with some people who happened to know of some other shop spaces coming available and after a phone call to a landlord it was confirmed that we may have the choice of 2 shops within the CBD which are coming available in a few weeks time. In the mean time we know that the online shop needs to start first and we can work towards that while we plan and wait for our physical shop to be ready.

Don’t you just love it when the doors open, and you just know that it’s right as everything falls in to place? After a trip to the NZ Gift fair, we started ordering products for the shop and I have met with several fabric reps. I have ordered fabric and started to dream about what we can do with it. The postie has delivered 3 big boxes so far – it’s been like Christmas! I have unpacked some gorgeous fabrics. I needed to check them off, but also needed to touch and feel them, and visualise how they will all look together on my shelves. Sadly they have now all been repacked, as we know this studio is not going to be the place where they will go on show – but the next place IS!

We are rebuilding the website to accommodate the online shop, so that will be the priority once we move. We still need to hand in notice to our landlord so they know we are moving out of our home under Sanctuary Mountain. Things are moving along rather quickly but I think we are ready for another adventure to begin. Once we have a couple more dates lined up we can truly say…

TAUPO – HERE WE COME!