A Big Change in Business

I have come to the decision (not at all easily or suddenly) to close my shop until February. I will have it open from February to May- or until I can no longer handle any more business.  This is my usual busy season and I hope it will be good timing for most of my customers.  I will be finishing up the orders that I have promised, but then I will be closing shop for 7 months.  Wow, sounds like an eternity, but I know it will go so quickly for me.

A dream of mine has always been to be caught up in bead making and actually have a stock of rosaries that I could just ship out as I receive orders.  However, this is has never worked out as planned.  I guess God has always had other plans.

For over a year now, I've been praying to hear His Holy Will for my business.  When my little hobby became a part time job a year and a half ago, it was very exciting, but I had a hard time maintaining balance.  While I have gotten better at balancing work and family, it still is not enough and I've been given more and more signs that I need to stop working so hard.  Yesterday was the last straw on my back as God put yet another sign in my face: a lost day working on sales tax.  I spent almost all day working on sales tax and got nothing else done!  I am the most disorganized person when it comes to accounting and it certainly was my demise today.  The wrist problem never completely went away, either, and I see that as probably the most obvious sign.

There have been other signs too. My friend, Marilisa, commenting on how she stopped selling Mary Kay because it was consuming her every thought.  That sign struck me like a lightning bolt.  One reason why this decision was so hard to make is because making rosaries is good work.  It's just not the work God has ordained for me- which is something everyone has to answer for him/herself.    I desire so much to be truly present to my children and my husband, but I fear I have filled my day with too much of "un-ordained" work that I can't focus on them when they are right in front of me.  The clay rosary business is good work, but it's only good for me when it is in the proper balance.  I hope all my customers will be able to understand.

So, being in business for four months out of the year is the best compromise between what I like to do on the side, and what I am called to do as a wife and mother.  My hope is that this way, I am able to work on making beads and start stocking up on rosaries in my own time to be more prepared for the crazy-busy months.  I have so many polymer canes sitting in my cabinet, it is ridiculous! I will be blogging here and there, so stay tuned for parts 1-500 of "slicing and punching holes through beads" blog posts.  Right now, I am finishing up my second attempt at the monstrance bead, so I will post on that when it's finished.