2 Corinthians 2:5 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
I’ve got to confess right off the bat that I don’t know the ending to this story. However, I’m excited to share it with you so that we can witness what the Lord is doing in real-time, together!
Something that’s probably pretty obviously if you’re someone who follows us on social media is that my family’s priorities have changed. Since moving and finding a community + church, everythingggggg has changed for us! Simplicity + contentment have become our new goals and I feel a deep urgency to get rid of everything else.
In the past you’ve watched me experience the “finer things” in life, yet I still felt unbelievably empty and sad. These days you can find me in the backyard picking wildflowers rather than at the mall.
I’m so thankful for how Jesus has turned my life around!
This new way of living has overflowed into every aspect of our lives- including the businesses. For the past couple months I’ve been feeling like we needed to change up the way we’re doing things, but wasn’t sure what to do about it. I was trying to justify and convince myself that what I was feeling was not from the Lord and I tried to ignore it.
But then I received a vision from the Lord. This is something I had never experienced before. I’ve heard people talk about it, but I didn’t grow up in a Holy Spirit filled church and up until recently I’ve never experienced God like this. I’ll hear from him in other ways and see Him in things all around me, but I’ve never heard from the Lord with a vision like He gave me that day (bc I received this so recently and I feel like I’m still processing… so bear with me as I explain 🤣)!
A couple weeks ago I was sitting on my back porch and I experienced this vision as clear as day. I understood what Jesus meant immediately, and it deeply convicted me.
It was quick, simple, and it was powerful.
I was standing in a white bright room with Jesus, and in front of him was this massive whiteboard and on the whiteboard He had drawn all of these black little tally marks, and there was so many of them! On the right side of the board there were a couple of tally marks. I’m standing there, straight on to this board, and there’s no words on the board. In the room it’s just Him and me. He’s standing there and He is full of grace, love, and compassion, but He is serious.
All He says to me is (and I literally have chills and am trying not to cry as explain this to you guys!!), “Kansas look on the left side here. This is how many times you have convinced someone, encourage someone or inspired someone to purchase an item. On the other side is how many people you have brought to know Me.”
Wow. Y’all. I was heartbroken. I sat there stunned and deeply moved. My first thought after that was the amount of people who know me as a girl who buys her daughters Louis Vuitton and not the girl to brings people to Jesus.
In that exact moment I knew I would never be the same and that I had to make an instant change!
I knew exactly what the Lord was referring to, we have to shut down the upcycled luxury part of MichalkeMade.
Just to clarify, I don’t expect everyone to understand, and I know that many people already don’t. But this is how a life led by God works. When you’re fully committed to what He’s calling you to do, nothing else really matters. You become so focused on His purpose that others’ opinions no longer hold any weight. After all, you know that following His plan will lead to greater success than anything you could achieve on your own.
After this moment, I went and told Brandon. Through his own encounter with Jesus (that’s his story to tell), he agreed. We spent the entire day going back-and-forth trying to plan and figure everything out before we went in front of our employees, families, + friends.
Then it hit us the next day- we have to do things the same way we did when we started. We have to blindly trust God again, not knowing the next step, and just let Him work. We’d seen God do it for us before, we know that He could do that again! We decided that we needed to put the entire Michalke Made site on sale at 40% off in hopes to get rid of all the Upcycled canvas.
What Now?
The story goes on and God showed up so many times after this moment. From an emotional and heartfelt meeting with our team to unbelievable conversations with random people on the street.
I handed over the pen of my life to God and SPOILER ALERT- He writes the best stories! I’m full of faith as we shift gears and enter into this new season!
It seems hard and scary, but sweet friend, it is oh-so worth it! Here are some tips to help you get started if you feel God is leading you to.
Simple Ways to Walk By Faith, Not By Sight:
- Remind yourself constantly of God’s promises! He promises to be good, faithful, to provide, and to take care.
- Cling to the things of God! Anything in your life that is leading you the wrong way, get rid of (even an entire business 😉 )
- Talk to Jesus constantly! It’s okay if it feels weird or like He’s not listening- the more you do it the more second nature it becomes!