Life is moving seven thousand miles an hour right now. And I’m not sure it has any plans on slowing down anytime soon.
Our Simplified Planners (our fourth release) sold out in 5 hours last week. We have someone new and amazing joining our team (announcement coming soon!). After much prayer and eight thousand conversations and one big leap of faith, we’re changing the Simplified Planner completely. We’re in talks with an incredible developer to build a Simplified Planner App. We’ve been working with an amazing design team to refine the Emily Ley brand to, even more keenly, represent our mission to bring joy and simplicity into the lives of busy women. We’re planning our first THREE trunk shows for Pensacola, Carrollwood Country Club and Tampa later this fall. We’ve revamped nearly every personalized product in the shop and will be releasing a few new ones for the holidays. And we may be revamping our shop a bit before our next Simplified Planner release. My sweet toddler man is growing SO. FAST. I CAN’T. EVEN. UNDERSTAND. IT. And my marriage is strengthening by the milisecond as we suffer through this crazy journey still TRYING TO HAVE ANOTHER baby. All the while I”m being so diligent about spending time on what matters. On slowing down and being intentional with my time with my family because I know these moments are so quickly slipping away.
Deep breaths deep breaths deep breaths.
I’m praying so hard through every decision. So hard. And God is telling me EMILY. GO. DO.
Yes, this is all a STORM of good and hard craziness and sometimes I absolutely cannot see which way is up, but God is leading my way. I trust Him so much with all of this.
On Friday, after working a gazillion hours on our new Simplified Planner concept (we’re going back to our roots, y’all… I can’t wait to share more later), my friend Sibi tagged me in a post she put on Facebook. It’s a video of Shane & Shane singing their song “Though You Slay Me” with John Piper preaching at the end. I hit play because Pandora had momentarily frozen.
I cried my face off. The pain of infertility is NOTHING compared to pain my friends have felt losing children, losing parents, losing everything. I haven’t allowed myself to feel its hurt because I HAVE a little one. Or to feel the loneliness that comes along with it sometimes. And I just let it all wash over me alone in my office at midnight. The fear of making the wrong business decision and losing my entire dream. The pain of longing for another baby. The pain of feeling sick and tired and physical pain of DRUGS, DRUGS and more DRUGS as we attempt to become a family of four. But our God is healer.
At the end of this video…after Piper explains that everything is for a reason… he says “So therefore, therefore, do not lose heart. But take these truths and day by day focus on them. Preach them to yourself every morning. Get alone with God and preach His word into your mind until your heart SINGS with confidence that you are NEW and cared for.”
There’s something about the way he says THEREFORE that made me want to jump up and down. Therefore do not lose heart. Because God says so. Because it is ALL for His glory. Because walking the path of a believer is hard and that is okay. Because love NEVER fails and God ALWAYS wins.
I’m not sure I can even write anymore after that. Amen. I’m so hopeful. So excited about each and every new opportunity and ounce of growth. I’m so scared to make the wrong move but I am so committed to our mission. And I’m so convinced in God’s timing putting that video in front of me at that very moment that I have an enormous smile on my face typing this. There is so much good to come for all of us, friends.
xo,
Emily
Read more of John Piper’s message here.
Beautiful photo of Brady, just a few weeks old, above by Gina Zeidler. Love you, G.