My Thirty-one "Why"

Whats the big deal with the purses and totes? If you've seen me in the past few months you may have noticed the new totes and purses I've been using. If you've entered my home, for sure you've seen so many bags that you might start calling me "the bag lady." The name seems to fit. I wouldn't call myself a fashionista by any means. I've always been a pretty simple and straight lined kind of person, not fussing much with accessories and such. Remember my name? Jane. Yes. I fit that name too.

Let me back up to 2008.

We had moved away from our home town and were trying to settle into working and living on the west side of Washington. My husband worked long and crazy hours, but made a good income. I stayed home with our children since that was extremely important to my husband and I. We were done having children and our youngest was three. I was thinking about the changes that would take place once our youngest was in school. It made sense that I would go back to work part time, continuing my career in dental assisting, while striving to keep my family my first priority. I really enjoyed my career before our children came along and once established again it would be easy to work part time hours around my children. I crunched the numbers again and again. What bothered me about what I came up with was that my children would most likely need to be in day care either before or after school-or both. Daycare is not the worst thing in the world (as I have experience with taking my daughter there), but it is not our first choice. I wanted to have enough time to work alongside their teachers and be involved in the school, and keep up with our home. It seemed overwhelming. God answered that question for me by changing the hearts of my husband and I. I couldn't believe it, we were wanting to have another child! After a painful miscarriage- I got pregnant with our son in 2009, Luke. God took me on a journey with Him and it's been very sweet. I love having three children.

In 2011 we made a decision to move back home. It came with months of praying and seeking counsel. We knew it would be a hard transition as Aaron would have to walk away from consistent work and start a new business. We moved home in July 2012. It's been a time of clinging to God as we re-establish our family in Spokane. But overall, it's the best decision we've ever made. Aaron changed his employment and is now working alongside his brother. It's been a win for both he and his brother.

As we moved back home I was looking for a fresh start. With only one child at home I felt like I needed a new challenge. Just a week into our move home I attended a Thirty-one party. I had never heard of this company before, and instantly I was intrigued. I purchased lunch bags for my kids with their names on them for the upcoming school year. It was two days later that I couldn't sleep. God was putting the idea of starting my own business with Thirty-one on my heart. I pushed it away the best I could. I was simple, not the bubbly type of personality it would take to talk in front of people, getting excited about thermal bags. After the second night of God tugging at my heart, I called Jenny who was the consultant at the party. I had remembered how easy she made it look to do a party. She told me later that she thought I was calling to cancel my order because she thought it was her worst party ever. She had been a consultant for just four months and had a two week old baby at home. After talking with Jenny in person I knew that God wanted me to move forward. If felt like a huge leap of faith. That was last July.

Fast forward to today, and I have been selling Thirty-one for almost eight months. I've had a lot of support from my friends and family who have helped me get a great business going. (Thank you so much!!) I had started with the idea that I could earn a little bit of income on the side from a Christian based company that I believed in. Now I see that there is so much more than that. I often get asked "Why did you decide to sell Thirty-one?" Well, here is my "Why." I love that with Thirty-one I can choose when I want to work. I can work around my family's needs and volunteer as much I want to. I can work a few hours a week at nap times and in the evening. I get to help other busy women find solutions for getting rid of clutter and organizing their routines to allow more time.  I get the chance to get out and meet new people while promoting a company I believe in-whose goals are to see women honor their husbands and families by having core beliefs that line up with the Proverbs 31 woman. I have an outlet where I can be stretched and challenged and held accountable to who God wants me to be from other women, who work alongside me. I also get to reward and celebrate women. And best of all, God is meeting me where I feel weak and molding me into who he wants me to be.

If you haven't heard of Thirty one, or want more information-check out my website by clicking the Thirty-one box on my left side bar.