One Year

One year.

Today marks one year since I launched this little dream of mine… and Sarah Ann Design has been a blessing beyond my deepest hopes.

At this time last year, I hung up my hat at the nine-to-five job I loved so much, so that I could pursue the tug on my spirit to launch my own business. I really had no expectations—just a heart full of hope and a dash of trepidation. I said to my husband, “Let’s give it a year. Let’s just see what happens.”

A year has flown by so quickly. But here I am: still swimming with my head above water. God has seen it fit to bless this creative endeavor with more than I had possibly imagined for year one.

Over the past 365 days, I’ve watched this little business grow by leaps and bounds. This past year has been a rapid growth spurt that sometimes leaves me feeling like an awkward teenager with knobby elbows and knees, growing way too fast for me to catch up to myself. I’ve learned so much—but there is still so much to learn.

You can take a peek at a few of this year’s highlights in my recent yearly recap post: Welcome, 2018. When I look back on the clients I’ve served, the connections I’ve made, and the work I’ve produced… I’m filled to the brim with joy. It took a bit of passion and a lot of coffee, but wow: what a wonderful adventure thus far.

I’m still humbled that God has entrusted me with a creative talent worthy of sharing. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve my clients, and to nurture my own creative spirit. 

Sarah Ann Design allows me to thrive. Even though entrepreneurship can be challenging, Sarah Ann Design provides environment where I feel like I can serve well. I am able to serve clients—to preserve their love stories and represent their brands. I am able to serve my husband and my marriage. I am able to serve Christ.

This season of life feels especially fulfilling. I am drawn again and again to Esther 4:14:

“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.” 

Perhaps this season is a special window of time in which I can serve God particularly well. Perhaps there is another season ahead that will be even more enriching than I could possibly imagine now. Either way, I keep this quote close to my heart lately. Perhaps this moment is the moment: my greatest opportunity to love and serve. I intend to live as though it is.

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Moving forward, I hope to stay Rooted. True to my values. True to the seedling dreams that have since flourished into a successful creative business. That’s the thing about us dreamers: there’s always a bigger dream just out of reach. It’s all too easy to fixate on the next thing, striving for the next goal and the next one after that—forever pushing our dreams out of our grasp. It’s easy to forget the humble dreams that founded our creative leaps.

But if you had asked me one year ago what I dreamed of… it was this. What I have right here and right now. An opportunity to wholeheartedly love and serve my clients. A calendar full of creatively inspiring projects. A network of encouraging friends in the creative community. A flexible schedule that allows me to nurture my marriage and my home. A balance of joy and profit in my work.

When I find myself reaching for the next goal in business, I have to take a step back and remind myself to savor the goals that have already been reached—the dreams that I am living in today. A vision for the future is a good thing. But an appreciation for the present is equally important.

Rooted in the dreams that founded my business. Rooted in my marriage. Rooted in faith. 

 

 

So, pop a bottle of champagne! Cheers to one year of Sarah Ann Design!

I cannot thank you enough for following my creative journey and playing a role in my story.

 

 

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And, one year later, I have to reiterate the same words that I penned when I launched Sarah Ann Design:

To my parents and in-laws: thank you for not even blinking an eye when I said I was quitting my job to pursue Sarah Ann Design. You all have been my biggest cheerleaders since day one. Thank you for never doubting me, even when I constantly doubt myself.

To my husband: You’re everything. We both know I never would have taken the plunge without you. Thank you.

And above all else, always, to Him be the glory.

 

 

Perhaps this is the moment… 
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