Bonanza!

I have just made a decision to stop selling the last product from my formerly very busy and successful business, Itty Bitty Birdie Bites. That home business took up a large portion of my time and energy, and even a little bit of my identity...when I had to give it up due to health issues, I grieved. So I kept one of my most popular products and have continued to sell my Simple Sprouts for the last couple of years. But now, for quite a few reasons, I've had to give that up as well.

Yes, some of my original health issues have been resolved. My depth of field and distance perception has been made normal by the cataract surgery I had in September, and most of my constant debilitating gut issues have been removed by my Nissen Fundoplication in December. These 2 things have really given me back a normal life in almost all respects!

But some issues remain that make it difficult to run a business. Most importantly, my mental organizational and mathematical abilities remain impaired from the stroke. In addition the arthritis in my spine has progressed to the point that I now have a permanent handicap parking status on my car. Pain in hips and legs has worsened as my back has, so standing/walking becomes difficult fairly quickly, especially when I'm lifting and/or bending, twisting, and doing what it takes to make my product. I manage most things quite well, and I'm definitely not complaining :)...just explaining.

So, given all of the above, I have had a big hole in my life where my business used to be. Yes, my life is full of other things: my family, church activities, my music, babysitting my wonderful grandson, the parrots and other pets, my home...but I still felt a void. So while recovering from my "big" surgery last December I spent quite a bit of time on the web, and discovered several online selling sites, including Bonanza. But I loved Bonanza, because it was so social and so easy to understand and so friendly! So I researched it a bit as I felt some excitement beginning, and couldn't find anything bad about it anywhere, so I prayed about it, and it's been tumbling around in my mind ever since.

Last week I felt strongly led to visit the site again (I've visited frequently, read some FAQs, browsed some booths in the interim), and also to create an account. While I'd had a couple of great suggestions for names for a booth, last week one just popped into my mind and it was THE NAME. (I love how God makes things so clear to me!) I have been gathering up a few things here and there for inclusion in my eventual booth, since I already knew what the theme of it would be, so now I have several boxes of items with which to start up!

I've had a desire for a long time to have a small online "shop" for selling gently used Christian materials, such as books, music (sheet music and music books), CDs and DVDs, etc. There is no heavy lifting involved, only pulling light-weight items off a shelf and putting them into padded envelopes for mailing. (And keeping books - something I really struggle with now -will be so much simpler as well.) I can also sell some other things there that I have around the house, at garage sale prices, but the main focus will be Christian-based media at discounted prices. I'm continually finding such things at the thrift shops and yard/garage/rummage sales that I love to frequent (so much so that I could call it a hobby), so I don't think that maintaining a good stock will be a problem. My goal is at least 75% off list - and more whenever possible - but we'll see how realistic that turns out to be :).

As with Itty Bitty Birdie Bites, this isn't something that I am doing to get rich. When I did IB3, many months I just broke even and a few months I even lost money. Most months I could at least take Pete and I out for dinner or put some gas in the tank after I'd tithed on my income, and that was enough for me. It was about the passion for what I did, for knowing I was getting fun and healthy foods into so many birdie beaks. And with this this new project, I'm again feeling excitement...I'll be getting spiritually healthy materials into people's hands.

Today I will begin adding the items to sell in my booth, His Way Christian Media'n'More. I don't know what plans God has for my endeavor, it may be meeting someone for His purposes, or getting something I have into someone else's hands, or vice versa, but most likely His reasons aren't known to me, and that's how it usually is with my Father :). I just know that He has planted an anticipation into my heart about the project, and I'm happy He is granting my desire according to what He has placed into my heart.