Big Dreams, not so small town

I have always had big dreams, big aspirations for myself.  Even when I was little I knew I wanted to do something incredible.  I wanted to rule the world.  Ok, maybe I thought a little highly of myself, or more than a little, but hey, without a vision the people perish, right?  You have to have a dream.  I’m sure growing up an only child did not help this situation (Although, I do have an incredible little sister now and I’m still not much better).  :)

From a young age I knew what I wanted was to be my own boss, to be self employed.  As I got older I still just knew I would do big things, big things in the business world.  I wanted to set out and conquer something.  I went through high school and junior college thinking the same thing, but when I went to A&M something happened.  I realized I was no more special than anyone else out there, and that the real world is a hard one to survive in.  So, I started a career, basically as a fall back, but it turned out that I loved it.  I’m a banker by first trade and I enjoy the thrill of building a relationship with someone, earning their trust, and being there for them when they are ready for big changes, like buying their first herd of cattle, building their first home, buying their first farm, and guiding them through the potentially intimidating process of getting a loan.  I love it when people call me “their banker”.  I love it when people ask me for insight on financial matters.  I love so many aspects of my job, from helping customers with personal decisions to making good business decisions to watching my portfolio grow (or sometimes shrink).  Sure, there are downfalls, that is with every job. 

As I grew as a banker, I watched the dream of owning my own business fall to the way side…

 

Insert ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes…

 

I never thought about being a mom, never knew for a fact that it would happen.  I’m not a “kid” person, per say.  I never wanted to baby sit, there was no money in it.  Just one day I woke up and decided I wanted, no NEEDED, a child and my life was forever changed, it was like someone flipped a switch inside of me. 

I quickly learned the struggle of being a “working mom”.  I say this lightly because if you call yourself a mom, you work, no matter if you draw a pay check or not.  My son has gone to day care since he was 6 weeks old, which is not a bad thing, but it ripped my heart out for a long time when I left him with someone else during the day.  I missed his first words, his first steps (I think there is a country song along those lines), a lot of firsts.  This is what made me start thinking about my long lost dream once again.  My son was constantly sick, I was always torn between the guilt of needing to be at work and the guilt of sometimes having to leave a sick baby with a family member.  Thus re-enter the ‘ol self employment dream.  I got into this business because I was always seeing something and telling my husband “I can do THAT”, and he would respond with “so do it!”  Well, eventually I did.  

 

We are moving to the McKinney, TX area.  During the course of making the decision for this move I had to consider, where does my passion lie?  Is it with the banking industry or am I ready to leave behind 8 years of a great banking career and try something different?  My heart is saying to follow my dream, so I’m stepping out in faith, and hoping that God will do big things in our endeavors. 

It is with great sadness I will leave the bank I am at now.  What a great place they have been for myself and my family.  Everyone there is so good to us.  With that being said, I am excited to announce the following:

HD will have a full-time staff as of December 1, 2011, consisting of myself and a 2 year old. 

It’s very daunting leaving the security of a guaranteed paycheck, but at the same time such an awesome thrill, to be able to watch my kiddo grow up and to be able to pursue a childhood dream all at the same time.  My emotions are beyond words right now and we would appreciate your prayers that all will go well.  

Our first and foremost mission is to keep our customers #1, for without you guys we have nothing!  We are so thankful for all of you and are ready to help you with now faster turnaround times and more ideas than ever!  I can introduce a phone number now, which I haven’t been able to do in the past!  469-247-7004. Also, we are coming to Serendipity Market in Edmond, we are waiting for another market in the OKC area to open up, and are looking at some spaces in the DFW Metroplex!  Online is not the only place to find HD now!  We are also looking at some different shipping options to help our online customers with the ever-rising cost of shipping.  

Thank you all, again, so much for all your help in making my dream become a reality!  We are so excited to live true to our name (Heritage Designs was based off of the Scripture Psalm 127:3, as we hoped one day this business would allow me to give my all to our children)!

To Everything There Is A Season

And a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted:

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew: a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate: a time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit has he that works in that wherein he labors? I have seen the travail, which God has given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

He has made everything beautiful in His time: also He has set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end.

I cannot possibly find a more fitting explanation of our lives over the past 6 months than Ecclesiastes 3. Caleb and I have gone to the top of the mountain then travelled to the depths of the valley and back up the mountain again, truly a time to lose, a time to heal, a purpose for everything.

As many of you probably already know Caleb and I were expecting a new addition to our family in late January. We were elated. I had a minor procedure and three days later found out I was pregnant. Of our desires in life a house full of children is one of them, so we were elated. We spent several weeks basking in the glow of pregnancy, teaching our son to say “brother”, dreaming of what this child could become, praying for a healthy happy baby, watching the excitement fill our parents’ faces as we told them (or my little sister told my Dad and step mom) we were expecting another Blessing from God. I pondered and pondered on the verse which I had recently put on a sign I made “From the fullness of His grace we have received one blessing after another. John 1:16” Needless to say our hearts were saddened when I started having “issues”, issues similar to what I had when I was expecting our son, but, unfortunately, they continued and we lost the baby we so desperately longed for. The day we found out my doctor told me to go home and look in the eyes of my son and to go outside and look at all the goodness that surrounds me. I followed doctor’s orders. Caleb and I went home, got Joshua from daycare and just basked in that baby’s wonderful, positive…blessed glow. Joshua is two years old now.

Learning to cope, and finding hope

Over the past two years I have followed a family, The Mutz’s, who lost Molly, their daughter, when she was only seven days old. I listened to their radio program, followed Rebecca’s blog and saw updates from their Face Book posts. I cried when I heard them cry, I was purely devastated for them. My heart ached for them. I found out they were expecting again, and twins this time! What a blessing! One verse came to mind and I knew I had to make them a sign, so I did. I will have to say that I held on to it selfishly and it has helped me realize that there is a time and a purpose for everything.

A friend that Caleb and I used to go to church with ordered a sign “Children are a treasure from the Lord.” I love this, and I love the verse it originates from, which is also the verse after which we named our business, Heritage Designs, “Children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.” I absolutely loved working on this sign. What a promise it sends to me!

This Sunday will mark my due date for that precious child we lost. People miscarry all the time and I still deal with the guilt of being devastated over losing this baby. I feel guilty that other people have suffered much more than me. Who am I to say I have pain? I realize a little more each day that pain is pain, and no matter what others have experienced I still have the right to have pain…To grieve. I have been thinking of a way to commemorate this child’s life but have yet to find a way that would give justice to this baby, nothing I can think of is good enough...

I’m sure most of you know that Caleb received a promotion and we moved to the Oklahoma City area in September. Another reason I shut down the business. I am so proud of him. He has taken on his new task with a “bull by the horns” mentality and is doing a great job. We miss Arkansas terribly, but have been blessed in abundance with new friends (and renewal of some old friendships). It was an opportunity for us to freely rely on God and we were in awe of the amazing things we saw Him do during our relocation.

Truly God makes everything beautiful in His time. Thank you for the time off, and we are looking forward to serving you and helping you put wonderful ideas on your wall! Things will be changing around here so please bear with us!

Trista Hill