The Stewardship Journal

The Freedom I Didn't Know I Was Seeking

One year ago on July 1st through the 4th, I unlocked the doors to Fae Fire for the very first time. 

Choosing the Fourth of July for a soft opening probably wasn't the most strategic decision for a small retail business. Most people were celebrating with family, attending parades, or heading out of town. If I had been making the decision purely as a business owner, I might have chosen another date.

But something deeper was happening.

At the time, I couldn't fully explain it. I only knew that Independence Day felt symbolic. Looking back now, I understand why.

This journey was never just about opening a store.

It was about discovering freedom.

Not the kind that comes from owning a business.

Not the kind that comes from financial success.

But the freedom that begins the moment you stop waiting until you have every answer and instead take the next faithful step.

For the past year, I've often described my path as following "divine breadcrumbs." Rarely have I been handed a complete map. Instead, God has faithfully provided enough light for the next step, then the next, and then the next.

Sometimes those breadcrumbs led to joyful victories.

Sometimes they led through fear, uncertainty, financial hardship, and lessons I never would have chosen for myself.

Yet every step has shaped me.

Yesterday reminded me why.

A woman called and asked if I could help recreate her dear friend's late husband's favorite cologne as a candle. The memorial service was only days away, and she wanted to give her friend something that would preserve a memory words could never fully capture.

Together we blended fragrance after fragrance until we found it.

The moment the final note settled into place, we all knew.

The scent wasn't simply familiar.

It felt like him.

Tears quietly filled the room as she smiled through her emotions and said, "My friend is going to ugly cry."

I smiled through my own tears because I realized something in that moment.

She wasn't asking me to make a candle.

She was asking me to help preserve love through scent.

Later that same afternoon, another couple walked through the door. We had met at a local event the week before, and they had driven into town because they remembered our conversation about wine. They poured a glass, settled in, played games, laughed together, and simply enjoyed being present.

Then something unexpected happened.

The two groups recognized each other.

One carried fresh grief.

The other carried the joy and laughter of a holiday weekend.

For a little while, both stories occupied the same room.

Neither diminished the other.

They simply shared the space.

As I reflected on the day, I realized something that has taken me an entire year to understand.

God has not been teaching me to steward inventory.

Or Shopify.

Or profit margins.

Or follower counts.

He has been teaching me to steward people.

Their celebrations.

Their quiet Tuesdays.

Their first dates.

Their anniversaries.

Their heartbreak.

Their laughter.

Their memories.

Their stories.

Yesterday answered the question I've quietly carried for an entire year.

God wasn't simply building a business.

He was teaching me how to steward a place where people could bring the most meaningful moments of their lives.

A place where friendships deepen over a glass of wine.

A place where someone can honor the memory of a husband through the fragrance he wore every day.

A place where strangers become neighbors.

A place where people leave carrying more than a purchase.

They leave carrying a memory.

As I celebrate one year today, my heart is full of gratitude.

Thank you to every customer who has trusted Fae Fire with a small piece of your story.

Thank you for allowing me to celebrate with you.

To grieve with you.

To laugh with you.

To learn from you.

To grow alongside you.

One year ago, I thought I was opening a candle shop.

Today, I understand that God was inviting me into something much greater.

The greatest thing I've been entrusted to steward was never a business.

It was people.

The greatest thing you'll ever steward isn't your work. It's the people your work allows you to serve.

And if I've learned anything over this first year, it's this:

Courage rarely feels extraordinary while you're living it.

Most days it simply looks like taking the next faithful step.

One breadcrumb at a time.

Perhaps freedom was never waiting for me at the finish line.

Perhaps freedom began the moment I trusted God enough to take the first step.

One year ago today, I unlocked the doors to Fae Fire believing I was opening a candle shop.

Today, I understand that God was opening something inside me.

Happy Independence Day.

Happy First Anniversary, Fae Fire.

Here's to whatever breadcrumb comes next.

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Proverbs 16:9