Home to Haven

by Rachel Sueppel

Our business started as a hobby. In 2018, I was a young bride focusing on the details for my wedding day. Since I was also an elementary school teacher at the time, money was tight. My goal was to have the wedding of my dreams but on a modest budget. This is when my creativity came into play. I decided to try my skill at hand-painting signs to use for wedding decor. My dad had leftover wood in the garage that he let me use. Though the signs were FAR from perfect, I was able to hand-paint several decor pieces for under $10!

After our September wedding, I moved to my husband’s hometown of Marion, Iowa. That autumn season, three young ladies from our church were busily planning their weddings. The church announced a bridal shower, celebrating all three of the

above: my hardworking husband. right: me with new pieces of wood just waiting to be turned into something amazing! far right: some of signs I have made.

brides together. Having just gone through a season of bridal showers and setting up my own home, I wanted to give each of the brides something personalized to enjoy. Pinterest gave me all sorts of ideas! Somehow, I couldn’t shake the idea of gifting a customized sign.

Being newlyweds, I suggested the idea to my husband, but also knew we couldn’t afford to buy each girl a custom sign from a store. Jon suggested we create the signs ourselves, using leftover wood from closet shelves. I agreed to give it a whirl. Jon cut three signs for me and taught me how to stain the wood properly. I made a basic design on my laptop, borrowed a projector from my in-laws, and painted the projected letters onto the wood. The whole project cost me less than $20.

Six hours later, I finished the signs. Honestly, being a perfectionist, I wasn’t thrilled with how they turned out. Frustrated that they didn’t look “perfect,” I almost threw the signs away. When Jon came home that night, he praised the hand-painted signs and encouraged me to still gift them to the brides. At the bridal shower that weekend, each bride was beyond thrilled with her custom sign. I almost cried from joy and relief!

family members as birthday and Christmas gifts. Everyone who received a sign loved it and told me I should start my own sign business. At that time, I was just enjoying making custom pieces for others. However, my wheels started spinning about the business venture, even though we weren’t quite ready to jump all-in at the time. It took two years of planning, thinking, and praying before Jon and I took the big step to start our business. In early 2020, we came up with the name “Home to Haven Designs,” and even designed a logo. We opened our shop in late fall of 2020.

Over the next few months, I poured a lot of time into designing my shop, establishing procedures, and adding products. The hard work paid off when I had my first Etsy sale in February 2021. The start felt slow, with purchases only coming from friends and family. However, at the beginning of September, the orders started pouring in with little effort from social media. The craziness didn’t stop until Christmas! Within my first year, I made over 300 sales from over 30 states. It’s amazing to see how God blessed us that first year.

This small business adventure has brought me so much joy! One of the most rewarding parts of the job is to catch the vision of my customers and design a product that makes them say, “That’s exactly what I wanted!” It gets even better when they send a picture of my signs displayed in their home. Being your own boss definitely has its perks as well. A flexible schedule, working in my pjs, and creating new deIf you’re considering starting a business, I would encourage you with a few thoughts: 1. Pray. - As you seek His will, God will give peace about the tough decisions and how to handle situations. There have been many weeks of “quiet” in the shop. I often stopped to pray that the Lord would give me just one order. Within a day or two, I had several orders come into the shop. God delights in blessing you. 2. Go ahead and start, even if you’re scared. -

Jump into this new adventure wholeheartedly!

Don’t be afraid to start, even if you can’t answer all the “what ifs.” Be brave, pray for the Lord’s guidance, and start. 3. Celebrate the little successes. - Every milestone,

left: me taking orders to the post office! right: more samples of the products I make. next page: my husband and I along with more of the things we make!

102 Sit still my daughter | Winter 2022 big or small, is worth celebrating. For me, sometimes it’s rewarding myself with a

Starbucks coffee after dropping off 10 orders at the Post Office. Take time to stop and celebrate how far you’ve come! 4. Don’t sweat the small things. - I remember the day I received my first 4-star review. Up to that point, all of my other product reviews had been 5-stars. I became so bothered with the idea that I did something wrong to earn a “less than perfect” review. I reached out to the buyer, asking if I could do anything to make the experience with our shop a more pleasant one. I couldn’t stop thinking about the situation until I received her response hours later. She commented that nothing was wrong with her sign and she was very happy with it. However, she rarely gave anyone 5-star reviews. While it was nice to hear she wasn’t upset with her order, I was still annoyed. My husband gently reminded me to keep moving forward and give my best to the next batch of orders in my queue. 5. Have a good support system! - I couldn’t do this business without my husband.

He is my constant encourager. He has

a bigger vision for our business than I do some days, and pours his heart into helping me develop ideas and plans. Making our business a team effort has strengthened our marriage and made us even closer friends.

My hesitation with starting the business was the reality that it would take loads of time and hard work. “What if I get overwhelmed with orders and can’t keep up with everything?” was my constant worry. “What if I don’t know how to solve an issue that comes up?” I didn’t want the business to take time away from my husband or home. However, after praying and talking to one of my sisters (who also runs a small business), I realized running this business was simply one way of modeling the example of a Proverbs 31 woman: “She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.” (verses Winter 2022 | Sit still my daughter 103 17 and 18) I can truly say my “candle” has been on well into the night with this new business adventure… and the hard work has been so rewarding.

To learn more about our shop check us out on Etsy, just search for our shop name: Home to Haven Designs.

The company my mother worked for was not doing well and we knew that a layoff was possible. We prayed for God to show us where she should apply and heard about a company that could be a potential fit for her. We decided to stop by on a Friday so she could introduce herself and see if they were hiring. We were unaware that the day we came just "happened" to be the one day they were open to the public. She was able to meet one of the managers and share her job skills that seemed to be exactly what they were looking for. Shortly after she was given an interview and offered a position. My mom then spoke to her current boss and was surprised to see relief on their faces. They shared that it would have been necessary to lay her off the same week she was to start her new job and they were not looking forward to telling my mom the news. Though I shouldn't be, I am often amazed at God's perfect timing!

As a missionary, sometimes it can be difficult to obtain a place for your congregation to meet. The missionary family I work with has been meeting in a small community hall but a situation arose where we needed to find another facility. God answered our prayer by allowing us to rent the church facilites we had recently used to host our neighborhood Bible time event. It is always amazing and wonderful to see how the Lord provides! Deana Hewston - missionary to Scotland