It's time for my word of the year! I typically talk about this earlier in the year, but because my word this year has a particular context, I wanted to wait just a bit. So, my word this year is...
(full disclosure: I had posted this word by my desk for several weeks before I realized that this year is, in fact, a leap year - yes, because I am on top of all the things!)
Leap follows my word last year - Faith. It's appropriate, I think. Maybe it's my age (and we'll leave that right there), or where I am in my journey through life and faith, but lately I've been feeling like it's time to step out and take action. So, this year, I am leaping :)
As a family we have started the year with a couple of leaps - we got a new dog...
... and have made the move to join a different church family. While changes and adjustments are always a little tricky, both of these leaps have already proven to be just what our family needed. And so, I am moving on to a leap of my own...
It is with great pleasure and excitement (and a little nervousness) that I am announcing the launch of...
(Many thanks to Caitlin Powell Design for adapting my logo!)
Pillows for Good is a little piece of my heart. From the early planning stages of August Blues Slipcover Studio, I have hoped to be able to give back/pay forward the gift that this business has been to me and my family. Skip ahead to last year and the revelations about the refugee crisis growing across the Middle East grabbed my attention like few news stories ever have. I read everything I could get my hands on and, while I worked on slipcovers, listened to webinars from key organizations who are working in that part of the world.
I was introduced to the work of Preemptive Love, in particular. Their philosophy of waging peace in conflict zones (Iraq, Iran, and Libya) by loving first and meeting the needs of the people they come in contact with, resonated with the faith perspective I grew up with (you can read more about their story and work here). There were other connections for me, but when I found out they were providing Empowerment Grants for families whose lives have been torn apart by conflict, I knew this was the opportunity I had been waiting for. There are several things about these grants that I love: the grants come out of relationships that Preemptive Love staff have developed with people they meet, the businesses that these grants fund are specifically designed to support and meet needs in the larger community, and the relationships are ongoing so follow-up happens naturally (read some of the stories here).
So that's the "For Good" part. The "Pillow" part is also good :) Pillows for Good is my little shop that sells pillow covers for your home. And not just any pillow covers, these are REAL LIFE pillows --> family-room pillows, pillow-fort pillows, sick-days-on-the-couch pillows, my-dog-sleeps-on-my-pillows pillows, because they are completely washable and dry-able in your home machines. All the fabrics are pre-shrunk and will just get softer and more comfortable with use. I have specially selected farmhouse-style fabrics that are sturdy and beautifully timeless and simple. Patterns are yard-dyed (woven into the fabric, instead of just being printed on) and mostly natural cottons and linens. Because, this is how pillows get used at our house (and maybe at yours, too?)...
So, what is the connection between pillow forts and refugees in Iraq? I'm so glad you asked! $10 for every pillow cover purchased will go towards an Empowerment Grant. My goal (yes, deep breath, I'm putting it out there) is $1000 by the end of the year - if you are doing the math, that's 100 pillows!!! Yep, a little nervous about that. But, I guess that's why they call it a Leap :)
So, will you join me? Purchase a pillow cover (or two!), share this shop with your friends, let me know what kinds of fabrics you would like to see... I need to do this, but I can't do it alone. When I think of blessing another mom on the other side of the world with a business of her own, that will allow her to feed her kids and send them to school in spite of all they have lost, I get shivers and can't wait to write that check!
So, here's to leaping (together), loving first, and waging peace!
Sherri
P.S. I will still be doing slipcovers ;)