I was thinking about how good God is and how we can always trust in His promises. 

It’s been a strange year with so many changes, but also new opportunities. 

I’ve always been very creative but with a job and family there hasn’t always been time to do the things I love to do. But Lockdown proved to be a time that enabled me to explore my creative side. 

About three years ago I visited the Prophetic Table at a River Together and the person there said they saw creativity and a ‘Shop’. My initial thoughts were ‘yes I love being creative but I’m not sure how a shop fits in at the moment’. 

So during lockdown I found I had a bit more time on my hands and together with my sixteen year old daughter Jasmine we decided to have a go at making some Resin Jewellery, bookmarks and keyrings. We found it great fun and so relaxing it was quite therapeutic, even Costas had a go. It also gave us a chance to experiment. 

When I showed some of our creations to friends and colleagues I found people wanted to buy them, this encouraged us to make more. The more we made the more offers we received. So I decided to put some online on Etsy.com and a week ago while passing a handmade craft shop in Burnham I suddenly thought ‘why not?’. So I went in, and they now have many of our pieces for sale and we have been asked to start work on a Christmas line. 

So it may have taken a few years and I didn’t understand how ‘shop’ fitted in at the time, but God did, and what He promises will always come to pass. 

Julie Ioakeim - Slough

Julie's etsy shop can be found here