This week we have successfully turned Shannon’s home office and the landing of the upstairs of our house into the temporary Seed For Generations office. We have spent countless hours cataloging, printing and packing inventory. On Saturday, we had a happy group of youngsters from Shannon’s homeschool co-op class come to the house and happily pack thousands of packets of seeds so we could re-open for business.
They were incredibly attentive, taking care to the details and made few messes. Proof that a little healthy competition is good for production. An 11 yr old girl, with a naturally competitive spirit, out-packed her competitors by at least 30%. These students were so eager to help. Every day Shannon went to class, they would ask how they could help us and were waiting in the que for an opportunity. Truly, we are thankful for their joyfulness and help!
Another young man from co-op helped our older sons dig the trench to run internet underground to join the main trench that was dug for the electrical lines. Many hands to make light work is a truthful saying. What is often forgotten is “Many hands make light work and a bit of chaos.” We’re almost ready to cover the trench to the shed, which was delayed due to needing a longer internet cable. Still, we are thrilled to keep making progress.
We’ve been blessed with finding supplies that we need for great prices. Jason scored a great deal on a pre hung door for his office. We also found an amazing deal on used, commercial style cabinets in nearly perfect condition located close to Jason’s parents. They were troopers and happy volunteers to fetch them. They arrived with them Thursday and are staying for a few days to help with installing them and finishing the shed. This was a huge answer to our prayers, as new cabinets are very expensive.
We also have gotten help from several people from church to work with Jason to continue to make progress inside the shed, which will be the new home for the seed business. We have run electric, installed insulation, and begun to install paneling. Lights are starting to be installed and HVAC comes next. We’ll then install the cabinets and countertops. We should be able to move the seeds and other office supplies into the building within the next week or so, allowing us to start doing fulfillment in a spacious new area instead of the cramped quarters we’re currently using inside our house.
Due to the arrival of our bulk seed supplies and the diligent work of our children and many others helping, we were officially able to open the Seeds For Generations online store again and begin taking orders last weekend, just three weeks since the fire. Even though the new office space was not ready to move into yet, we did not want to wait and delay the arrival of seeds to our wonderful customers. By leaning forward like this, the process has been a little more stressful having to juggle fulfillment operations at the same time that we’re finishing the new office space, but we hope that our customers appreciated us prioritizing their needs.
We would very much appreciate you all sharing with your friends and family about our family business. This is our busy season and we had a significant delay in our ability to take and fulfill seed orders at a critical time of year when many people are buying seeds to start seedlings inside. You can share us via email and on Facebook, Instagram, Gab, Telegram or any other social media platform you can. This will help us get back on our feet.
This is the primary income for our family of nine and we depend on the business of faithful customers to make our small business a success.
Above all, please pray for us. We are almost a month into this trial, and we are tired. There is so much work to do to start the business up again from scratch, including preparing a new office space, nevermind the time-consuming challenge of cleaning up and inventorying everything damaged and destroyed by the fire. This is a long road, and we are very grateful for your prayers and support for us.
As we move forward, our desire continues to be that we would honor God and walk uprightly through this process, bringing glory to our Creator and respecting those around us. We know we aren’t perfect, far from it, and have failed those around us, but we do desire for the love of Christ to overcome all of this with stronger relationships. Our friends have come around us and helped so much, but we desire not to take advantage of anyone’s generosity. Please pray for wisdom for us to know when and how to move forward in a laborious process and that all relationships would remain intact. This trial is not just for us and it impacts so many people in and outside of our family.
“Teach me Your way, Oh Lord; I will walk in your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart. And I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is your mercy toward me, and you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” ~Psalm 86:11
“It is not always easy to know whether a thing we long for is a temptation from Satan to distract us from obedience and make us discontent, or something God actually wants to give us and therefore wants us to pray for. There is no such thing as something “too good to be true.” God is loving and lavishly generous and has promised to give what is good–that is, what He who is omniscient knows to be good for us.”
“No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly” Psalm 84:11.
ELISABETH ELLIOT~ From her book, The Path of Loneliness
Much Love and thankfulness,
Jason and Shannon, and all the children
Keep updated on the recovery process...
You can support us by purchasing store credit, gift certificates, or donating to our fundraiser!
