From the Mountains to the Sea

  In 2020, when the pandemic hit my husbands company decided it was going to move to Mexico.  We are a  family with special needs kids and an international move just wasn't the best idea for us, especially during a pandemic. So that left us wondering and praying what we should do.  After much thought and prayer we decided to relocate our Family to Wilmington, NC from Hendersonville, NC where we were established and had lived for many years.  With everything shut down because of the pandemic the event and decorating business was almost eliminated completely.  I had two weddings in that year and our own vow renewal, but that was it.  No weddings, baby showers, festivals.  Nothing.  As I continued to think about it over the year I began to think maybe I should probably close my business like the other thousands of other small business owners.   At least formally.  I knew I could volunteer at church doing events (if church ever reopened) or get involved in school events but still it wouldn't be a formal business. We love living at the coast now, but I don't know vendors or have tons of contacts like I do in WNC. It didn't seem feasible to try and start from scratch in a place where I barely knew anyone.   I had previously thought of moving my business to my parents farm and have done a few events and weddings there,  but my husband could not find a job there and the timing just never seemed right.   So it seemed impending doom was knocking at the door for She Shines Events and Decorating. 

A month ago my brother Greg called me and said he was going to transition back to the farm after he retires from the Army. He told me it was his dream for each of the siblings to come back and use their gifts and talents on the farm.  That got the wheels spinning in my head and the prayers going up.  One of my greatest joys is to work hand in hand with my family on the farm. So my husband and I began to talk it out, pray about it and then talked to my parents. The timing finally seemed right because my Dad was going to start the transition to retirement.  This opened the door for me to do events there.  After more conversations and more prayer We have decided that we want to spend some of each month of our summers in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina doing weddings and events. Not forsaking our love for the coast but who wouldn't love to have a home in both! 

Sometimes when God gives us a word and it doesn't happen as fast as we think it should,  its easy to think we didn't hear what God told us or what we thought he asked us to do.  But King David was anointed as King 13 years before he actually became the King.  I'm sure he wondered if he really heard what God said as he waited for 13 years  to  see that come to fruition.  God does the same with us.  An idea might begin to take root a very long time before we act on it.  Sometimes we act on it and all the doors seem shut. Then when we least except it the doors swing open and things begin to move.  I've been there, wondering if I heard God when I opened a business not long before a pandemic hit, only to move 5 hours away from where I knew everyone.  But God's plans and purposes can not be thwarted and His ways are not our ways.  He sees things and knows things we do not.  So we stay close to Him and pray so we can navigate this crazy road called LIFE.  She Shines is on the road again and this time its moving from the Sea back to the mountains.   My husband and I are excited to begin this journey to clear some land,  build our house and  our event spaces.  We are excited to get things in place so in the coming months we can welcome you to the farm.. 've always said I wanted to be a snowbird and although from NC Mountains to NC Sea isn't exactly snowbird its good enough for me!   #sheshines

In Gods Grace

Cyndi

PS.. below is a picture of my parents at our vow renewal this year.  Pray for them as five of their children with their spouses that consist of 22 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren start the pilgramage to Harrell Hill Farms in different capacities, different personalities and different dreams.  Harrell Hill Farms is about to get woken up !  Haha