Category: Uncategorized

Wrote this last month and stumbled upon it tonight as I sit to finish my classwork for this week and thought that maybe I should just share it with y’all.

Sitting in a space that I have not spent time in over the last 7 months is truly a bittersweet feeling. This studio space is set up for my creativity as I ran two incredibly fun businesses to share with the world. Spending hours in this little corner of my home, creating products and producing fun ways of sharing with others. A place where I have been able to touch thousands of people’s lives with my bright light and love.   

It has been exactly 10 years, February 16, 2013, since I was moved by the Holy Spirit to step out in faith with an opportunity to build a life changing brand. A brand that would help me grow into a strong businesswoman, provide for my family, and allow me to still be home for my growing children as their steady parent. The support over the years has been incredible as we have worked hard to not use unpleasant business practices but allowed our love of the products to shine, thankful beyond any words that I could produce for sure.   

8 months ago, this brand we built by investing so much time and money into it as a family was sold without having any clue that it was coming. The news was insanely hard to hear and left me feeling so conflicted. This brand that we all feel deeply connected to not only because of the awesome products, amazing memories, and such but also because of the people we have been connected to was officially dissolved.    

An extremely dramatic chain of events happened as many people left the company, but the advice of my therapist was to look strictly at the business side of it. Were the products still available to sell? Am I able to still bring an income into my family? Does it really matter who oversees the company at the top? Do not dig up in doubt what was planted in faith, so I followed my gut and I stayed.   

Stayed not because of fear or not because I did not have any other choice. But because the products we love are still here, products we have stood behind and shared with so many. Products that are engrained in our family’s routines, our skin loves the formulations, and our customers love it too. Will there be any new products coming any time soon? Probably not. But the products we love are still here and still able to be purchased—we can still do fundraisers like our family is known for.   

There has been a whole grieving process as I have seen people leaving and doing what is best for them. The grief has kept me out of this studio space and away from interacting with the business. There is just so many heavy emotions and truly not wanting to dig up what God has clearly built over these last 10 years.    

The grief has made me feel trapped in emotions and I have been struggling to stay engaged in the business activities which then gives me anxiety which then overwhelms me. Anyone spiral like this too? Well, I am genuinely in such a better head space as I have been tapping into all the gifts God has given me. I am still trying my best to process it all as you can see by this post. But I truly need to get back into the groove, stay disciplined and focus on connecting once again.   

Traveling and spending time together with all the incredible people over the years has been one of the most rewarding blessings of all of this. I know with the changes that those opportunities will be fewer but somehow, I have a sliver of hope that those of us who want to can still organize gatherings and trips together as we share product lines that we all love. Girl’s business trips truly are the best and I always come back so refreshed and focused. Finding a way to get this back is necessary for me to move forward. Moving forward by making the next best choice, just like I’ve done over the last 17 months since my hospitalization.   

For now, I guess I’m just sharing my feelings and where I am at because I know many of you have been wondering what is going on. I currently am still sharing the lovely pampering products we all love, Trav loves the patches, I need to get back to creating designs to share and yep-you can purchase your next devotional/journal/bible/gifts/decor with our newly added Dayspring line. I am also in love with coaching high school kids, working as a long-term substitute in a 4th grade classroom(ending this week) and finally going after my degree in education.   

Our family is busier than ever as all the kids are now teenagers and 4/6 of us are enrolled in college classes. Our pet count is currently at 5 cats (yes, we got our first one June of 2020 lol!) and 2 dogs in our home, which adds to its own level of chaos. We are cherishing our time with Trav now that he is retired from the military and are very much focused on healing our mental health to the best of our abilities.   

Thank you for being apart of our journey and we look forward to sharing more with you. What kind of creations and sales would you like to see from us? Any questions that you have that I could respond to in a post?

Posh Blessings,   

Nicole 

For those wanting to support us by shopping with us here are our links:

Posh— http://www.poshblessings.com

Our Dayspring products— http://www.mymaryandmartha.com/26804/

Or shop right here on our blog!!

For those of you who haven’t picked a “word of the year” or set a 2023 intention or you’re just looking to do a inspirational journal as a group—-I’m starting this one soon and I think many of you would enjoy it as well.

Just a short but thoughtful passage then answering a few questions that make you think a bit deeper and then writing out a prayer—invest in just a few minutes each day for you!!! 

Order yours today and check out the other amazing options on our site as well, there are so many journals, devotionals, etc available!!

https://www.mymaryandmartha.com/26804/shop/PRODUCTDETAIL.aspx?search=Golden&page=1&prod=J8278

Blessings,
Nicole

These faces from 10 years ago, right as we began our Posh Blessings journey and during a hard deployment, are hitting me this morning with a ton of emotions.

These faces will have so much fun building a multi million dollar company, while they learn lessons about business, relationships, leadership and life.

These faces will geek out over hundreds of fun products as they arrive in pink posh boxes and then get to share that joy with everyone around them.

These faces will provide an income big enough for these 5 to always have each other without the worry of working outside the home as they move from house to house, state to state following their soldier.

These faces will get creative in finding ways to give back to their communities, use their imaginations to come up with fun product campaign sharing ideas, and find the best ways to put together the thousands of packages to spoil our incredible team with.

These faces are now trying to really process that we did everything we could to create an incredible experience for everyone who connected with us and because of things outside of their control at Home Office the brand we created is barely holding on.

These faces have had tears fill their eyes as they do their best to move forward, still sharing the products that you and I love. Not knowing if more will be coming or what the future of the brand will look like.

These faces are proud to still be standing with the product line that they had a hand in creating over the last 10 years with the team mates who are still with us and our customers who are still allowing Posh Blessings to bring them joy. Even through the last few super tough months.

These faces have cherished every single ounce of support y’all have sent our way.

These sweet faces have seen so much growth together and as we move forward into the unknown(if you sing this like from Frozen then you’re in the same head space as me haha) we know that whatever happens all of that growth, life lessons, relationships, and amazing memories will all continue to grow.

We are still Posh Blessings.

We will continue to share the Posh product line and chase after goals because it’s the brand we had a hand in creating.

We want to stay connected to all of you as we move forward in the holiday season working to provide for our family.

We trust in God’s plan and for me I am feeling pulled to create something bigger with our journey that we will add to Posh Blessings…..just not sure what that looks like right now but looking at these faces, processing emotions and sharing my heart with y’all has really helped me this morning.

If you are feeling led to share any ideas of how I could use my creative skills or journey in life to service our community and provide for our family….let me know below…..I truly feel God working through the connections he’s created.

Blessings,

Nicole

When you post a response to someone about Lent season about what you are sacrificing and you realize quickly that you’ve got a passion for this season so you then decide to write a blog post to share with everyone a brief personal insight of your thoughts on Lent.

What do I choose to fast from??: If giving it up is something that is hard for you to do then YES-set that item as your fasting goal! Because every time you get the temptation for whatever you are giving up, you call out for help from God and He sustains you. Lent is for you to draw closer in your relationship with God which also recognizes the sacrifices He gave for you.

For me I’m giving up sweets and chips-during this deployment they’ve been my go to for stress eating and instead I’m calling out for Help from him-so far its been tough but He is the greatest comforter. I’m using the Help Me, Use Me, Thank You prayers all day long!

And to further explain—-you don’t have to give up something physical either—-it could be negative thoughts, anger, time(adding more bible time or doing a study)—etc—-but whatever you choose to give up/sacrifice—-you will call out to him for Help when you have those moments when they pop up.

For lent the Help-Use-Thank prayers are something I use. Whenever the situation pops up that I would use/do the thing I’m giving up—I call out for Help—-Help me overcome this temptation…then that turns into Use in me in a way that glorifies or draws me closer to you(a redirection from the temptation) then Thank You when the temptation passes. I do this a bunch even outside of lent because I try and fast from things often and that helps me focus on growing closer to Him.

As I was chatting with the kids about Lent, it’s neat to hear them excitedly talk about things they gave up in the past. Some things they’ve done are giving up cheese, their pillow, their time by adding in more reading of their bible, sweets, using extra salt(little D’s favorite thing), etc. About how tough it was and what they learned. Learning about fasting from things at a young age(we start around the age of 6) really helps them be able to set goals, learn to clear the noise a bit of our crazy busy lives and to draw closer to Him. Which is the ultimate reason we focus on the Lent season.

Hope this was helpful in some way or another, this topic is one that I didn’t realize how passionate I am about it. I’m 100% not an expert at all and I encourage you to spend time learning more about from those who are more qualified. It’s certainly one of my favorite times of the year because we do it as a family and I have always loved a good challenge.

Blessings,

Nicole

Thoughts tonight as I soak away this stress:

I heard a sermon once(pretty sure it was Pastor Bill) that referred to your tears as the tool that the Holy Spirit uses to fill you up and to cleanse you.

At the time I had so much going on that I was crazy weepy for good and bad reasons as most seasons in life are full of both. Those tears were often frustrating and puzzled me, leaving a feeling of shame and guilt that would wash over me.

It wasn’t until that sermon that it clicked, that for you to be filled with something there must be a crack. I mean have you ever tried filling or emptying a sealed glass jar, the only way in is to break it or pop the top open. Which is the same for us we need to crack or willing open up to feel the power that is just one cry away.

My struggle with OCD and anxiety has never been a secret but had always been what made me put up a wall around me. A wall that I would fight tooth and nail to keep up at all costs, which always led to more stress for me-losing friendships-missing the opportunity for life changing relationships-the list goes on and I often felt myself being isolated during these dark times.

Until that moment when I realized that the Holy Spirit can’t come in and cleanse away all of the worry, anxiety, stress, crazy thoughts, etc unless there is a way to get in. Or it can’t fill you with Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control(if you sang this then you get bonus points!).

For myself recognizing that I can’t hold it together 24/7 and most importantly that I was never asked to do so, was a critical point for me. Realizing that vulnerability of crying, weepying, or breaking down was the biggest strength that no one ever talks about(Unless your Brene Brown-go read her books y’all).

All we hear about is how strong you are for facing what you’ve faced, for how amazing you are for overcoming your mountains, that you’re holding it all together so well—rarely will you see people give you a compliment as you are crying out for help, opening up to share your struggles so you don’t have to feel so alone anymore, for breaking down to allow the tears to flow. It makes people uncomfortable, I get it. Because we’ve been taught to not be vulnerable with others, whether from a bully in your life picking on that opening up moment or just from doing what we’ve seen our relatives do for centuries before us.

But what I’ve learned is the true power is feeling those weak moments, embracing them and choosing to find connection with others using those things that made you feel isolated to feel free again as you let them out. In those times the Holy Spirit is able to fill in those cracks whether they are hairline or tectonic fault size.

In doing this it not only helps the healing process for yourself but does what God himself called each of us to-connect whether with Him or the people around you. Sharing in our troubles helps you and those who’ve been through something similar. You aren’t doing those you’re called to share with any favors by keeping in the lessons you’ve learned or the opportunities to help you, most importantly it doesn’t help you at all to keep it in.

Shouting all of your personal issues and struggles from the rooftops isn’t what I’m saying either. Be still enough and listen to your heart as to who you’re being called to share, connect or reach out to. But for sure always head to the Big Man upstairs first, He is like a parent waiting for your cries for help and wanting to help you learn how to grow from whatever you need help with.

Sometimes those weepy moments are for good things and if we aren’t open enough to cherish them then we often times take it for granite. Which leads to you not growing with it, losing it all together or still feeling empty when the butterflies are gone. Good weepy moments are still from God and He wants to be there celebrating right along with us.

We all know we aren’t here to acquire as many things as possible or to push our personal opinions that’s we’ve acquired through our own perspective life journey onto others or to flounder out in the world all on our own, we were meant to connect, share, love and weep together.

So here’s my plea from this incredibly relaxing bath: Let’s see more honest weeping, calls out for help, allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us, more still moments that you can grow from and love for everyone in the path God has put you on.

If this doesn’t ring true for you or if you don’t feel drawn to learn more from this that’s ok too, I was just called to share with a wide net, no worries keep doing what works for you.

But always know you are not alone in any of this, ever. You are loved whether you have the Great Wall of China to breakdown or you are now an open weeper.