In case you missed it, I’m posting again here how my ministry was started. How it was just dropped into my lap. Out of the blue.
Disclaimer: When I started Stuff By Steph, I decided I was going to donate 10% of my proceeds from any portion of my business to helping the needy. I didn’t make a deal of it, it was just something I felt called to do.
My first orders for baked goods were set to be baked on Wednesday, March 27 and delivered on Thursday, March 28, 2024. I had four customers that I was supposed to meet at 10am on Thursday to drop off their fruitcakes.
On Wednesday, I contacted each customer in case there were any changes to their orders. One customer was going to have a hard time meeting at the same time as the others the next day. We talked for a while and decided to meet Wednesday after I was done baking.
Before she was leaving, she asked if I knew Jesus. I excitedly told her that I did, and added that I liked that she asked. I then told her there was a letter underneath the basket of goodies explaining everything that I did. We said goodbye and parted ways.
Shortly after, I received a phone call from her with a question about how to store the fruitcakes. While we were on the phone, she said something about appreciating my ministry. It didn’t really register until after we got off the phone what she said, so I texted her to make sure she knew I wasn’t trying to be misleading, that I don’t have a ministry.
Sometimes, God sure does have fascinating ways of getting our attention. You would never guess where this is going, so I’ll just tell you. I met up with all three of the other customers the next day as planned, and this is how it went:
Customer #1 paid me and tacked on an additional $5 and told me to put it toward my fundraiser. I figured she must have been referencing what I said about a portion of my sales going to a worthy cause, the needy, etc. Awesome!
Customer #2 paid for the order but told me to give the fruitcakes to someone else. Oooookaaaayyyy…this customer in particular was VERY thankful, stating so over and over again. I just thought he really liked fruitcake. But then…
Customer #3 gave me an additional $6 on top of the payment for her fruitcakes, wanting it to go to a good cause. What?!?! What is going on???
THERE’S MORE…
I got home to find that somebody from my prayer group had ordered something from my Print-on-Demand store (this was only my second order ever). She messaged me wanting to know how she could help me. She wanted to help me out personally since she knew I would be struggling financially. See update below dated April 19, 2024.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!!!
On that Friday and Saturday I had a yard sale, again with the intention of a portion of the proceeds going to a charity or needy person. I did not make mention of this in my ads or tell anybody. It is just something I’d been feeling on my heart – that if I can quit my job with nothing in the bank and God make it work for me, the least I can do is help others.
I only had a total of 12 yard sale customers. Out of those 12, three gave me extra money!! It wasn’t until after they gave me extra that I told them it would go to a good cause.
Guys, I stand corrected. I have a ministry. I HAVE A MINISTRY !
Thank You, Jesus for giving me back a sense of purpose. The past few years have been very difficult and lonely for me but I never gave up. I knew God was going to use me somehow, I just didn’t know how.
UPDATE April 19, 2024
The person I mentioned earlier who bought a product and wanted to help me out ended up sending me such a generous gift of financial help that it brought me to tears. I was able to pay another month’s bills, get equipment to start a garden, and purchase more supplies for the crafting and baked goods portion of my business. And yes, 10% will of course be set back for charity. God is so, so good. He ALWAYS takes care of us when we leave things in His hands!
UPDATE oops I almost left this out! April 20, 2024
A couple years ago, I had a huge problem with raccoon infestation. I paid to get a chimney cap put on and it took several weeks to finally get them all out. After that, I decided at the time that the best thing would be to pay the annual fee to Critter Control so they would come out any time I needed them if I thought I had more critter problems. I paid the first year, but this year was going to be difficult. It’s due in April and I had quit my job in February to start my business. The Critter Control bill was not even on my radar when I quit my job.
This year the bill was going to be about $300. I was at my cousins explaining to him everything that had been going on lately and told him I didn’t know how I was going to pay for certain things in April. I had paid ahead on some stuff, but I still needed to pay for my auto and house insurance, as well as Critter Control. Other than that, it would be my monthly phone bill and internet.
Well…as it turns out, my cousin is licensed to do critter removal and told me not to pay my Critter Control bill – that he would take care of it if anything happened. I did not know that before. I knew he was a jack of all trades and he had told me how to trap raccoons before, but I had no idea he was licensed and legally able to do it – and more importantly, WILLING! You can’t make this stuff up!
But wait…there’s more…the next day I checked to see exactly what I owed for insurance. I keep my auto insurance to a minimum of just comprehensive since I barely drive. Suspending all the other coverages when I’m at home for lengthy periods of time saves me a lot of money while still having it on record that I have insurance (in case I ever want to switch companies). <<Good life tip (I used to sell insurance). I never knew exactly what I would owe because there’s no pattern as to how much I drive. Well, as it turned out, I owed nothing for April. That’s never happened! Now, regarding my homeowners insurance. I raised my deductible to the highest possible in order to save some money on my premium. I was expecting the bill to be around $90 according to my agent when I first raised the deductible. Well – raising my deductible ended up lowering the premium enough that I ended up with a credit that made my April bill obsolete!
So now, I only had my phone and internet bills to worry about, which I did have enough money for. Again, you can’t make this stuff up. God is so good!
April 19, 2024: I’d been paying a few dollars here and a few dollars there (twice a month) on a medical bill from an issue with my leg that stems back to the end of 2022/beginning of 2023. At least twice a month I had been paying. I’ve worked too hard for too long to get my credit in good shape and I wasn’t about to let this one bill screw all that up. One day, I logged on to make a payment but there was nowhere for me to do so. I thought the system must have been glitching and figured I’d try later. But before I got around to it I received a collection notice for the same medical bills. I waited until closer to the date deadline given on the notice because I really didn’t want to start paying sooner than I had to since I was now not working. So I finally called and was about to set up a payment plan and was told that it didn’t matter how much I paid because the total was under a certain amount so it would not go to collections. What a relief! But immediately after ending the call I decided to go ahead and make a payment, only to be met by another glitch! But at least now I’m not rushing to figure it out 🙂
April 24, 2024 Update: Another person was kind enough to gift me directly through PayPal. I think I’m still in shock over how God puts it on others hearts to do things that others need. This latest came from someone that very easily could’ve justified keeping their money. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!
I’ve been telling everyone I know for a very long time that God ALWAYS takes care of me – especially in the job/financial department. And here we are. I just hope that somebody sees this who needs to see it, and understands that God is the only one we can trust and that He WILL take care of you!
BUT WAIT, THERE’S EVEN MORE! But…this page will never end if I keep adding to it right here (that’s NOT a bad thing!!), so I’m going to start a new page for the next part of this testimony. I will title it “God Showed Me AGAIN.” It’s about where the donations from the proceeds of my sales went. You don’t want to miss this!
The Armentrout Shout-out 