God Did It – Happy Birthday Horacio Printing

A letter from our founder: 

We are Two Today!  

Two years ago I made the decision to commit to my dream. I filed my LLC and Horacio Printing was born. Two years ago I was struggling with my purpose, and being able to make time for the things that I truly cared about. I missed my family, all of whom live in Alabama. I missed art; I have always had a joy for painting.  I missed making time for friends; all my free time was spent taking my clients out. I largely missed being in the presence of God, at the time I wasn’t making God a priority and felt guilty. I started to believe the lie that I didn’t deserve His time.

I always knew God loved me, but my schedule and my priorities showed that I cared more about my career, clients and going out then hanging out with God. I was in a cycle of guilt and numbing myself with distractions.

Then one night in August 2014 I stayed up all night reading The Artisan Soul by Erwin Mcmanus and it all became clear, I am the painter of my life, my life is my canvas. I learned that my schedule determines who I will become and I decided to redesign it! I started to make my first refocus cloud. I listed all the things that I was juggling in my life as a bubble chart of chaos. I decided to cut out things that were making me sick emotionally. I listed out things like “taking out/schmoozing clients” and as I crossed it out I heard God say, ‘Ministering people, encouraging people.’ I wrote that next to what I had just crossed out. It was in the moment God was teaching me that He was going to take these talents I have been grooming for a career of sales/marketing and use them in a ministry to encourage people. He basically showed me the talents He gave me were always created to work for Him.

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. He had not forgotten about me. Listen, I’m not an expert on God, but I feel like he opened my eyes to what he was trying to do through my job experience. I was in a place of guilt and sin where I never expected to feel His presence so strongly and there He was, ready to move. He was there in my mess and offering His love. I had yearned to be close to Him.

With God on my team I went full steam ahead. I got my team together and we designed, printed and sold 1,000 2015 planners, in 4 months!  I remember opening up the first box, to see the very first sample of our 2015 planner. I fell down and started to cry. It was beautiful, and I started to pray. Thank you God! I know the best is yet to come. I heard a quiet whisper, The best has already come, I sent Him to you. I fell to my knees and Thanked God for Jesus. I felt God’s presence so strongly and I was reminded that the whole point of all of this is Jesus. He is the best, He is my savior and He is the perfection. I knew that this planner and this company was so much bigger than any dream or “solution” I had come up with. I knew that God had big plans, and that this was the beginning.

Holding onto these promises from the Lord has carried me through the last two years of ups and downs. God has been so faithful in providing wisdom and provision, despite my complete failings as a founder. I have faced and pushed through so many unforeseen issues. Issues with our fulfillment center, our manufacturer, delivery, with people copying our design, and the unending pressure I put on myself. It’s so easy to get caught up with comparison and to feel suffocated by the fear of other people’s opinions, but God is so good and He will never give us a burden we cannot bear. All things work together for good, to prepare us for the next level.

Fast forward to October 3rd, 2016. (The day we launched pre-order for the 2017 planner.) The second I pressed the go button we had 65 orders in the first 60 seconds! From there the orders exploded. I called my husband, then my mom. I got up and began to dance and worship in my apartment alone. We sold 10% of our total inventory on the FIRST DAY! God did it! He gets all the glory.

We have now sold more than 17,700 planners in the past two years and the number is growing. God took this small faithful product and touched so many lives. We have had numerous stories of people reaching out because the planner arrived on the perfect day. The planner being a sign from God, or the verse of the month helping someone to reconcile a relationship. The stories of God moving are endless and all I can express is gratitude, I can’t even understand how I get to  be apart of it. God is just that good.

We now have a blog collection called “The Dreamers” where people are sharing their stories of how God was faithful with dreams on their bucket list. You can read the stories of Anna, Kayla and Rachel. 

We have raised $10,000 for A21 and we are on our way to $50,000 by the end of 2017! (read about that ministry here).

God has shown me many visions and dreams of products to come. Products to enrich bible study, to sow into marriages, and to help students.  I can not wait to share them with the world, and I am learning to be patient and pour my heart into each product. One of the biggest blessings is the community of believers I am now connected to. Believers all over the world, those are encouraging and believing for God’s love in their sphere. To everyone who has ever bought a planner, Thank you! Thank you for being apart of this family.

I pray you stay confident in the truth that God is Good, He is for you, and He is working all things together for good. Keep your head up, fill in your praise report, and keep adding to that bucket list! If you need a verse for anything you are facing today, check out our bible verse page.

If you want to share your story of God’s faithfulness, click here and share your story! I would love to hear!

Happy Birthday Horacio Printing Family! We are 2, only a baby!

I know that with God THE BEST IS YET TO COME!