Featured Resourceful Gal- Rachel Heffington

Hey readers! Julia here. We are delighted to share with you another of our featured resourceful gals, and this week the spotlight's on... Rachel Heffington! Everybody give Rachel a big hand of applause! ;) *roars of applause* Okay, okay, that's plenty. :D

J: Welcome, Rachel! Tell us a little about yourself so our readers can get acquainted with you.  

RH: I like to call myself the cock-eyed optimist. I'm practical, but there's just a terribly buoyant side to me that refuses to be entirely squelched, even in the hardest of times. I'm a novelist (as yet, unpublished) and a stay-at-home daughter. I work in our family business, help with the house and kids, and generally live a patch-work life that Jesus is faithfully knitting into something worthwhile in His eyes. My biggest desire is to be used by Him in some grand, adventurous way, small or large. For now, that way seems to be stretching pennies till you can see daylight through them. ;)

J:  I think your sense of humor is the thing I enjoy most about you, Rachel, and after having the privilege of reading some of your novels, I have no doubt that you WILL be a published author one day! :D So, what is your BIGGEST, #1 tip for resourceful living that you've discovered? Choose the best one, you can share some others in the next question. ;)

RH: Where there's a will there's a way. We like to complain that there's absolutely nothing to eat in the entire HOUSE or that we have absolutely NOTHING to wear, but I'm telling you that it can work if you take the dare to be creative.

J: I love it! :D Methinks I need to make that motto into a big sign and hang it where it smacks me in the eyes every day. :D Now... we want to hear some of your best tricks for feeding a large family on a budget. :D

RH: "Nothing goes better with cabbage than cabbage". ;) 

J: Trust Rachel to throw in a movie quote! Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I believe! ;)

RH: No, really, this has been a skill I've gotten a lot of practice on this past year. Our family has never had much money, but the past two years have hit the business really hard. Plus, we've gained a vision to eat healthily, trying to avoid flours and most other starches and refined sugars. That sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? How on earth can you feed a family of 12 healthily with a skimpy budget? We aren't Irish--we can't survive off of potatoes thrice daily. ;)

• First of all you grow a garden, which (if you can get past the price of seeds) greatly expands your repertoire of fresh groceries. 
• Second of all, you polish your sense of humor and take everything in stride. 
• Third of all, you become awesome at learning how to manipulate the herb cabinet. I am dead serious here. You can make a bland pot of rice or a pan of wilted potatoes snap to life with a skillful hand at seasoning. Conversely, there's nothing that will ruin even the best cut of beef more than a clumsy sprinkle of random herbs. Learn combinations and substitutions. The pot of chili I made this winter contained cocoa, coffee, and other atrocities, but tasted AMAZING.
• Also, meat can be used as a garnish. We've gotten used to it. Totally. Who ever even heard of each member of the family having a whole chicken breast? HAH! Instead of grilled chicken, try grilled chicken salads, and you can spread it three times as far!

J:  Those are all fabulous tips! We also grow as many things as we can in our garden, and it helps out the grocery budget tre-men-dously, that's for sure. Tell us about how your family works together to get things done. Do you assign tasks to everybody, or do you all pitch in where needed?

RH: Originally my parents had made a chore chart with designated responsibilities for every kid. The bones of that have stuck (and changed) over the years, but since graduation I've been more of a catch-all, just helping where help is wanted. You know. :) 

J: That I do. ;) Okay, we all love DIY and home decor over here, and who doesn't love a party? Share with us some of the ways you turned your home into a coffee-house for one night to raise money for your missions trip to Romania! :D

RH: Pretty much once we had chosen the idea of a coffee-house, we took inventory of what we had and what we wanted to do, and ran to Pinterest. 

(Julia interrupts: *Squeal!* :D I love Pinterest!!) 

RH: Haha! My goal (because we didn't have any funds to use) was to do it without spending a red cent. We went with four categories for decor: European, Hipster, Vintage, and Coffee-Shop Classic. Literally, we spent nothing except a dollar to buy a package of putty for sticking our things up on the walls. We ransacked out attic, discovered cardboard looks amazing from far away, used newspaper for pinwheels, and lots of paint and glue for everything else. Other members of the team lent us some silver coffee-pots and things, and we did it up gorgeously, as the pictures will show.

J: GAH! Too cute. :) What adorable signs! And as I know, the Lord blessed that coffee-shop night and you raised more than you'd dreamed you would to finance your trip to Romania. God is so good! What are some of the dearest lessons that He has shown you through this adventure of living resourcefully? 

RH: Hands down, that He provides. Not on our time-scale, but on His. 

J: Wowwwww, I love that!

RH: And it's always just enough, somehow. We seriously could not live without Him because logically, we'd be in the gutter. But He's faithful and His provision is enough. :)

      He has also taught me how important it is to have a sense of humor. To see the empty cabinets as a chance to make a familiar recipe by substituting the ingredients you do have for everything it requests that you don't have. :D

J: I'm inspired! Thank you so, so much for being interviewed on Resourceful Gals, Rachel! It's been so much fun having you here! (Isn't she great, everyone?!?) :D 

RH: You are very welcome, Julia! I hope I said something worth saying, and that you all will enjoy this peep into my "resourceful" life. :D If you want to stop by, I have a blog where I write about my life, lessons, and adventures at www.lassofalltrades.blogspot.com.

       Thank you for having me, Jewels! And may the rest of you live wonderfully resourceful lives!

The only picture I have of Rachel and I... :D So blessed to know this gal!

  You will find us linked up at some of these fine sites.

Featured Resourceful Gal - Michelle!

As Resourceful Gals ourselves, we absolutely love getting to know other resourceful ladies who use their talents and gifts and everything they have to the best of their abilities... and we want to share them with you, our readers!

Please welcome our first Featured Resourceful Gal... Michelle!

I am a wife to Brian and Mama to fifteen children, nine here on earth, and six in heaven. I am also 'Mimi' (Grandma) to two. I am passionate about Jesus Christ and His Word. From this passion flows my desire to be obedient to God and to know and fulfill His purpose for me as a woman. (See Titus 2:3-5) On this journey, my hope is to encourage my daughters and other women in the areas of: marriage, parenting, devotions, home education, nourishing foods, frugality, and simple living.

She is AMAZING. Michelle has started her own business, {Re}Imagined, Just For You, refurbishing and painting furniture, as well as making other lovely home decor items. Her style is a blend of French Country, Shabby-Chic, and Rustic Farmhouse... all oh-so-lovely! It is clear that she has a God-given talent for her work, because everything she touches turns into something gorgeous! Visit her website here and Like her on Facebook to check it out for yourself!

So without further ado... 

• What gave you the idea to paint furniture for sale? Have you always loved painting?

I began painting furniture as something fun to do.  I began purchasing and painting more furniture.  My husband suggested I sell them.  Of course, I was sure nobody would buy it.  Well, the first piece sold, then the next and the next. I have always loved doing something, anything ‘crafty’.  I have painted murals on our walls, painted our own furniture and taught myself to paint using the One Stroke Painting method.  It hasn’t always been painting, like I said, anything creative.  I believe we all are creative.  We are all made in the image of God and He created all things.  Makes me crazy when I hear women say, ‘oh,I’m not creative’ or ‘I don’t have a creative bone in my body’.  I quickly and gently correct them and help them see that they are creative too. 

One of Michelle's dazzling pieces

• What are some lessons you have learned as you started up a home business... how has the Lord brought you through this new season?

In our short time of having this business, I have had many lessons.  Not sure I have learned them yet, but, boy, have there been lessons.  I tend to be driven and make things happen.  This business has been God’s idea every step of the way, but I still try to step in and control or fret over the details.  He always brings me back to trusting Him completely with each and every detail.  One thing I had to learn early on was that if I really believed this business was from Him then I would need to trust Him when we sold a lot and when we sold nothing. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord, became my motto.

Oh, comparison too!  That was and continues to be a huge training ground.  When I take my eyes off of what He is doing here and put it on what others are doing or their success fear or discouragement quickly follows.  There is so much more, perhaps another installment is in order.  Apparently, I have lots of lessons to learn.

See?!? Isn't her furniture awesome?

• Looking back, would you change any of your business decisions or do something differently? (in other words... any boo-boos you would avoid doing again?) ;)

I think the biggest mistake that I continue to make is taking this business into my own hands.  I take on its success as something ‘I’ need to make happen instead of holding onto it loosely and staying submitted to my Father.  It’s not that I don’t need to use knowledge and wisdom and actually do the work, but it’s when I take on the burden that I cross the line.

• What was it like being catapulted from being a complete Stay-At-Home-Homeschooling-Mom to a busy business owner and full-time painter?

Okay, this one is tough.  I would have never, ever thought I would be doing what I am doing now, co-owning a business with my husband.  Especially one that revolves around me and my gifts. Not that it is all ‘me’ by any stretch of the imagination, it takes all of us on many levels.  It’s hard, I still don’t see myself as a ‘working’ woman.  I am, I guess, but I am at home, work from home and am in partnership with my husband.  Being a stay-at-home mom is still my heart, though it is really, really hard to keep my heart at home when there are so many ‘props’ with the business. I hope you don’t mind me being real here, I struggle with this.  Being a homeschool, at-home mom had become ‘enough’ for me and I was thrilled and fulfilled alone in it.  This business came along and has really challenged me.  My heart it so ‘prone to wander’ and I plead with God to keep my heart where it belongs, here at home first.  I must keep guilt in check and continually look to Brian to help with balancing the whole thing.  Let’s just say it has not been easy. 

Michelle and her beloved hubby, Brian

• Tell us about the "behind-the-scenes" of Re:Imagined, Just For You... how does your family work together in your business? (Who does the day-to-day stuff... cooking, cleaning, & schooling?)

I do all of the painting, creating, research and development, and social media. Some of the children also create things that pertain to our business.  My older sons help with furniture moving (man, do they move a lot of furniture) repairing furniture, sanding and prep work.  Brian (my husband)handles ALL of the finances and anything pertaining to them.  We share with household tasks, but I still do the homeschooling.  It is fairly regular that he starts dinner and/or helps with the meals. We also LOVE to ‘pick’ together, finding treasures.  The children have all had to step up as far as chores and getting things done in general around the home.  Also, at our classes, sales and monthly shows, any way that the children can serve the customers, they do.  For instance, when we do classes, I am out teaching the class, but the children and Brian are preparing the gourmet lunch and serving the women that come to our home.

Michelle's beautiful family

• As a closing thought, what would you like to share with your readers? Any priceless nuggets of wisdom for moms who are thinking about starting their own business?

Don’t do it unless the Lord is leading.  We have had so many ideas over the years that we were so sure were good ideas, but they weren’t God’s ideas.  If He is not behind it, it will likely only bring more stress and struggles. Trust the season you are in and let God bring it about.

 Don’t step out from our husband’s cover.  Seek his counsel and wisdom at every step.  Also, appreciate HIM!  I went through a time I was so sure my husband was ‘holding me back’.  Self-pity was right there telling me that I did it all and no one helps me.  When I began to be thankful for what Brian did, I realized just how much he did do! Also, the things I was so sure he was holding me back from were actually God’s leading.  Hmmm, imagine that.  God using my husband to lead us in His will.  As you can see, I have a long way to go.  I am so thankful for His mercy towards me.

Thank you so much for being our first Featured Resourceful Gal, Michelle! We loved having you here!