The Flourish Studio

The Flourish Studio

Welcome to The Flourish Studio! I am so excited for this rebrand for my little business. At the end of 2019, I knew that God was leading me somewhere specific for 2020. It wasn’t like this big push or loud voice from Heaven, but more of a gentle nudging to dive in deeper.

I started this hand lettering business in March of 2019 under my own name as a way to share the projects I was working on and maybe make a few extra dollars for our family. As the year unfolded, it grew and changed and became something that I was really excited to be a part of! And I felt it was time to get a business name and actually do this thing!

I believe that no detail is too small to God. When choosing the name for my business, I prayed and asked Him to show me what He wanted this space to be.  What purpose did He have in mind? And for the longest time I felt like He was silent. Well, more accurately, I felt Him there and knew He was speaking. But I couldn’t quite understand it or hear it. You know what I mean? I’m like, “God, if you could just send me a text message that would be grrrrreat.”

After a time, I felt led to the story of Habakkuk. It’s a short book in the Bible, and it’s a conversation between a prophet and God. He asks God why He is silent in the face of such evil, and he asks for an answer for the problems facing his people. He waits until God speaks, and God’s first words are in verse 2.

“And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” Habakkuk 2:2

Now, the following vision and message is remarkable. Habakkuk’s response is convicting and beautiful. But it was that verse that stopped me in my tracks. I pulled up every study resource I could find to dive into what all it meant.

Write the vision. Record the vision. Describe, engrave, write what God has spoken.

Make it plain. Make it clear. Explain it and declare it. (Or in my case, make it covered in florals. Ha!)

That he may run that readeth it. Now this is the part that gets me. It’s not saying that once you read what God’s spoken you can now go do a 5K. Thank the Lord. Because the only time I run is toward cake. Nope, this is talking about the act of being a herald. A messenger. You know those old medieval movies where the king sends out a rider on his fastest horse to run ahead of him and deliver his message? It’s that guy. One who runs ahead of the army and declares, proclaims, and cries out the vision that the King entrusted to him. That’s what God is asking us all to do.

Find the good news in Him. Record the great things He has declared to His people. Make it clear so that everyone can comprehend the hopeful future He has laid out for us. Then run with glorious freedom, declaring that hope to the world.

Um, wow. Yes, I want to be a part of that mission! Don’t you?!

I felt like God was telling me to write and run. That was it! My direction. But, “Write and Run” isn’t a very great business name. And there’s also the pesky detail of my inability to physically run with any speed at all. It would just be confusing. Ha!

So, with alllll of that being said, here’s how I landed on The Flourish Studio and how it fits the mission that I am on in 2020.

Flourish has multiple meanings. One meaning of flourish is a calligraphy term. It’s the flowy, elegant little swirls and “extras” added to the letters. Flourishes are decorative details. Habakkuk may have written the vision on a tablet of stone, but I can’t help but add some florals and colors.

Flourish also means to thrive or to grow and prosper. When I think of that person reading the vision and then running, I see a woman who just dropped the weight of the world off her shoulders. I see a woman who has found her meaning in God and is now ready to run with beautiful abandon, not letting anything slow her down. I see a woman who is ready to thrive, not just survive.

I hope that every piece of art you may see from The Flourish Studio or every blog post or article you may read here directs you to the vision Giver. I pray that the painted Bibles, with all their details and colors, draw you in to spending more time in the Word. I pray that the hand-lettered signs and illustrations of your families remind you of God’s goodness and provision in your life. I pray that any words I share are for the sole purpose of helping us run in the mission. Helping us see the miracles in the mundane – the hope in the hurting – and how God is in the midst of all of it.

Thank you so much for letting me share a bit of my heart with you today. I am really excited to move forward in a clearer direction this year. And I’m so thankful that you are a part of it with me!