If you did not read our blog, A Walk to Remember, go do that- NOW! I mean, you are welcome to read this blog entry without reading our last blog first, but you may think I am a little off my rocker because you really need to have the scene set for you for this to all make sense.
So, in the last blog I told you about the very first time the existence of Mod Threads was spoken of. Keep in mind though, on that walk, we were only talking about a boutique, not "Mod Threads".
Also, it is important for you to understand that PRACTICALLY A YEAR passed between that walk and the next big move for Mod Threads. Brooke and I were teaching together in the same hallway, coaching, and living life. Brooke got back into worship ministry at our local church, which if you have not been led in worship by her, you are missing out. She may get into this blog post and edit this part out, but I am going to leave this video right here as long as she will let me: Ain't No Grave
So, life was busy and we were both doing what we did best- staying super busy with jam packed schedules.
Oh, and to add to all of that, Brooke and I were about to start our master's degree with another good friend of ours- Lauren. We love her!
Then, on a random Saturday- I can't remember the occasion, we went shopping out of town. We drove on the highway talking about completing our master's, life, listening to music, just the norm. I remember it being a dreary, gray sky type of day. We were shopping though, so that did not dampen our spirits. We ran our errands, did the damage to our bank accounts, and headed back home.
I remember it pouring extremely hard on the way home. I originally started driving home on the interstate, but I know Brooke gets anxious being on the interstate at night, especially in the rain, so I offered to take an exit and take the highway the rest of the way home. I did not mind because I knew God was pressing on my heart to bring up a specific topic- her dream of a boutique, so the extra time was welcomed.
I remember starting the conversation with a single question: What would it really take to make starting a boutique a reality?
We chatted the rest of the way home about the logistics of starting a boutique. How to get inventory, how to set up shop, shopping for the right pieces, managing it all, etc. Somewhere in all of that discussion, the conversation somewhat turned as if we were going to be opening a boutique. That truly was not my intention in bringing it up. I was truly aiming to spark a little bit of girl power, that was all.
We made it home, unloaded Brooke's purchases (mainly a trunk full of Sam's Club finds), and we even laughed about opening a boutique with her husband once inside. I remember driving home from dropping her off thinking, "What. just. happened?"
I called Brooke the next day and explained to her that I could not stop thinking about the reality of a boutique, but I did not mean to impose myself into the equation. She immediately assured me that she would love nothing more than for me to work alongside her to do this thing- OPEN A BOUTIQUE! Being the person that I am, I encouraged her to take some time and really think about what that could mean and how it would effect things, but she never looked back and we moved forward.
At first we would joke around or talk about opening a boutique like it was still just a dream in thin air that was not easy to grasp.
Then, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. With us both being teachers, were sent home to finish the year working virtually. We did not go back to school at all for the rest of the school year, everything was canceled for the summer, and now had more downtime in our lives than ever before.
Do you recall me mentioning that I had told my friend on our walk that I felt God telling me I would only coach cheerleading at my new district for one year, but I was meant to coach that one year? I now see that His plan for me all along was Mod Threads. Brooke and I did not know we would be doing Mod Threads together back then, but God did.
So- with the pandemic hitting and the stay at home order in place, Brooke, Lauren, and I started our master's degree classwork. We did an online program that was self-paced. Our lives pretty well ran on the schedule of waking up, teaching online, writing a paper, going to bed. Then, when the school year ended, it was wake up, write a few papers, go to bed, repeat. Life at the start of the pandemic was such a huge twist to our "normal" that Brooke and I both really started pondering life.
Stuck at home with no company but our dogs and a blinking cursor on another paper to write, our texts and ideas about starting a boutique really started to pick up. We wanted to be sure that the boutique had PURPOSE and MISSION. Whatever we did, we would make sure to testify and spread the good news of salvation, the gospel, and just how good our God is. The loneliness of the stay at home order confirmed that life can really stop for anyone at any time. Brooke and I do not want to sit on the sidelines and not be doing SOMETHING for God's kingdom. It was becoming more clear to us how this platform would become ministry focused with those opportunities we were searching for as time passed.
I vividly remember stopping by at Brooke's house one night with my husband. Our husbands are BFFs too, so they were hitting golf balls in the yard, or doing something manly, and Brooke and I really started in with some brainstorming for this boutique.
There was a topic we had yet to really discuss: We need a name. That was important. We can't have a boutique without a name!
The threads portion of the name was just a word I threw out while brainstorming and we really liked it. So, the search for a name turned into stating any random word we could think of before the word threads and seeing how it sounded. Let me tell you- there were some doozies, ha! Then, Brooke walked into her room and grabbed her bible off of her dresser. She randomly cracked it open and began reading. Here is what she read:
Titus 2: 1-15
2 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. 2Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
She looked up and said, "What about Mod Threads?"
See, these verses talk about the teachings, lifestyles, and missions that God desires for His people. We love to use the enduring word commentary while studying. If you would like to read more into the context and meaning of these verses, please check out this website: Enduring Word commentary on Titus 2
Overall, we just kept coming to the word modest. That word jumped off of the pages at us from how men, women, to children are to carry themselves to glorify God.
It took a while for us to really chew on this name and we went back and forth, but in the end we felt God confirming this name and so we did the real deal- we applied for our LLC under the name, Mod Threads Boutique, LLC.
That is one shopping trip I will never forget- but that is just where it begins. Read our next blog taking you along our journey here: But, what if?