One for the record books

Creative Studio and Bookstore number 2

Good morning, my friends,

Today is going to be one for the personal life record books, as months of prayer, dedication, intent, risk, and sacrifice all accumulate into one single day.

We open the doors to our bookstore and creative studio today—our second for our family’s brand. I woke up with butterflies I wasn’t even sure could still fly.

When Jalesa pitched the idea of a bookstore and creative third space for families, it was this very store we envisioned for ourselves. When we prayed on it, when we thought about it, when we dreamt, it was this space, this very store, that was a part of those dreams. God is good, and He has answered our every prayer, even in the ways we couldn’t have expected.

Today I will remind myself again and again to enjoy this day, to be as present as possible, not to write notes down on customer experience like a madman. You can’t get days like this back. Well, you can’t ever get days back, but days like today, days where you’ve thought about this very day over and over again.

This is what life’s about—putting your everything into a work, and getting to do it with the person you love. It’s lightning in a bottle. It’s the ending of every romcom, all in one feeling. I’ll look across the room today, and Jalesa will be glowing so extremely bright, and she’ll do the same as I talk with every member of our community that walks through those doors.

I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done here. Jalesa and I have put our everything into this space, and we truly can’t wait for our community to enjoy it, to make memories here. It will be in the highlight reel of our marriage. What started as a random idea Jalesa told me about one night in my office has become all of this. I’m reminded of one of my personal favorite scriptures: "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD" (Proverbs 18:22). As for finding someone who turns random ideas into all of this? It makes for an extraordinary life.

And when the doors close tonight, our kids, who put in their own work on this store, will enjoy the fruits of their labor with ice cream from the shop right up the street.

Today, our lives get lived at the fullest of volumes, and that’s about it, my friend.

Had the desire to write this morning; now it’s time to get myself together and go pick up some coffee for Jalesa and me before we have to get the final touches on the store completed. Oh and eyebrow pencil