So, if you have followed any of my blog posts (not that there have been that many – I admit my blogging has been very inconsistent, to say the least!), you know that I have talked a lot about my BIG dream. Until now, I have not really been comfortable sharing my dream with more than just a handful of people. I think the biggest reason I have been reluctant to share it is because I tend to try to keep my distance from negative influences in my life. A friend of mine posted this quote on Facebook today, and it really sums up how I have been feeling: “We need to hang around people who pour water on the fires of our fears, and throw gasoline on the passions of our dreams.” ~ Kris Vallotton
There have definitely been a few people in my life who have done just that. I will not name names. I am sure they know who they are. I will say that without them and their positive encouragement along the way, I would have never made it this far. I am truly grateful for the people God has placed in my path who have helped me to not give up.
My dream has been brewing in my mind for many years, long before I even thought to really pursue it in any way. The one thing I know for sure is that God put the dream inside my heart. The Bible says in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you...” Wow! A whole sermon could be preached on that one verse, but for now, I will just say that God knows each of us so intimately. In that passage of scripture he was speaking to Jeremiah, but God is no respecter of persons. He has put dreams, talents, and passions in each of us for a purpose. So few, if any of us, really ever tap into the calling God has on our lives. One thing I know for sure, though, it that it is never too late to try to do what you think you were destined to do!
So, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, my dream has been to start my own MLM company. Actually, I don’t actually see my business as multi-level exactly, but definitely direct marketing. If you know anything at all about multi-level marketing, you know that this is a BIG dream! I am still far from accomplishing that goal, but I am close enough now that I feel comfortable sharing my vision with you and how it came to pass. Life is like a puzzle ~ full of strange little pieces that sometimes don’t seem to fit. Sometimes pieces go missing for a long time, and they show up when you least expect them to. For me, journaling has helped me to find some of those missing pieces.
As a matter of fact, about 10 years ago, a prophet came to our church. She told me what seemed like the strangest thing in the world at the time. She said that I needed to journal. She also said that I would be leading and speaking in front of many people, important people, someday. (That still hasn’t happened, but I like to imagine myself addressing a crowd of consultants at an Udderly Delightful convention!) I have not kept a regular journal, although I wish I had. Life gets really busy, so there is not always time. But, I will say, that as I read back over the journal entries I have made over the years, they all contain little pieces of the puzzle. I know that through journaling, I have been able to see the dream more clearly.
Although I know it really started in my childhood, the first time I ever had thoughts of my own MLM company was shortly after I became a Pampered Chef consultant (almost 20 years ago). I loved the whole idea of the format of home parties. I have never considered myself a salesperson (because I am not!), but I loved gathering with people, meeting new friends, and sharing what I love to do. When I read the book, “Come to the Table” by Doris Christopher (the founder of the Pampered Chef), a very small part of me knew I wanted to follow in her footsteps. Again, I am not a salesperson, so I was not terribly successful as a PC consultant. However, that was a very important part of my journey because I learned so much from my time with that company.
Fast forward many years later to when we bought our little farm, and more importantly, our first cow. Esther. She was born on Easter Sunday, so her first owner named her Easter. I have never liked the pagan roots associated with the name Easter (we call it Resurrection Day), so we wanted to change her name. Long story short, we renamed her Esther after one of my favorite Bible characters. One of my favorite Bible verses is Esther 4:14, “And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?”
Through our little journey with Esther and our new way of living, we learned a lot. We learned about milk and how it is processed, and processed, and processed…That led us to look at the other foods we were eating. We started to make small changes in the foods we were eating which led to big changes in our overall health. I am not a health food fanatic by any means! However, I try very hard to avoid overly processed foods and artificial ingredients. It was through this journey with food and learning to make things from scratch that the idea for Udderly Delightful was born. The name came to just came to me one day when we were brainstorming ideas for what we thought was going to be a homemade cheese business. I originally liked Udderly Delicious, but that name was taken. My all-time favorite Bible verse has always been, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4. So, the word Delightful came from that verse. The desire of my heart for many years has been to have my own business. So, when people tell me that my business name doesn’t seem to fit some of my products, I tell them it would make perfect sense if you knew my story.
I won’t bore you with all of the details because I know my blog posts tend to be long. I will just say that little by little, the details started to come together. We started with cheese kits out of my desire to teach others how to make cheese (which is really cool, by the way, if you’ve never done it!) Then we moved on to seasoning mixes. That started because I was looking for a recipe to make my own taco seasoning. Have you ever read the label on that stuff?? That led to my first “Tasting Party” where we made cheese and tasted lots of yummy dips!
At this point, I knew that I wanted to grow Udderly Delightful into a new MLM company, but I didn’t have enough products to support that dream. Slowly I started to add more products – expanding into soaps and skin care because what you put on your skin ends up in your body – just like food does! (It makes sense now, doesn’t it?!) Then about 2 years ago, I was introduced to essential oils. That was when the last missing piece of the puzzle finally came into place. As I was thinking about all the chemicals in our food and skin care items, I began to notice how we as a nation have become obsessed with medications. Yes, I do take medicine from time to time, but what has more artificial junk in it than medicine?? I can’t think of anything, can you?
So, as I was finishing up my new product catalog last night, I had an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Seeing all the products and plans come together in one booklet was something I can only describe as pure joy! I could hear all the voices of the people who told me it would never happen, and the people who didn’t understand why I had such a seemingly eclectic group of products. I know at times it must have looked like I was going off in all kinds of different directions at once. I could hear them all say, “What is she thinking?” Well, hopefully, it makes more sense now. All along I have been trying to build a foundation for a company that would lend itself to direct marketing.
I have had a plan all along. It has taken a very long time to get to this point. I still have some little projects to do (okay, a lot of little projects!), but I have the framework in place to make this dream start to become a reality. It is going to take a lot of work, and I don’t know where this path will lead, but I know that it is God’s plan for my life. I want to see this company grow because I truly want to help others. I am exceedingly grateful that God has always allowed our family to have our needs met. However, now I believing for this little dream to grow so that we will have not just our needs met, but an abundance of resources so that we can help others make their dreams come true, too. There is nothing that would give me greater joy than to be able to give to those in need, as the Lord lays it on my heart.
I still don’t know if my dream will come to pass. Only time will tell. All I know is that if you have a dream, it is never too late to try to make it happen. There will always be people in your path who will tell you can’t do it, but hopefully, there will be more people who will tell you that you can. “Sometimes life is about risking everything for a dream no one can see but you.” (author unknown)
