How We’re Building This

Can I tell you a story about how we got started? 

It’s both normal and extraordinary.

It’s normal because this business was a nap time dream. I (Alli) left my corporate job after we had our first baby to stay home with him. After more than a few months of convincing his tiny stubborn spirit that naps are, in fact, a great idea, I found myself with extra time on my hands and a small group of (awesome!) pastors who had marketing, website and communications needs that I could help with in the margins.

It’s normal because it’s grown, little-by-little. We’re not an overnight success. This is a daily grind, maybe-this-month-will-be-better-than-last, step-by-step kind of thing. 

It’s normal because we’re regular people, who see a need and want to use our gifts and experience to answer that need.

But it’s also extraordinary.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

It’s extraordinary because when we started growing beyond what nap time could accommodate, we opened our hearts and our Bibles to listen and learn what the next step looked like, and were encouraged to worry less about the pattern of this world and fix our eyes on the mission God was laying out; not just for our vocation or this business, but for our family. (Truthfully, it wasn’t as picture-perfect as that sentence makes it sound, because life isn’t an Instagram-worthy highlight reel. But that’s a story for a different post.)

It’s extraordinary because little-by-little, God is transforming us and blessing us with the opportunity to be part of the transformation of His Church. Despite our stumbling and fumbling of His gifts and blessings, He keeps showing up, reminding us that He is here and He has a unique purpose for us in His kingdom.

Early in my walk with Jesus, that verse – Romans 12:2 – gave me a simple peace in the truth that I could always trust God. Right there in words so clear I couldn’t misunderstand, God’s will is good, pleasing and perfect.

That verse has comforted me when life felt upside down, when I didn’t achieve the goal or things weren’t working out exactly according to my plan (which, didn’t God know, was also good, pleasing and perfect?! #sanctificationisaprocess).

It was from this place I started calling my nap time adventure, Twelve Two Creative. 

But as we’ve grown, as Christ-followers, as parents, as husband and wife, as children of God, we’ve felt the depth of the first part – do not conform, be transformed, renew your mind. We’ve felt – and are trying to answer – the call to make our life and how we manage it all look different from the rest of the world.

In life, this looks like Nick spending the majority of his time with our kids in this season, while I focus on the business. It looks like living simply and small and maintaining strong boundaries around our time. It’s about getting comfortable with slow, moving at a pace that the rest of the world might become impatient with. It’s about remembering that this daily bread is more than enough, yet believing that God is a God of abundance.

In business, this looks like challenging the rule that ministries with limited budgets can’t have big impact or access to great tools and strategies. Or that growth is always good. Or that small ministries will always have small impact. Or that good and comprehensive always means complex.

Isn’t that just an amazing benefit of God’s word though? That simple truth can grow deeper. That a verse can speak to us in so many stages of life. That his Word is living and active?! (Hebrews 4:12)

So, that’s our story – or at least the start of it.

We’d love to hear yours.

Seriously. One of our favorite things is talking about Jesus. Contact us and share your story here.