Validation

Well, the other night I had my first official rejection pertaining to the business. I submitted my website to a blog whose main purpose is to say how cool different kiddie things are, which in turn makes the blog readers want to rush out and click and buy those things. The blogger would decide if she wanted a sample of the goods and then would decide if she would even write about it. I received the rejection email, which stated my products weren’t “a good fit” for the site.

Why not? Because they’re super cute baby things? Because they’re handmade by a loving mother who wants to make sure all babies have cute monogrammed acceories? Because I’ve done something wrong? I think the main reason it stung was because it was a woman, supposedly a trendy, crafty mother, rejecting another mother who likes to think she’s trendy and crafty.

And that’s when it hit me. I didn’t need to worry about what this blog owner thought about my goods, or what she happened to think about me (pretty prideful of me to think that person was even thinking about me at all). I know exactly what God thinks of me and I have only to rest in that. Every other opinion shouldn’t matter. I’d like to think God put that in my mind right then.

And I believe He did. The very next morning my devotion was about…you guessed it, seeking affirmation or validation from sources other than God. To quote:

“When we draw close to God and discover the soul-affirming joy of fellowship with Him, then we find what we have truly been longing for. We learn that God can fill our empty spaces deep inside. We stop looking to sin-filled people in a fallen, broken world to validate us. While affirmation and validation will always be nice to have, we find we don’t need them the way we once did…People will always let you down, but God never will.”

It turns out, in another post submitted after my “rejection” this person admits she is one who likes modern, sleek, streamlined things. Well, obviously we’re not a good fit. My goods are more traditional, heirloom, southern with contemporary twist. No Swedish modernism here. (You might be wondering why I didn’t see that to begin with and know things wouldn’t work. Well the stuff on her blog isn’t all Swedish and modern, there’s lots of cute things on there too).

So, no need to worry for me. And I can rest in the fact that I am validated and accepted by God. AND, I went out and found a blog ring that lets me advertise for free.