the story

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It all started with a necklace spotting downtown.  It was grey. It was classy. It was bold.  I pointed it out to my friend and forgot all about it.

Fast forward a month or so, when the same friend I pointed the necklace out to, pinned an exact replica of the necklace I had admired, on Pinterest.

Stunned, I discovered that the necklace I so admired was made out of a necktie.  I was captivated by this intriguing idea and was determined to make one for myself, even if I had never sewn a thing in my life.

From there I started the journey of making my own necktie necklace.  After one broken sewing machine, a run-in with a bobbin possessed by satan and several failed attempts, I had finally taught myself how to sew a straight line.

As I sewed, my mind began to wander and made several stops along the way.  One of the stops my mind came to was the thought of each necklace being a unique, one-of-a-kind creation. One that came from a necktie that had a story.  A story of happiness.  A story of celebration. And, possibly a story of mourning.  Because, as we know, in most cases, for many men, the times that neckties are worn are times that are marked by an event to remember.

While still resting at this stop, my mind ventured off to explore the whole idea of a "story".  As I wandered deeper into my thoughts, I realized that we all have a story, and that each story is unique and one-of-a-kind.  And just as we have a story, we too have a name.  A name of meaning, significance, and importance.  Our friends call us by name. Our family call us by name.  God calls us by name.  And together, our name and our story set us apart. They mark who we are in the world.

Naturally, as my thoughts often do, they made their journey toward my heart, the stop where the aching starts to set in, and the injustice of the world becomes crystal clear.  I suddenly began to wonder about the baby God was preparing for us.  What is our child's name? What is our baby's story?

From here my idea was born.  Each necklace I would create would be named.  It would represent the orphans and in the world who appear nameless and are desperate for a person to tell their story. Those who have been named all along by a God who is merciful and created them to be his one-of-a-kind child.