From Birth…..

I was born on June 27, 1998; my birthday is literally 627. These three numbers are more than just a business to me, it is my entire life. It is my passion. Growing up I had my confidence stripped at a young age due to bullying in elementary school, middle school and high school. It then caused me at a very young age to realize how "beauty" standards define everything. I grew up hating everything about me, from the placement of my eyes on my face to the deeper hue of the pigment of my skin. I grew up not knowing my worth, or beauty but fighting restlessly to find something to define it. I lived a life consumed in worrying about what people thought of me when they saw me. Worrying was an aspect of my everyday life. The cycle continued; until I reached my breaking point. I was tired of the lies of insecurity ringing in my ears, and the thoughts of self-hatred plaguing my mind. I sought to find a better way and discovered the love of the perfect Father, Yahweh( meaning the Father of all creation) who "created the delicate parts of my being, who knit me together in my mother's womb" Psalms139 vs 13. He took me on a journey for several years of removing the layers I added onto myself to add beauty and show me His original craftsmanship of who He intentionally created me to be. I discovered my worth could not be defined by anything on this earth but only through Him. Through the process of the Lord redefining beauty in my eyes He birthed a passion in me to share my story through various platforms using my gifts of the arts.

The Beginning….

I kept waking up at 6:27 and seeing those numbers everywhere a year after I had begun intimately walking with the Lord in 2016 (See blog entitled “So It All Began). I finally investigated the Lord as to why I kept seeing these numbers and I heard “Matthew 6:27” ; How can anyone, by worrying, add a single moment to their life? following me reading the scripture the Lord said “627 Ministry”…. and a flood of things came to mind that people worry about that consumes them and causes them to strive constantly to prove themselves to people because they are worried about acceptance and opinions of others….and so it all began

I made by first pair of earrings on 4/27/2019. I never thought to pursue it as a business however. It was the date of the “Campus Wide Worship Night” the Lord placed on my heart to do. I remember getting ready and saying to the Lord “I want some BOMB earrings with a a design on them. I heard the Lord’s response “You can make them”. And I did.

I set out on June of 2019 to begin the launch of my Ministry entitled 627 Ministry LLC. This ministry actually came out of one of the darkest times I had ever been in. I was alone for a summer in Kent Ohio, with no one around, but I knew the Lord was calling me to be there. I was in a season of frustration with the Lord and confused as to why I felt like I was not moving. I was in the wilderness waiting impatiently for God to finally fulfill His promises. I started making more earrings, only for myself, I found it to be an artistic release. I would have a vision of a design and I would paint it, and then I removed older earring hooks and placed it on my new creations. But I didn’t pursue it. In that same season of frustration I was questioning the Lord why He had me here. Why am I still hurting, angry and not moving? The Lord spoke to me and said “Olivia, you haven’t even done the first thing I told you to do”. And I remember giving the Lord my “yes” on a Friday of June 2019. And somehow the Lord turned my earrings into a business in 3 days. Then He connected the business to the ministry He had already spoken to me 3 years prior. Just as each earring was handmade, so are you by God, so why worry? He already aligned people in my path to connect with me. My friend who had been living in my apartment complex that summer, just so happened to be a photographer. The photographer the Lord set up for my first photoshoot of my first product. My other friend who lived across from me who was there that summer so happened to be over an organization called “The Network’ where she connected me with models and people who support minority businesses. She then became my first customer, one of the models for my first ever photoshoot and a strong supporter of the ministry vision! He had been moving all along, simply waiting for my “yes”. BY SUNDAY, THREE DAYS LATER…I was finally beginning the journey of this ministry, the business and the calling God placed on my life before the beginning of time! I began to embrace the beauty of the wilderness with the Lord, being hidden in the secret place is where He began to cultivate me and beckon me deeper into an eternal love with Him. Mind you, it was still a HORRIBLE season, endless nights crying, frustration overwhelming, various circumstances escalating causing a great deal of hurt and sorrow. I didn’t see how He would work it out. But even in the middle of it all He kept me, kept my mind, kept my heart and continued to reassure me of all His promises. Every. Day. He didn’t stop, He hasn’t stopped. And the ministry was birthed.

Despite what we have been through, what society says, and what we even tell ourselves. God does still have a plan! And nothing we can do can ruin it! He is still moving even in the toughest of times. He will take you through and see you out!

Psalm 30:5 King James Version (KJV)

5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.