hey friends!
I’m Bethany.
the voice…. and sometimes face behind Found in You!
To be honest… my life is like nothing I would or could have dreamed up for myself. Only God can be the author of this story. If someone would have predicted Found in You 20 years ago, I’d have laughed out loud and in my heart secretly wished I was capable of it.
My life changed in 2013 when after years of ignoring warnings, I finally hit bottom, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I was unhappy with who I was and I made sure God knew it.
I told Him time and time again I could not understand why He had made me this way, and yet almost in the same breath I would feel so guilty and unsatisfied at the thought of how shallow my relationship was with Him. The relationship pretty much consisted of me complaining about His disappointing creation of me.
And yet I knew He was the answer to my longing for more…
Looking back, I can see God was holding that chisel in His hands. He loved me then as I was, but what he wanted to show me were the greater things He had in store for me. He was waiting for me to get over myself.
“Self-importance turns out to be self-sabotage and getting over ourselves turns into finding ourselves. Our true selves. The lives we were born to live.”
The Lord kept showing me that He loved me.
That He created me the way He wanted me and that included these weaknesses that I hate. He’s shown me that He created my weaknesses for His glory. He knew why He had made me, why I was the way I was and that that had to be enough. He promised me He could see who I am going to be because He sees the beginning, the middle and the end.
And I finally began to believe Him.
“Those willing to give up their insatiable self-preoccupation to identify with Jesus and follow Him furiously will find an ever-unfolding life and love that they couldn’t have scripted if they tried.”
The transformation of 2013 to now is not lost on me. The work was always mine to do, but the glory goes to Him who UPHELD ME WITH HIS LOVING HANDS.
I felt compelled to tell others my story, and share about the things I was learning. I began my blog here and wrote out my story for the first time. This became a new way of healing for me but has also become a way of holding myself accountable to my boundaries and the reality of what it means to be authentic, transparent and vulnerable. Be the same Bethany at home, at church, at the ball field, online, with my husband, with our kids, with my friends, with our families.
A great deal of my journey of continued healing, and confidence in Him in the 12 years since has been through God’s gift of my small business. Found in You has been exactly that. A gift. Even as fresh as I felt I was, I found my confidence begin to grow over the years and I began to realize God was calling me to more than just painting furniture and making money. He was helping me understand that the purpose of my pain was to be for His glory, for ministry, and encouragement to others.
And yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
-Habakkuk 3:18
Where it all Began…
2015
Sold my first piece of furniture. Found in You created. Became a vendor in local shops.
2013
I hit a breaking point that made me realize I needed to make changes to be able to go on living. The Lord rescued me.
2019
Took a big leap of faith, opening my first location in Elizabethtown.
2017
Began writing about my healing online.
2021
Crisis in the foundations of my faith. Closed 117 S Market Street.
2020
Stepped down from ministry at church. Started homeschooling.
2023
God shook me up in the garden one summer day. Began healing my foundation cracks.
2022
Bought the farm and temporarily pushed pause on Found in You.
2024
Abundance Basket Project launched. God delivered me from my scarcity mindset, I began to understand His goodness for real.
Once again, I had no idea what God had in store for me while I was doing life on my own terms. I’ve never understood myself better than now while I’m surrounding myself with and surrendering myself to Him. I had no idea what could be found in me, until I surrendered to Him. Until I quit protecting myself. Until I allowed His protection.
That is the beauty of this business of making things new. Of finding purpose and life and beauty in the worn out, old, broken, and cast off. Of finding myself at a crossroads. Either continue as I am or surrender.
So that’s it. If you made it to the end of the long version, here’s a high five. No matter the first time telling or the 100th time telling my testimony of God’s goodness it’s still hard. I still cry. It still continues to produce healing.
Whether you are a long time customer or brand new friend, I’m glad you’re here.
Thanks for your part on my journey, however influential, big or small. If you’ve given an encouraging word or made a purchase, cried with me, laughed with me, studied with me or even if we’ve never met, I am grateful that you have landed here.
I pray that as you read my story, you’ll see God’s glory and you will find Him here.