The Ivytree Studio Story – Part 6: The Leap That Changed Everything

There are moments in life where obedience asks something costly of us.

Not because God wants to harm us, but because growth often requires movement — movement away from what feels safe and familiar and into places where we learn to depend on Him more deeply.

This chapter of my story became one of those defining seasons.

It stretched me emotionally, spiritually, creatively, and personally in ways I could never have anticipated.

After years of teaching, waiting, growing, and praying, my life took a dramatic turn.

I resigned from my stable teaching position — pension, medical aid, security and all.

I sold my little second-hand paid-off car, boarded a plane, and stepped into a completely different world in the Middle East shortly after getting married.

At the time, it felt overwhelming.

As a highly sensitive, artistic Christian woman, living in a foreign desert country was far outside anything I ever imagined for my life. Exciting and scary at the same time. Adventurous but also very demanding.

But God was leading us there, and both of us just had to trust Him.

Those first eight months away from my family — my parents, my sister, my familiar environment — stretched me deeply. Yet through every challenge, God kept proving Himself faithful.

He taught me something incredibly important in that desert season:

I could do hard things with Him beside me.

That season was filled with lessons about obedience, trust, and surrender.

I realised that not all the dreams we imagine for ourselves unfold exactly as we planned, but God’s plans are always filled with hope and purpose, even when we cannot yet see the full picture.

Our marriage grew stronger through those experiences, and looking back now after many years together, I can see how those difficult beginnings became part of the foundation God was building for our future.

Over time, we travelled back and forth between countries several times, living and working in very different environments and educational settings.

I helped develop Higher Education Curriculum for adult learners, worked in challenging environments, and continued growing professionally in ways I never expected.

At the same time, something creative inside me was becoming stronger and stronger.

During those overseas years, I began researching Mixed Media art processes more intentionally, and the desire to create my own art deepened significantly.

Creativity became more than a hobby.

It became a way to process stress, uncertainty, transition, and emotional overwhelm and physical pain.

Later, during another particularly difficult overseas season, I bought my very first Silhouette digital cutting machine and brought it home together with a large scrapbook album.

At the time, I didn’t fully understand how significant that little machine would become in the larger Ivytree Studio story.

But God knew.

Those years also taught me resilience, discernment, and professional boundaries. I learned how easily creative work could be copied or misused and how important it was to protect both my work and my peace.

Most importantly, I learned how to transition well.

Between school hostels, overseas moves, foreign countries, difficult environments, and constant change, God taught me how to create a sense of home wherever He placed me.

And quietly, through all of it, He was preparing me for something still to come.

Looking back now, I can see how often God prepares us through uncomfortable seasons.

Not every difficult season is punishment.

Sometimes it is preparation.

Those desert years taught me resilience, creativity, adaptability, obedience, and trust in ways that comfortable seasons never could.

And often, the very things we think are interruptions become the training ground for future purpose.

The next chapter is where the dream finally began taking shape.

👉 I’ll share how Ivytree Studio was officially born, why I chose digital creativity, and how God slowly built something meaningful out of years of preparation.

Thank you for continuing this journey with me.

If you are currently navigating a season of transition, uncertainty, or stretching, I hope this encourages you to trust that God is still working — even in unfamiliar places.

And if you enjoy faith-based creativity, journaling, and gentle encouragement rooted in Scripture…

join us today.