Goals

I just paid my sales taxes for 2009.  Not that exciting, but doing so has me reflecting on the last year and what the real results of Knits and Knots were.  I set a personal goal for 2009 to make enough profit to be able to donate $100 toward a microloan to another mom in a part of the world where making things by hand is not a luxury, but a necessity.  Basically, a microloan provides the start-up cost or extra revenue needed to sustain a business that is paid back at a very low interest rate and a reasonable amount of time with very little (if any) penalty for inability to repay the loan.  Those who qualify for a microloan would never qualify for a traditional loan, and therefore are unable to pull themselves out of the pit of poverty.

Since Knits and Knots is not a hugely lucrative business yet, my husband and I don't rely on the income from it to sustain ourselves.  Some day (as in after all of my children are in school all day!) I would love to make this my full-time occupation, but in the mean-time I thought that the best way to use the profit would be to benefit another mother who doesn't have the luxury of doing a craft for fun like I do, but instead has to work hard to support her family.  There are lots of places that will provide microloans, and for 2009 I decided to donate through the ServLife Hope Fund.  If you've been reading this blog for a while you may remember, in November of 2008 I traveled to India and Nepal to visit a ServLife orphanage and pastor training school.  This trip was transformational to me in that it brought me to a place to be able to consider with compassion the true depths of suffering that come with poverty, and the fact that I have the power to impact the world with good.  This trip was the catalyst for my husband and I to begin our adoption journey and has forever changed the way I view what is "mine".

I am VERY pleased to say that I met my goal for 2009 - Knits and Knots was able to donate $100 to the ServLife Hope Fund.  This money will be used to provide a microloan to a woman in India or Nepal!  I don't share this as a way to pat myself on the back, but instead as a Thank You to all of you who supported Knits and Knots with  your purchases, promoting it to your friends and family, or just sharing words of encouragement.

I am so humbled to be able to meet this goal, and have decided to make a bigger goal for 2010... I want to provide a $200 loan via Kiva.org this year.  This won't be easy since we hope to be traveling to Korea to bring home our child in early to mid fall, and I have a feeling my crafting will drop off at that point until we're all adjusted to the time change and family growth.  But I believe big goals can lead to big accomplishments, and I'm going to stick to this goal and just see what happens!

** Update!** As of August 2010 I have already met my goal of $200 profit for the year!  I am thrilled to be able to donate as I have desired!!!  I know that God will use that money to bless a specific person somewhere around the world.  As a way to allow my customers to be involved, I would welcome any input on a worthy recipient on Kiva.org!