I Thought I Was Just Walking Into a Tea Shop

This week’s blog is a little different.

Usually, I write about the chaos of life, motherhood, and building The Painted Button. But this week, I want to share something more personal. I want to talk about listening when God places certain people in our lives, even when we do not immediately understand why.

Almost five years ago, I saw a sign outside a random tea shop called Elevate Nutrition and decided to walk in.

I thought I was just stopping to get a tea. I had no idea God was leading me into a place that would become one of the greatest constants in my life.

That day, I met Ximena, the wonderfully positive girl behind the counter. Elevate quickly became part of my morning routine, but it was never only about the tea. It was about the way I felt when I walked through those doors. Ximena had a way of making people feel welcome, encouraged, and important.

It became a place filled with light during a time when I desperately needed it.

If I am being completely honest, there was a time when I could not see God working in my life at all. I did not understand what He was doing or where He was leading me. Looking back now, I realize He was there the entire time.

He was showing up through Ximena’s kindness, positivity, encouragement, and faith. He was also showing up through the many incredible people I would eventually meet because I walked through those doors.

Over the years, we shared so many of our ideas and plans for The Painted Button with Ximena. Before it was a real business, it was something we talked about and dreamed about. We had plenty of ideas, but we did not always have the confidence to believe we could make them happen.

Still, she listened.

She encouraged us to go for it, even when we were still trying to convince ourselves that we could. When we finally took that scary first step, she helped us create our storefront and turn something that had lived only in our minds into something real.

To her, it may have felt like she was simply helping with a storefront. To us, it felt like someone was saying, “I believe this dream deserves a place in the world.”

But this story is not only about Ximena.

Over the last five years, God has used Elevate to place so many amazing people in our lives. We have made friendships I never expected and met people who have brought so much joy, light, and encouragement into my life.

They have listened to our ideas, helped us improve them, shared our posts, placed orders, recommended our business, and believed in us when we did not always believe in ourselves.

Every order mattered. Every shared post mattered. Every encouraging word mattered.

But the greatest thing this place has given me has nothing to do with our business.

God used Elevate to bring me closer to Him.

It was not through pressure or someone telling me who I needed to be. It was through watching people live out their faith with kindness, joy, generosity, and love. It was through conversations, friendships, encouragement, and seeing God reflected in the way people treated one another.

When I could not see God for myself, He placed people in my life who showed me what His love looked like.

Little by little, He used this place and the people inside it to draw me back toward Him. My faith became stronger. I started seeing His hand in places I had missed before. I began understanding that He had never left me, even during the times when I felt completely disconnected from Him.

I am not saying a tea shop saved me. I am saying God knew exactly how to reach me.

He knew I needed to see Him through other people before I was ready to recognize Him for myself. He knew I needed their light, their faith, and their example. He knew that one small decision to stop for a tea would eventually change much more than my morning routine.

It would change me.

Ximena, I hope you know how deeply grateful we are for you. Thank you for listening to our dreams, encouraging us to take that first step, and helping us bring our vision to life.

More importantly, thank you for being a light in my life during a time when I struggled to see one.

I have never been someone who is good at getting my emotions out or saying the really important things face-to-face. I know I could never fully explain all of this to you in person without becoming overwhelmed or losing the words. So I hope that through my writing, I can convey even a small part of how grateful I am and how much you and this place have truly meant to me.

To every person we have met through Elevate, thank you for the friendships, conversations, ideas, orders, shared posts, prayers, and every moment you helped me believe in myself and grow closer to God. You are all part of this story.

I walked into Elevate because I saw a sign. At the time, it felt like a small and ordinary decision.

Now, almost five years later, I know it was anything but ordinary.

I thought I was just walking into a tea shop.

God was leading me back to Him.

So, if there is one thing I hope you take from this, it is to pay attention to the people and places God puts in your path. Listen to those quiet nudges. Walk through the door. Start the conversation. You may not understand why in that moment, but one day you may look back and realize He was guiding you exactly where you needed to be all along.

— Brittney

The Painted Button