pink poodle spa

Romans 15:13 " I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."  NLT

This week I announced the closing of my grooming shop, Pink Poodle Spa.  I started it from nothing a few years ago when I moved to Texas.  It had become the culmination of years of learning what I did and didn't want in a business.  I have made hundreds of friends, both two legged and four legged through this shop.  The details of my life and their lives are woven together in a tapestry of shapes and colors.  It was also a place where I shared His word with friend and stranger alike.  Where I handed out money, love, and advice whether they wanted it or not.  It is a part of me and as I close, a piece of my heart feels broken off.  

I fought with God for months about why He wanted me to close.  I made deals, I begged, I manipulated, I made excuses, and I plain out ignored Him.  One day, as I looked at myself in the mirror after a particularly stressful day, I knew that the time had come to listen with "new" ears.  Isaiah 55:3 "Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life." NLT  I threw myself at His feet weeping.  He saw my tears, heard my plea's, and like any good parent, told me to stop whining, get up, and do what I was told.

It is difficult for me to admit that I have always placed my work above my family.  I have spent years following the advice of the world and not listening to what I needed to do.  I missed countless events in my children's lives because of work.  I put the needs of other's before the needs of the children God had entrusted me with.  As I have said before, I am lucky that my children are so quick to forgive their mother and her workaholic attitude.  

This is why I am closing.  All these gifts that the Lord has given me, each one needing me in their own way.  But more importantly, the one on the back right.  My oldest son, the one who needs me now more than at any time in his life.  God brought him back to me for a reason. Then there is the tiny one in the front.  The one who needs her grandmother to be "all there".  Not a grandmother who plants her in front of a video while she works.   There is something He wants me to learn from this and I am finally ready to listen.  I am filled with joy and hope.  I am confident that He has great plans for me, for my family, and for my friends.


I will miss each and every one of the dogs I groom and the friends that I have made.  No one was a client.  They were all family.  I pray that God will bless them with another groomer who loves them like I do.  Both the two legged and the four legged.