I am so excited to announce a new collaboration with interior designer, Sarah Foster! She has been working enthusiastically on a new collection of vibrant throw pillow covers that will debut oh so soon at The Sparrow Studio. I love the way God has been weaving threads to this Sparrow tapestry together behind the scenes and just gradually revealing the bigger picture to us along the way. I can only imagine what is around the next bend!

I’m Sarah Foster, and in many ways, life has been oh so good and we’ve been on a “traditional track.” In the last two years, the Lord has done an incredible work in my heart and mind. A sweet friend passed away, and I found myself filled with fear and uncovering a real lack of trust in God. Proverbs 3:5 has been creeping into every crevice (“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”). Real trust is simple. Real love is simple. Know God’s character and go for it. And then I read Jen Hatmaker's Seven (testimony of a life ruined, thanks, Jen), followed by Katie Davis's Kisses from Katie, then Bob Goff’s Love Does, and my heart was turned completely inside out. And a real tension developed with my work as an Interior Designer. I began praying that God would provide a means for my gifts to intertwine with Kingdom work. Simultaneously, He decided that we should move from our home in Durham, North Carolina to Denver, Colorado for a job opportunity for my husband. We felt plucked from our comforts, our home, and were now a significant distance from most of our closest relationships. But we felt confident it was God’s plan, and everything about the job and the move had incredible God momentum. I couldn’t have guessed the incredible provision God had for us in Denver.

A great church surfaced quickly. And soon I found myself at Ms Muffie’s for ballet class for our 4 year old. Then in came Annie, a Noonday Ambassador, and we connected all these dots about what we’d been reading, the IF Gathering; and through the IF Gathering blog I learned what Noonday Collection was (podcast interview with Jessica Honegger). Annie gave me the Fall lookbook, and I was floored. THIS was the marriage of my gifts and heart. I hosted a Noonday Collection trunk show to dip my toe in the water of fair trade craftsmanship. I wanted to see what was possible, in person. The product is great, but that wasn’t the calling (for me). Home accessories, made in the same spirit, became a fire inside me. There were actually Christians out there bringing beautiful, modern, relevant creations into the marketplace. I wanted a part in it.

While in the midst of working through the Restless Project, I casually mentioned to Annie that I’d been praying for a way to use my gifts. She looked me in the eye and said, “I have an idea for you. (knowing my design background) I’ve started a line of home accessories, and I need help designing product.” Jaw dropped. Partnership formed.

As a product of the Lord’s work, I find myself working to create a hopeful life for 35 women in Rwanda through the crafting of interesting, well designed home accessories. I’d can't wait to someday meet them face to face! I am new to Rwanda's story, but I’ve been reading and learning about the people and the culture since Annie invited me into The Sparrow Studio. I am beginning to dream of employing the women of More than Sparrows full time- to keep them from turning to their old jobs in the sex trade for rent money, to increase their health care opportunities, to provide opportunities for educational growth, and most of all, to show them, and their community, that God does, in fact, make all things new. He’s made me new, and I am so grateful. What an amazing gift to be a part of this unfolding story of forgiveness and redemption He is writing in Rwanda, and through women all over the world loving all people wholeheartedly, just as He’s called us to do.

For a sneak peak of the new pillow line Sarah is designing, follow us on Instagram: thesparrowstudio!