WE ARE STILL HERE by Tom & Paula Christie

I remember the 18th of March 2020 so clearly. The announcement of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdowns were made, and I sat on our stairs at home staring at my phone waiting for the influx of calls from clients to begin. I felt sick, my head was spinning, I was shaking and I melted into tears. I felt like our wedding business we had worked so hard for over the past five years was collapsing around us. I spent six hours on the phone with clients, with a calm and caring demeanor as one-by-one they postponed and cancelled their events. We lost 95% of our work for the next six months in those hours.

The lengthy lockdowns in Melbourne resulted in our business being unable to function. We continued to lose eight months of work in cancellations and postponements, and faced refunding thousands of dollars to clients who no longer wanted to proceed with their weddings. My husband Tom and I went from running a profitable business to living off government benefits. Each continual request for a refund brought on more anxiety and feelings of uncertainty. The lengthy and extended lockdowns caused us to at times feel panicked, dry and depleted of all creative energy.

Our Hillsong Melbourne Community rallied around us during this time, and we were inundated with food and provisions that were overwhelmingly generous. We have always run our business with the conviction that it was given to us by God, and that we are to be good stewards of the provision he has given us. I look back at an Instagram post I made the next day where I said, “This won’t stop us. It might slow us down, but it won’t stop us. We are going to keep pushing forward in our God given dreams, we are going to keep tithing, we are going to keep being generous in every way we can”.

Despite being hit hard through this Covid-19 season, we were able to secure and renovate a warehouse / showroom space to expand our business. Walking through this space we knew God’s provision was over us, with the size, layout and location being exactly what we needed to take our business to the next level. The space even included a separate first floor office, which we have been able to lease out and cover 70% of our rental costs.

During the period of November 2020 - May 2021 we reopened our business and with the balancing act of booking new clients and fulfilling postponements we were run off our feet. Our business was able to rebuild and flourish, seeing us employ eight new staff. God also blessed us with a pregnancy during the lockdown season and we now have our little boy Lenny, who constantly reminds us of God’s goodness. I am writing this as we still sit under restrictions that basically render our business closed. Despite this we are determined that this season won’t cost us our vision and that we won’t shrink back despite the numbers not adding up. We continue to be generous in all aspects of our lives and to sow back into our church family who have held us up during this season.

A verse that has really spoken to us during this season:

“But in the day that I’m afraid, I lay all my fears before you and trust in you with all my heart. What harm could a man bring to me? With God on my side, I will not be afraid of what comes. The roaring praises of God fill my heart as I trust his promises.”

Psalms 56:3-4 TPT