Alegria Accessories Prayer Partners

This week is an exciting one in the US and in Honduras.

I'm reading John's account of discovering the empty tomb this morning and in his account, Mary Magdelene first discovered the stone was rolled away from the tomb and his body was missing. She ran to tell John and Peter and they came and saw too. But after they left, Jesus chose to appear to Mary... Why would Jesus choose to appear to a woman who's past was so dark and wrecked by sin? Why a woman? I was taught to ask questions of scripture as I read so that the Holy Spirit can speak through the Word, and my heart and mind will be open to what He is teaching me. Why a woman? The gospel tells us that it was predawn on Sunday morning. Sunday was the first day of work in the Hebrew world because Sabbath was from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. So she was getting up early to go and finish the process of preparing the dead body because it was put in the tomb so hastily for Sabbath. She was getting up early to do her work. She was the one coming to care for his devastated body that had been tortured just 36 hours earlier. She was the first one to see the stone rolled away. She was the first one to look in and see his body was gone. And Jesus may have honored that she stepped up first. She was also close to the disciples as she had been a follower for Jesus' entire ministry too. So He may have chosen her because He knew she would immediately start the spread of the news of the resurrection to just the right people. And we also know from scripture that because she believed He was Messiah, and now He had sacrificed Himself for our salvation, she was a new creation, white as snow, without sin, because He had paid it all. So her past was erased from His memory as far as the east is from the west. On Easter Sunday, let's above all be thankful and full of worship for our Saviour, Jesus, who came, lived a sinless life, related to us in human form, and then went to the cross and bore the horrific punishment for all of our sin, died, was buried, and on the third day, defeated death and the grave! Hallelujah! He is risen! And as women, let's look to Mary and be ready for the work ahead of us. Let's go where He leads us, because He is already there! We are praying huge things for Alegria this year, and I am believing we will see our little company grow so that we can create more jobs. We have come through the winter, and we are on the verge of Mother's Day and then the summer. God is working and moving on behalf of His daughters in Honduras and I'm so grateful you are praying with me today!  Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Good Sunday morning Joy-Creators and prayer partners! Whether you are reading our prayer partner blog for the very first time (welcome!), or you have been praying weekly with us since it started (thank you!), I am so grateful you are taking this time to lift up Alegria and our work in Honduras to the One who holds us in His hands and heard the cries of his daughters, and is answering. As we head into Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday today, I was doing my usual thing near the end of the month and the quarter: checking our goals against our analytics. This year didn't start off great, we were down in our sales over the same period last year. This isn't surprising considering the news about our economy and consumer confidence. But God... Why do I talk endlessly about sales here? Well, the reality: sales = jobs. And there is a waiting list in Honduras of women who really need these jobs. Young women who without a job at Alegria might have to work in an unsafe environment or for less than a living wage, or worse, beg on the streets, or something more unthinkable. These jobs are changing lives! So yes, I am constantly looking at our sales numbers. When they begin to trend up consistently and our demand increases, we can add another job. And when we trend down, I fear a layoff. It breaks me to think about that and I fight for it every day. This morning, after another wonderful day of sharing Alegria with a women's conference, and a small group of women doing some spectacular shopping, we are now up enough in March to overcome the deficit of January and February! But God!!  We are getting traction online with some major retailers in dropshipping. One of our best stores is about to move to a bigger location and carry more Alegria. God is moving! He hears the cries of His daughters. This morning, the number of days left in the month and quarter was not lost on me. Three days.  A lot can happen in 3 days.  Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, but three days later, the plot to end His life was brewing...Thursday, He celebrated the Passover with His disciples, and then within 24 hours was lying dead in a grave. But on the third day...an empty tomb and our salvation complete! Death defeated! What a week we get to remember and celebrate this week! In Honduras, Holy Week is celebrated like Christmas! The kids are out of school. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are part of the official holiday with businesses closed. Alegria is closed this week in Honduras and everyone will be enjoying time with family and kiddos. Pray for rest for our artisans, and refreshment. And the three days here? I'm praying for the end of our Charmed March campaign to bring in online sales to put us back on track with goals and not just even with last year. I'm praying for new subscribers to our Joy Box tonight when I reveal the April Joy Box online. And I'm praying our Live tonight will also produce great sales as I run through the Spring pieces that are almost sold out. Thank you for praying for our last 3 days of March, and of quarter 1 of 2026. Let's pray that many women step in and join the story in these last 3 days. The story of us, using the strength of our shopping for accessories and gifts to create safe, living wage jobs for women in Honduras, interrupting poverty, the orphan crisis and trafficking. Three days...what can God do? Everything!

Here we are 81 days into 2026 and I just couldn't be more grateful for you! I've been publishing this blog weekly (most weeks) for over a year now, and it's actually our 2nd highest landing page. That means you are coming here intentionally and you are praying with and for Alegria. This year, you have been praying us through a dark winter, and we are on the other side of it with Easter and Mother's Day around the corner and tons of women's conferences on the calendar where I get to introduce Alegria to new Joy-Creators. Thank you for this constant support in prayer. Alegria only exists because of the partnership with women in the United States who will shop and share, and pray. This morning, when I woke up at 2:33am, I was reading my Bible and it was the last chapters of Deuteronomy. Moses was giving his final speech to the nation of Israel just before he handed off the leadership to Joshua and they entered the promised land to begin the fight for their new home. In chapter 33, he blesses each tribe. Would you join me this morning in praying these blessings over Alegria? That we would live and not die out, though we are few in number. Hear our cry and bring us together as a people. Give us strength to defend our cause and help us against our enemies. Bless our ministry and accept all the work of our hands. Recognizing we are loved by the Lord and live in safety beside him, surround us continuously and preserve us from every harm. May our land be blessed with dew from the heavens, water from beneath the earth, rich fruit that grows in the sun, rich harvest produced each month, and the favor of the one who appeared in the burning bush. May we prosper in our travels and at home. That you would enlarge our territory and give us leaders that carry out justice and obey You. That we would be rich in favor and full of the Lord's blessings. That we would be esteemed by others and secure all our days. There is no one like our God! I'm praying for these blessings on you and your family also - thank you for praying for Alegria today. - Sarah

And there was evening, and there was morning.  Three times this same verse has been given to me in the last week.  And at 3:30 this morning, I woke up and the song lyrics "He has good plans, He has good plans for me in deserts and gardens..." If you just joined our story and this is the first prayer partner blog you are reading, thank you for joining me today to pray for Alegria. There is nothing greater you can do than bring our mission and calling, our artisans in Honduras, me and Jenna in the US, our Joy-Partner stores and all of our Joy-Creators (customers) before our LORD God and ask for His wisdom to accomplish His purpose. If you have been with us since February 14th of 2021, when we launched, or soon after, thank you for your prayers through the years. You sustain us as you continue to pray.  God hears the prayers of His saints for His people. He calls us to care for the widows and orphans. And the women who work at Alegria in Honduras grew up at Faith Home after being orphaned by either losing their parents or being surrendered there by parents who could not care for them economically.  Today, we are 1 month and 1 day into year 6, and our mission of 30 by 2030. 30 women with a job at Alegria by our 10th birthday on February 14th of 2030.  So many things are on my heart and mind that I'm praying for Alegria...today, I'm seeking to be still and listen. I'm praying that the story would be loud and call many, many, many to join. To hire the new artisan that is waiting right now to start, we need the needle to move in our sales. Please pray for her by name, her name starts with an A and God knows her. Each artisan needs 14 stores and 214 customers placing orders to support her job in Honduras each year. I am sitting still and praying about how to keep over 80 stores and nearly 1400 retail customers shopping this year to sustain the jobs of our current artisans, and how to add 14 new stores and 214 new customers to create A's job. God knows her, and He knows the plans to bring these 228 people into the story. Open my eyes God, and move hearts and dollars to make A's job a reality. This is only possible when God does it! Thank you for praying with me today. -Sarah

Happy Sunday Prayer Partners! Our very first women's conference of 2026 was yesterday at the Daughter's Conference in Tennessee and not only did they show up and shop until a week and 8 days of Honduras wages and expenses were covered, but they also invited me to talk about Alegria from the stage and then prayed over us. These are blessed days! And this is just the first conference. If you follow me on TikTok or Insta or FB, you saw the funny video of 5 trips carrying things in...and 2 hours later the display. I spared you the vision of tearing it down and packing it up (that's only an hour). It's a lot of work! And I can't bring you our entire line, just a sampling. But here's my prayer after these events this year - that women will become lifelong prayer partners with Alegria, and that when the occasion for a gift comes up, Alegria will be a first website to go look for something perfect to give, and support our artisans. That our ads and post and emails would inspire seasonal fashion shopping for these women - repeat purchases, a lifetime value for our conferences. And that each woman would be blessed and blessed and blessed again for their support through shopping. And now I'm out the door for a store event this afternoon in Indy! Coffee ready, a good night's sleep, and the car was already loaded! Be blessed prayer partners!

Prayer partners, thank you! We are in the last month of the first quarter of 2026, and the numbers I'm looking at are nothing short of miraculous! It is not because of us, but because we are bringing Alegria to it's Founder, the LORD. And He is honoring our requests on behalf of His daughters in Honduras. In my Bible reading this morning, I was wrapping up Leviticus and reading about the Sabbath year, and the year of Jubilee. Wouldn't God's plans be so wonderful for His people if we had been able to follow them, except for that pesky fall into sin. I am grateful for Jesus who is our ultimate Day of Atonement and salvation from failing the letter of the law and God's holiness. I wonder if they ever celebrated a year of Sabbath or Jubilee? Or did they just take that prosperity of year 6 and keep on working when God gave them what they needed to rest in year 7? We know God is always true to His promise, even when we fail. This brings me to what I want to share this morning. One thing you are providing as you shop at Alegria is a weekend for our artisans.  We take that for granted in the US. (Unless we make a choice to work more than one job, or a job with mandatory overtime.) Most legal jobs in the US have days off. And a 'good' job in Honduras does too. According to the stated labor contracts issued by the labor department, the legal work week in Honduras is 44 hours and includes Saturdays. That's at the 'good' jobs. We operate under a 40 hours week at Alegria. Occasionally when we've had a supply issue we have had to put in a Saturday, but it is always agreed upon, usually from home, and always paid back with double time off the next week.  And sometimes the artisans will ask to work a few Saturdays in order to extend a holiday weekend. Of course! We are creating more than a 'good' job, we have created 'good jobs for women and moms'. And we're working on something else to make this even better. Please pray that we have wisdom and ability to make these even better jobs and that we can create more of them. And I would ask that you would help us to meet our Q1 growth goal by the end of March. This includes bringing on new stores, getting spring orders from more that haven't ordered yet, continuing to grow our online sales with ads that are placed correctly with engaging content that converts to sales, and finally having strong sales at our women's conferences and in person events, but also creating loyal customers year round from these events, not just 1 time at the event.   March is a big month, and we serve a BIG GOD who has in His heart to use us to bless His daughters in Honduras.

As a child, sometimes falling asleep was hard for me. I can't remember how old I was before my parents had to stop picking me up in the middle of the night from sleepovers, but it was probably later than most kids. There were times I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat, but other times when sleep was not going to come. I remember my mom sharing that when she woke up in the middle of the night or she couldn't get to sleep, she would pray. And my dad would go to his office and study and pray when he couldn't sleep. The example taught to me through my parents' actions over and over was that God was the place to turn when you couldn't find peace and rest. (moms and dads, we are watching, listening and learning, even if you don't think we are, you are doing good work, keep doing it!) Sleep is the deepest of peace, letting yourself fall into unconsciousness to regenerate and refresh, without fear of harm. And to my fellow 'over 50' folks, we know it just gets harder as we get older. And it has eluded me much this winter. Waking up at 2am and failing to find that restful sleep again for hours. Why? Well, the passage in my devotion this morning that landed hard on my soul was Philippians 4:6-7. "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Last week, I confessed that I have failed Alegria this winter. Well, this should not come as a surprise to me. Alegria is not mine, and as a human, failure is just part of our DNA. It's also called 'sin' - an archery term that means missing the mark. Yep, that fits. I've missed the mark. But the whispers this week at 2am have been that God will be the Lord of the harvest. He is working even when I'm sleeping. It doesn't mean I don't work with all my might as unto the Lord. God loves work. He honors it. But the harvest part can't be done by my work, only through Him. We plant, cultivate and water, but only God can bring the harvest. He is the only one who can prompt a heart through an image, a video, words, a display, an email. The heart part - that's Him. It has always been Him.  Let me take an aside in our prayer update for Alegria and ask you, sweet prayer partner, is there something keeping you up at night? I'm praying right now that these words from God can assure you that He is awake too. He never goes to sleep. And He's holding out His hand to you and asking you to give the burden to Him to carry. You do your part, and then go to your knees and surrender it to Him. It was always His to begin with. He is listening, His is aware, He is good, He is love, He cares. 2am is not lost on me. I wasn't sleeping at 2am on December 3rd, 2020 - the night He called me out of my grief and loss to start Alegria. So when I'm not finding sleep in these hardest days of winter, I will be finding myself in conversation more with my Lord, over other things too, but mainly over the things we're praying on for 2026, and here they are in the order we are seeking God on and asking for Him to lead and guide and give wisdom and His intervention to move them forward: For sales numbers to increase so that we can pay our wages, bills and obligations. (yes we are very short of this right now, and it's scary...this is the winter reality, and why we try to save through the fall) For Alegria to pay off our debts. It is a small percentage of our annual revenue, but it is still eating at profits and not the way we want to exist, or the way God calls us to exist. We've borrowed the last 3 Februaries to get through winter. And we'll never pay the debt off if we don't draw the line and stop. So this year, I have 1 week left to let sales cover expenses and not borrow again. I'm believing and praying. For wisdom as we walk into opportunities to grow: advertising spend and campaign content, finding people who will come alongside with representing us for commissions that will be committed, skilled and successful. For the 24 artisans that we will hire as we grow and move toward our 30 by 2030. God protect them and prepare their hearts and hands while we work to create their job. Philippians 4:6 ends by telling us to 'tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.' So I want to end with thanking Him for the call, for the wisdom to come this far, for showing us mercy as we've failed, for the ones who have jobs now, for the wages we are able to transfer to Honduras and the bills we are able to pay. I want to thank Him for letting us all be a part of Alegria, for our customers and store owners and buyers, for the orders that have come in this winter, for the events coming up where I will have the chance to speak and set up a booth of merchandise for sale, and for you, our faithful prayer partners. God is good, and He is always with us.

Happy Sunday morning Joy-Creators. Thank you for these moments to update you and pray together. It's 1 day into year 6 with Alegria. And we are in the toughest days of the year. Spring is close, but it is not here. We have events coming up at churches and women's conferences These events bless Alegria and they pay wages. But these are in March and April.  Easter and Mother’s Day and warmer days drive more online sales, but it’s still February. I've typed and deleted, and typed and deleted. I want to post exciting things and praises. But Joy-Creators, this is the season when it just becomes desperate.  The savings to get through the winter is gone. And wages are due tomorrow, and the Alegria account is short of paying the bills and wages right now.  Yesterday, it was our birthday. We started a new campaign I've worked on for weeks, I went live, we've sent emails, we updated in the Joy-Creators group in facebook and we got likes and shares and new followers. But by 6pm we had $0 in sales.  I was almost physically sick. I cried. I prayed. I have sent emails, texts and even made calls to all of our accounts that haven't ordered for spring.  I've message leads, I've walked into gift shops to introduce Alegria and ask to meet the buyers. I've been ghosted by stores I thought supported our mission. Ads that were producing sales have suddenly just dried up.  We have had TWO online orders from customers in the last 2 weeks, the lowest 2 weeks of online customer sales since year 1. The enemy speaks lies to my heart that our jewelry just doesn't sell, no one wants what we're making, I can't run a business, we are going to fail...I am going to fail. I am failing these young women in Honduras that count on me to sell enough to keep their wages paid. Yep, there are the tears again. 6 women count on me to sell, and only these sales pay wages. Their jobs keep them and their children from begging on the streets. I know the consequences of my failure. I fight every single day to keep wages paid. But today, I'm failing. Today, wages will not get paid tomorrow... As I'm writing this at 6pm on Saturday, I have prayed until my eyes can't cry anymore. I’ve poured my heart out here and it’s not the prayer blog I want to write. It’s emotional to admit where we are and let you into this painful and raw space with me. I've reread and deleted and thought about not posting from 1pm Saturday when I started it until 6:30am on Sunday when I stopped rewriting and I finally committed to let it go live. But this is really why we need you to pray. Because today, Sarah has failed Alegria. All I can do is ask that you pray that God would please intervene and have mercy on these women who have done their part. That He would somehow move people with the ads and the emails, that stores would see something that would move them to order from us instead of saying they can buy cheaper products that they will make more money on. That customers would show up and order new jewelry and gifts from us. I don't know how we will get through this month, well, how we will get through tomorrow...so I'm on my knees today...thank you for getting on yours with me too.  The One who started Alegria, who whispered it to me at 2am on December 3rd, 2020, He can move the needle. We need nearly 70 average online orders, or 14 average wholesale orders, or a strong combination of both...ok Lord, only you can, the seeds have been scattered. The ads are running, the emails have been sent, the posts are scheduled, the calls have been made...please God, we need you.

In order to hire 24 new artisans by the end of 2030, it's a simple math problem. (sort of) We are at 6. The funds to keep 6 artisans in full time salary had to be multiplied by 5 to get to 30. OK, so we know our revenue amount. And we will need more staff in the US, or outsourcing of several things in order to support that amount of product processing and shipping. That's included in the revenue expansion. We have 1 staff paid, and me unpaid to support the sales for 6. I've created spreadsheets projecting out this growth curve and where each artisan hire can take place, and then broken it down by how our sales have to grow and through which channel. It's overwhelming to say the very least. I look at these numbers and all I can do is say, "God, if you don't do this, it's impossible."  Then He whispers to my soul, "Remember where we started?" "I do, Lord. I remember the 1st year's revenue." "And what was last years? What growth percentage was that?" "Oh...it's the same percentage from 2021 to 2025 as what we're asking for from 2025 to 2030...and YOU did that!" Joy Creators, I just sat on my couch sipping coffee, thanking our God for His provision for Alegria so far. And I am thanking Him that He already has the plans in place for 30 by 2030. Would you pray that He would give us the wisdom to follow Him through these plans, and the faith to keep going when it's hard? Pray for new stores to say yes to carrying Alegria, and for our current stores to restock and reorder. Pray for our ads to go out to the right people and for our online sales to grow. And pray for the 24 who are waiting and the 6 who are working. That God would provide and protect both groups. And that the 24 waiting will become the 30 working. God is good! Thank you for praying!

It's 7am in Destin, FL and I'm drinking my coffee and getting ready to drive over to the convention center for Day 1 of the Christian Products Expo. About 200 Christian Retailers are here to shop for their spring & summer products for their book and gift stores. This will be Alegria's 5th time to exhibit at this show and we have some loyal customers here. I'm praying today that we will have 10 new stores place their first orders with us today and tomorrow, and that at least 10 of our 30 accounts will reorder with us here also. (some have already ordered ahead of time for spring, and some tried us and their customers just didn't purchase - we're not for every store.) What this would mean for Alegria and our artisans: this puts us closer to the amount of savings we need to take the step to hire another artisan.  We are 1 month into our 30 by 2030 goal, and to start on track for this, we need to hire a new artisan by mid March.  It's a big goal - but Joy-Creators, God is big! And His love for His daughters in Honduras is big. We have a Faith Home sister who needs a job right now. I'm asking for God to mightily use these warriors of the Faith to share our story and our jewelry so that her job can be created and our other artisans' jobs can be safe and secure. Would you join me today in praying for this little 5x10 booth in booth #506, the Mercy Marketplace? Pray that it is a successful Day 1 and our most successful CPE yet!