The story of Willow Lane Creative is the basis for the branding of my company. It’s intricately woven into my life, both the light and the dark, the joy and the grief. Sometimes the stories of defining moments in our lives are in progress far before we ever realize it. This story has been in the works for over 10 years.

Let’s start at the very beginning.
It’s a very good place to start.
(Sound of Music style, shall we?)

As I was rearing my children, I picked up blogging as a way to connect with other moms. I found a sense of value and purpose through sharing stories and encouragement and a community was built with other writer friends and people who read my blog. The internet became a happy place for me and I was hopeful for some additional income for my family.

I was so happy with that. It’s what I loved doing. As I learned all the skills necessary to run a blog, I discovered I loved the visual creativity side of things even more than the writing creativity. Forever tweaking the design of my website, learning about graphic design, branding, social media, font hierarchy, web design, etc. was FUN for me. I have a degree in accounting but I did that because it seemed like the right thing to do. This, however…this was me. I had finally found the thing I wanted to be “when I grow up”.

Then everything about my life changed.

I had just taken on a part-time job at my church to make a little extra cash for our family which I was so excited about. The business my then-husband and I had started was beginning to grow and make money. Things were good. Unfortunately, my marriage quickly unraveled, my marriage ended and our business dissolved.

I was single-parenting teens, working and grieving. Eventually my part-time job became a full-time job out of necessity and I never went back to blogging or web design for myself. But as I began to heal and process, I started to dream a little bit about picking back up my business with a new name…I just didn’t know when. What I did know…this time it was just going to be mine. I remarried, time passed and I stayed busy with life until I got a green light from God that now was the time to make it happen.

So I’m back. And I want this business branding to be a reflection of who *I* am.

I am a non-confrontational, soft-spoken, fix-it, grace-loving girl. I’m an introvert. A classic Enneagram 9. I want peace. I’m always up for a good book and enjoy hanging out at coffee shops with my girlfriends and playing my french horn. I get excited about bullet journals and office supplies and gadgets of all kinds. Let’s face it. I’m a nerd.

…And that will bring us back to…

THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME.

As I was “processing” my divorce (processing is a nice way of saying I spent a few months crying, raging, and even cussing a little at God and also dumping on my counsellor, my friends, and my momma, but also allowing His words to flow over all of my broken places to allow me to begin the process of healing) I read a lot of Psalms. When I first started reading them, they offered comfort, reminders of God’s love and protection. Also, I kind of liked that there were lots of harsh words about what happens to our enemies or to the foolish since the man who was supposed to be my husband for life felt like an enemy. I am human, after all.

One day I got to Psalm 137. It opens with a remembrance, with sadness over lost things. The Psalmist said they were in captivity. They lost their homeland and their freedom.

The people hung their harps up on the willow tree.

They didn’t have a song left to sing anymore and they weren’t going to let themselves be forced to sing for their enemies. They quit singing. I’m a musician so this resonated with me. And honestly, this feeling of losing my song, of giving up, it was exactly what I felt at that moment.

The rest of that Psalm? Well, let’s just say, it’s probably not one you’re going to hear your pastor get up and preach about on Sunday. I honestly don’t understand it all. What I can take away from it is this: The God I became so much closer to during my divorce is a God of mercy and grace, yes, but He is also a God of justice and holiness.

I also heard Ellie Holcomb’s song “Find You Here” during this time of grief and “processing” and felt like it was meant for me.

It’s not the news that any of us hoped that we would hear.
It’s not the road we would have chosen, no.
The only thing that we can see is darkness up ahead,
But You’re asking us to lay our worry down and sing a song instead.

And I didn’t know I’d find You here
In the middle of my deepest fear, but
You are drawing near,
You are overwhelming me, with peace.
So I’ll lift my voice and sing
You’re gonna carry us through everything.
You are drawing near
You’re overwhelming all my fears, with peace.

Ellie Holcomb, Find You Here

I lost my song for awhile and had “hung my harp on the willow tree”. Have you ever lost your song? Maybe I’m the only one, but it seems like I’m always humming something or have some random earworm. I didn’t want to sing and had nothing to praise God for in that moment. I didn’t want to pretend that everything was okay. My heart was hurt, sad, betrayed and lonely. I was in a completely different kind of captivity. But God is faithful and I found my song again. In fact, his plans were so good, I am now remarried to an amazing christian man who not only supports me, but celebrates with me. Every day is filled with laughter…one of the best melodies for a soul.

The Symbolism of the Willow:

Did you know trees are often symbolic in the Bible? They can signify permanence, life, protection and so much more. I knew it was quite possible the “willow” in this verse was some kind of tree other than the graceful weeping willow I remember being in my backyard as an awkward sixth grader, but I couldn’t help wondering if there was significance to that tree being mentioned in particular. I’m a word nerd, so I hit up Google.

Sadness. Strength.

What I found was an idea that I was already coming to find to be true in my own life. The willow tree, both in the Bible and in literature was a symbol of sadness, yes, but it was also a symbol of celebration and strength. Its strength comes from its deep roots and ability to bend and twist in the storms without blowing over or losing limbs. I wanted to be strong just like the willow.

Shelter. Joy.

Even better…the willow tree is a shelter, a hiding place. That spoke to me right where I was. I needed a hiding place.

Having been the girl who blogged about my charmed life, I had no clue that my marriage was about to crumble and I would have to wrestle up close and personally with grief. I felt bent and twisted beyond what I thought I could handle. Day after day I faced down my very worst fears-being a single mom, having to stand on my own two feet as the head of the home, becoming the subject of gossip. I didn’t always like the way I handled it, but I know that I can still say that God is good and He has proven it over and over in my life. That feels a little bit like joy.

There was one more thing that the willow tree symbolizes in the Bible. It builds right on top of the others. And this is why I built my branding around this story…

The willow tree represents revival. Revival!

I know something about that. Because I carried all of my junk, my hurt, my failures in my marriage, my insecurities and my fears to Jesus and found His breathtaking grace. Repentance not only lifts a heavy load from our shoulders, it leads to revival.

Follow me here for a second…in Ezekiel 17, the priest Ezekiel picks up the same thought of Psalm 137. (Google and a concordance told me so.) It goes into a parable about eagles and vines. A priest explained the parable and at first, it sounds like judgment but then he ends with this:

And all the trees will know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts the tall tree down and makes the short tree grow tall. It is I who makes the green tree wither and gives the dead tree new life. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said!

It’s a story of revival. And a promise that God will do what He says. I loved this progression of discoveries about the willow tree and the journey that I have been able to walk beside God.

Sadness. Shelter. Strength. Joy. Revival.

And I knew it was the symbol I wanted to build my business and branding on.