Pursuing Her Passion:: Jessi Connolly

Welcome to another edition of my new blog series: Pursuing Her Passion. I've had this topic on my heart for a long time and I knew that I wasn't alone. There are so many creative and talented women out there chasing their dreams, pursuing their calling, and taking risks in order to fulfill God's plan for their life.  There are also many creative and talented women who haven't quite found their passion just yet, or may be feeling held back from being able to pursue their dream. This series is meant to inspire women who are currently looking for that passion in their life if they haven't found it. And if they have, then this series should be an encouragement to get out there and start pursuing it head on!

Next up is the inspirational mama of "Irish triplets": Jessi Connolly of Naptime Diaries. Whenever I feel overwhelmed taking care of my two-under-two, I think of her... and then start to consider having another one... it's tempting when you look at her three. It really is... Jessi has been such an encouragement through her blog(s) and Etsy shop. When I read her words, I want to be a better mom, a better wife, and a better Christian woman. I'm excited to have Jessi share her story of passion on the blog today and pass some of her goodness on to you. Consider it a gift from me to you:

Hi friends of Moriah! I’m so thankful to be sharing here today as a part of her inspiring series! She’s asked that I share a little of the story of my passion with ya’ll and I’m so thrilled to do so.

our little family

Here is my story: A few years ago, I was a young bride (20) who quite quickly turned into a young mama (22) that then turned into a mom of three very, incredibly young Irish triplets. I had three babies in two and a half years, each about 13 months apart, and I found myself staying at home with them, married to an incredible man and father, but quite overwhelmed. We’ve always been in ministry in some capacity & my husband was in seminary for the better part of our early marriage and we had a few incredible and incredibly hard years.

I learned a lot in the beginning years of our family’s life – but some big lessons I learned were that a) I needed to be surrounded and constantly devouring God’s word for the sake of my family and b) I needed to make my home as pleasing and as beautiful for as little money as possible.

we recite this one a lot at our house

Our home is so important in the life of our family. This is where we’re raising our kids, sharing the gospel with them, inviting people into our lives, showing hospitality, building memories, and gaining spiritual ground for our family. And so my desire has become not so much having the perfectly decorated and chic home, but having a home that is a peaceful blessing to all who spend time there.

In March of this year, our three year old daughter spent a week in the pediatric ICU because she had a series of about eight massive seizures in one morning. It was one of the most potentially terrifying weeks of our lives, and yet we felt the Lord’s strength holding us up so firmly. After many people told us they were praying Psalm 46:5 for our daughter, Glory, I found myself piddling on the computer making this print as I prayed for our little lady. Though I had no idea it would be a print at the time!

how it all started

About a month after she was out of the hospital, I had made a few more 8x10 prints with the intention of printing them and hanging them in our home but I had a few friends nudging me to put them online. Without putting much thought into it, I set up an Etsy shop without much expectation at all – and now 8 months later, I’m utterly blown away at what the Lord has done through my tiny shop.

It is my absolute priviledge and joy to be able to be a part of getting more scripture on to more walls and helping more women hide His word deep within their hearts. And to do it inexpensively and (hopefully) beautifully just makes it all the more fun! I feel like the main purpose of God’s word in my life is to tie me inextricably to Him and to stir my affections for Him. And so I suppose that has become my passion. Using my shop, my blog, twitter, anything to encourage women to draw nearer to Him.

i gotta spend more time playing dolls & cars than this, on a good day.

Of course, it is such a sweet and tender struggle to balance life online with life offline. To remember that my three babes need me more than anyone behind a laptop. To remember that living out the words of His that I’m designing is more important than being successful at designing them.

my favorite new project, an advent calendar!

And I feel like each day is a graceful walk in the tension of coming back to the Lord and developing my roots in Him and then letting Him send me out – into my home, into our city, into our church, and on to the internet to minister out of that. And that would be my encouragement for any lady looking for her passion, trying to live it out:

start with Him. 

Comments are closed for the Pursuing Her Passion Series. Here's how you can connect with Jessi:

Blog // Shop // Twitter


Wanna catch up on past posts? 
Read Casey Wiegand's story
Read Maggie Whitley's story