A Holy Resilience
If you’ve been following along our story, you’ll have seen the collaboration between EH x Rebekah Lyons earlier this year. Rebekah Lyons has staked her life’s message on trading stress and anxiety for a life of peace and purpose and inspires others to take charge of their emotional health. She is an author, speaker, podcast host of, ‘Rhythms for Life’ and is the co-founder of Thinq Media alongside her husband, Gabe.
We had the opportunity to partner with Rebekah in helping launch her latest book, ‘Building a Resilient Life’ through the work that we do best: creating wearable artworks. We had the unique opportunity to take Rebekah’s book message and create a design that could be worn as a way to remind women of what a holy resilience looks like in their everyday lives.
Jake and I design every piece together, and when it came time to create a piece that captured Rebekah’s message, we used three main ingredients for the design: the inspiration of her book (2 Corinthians 4:8), the symbolism of a reed (this particular symbol caught our attention in her manuscript), and the idea of community (which embodies the fifth rule of resilience, “Endure Together,” according to, ‘Building a Resilient Life.’
We wanted the wearable version Rebekah’s message to not only compliment and uplift her in her work but also carry a strong Everyday Heirloom uniqueness. Everything we create here at EH is hand carved and we’re finding our collection of designs stands out in the marketplace not only because of how it’s made but the message it carries. The way the EH x RL collaboration has played out has been a dream and one that will be marked as the perfect partnership for us as a company as it allowed us (Jake and Hannah) to put our artistic giftings to work in the unique way we have been called. Not only that, but it did the multitasking of uplifting the message of a dear friend and someone we fully believe in the work they have been called to.
The Resilience Necklace with Rebekah resulted as a tangible guide of a holy resilience. The necklace design illustrates four total reed joints as the border and eight total reeds on the face of the pendant as a tangible guide to 2 Corinthians chapter four verse eight. These reeds bow into one another (signifying how we are stronger together), united by a common wind, and echoing a strength made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Additionally, the number eight represents completeness and new beginnings – a process that resilience promises and a prayer that we might, “ let endurance, have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:4)."
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are struck down, but not destroyed. Therefore, we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us, an absolutely incomparable, eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 & 16-17, CSB).”
Rebekah says this in her manuscript which became a building block for us in this design:
“Resilience isn’t an unyielding will power that pushes through any obstacle or withstands any force. Resilience allows us to be flexible and adaptable. We bend but aren’t broken; we are wounded, but learn how to heal. Through Christ, we overcome, and are raised to new life. This is resilience.”
We used the ancient symbol of a reed to help tell the story of what it looked like to bend but not break. The reed symbolizing true strength is a common theme found in historical literature in that the reed that bends with the wind is the one that survives. The reed as a symbol has long-illustrated the idea that the hard and strong will fail while the soft and weak will overcome. Of course, we back every detail up to scripture to see how the symbol stands up in the Word, and we loved what we found. The greatest example we have of resilience and bending low to overcome is Christ, the Bruised Reed which we read in Isaiah 42:1-3 and again in Matthew 12:20. Our Suffering Servant promises hardship but extends courage, for He took on death and conquered the world (John 16:33).
We were honored to join Rebekah every step along the way in releasing her latest book, from the influencer boxes (every recipient received a Resilience Necklace!) to getting to be together in real time and celebrate Rebekah at her book launch party and share the message of the Resilience Necklace to a gathering of women in Franklin, Tennessee.
The Resilience design has been one of EH’s most collected artworks and the message is one that resonates time and with women all over the world who are being given language for what a holy resilience looks like.
