I am very saddened and a bit excited to share that I have a new IG account for my Etsy shop. My old account (@decembercaravanmarket) which I have had and operated since 2014 was has been deemed "inaccessible" due to suspicious login activity after I attempted to upload a new IGTV video for the account. After spending the last 24 hours in many many discussions with @instagram I was sadly told that I could not "prove" that I was the owner of the account, despite providing several pages of documentation, passwords, emails, phone number, blog references, this accounts notes and posts, Facebook login, and TONS of more information and proof. It has been a frustrating 24 hours and hard because this account was formed when my shop was in its "baby days" and the community there is something that I truly treasure. You have truly supported me from the very beginning as my shop has grown and developed over these last five years.
I made the difficult decision to move forward with a new account instead of spending additional precious energy and time continuing to fight what I was told would be a loosing battle- especially at this busy time of year. As we all know- time for a small business owner is truly the biggest resource we have and that is definitely extremely disappointing in this situation. As a small business owner and a long time supporter of Instagram this has been discouraging and frustrating to have no way to even contact those who are a part of that community for years and share the change. Sometimes it is hard to understand why these "little" things in the grand scheme of life happen... especially when so much work has gone into developing social media aspects of small businesses. This will mean that I have to take countless hours to re-link things on my blog and countless other social media sites and also deal with items that anyone who is a small business owner can understand.
At the same time I have been so blessed in the midst of this situation: I appreciate the due diligence that Instagram does in keeping accounts safe and protected (even erring on the extreme caution). I am also beyond grateful for Hannah (the amazing creator of my shop logo) who has kindly designed new cards and logos at a quick speed at no extra cost to myself. The generosity of people is such a blessing.
In the midst of the frustration I am choosing to believe that there is goodness and a new start in this situation. There are these situations in life where we feel as if things are "wasted" or "useless"...I have felt this often in several very personal situations these last few months and now with this issue with my business IG account. But...the truth is... nothing is wasted as we commit each step and venture to the Lord. One of my favorite authors shared the following saying after a year of work was stolen and lost:
When our plans are interrupted, his are not. His plans are proceeding exactly as scheduled, moving us always (including those minutes or hours or years which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable)
//Elisabeth Elliot//
So, first, thank you to each of you that were part of that special community that formed when I was just starting my shop. I appreciate you believing in me from the beginning! It means more to me than you know! Second, a HUGE thank you to Hannah from Premade Market on Etsy (you can find her shop HERE)for your kindness and generosity. It was TRULY a gift. Finally, I hope you will follow along with the new shop account HERE: @decembercaravanshop
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