Could a turtle really win a race? Storey Hieronymous Hauck and her husband, Dave Hauck, think so. For in naming her fashion boutique Turtle, they see it as a vehicle for success in serving two of their deep loves: God and community.

In talking with the Haucks, I found it no surprise that before all else, their desire is to use the talents they feel God has given them. And no surprise to find, as well, that the store grew out of that desire.

The word turtle wouldn't ordinarily suggest a positive mode of travel. But for Storey, its significance rings true to their recognition of God's direction and provision. While a turtle may move slowly, it is self-contained, arrives fully housed, and has the reputation for succeeding in the end.

Storey's deep spiritual quest to let her own aims, talents, and loves emerge in God's design also has been ongoing. She told me the idea to have a store actually came in "a full form," all at once, name and all. She envisioned a business designed to support emerging fashion designs and designers, while intentionally creating a community to embrace, and be embraced by—a community created of "ingredients" already there, just waiting for the opportunity to come together.

Yet starting a business is no small task—particularly a small business. Statistics show that nearly half of new small businesses fold within the first year. And her store's beginnings were not devoid of startling signs that it might not work, including the challenges of finding suitable staff and being able to pay them wages.

Though her husband has a full-time job as a newspaper editor, Storey loves the fact that he's been integral to the business from the outset. Both Storey and Dave are Christian Scientists, and have thoughts about God's bountiful, balanced provisions. They have learned from experience that, as Mary Baker Eddy's book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures proves, we can trust God to care for the details of everyday life. They've witnessed the truth in this Scripture: "By an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality" (II Cor. 8:14). As Dave wrote me in an e-mail message, "By [society's] definition, economics involves limits. In the economics of Spirit, those limits don't apply. Christian Science reveals a God that can always be counted on. That's the economics of Spirit in action."

The shining thread that weaves through all the hard work is Storey's joy to work for God in this way. Yet one particular month, with only ten days to pay the bills, they owed more money than any prior ten-day period had ever brought in. Storey regularly prays to see that there is a divine law of balance that holds everything in perfect order, supply as well as demand. This law applies not only to vendors and clientele, clothing and advertising, but also to funds needed in order to operate with ease. So during those ten days, she decided that rather than watch the checkbook, she would trust in that law of balance—in other words, trust that each of God's gifts comes full and complete. That He doesn't give His children creativity without the intelligence to implement it. And, more specifically, that God would not give her and her husband the idea of having a business without the resources to support each aspect of it. The result was that sales for that ten-day period exceeded their needs, with ample funds to pay all the bills, and Storey's salary as well. Experiences like these have made her realize that in such times the need really is to raise her own expectations, and not impose limits on God's potential to care for all of His children and bless their efforts.

Looking back, Storey sees it's been step by step, and sometimes a struggle, to hear what God would have her do. But she sees the steps all built naturally on each other, with lessons along the way. Storey is convinced that the business proceeded out of her ongoing desire to know what her real purpose was. "I was wanting to be humble, and wanting God to express His will through me—but at the same time feeling like, 'Well, OK God, you gave me all these talents to use, what do you want me to do?'"

At one point it occurred to her that this was the wrong question to be asking—for her anyway. She saw that asking, "What am I supposed to be doing?" suggested that God was apart from her, "over there, expressing His will," while she waited for Him to fill in a gap between them. Suddenly it was clear that she just needed to continue taking each step her prayer led her to take—and to trust that God was right with her. To not worry where God would lead. "That's when things started to fall into place," she says.

When Storey was developing a business plan, the lesson in Jesus' parable of the kingdom of Heaven played a key role (see Matt., Chapter 25). As she sees it, Jesus, in talking about the need to fully utilize one's God-given talents, is describing heaven as "living one's life to improve and expand upon the wealth of ideas God gives to each of His children."

When the store opened, it was the only independent boutique of its kind in the area. Since then, nine or ten other independents have opened. This required Storey to again clarify for herself what her own store's mission is—which isn't simply to sell unique women's clothing. She wanted to understand more that she could see her business as an expression of God's "infinite individuality," and every other business as successful in its own way. That concept appears in a sentence in Science and Health: "The one Ego, the one Mind or Spirit called God, is infinite individuality, which supplies all form and comeliness and which reflects reality and divinity in individual spiritual man and things" (p. 281).

As a result of her heartfelt yearning not to be intimidated by competition, these assurances came to her: each idea is of God and therefore unique, and no one can rob another of the individuality, purpose, and place that are given of God. Storey thought about how a seed has within itself all that's needed to become its own full-blown flower. Nothing can alter that. And her deep love for God, and for her community, compelled her to admit that, in a similar way, neither fear nor competition could take from anyone his or her own special calling and success, since God, who is Love, is the source of both the calling and the success. It's in working from this perspective that Storey has been able to stay true to Turtle's mission, which includes cherishing everyone's individuality and watching people come out of their shell.

The store's first two years have been a success. It has been featured a number of times in New England television segments, as well as in major local newspapers. And Turtle has hosted well-attended designer events, fulfilling its goal to create community right there. Storey takes pride in being active in her local business association, as it supports local charities.

When I ask Storey how this business venture has affected her marriage, I see her smile as she confides that at times "it has tried it." But there's a warmth and joy in her thoughtful reply as she reminds me that the store really is her husband's second full-time job. "You know, I could think, 'Well, it was my idea and therefore I'm the source of its goodness.'" But, she says "it's been obvious from the beginning that the store has come into Dave's and my life to bless both of us and to utilize the talents of both. Dave is our webmaster for www.turtleboston.com, our financial consultant, graphic designer, and manager—interests and talents he doesn't get to use in his full-time job all the time. My talents lie in a very different direction than his, but they come together and fulfill the needs."

Perhaps these words from Dave best sum up their feeling that this business venture is a vehicle for serving God and watching Him care for a community: "Is owning a women's clothing shop the highest possible calling in the service of God? Perhaps not. But before Jesus healed the sick and redeemed mankind from sin, he was a carpenter. I'm sure there were lessons learned from his trade—precision, honesty, application of rules—that he applied to his healing ministry. I feel like with this venture, we are in the carpenter phase of our ministry, and there are valuable lessons to be learned."

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