We love the Lord and want to honor and glorify Him through all that we do. God gave us the vision for justBelieve and we know it will be an awesome adventure.
It is our wish that all children and adults will be bold in their faith and not wear shirts with unpleasant messages, but something with a message that could change people's lives! Our mission is simple: to share the good news of Jesus Christ through the best products and service to our customers. We take great pride in our company, our commitment to customer service and in the products we sell.
Our online store is designed to provide you with a safe and secure environment to browse our products and shop for great Christian apparel, a place to learn about Jesus and a place for us to share our faith.
Have a healthy & blessed day!
The Acebo Family
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HOW justBelieve Began........
justBelieve – inspired by God for God’s kingdom.
So many people have asked why we started justBelieve, where the idea came from and why.
I’ll start from way back when and bring you to present time… I was born and raised in a beautiful small town in rural New Brunswick, Canada. My family did not attend church on a regular basis, but I was raised in a family with a lot of love, respect and hard work ethic. I know I occasionally attended Bible school and a Christian youth camp a couple of times, but was never really presented with the gospel in the way I know it now.
During my years in university and as a young adult, I was always in search of something… just never really knew what I was looking for. When you are lost (without Christ) you really don’t know what is missing; you just feel like you aren’t complete, and you try to fill that void.
In 2005, at the age of 33, I was married to a wonderful Christian man, raising a step-son and had given birth to two beautiful, healthy children (who were both still in diapers!), I started to examine my life. I had a nagging feeling that something was still missing, yet I had a fabulous career and a wonderful family. I was on top of the world, so what would be missing?
My husband, Rusty, gave his life to Christ at the age of 8, grew up in church and was a member of a church all of his life. After we married, I would attend church with him, but would never really “listen” with an open mind and an open heart.
I would watch adults being baptized at church and think to myself “how embarrassing”. I even commented one time that I would never be a member of the church, because I would never go through that embarrassment. I was always so nervous in church, afraid someone would ask me something I didn't know the answer to... afraid I would have to read something in the Bible, just afraid of the "unknown". At that time, Christianity was an "unknown' to me.
In the spring of 2005 that changed. A new Pastor at church started preaching on a level that I actually understood (‘bottom-shelf teaching” as my friend Leith would say!), and my eyes and heart were opened. Within the next couple of months, after having many questions answered and shedding many tears, I was SAVED – gave my life to Christ! I then couldn’t wait to be baptized in our church. I told everyone I was being baptized – no longer embarrassed! When God is in control, it changes everything!
What an exhilarating feeling to know God is there always. That empty, lost feeling I had was gone. I immediately felt the need to make up for many years of living a non-Christian life. I had made many, many mistakes and missed many opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives. I felt the need to make up for lost time and live a life for God and not the selfish life I had been living for myself. I had been living a very sinful life up to this point. I knew if God could save me and forgive my sins, then I needed to do something to tell the world what a gift that was… if I could have salvation and eternal life – anyone can, just believe in Jesus, ask for forgiveness, confess your sins and receive salvation.
I no longer entered church with a nervousness, avoiding eye-contact and avoiding any situation that may make me uncomfortable. I felt so alive, that I was finally living a life of purpose.
In 2008, Rusty and I were busy in our careers, raising three children and now involved in many church activities. This sometimes doesn’t leave a lot of time to talk, reconnect and just listen to God.
It was early March 2008, and we were heading to the Memphis airport to catch an early flight to Orlando for a medical conference I was attending. Kids were staying with a sitter and we would be gone for five days. I love driving in the early morning, sipping coffee and catching up on things with my husband while we enjoy some time alone to reconnect. In mid-conversation, about 40 minutes into the drive, something was said which led to us talking about how great God is. That led to discussing how more people should wear Christian clothing and outwardly proclaim their love of God for all to see.
One thing lead to another, and I quickly started to search the internet sites to see if there were many opportunities for Christian clothing styles that we would like. We felt like God was telling us this was our opportunity to do His work. We searched and talked a little about it that night, but then started to think it was no more than a wild hair, and we were already busy enough and could never do something like that. So we put the thought away for the moment.
Day three of the conference I had a break and we opted to visit Disney’s Epcot Center to spend a little time together. Rusty was wearing a Christian t-shirt that we had purchased at a concert at our church. When we walked up to the ticket booth at the entrance, the guy working noticed the shirt and was so excited. He immediately said, “Is THAT a Christian t-shirt? Is that a Bible verse on it? Where’s that from?”. Allow me to remind you, we were at Epcot, in March. There were long lines and it was busy, and this guy noticed a t-shirt. I took that as a sign from the Lord that we were onto something… and we shouldn’t dismiss it.
Over the next few months we were hot and cold with the concept. We would get busy and turn away from it, then God would speak to us in so many ways and bring us back to it. I’ll never forget taking my kids to their pediatric dentist and seeing a young boy, not more than 7, in a t-shirt that was not appropriate for him to be wearing.. another sign from the Lord that we were pursuing something for His glory. Something that could make a difference in people’s lives, to put the Word of God out there for all to see and read.
We had immediately named the company justBelieve in the car that day before ever reaching the airport. After I was saved, I thought the idea was such a simple one.. you just had to “believe”. I also thought that everyone should hear the good news of Jesus, and how my life would have been shaped differently had someone told me about Jesus years ago in a way that made sense to me. The name, justBelieve, had been the easiest part; God made that clear from the first moment.
When we would get excited about the possibilities of justBelieve, I’d work on it feverously, but then I’d feel like I would hit a brick wall. I kept thinking, “If this is God’s plan, why is it so hard, why aren’t things falling into place?”. As a new believer, I had a lot to learn about following God's will.
By August, it really wasn’t progressing and we had just about completely given up on the concept. I then attended a two-day Christian conference with my sweet Christian friends Maria and Robin. It was completely a God thing that I was able to attend. It was an amazing conference and all I could think about during the two days was justBelieve. I was back on fire for the Lord.
During the conference, one of the speakers gave her testimony and in it she said, "If you are truly ready to follow God’s plan for you, pray this prayer ‘Bring It On God!”." I not only prayed it, I felt as though I was shouting it in my head, all the while with justBelieve on my mind. I wanted to give my life 100% to do God’s work. I wanted so badly to make up for lost time and share the good news of Jesus with the world.
When I returned from the conference, I was busting with enthusiasm and a new-found energy for justBelieve that the Lord had placed on my heart. And guess what? With the next 6 weeks EVERYTHING fell into place; all the doors that had been closed were closed for the right reason… I wasn’t following God, I was trying it on my own and I didn’t realize it. When I gave it all to God, suddenly doors opened that were so much better. We went from concept to having a garage full of apparel, a website and selling apparel within a few short weeks. It was truly amazing to watch God work. We were more amazed than anyone… and trust me, people who knew us were shocked that we had time and energy to get this ministry going. And it is a ministry – all for the glory of God.
So, here we are. More designs than we imagined at this point, more opportunities to tell our story and share our testimony and the best part – sharing God’s love and telling people about Jesus.
In the summer of 2008, Rusty had the pleasure of going on a mission trip to Brazil with some men from church. It literally changed his life. We decided then that missions would be a big part of justBelieve. We help mission trips raise money, raise awareness and donate to trips.
We serve an awesome God. Tell the world! There are people everywhere that don’t know! I didn’t until I was 33! AND.. it’s never too late to make a difference. Jesus gave His life for you. I was lost, living a sinful life and didn’t know there was a God that I could rely on for everything.
justBelieve has given me the opportunity to tell my story – I’d be happy to share any part of my walk with the Lord with you. Please write or email me.
Remember – when you are ready to truly follow God’s plan for you – pray, “BRING IT ON, GOD!”
God bless you!
Holly Reidpath Acebo
