Christin Sundberg and her aunt Nancy Seiley have been business partners for many years, working alongside each other in their hair salon/gift shop, both always wanting a bit more than their business venture offered.

One day at the shop, Seiley came across a small book that included in it “The Prayer of Jabez.” The book claimed if the reader began reciting the prayer often, big changes could be on the horizon.

Not superstitious, but “definitely spiritual,” Seiley thought she had nothing to lose and began reciting the prayer as often as she remembered, “hoping for some direction from God.”

Nancy Seiley, left, and Christin Sundberg stand outside their business, The Main Event, a variety market featuring items found from local artisans and collectors. Holly Leleux-Thubron / The Daily Iberian Advertisement

She would say: “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain” (1 Chronicles 4:10).

The discovery of the book was in February. Almost as soon as Seiley’s new ritual began, a new business plan began unfolding as the pair discussed the possibilities for some display cases they had in storage in their store.

They decided they wanted to open a marketplace where they could offer people in the community a place to start their own businesses. They went out in search of a location. There were a couple of options in New Iberia, but nothing that felt quite right, until one day they walked into a space on Main Street that was at one time the Abdalla’s gift shop. They thought the space could work, but were still not convinced it was perfect.

That was until Sundberg, with a flashlight as her guide searching through the darkened spaces, came across a piece of paper in the dust that made her pause.

Seiley and her family had been mourning the death of her son, Corey James Seiley, who died a little more than four years ago in a car crash on his way home from work.

In that dark room, in a building vacant for more than a year, Sundberg came across a large reprint of Corey James Seiley’s obituary, not a piece of paper in a pile but lying by itself in the middle of the floor.

“This was confirmation for us that what we were doing was the right thing and where we were standing was the right place,” Seiley said. “I believe he (her son) was watching out for us.”

After the discovery, and Seiley’s commitment to her prayer recitals, big changes are indeed presenting themselves.

“All of this was God’s idea,” Seiley said. “He showed us how to do it all.”

The women have named their Main Street space The Main Event. They call it a variety market, which, at the moment features 20 local vendors selling their wares from handcrafted jewelry to custom canvas art.

Vendor space has gone faster than the women expected, admitting they hoped it would take off this way but were “slightly skeptical.”

“We have people signing up every day and showing so much interest,” Sund-berg said.