In St. Louis, Missouri, a nondenominational Christian couple decides they need something more.  They convert to Russian Orthodoxy and open an Orthodox store.

Believe it or not, the store is now almost eight years old.  How can it survive in Midwestern (and Catholic) St. Louis?  Besides the usual Orthodox stuff, lifestyle products are a key part of the inventory.  Here's what the owners have to say about the unusual mix:

"The shop also carries pottery from Russell Pottery, glasswork from Clarksville Glassworks and a line of natural skin creams and lip balms, all from Clarksville. And it features jewelry by Pam MacDonald of Maplewood.

To the Millses, the combination of religious books and icons with beautiful art is not unusual.

"In our faith, we believe beautiful things help draw the soul toward God, so we're always looking for something that's beautiful and preferably made by an individual," Stephen Mills said.

"(Russian author Fyodor) Dostoevsky said beauty will save the soul, so we look for beautiful things," Stephen Mills said. "There's nothing more beautiful than Jesus Christ, but we look for these beautiful things that people have made out of love and try to have them in our store.""