A Look Back...

Oh man, this is so good to look back at. Actually coming to the final weeks of my undergraduate education this is really refreshing to look back at. As I begin to think seriously about income sources and financial solvency in general, these posts re-center my vision, and remind me that I don't want to live one day of my life where a paycheck takes priority over my relationship with God and my obeying His beckoning call.

Search me, oh God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any iniquity in me! Lead me in the Way Everlasting! I'll follow you wherever you lead.

Mission Statement Drafting

Barlow, allow me to set the stage for you: it's 6:30 am, Eric and I are sitting around my kitchen table with a French press, and we're brainstorming. Now you're all up to date.

Working for a person, not a purpose.

Facilitating petitions 1-3.

To be the church -
community
center of worship
sacrificially surrendered
safe-haven
support

Loving Jesus, loving one another, loving our community.

towel (CASSI), servant

To be a facility and a community centered around the person of Christ such that our devotion to Him is acted out in love for one another and for the [insert city name] community through [something] servanthood and relational [something].

relationship-building acts of servant love

plain old good COFFEE
facility for worship
establishing relationships with regulars
selflessly serving everybody else
building up and equipping staff

To be a facility and a community centered around the person of Christ such that our devotion to Him is acted out in love for one another and for [insert city name] as a church and as a business.

To be a facility and a community centered around the person of Christ such that our devotion to Him is acted out in love for one another and for [insert city name] in service and worship

To be a facility and a community centered around the person of Christ such that our devotion to Him is acted out in love for one another and for [insert city name] as we build relationships through service.

each act of service serves a dual purpose: (1) fill a practical need, (2) show people the kingdom of God

To be a facility and a community centered around the person of Christ such that our devotion to Him is acted out in love for one another and for [insert city name] through service and servanthood that meets spiritual needs as we we meet practical needs.

To be a facility and a community centered around the person of Christ such that our devotion to Him is acted out in love for one another and for [insert city name] through service and servanthood because although coffee is an appetite suppressant, we are growing in a hunger for His Name. (... just making sure you're still reading.)

To be a facility and a community centered around the person of Christ such that our devotion to Him is acted out in love for one another and for [insert city name] through service and servanthood that meets practical as well as spiritual needs.

[totes awk:] To be a facility and a community centered around the person of Christ such that our devotion to Him is acted out in love for one another and for [insert city name] and we join Him in meeting practical and spiritual needs through our service and servanthood.

To be a facility and a community centered around the person of Christ such that in our devotion to Him we join Him in loving one another, loving [insert city name], and meeting practical and spiritual needs with service and servanthood.

So.

What do you think?

We're not positive we like it, but there's a pretty good chance that we do. Let us know what you think, and please feel free to rip it apart. :)

We hope you're enjoying Florida, and I hope you know you know this whole operation feels a lot less trinitarian without you. Bahaha.

Art

Eric's pen-gadget find was sweet and got me excited about the little touches and idiosyncrasies you would find in a coffee shop started by three recent graduates. I want to make a collage of cartoons related to coffee. When Pearl and I go get our fingerprinting done for livescan there's a ton of funny cartoons the shop owners have cut out over the years and taped to a window. Maybe we won't tape them to a window (if we did we would certainly use blue tape), but there's a bunch of cartoons I would love to print out and incorporate them somewhere perhaps in little frames, or mated, or in one big collage.
Ones like:







Also, I laugh every time I see these "old-timey" coffee-slogan posters.






and last but not least, to wrap up my picture slideshow extravaganza, my google image searches led me to this beauty:

PS - It's week ten! Yikes!

Welp.

If this road trip thing is going to happen, even on a small scale, we should probably start thinking about it soon! :)

What are you guys thinking as far as time-frame slash locations slash anything?

Such a cool idea!

So, I just got back from a video store where my roommate signed a receipt after charging his debit card. The cashier proceeded to reach over my roommates head and grabbed a pen that had been hanging from the roof, and unbeknownst to us it stretched down to the counter for easy access and easy storage. I really want to do this, even though it's totally cheesy and a little tacky, I think it's really cool!

So Awesome!

So, I was taking some time looking away from the 15 page Biogeography term paper I'm in the middle of writing to read the Bio on Robbie Seay because I was listening to him on Pandora. Here it is (emphasis added)

A critically acclaimed figure on the CCM scene, Robbie Seay was born and raised in Texas, and grew up in a household deeply devoted to the church, with several pastors in his family. When Robbie was a senior in high school, his older brother Chris Seay, who was a student at Baylor University in Waco, TX, became a pastor at Waco's University Baptist Church, and Chris invited Robbie to become part of the church's music ministry. Robbie began performing at the church with David Crowder (who would go on to become a noted Christian rock artist), and Robbie found his calling in worship music that also addressed issues of faith in contemporary life. After completing high school, Robbie also enrolled at Baylor, and after graduating he moved to Houston, where Chris had become a teaching pastor at Ecclesia, which was described by its founders as "a holistic missional Christian community" and included a coffeehouse, a recording studio, an outreach center for the homeless, and a space for worship services. In 1997, Robbie Seay formed a group that performed regularly at the coffeehouse and at Ecclesia's Sunday services, featuring Seay on lead vocals and guitar, Dan Hamilton on drums, Taylor Johnson on guitar, and Seth Woods on bass.

Consideration

This is bad, I was at work researching business locations and found this website. Check out number 4.

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