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.

Click Here

A little puzzle for you...

If you can't figure it out, ask Setto, he might be able to figure it out.

Another one to add to the list

So, I went over to my friends house tonight and hung out for a while. The coffee shop inevitably comes up in nearly every conversation I have about real life. And she told me about her church's affiliated coffee shop in Santa Cruz, just another one I think we could add to the list as a short spring break trip.

I also want to take this time to thank, appreciate, affirm, and celebrate you guys for journeying this earthly life with me as we anticipate our heavenly existences. Yesterday night I was cleaning my room, doing laundry, and doing general tidying when I came across a letter that had fallen out of my stack of letters. It was one that Alyssa had written me on the very last weekend trip of the summer. In it she (you) detailed that her alarm clock was likely to die during the night and asked if I would wake her in the morning. She (you) then proceeded to add gushy stuff about how ridiculously blessed we are to be friends. Needless to say, I ended up reading through every letter I have as my laundry was cycling and ended up nearly (more like practically) weeping on my roommates bed because I felt so loved.
I think so highly of you two, individually and as a pair.

Pearl (Kristen), I appreciate you more than I could ever write down. When I think about "consistency of spiritual life", I think "Pearl". I don't know if I ever told you this, but senior year of high school I told my mom that I wished we had been close friends way earlier because I began to see the woman of God you had always been. When others will understand and sympathize with lies I tell myself about who I am and what my relationship with Yahweh looks like, you speak truth, you see beyond the lie and speak concise truth that penetrates and changes hearts. The spirit is alive and well in you, hearing and discerning truth for the purpose of your own personal growth and sharing it with others. You have the most tangible relationship with your "abba" out of anyone I know. You laugh at jokes that I say for your benefit. You are brilliant, beautiful, and worthy of love. If there's anyone in the world I could count to be on the same page as me on something, it's you. I am blessed to have had you in my life during the most intense and spiritually moving moments of my life. I am jealous for those that will work with you this summer, they won't know what a blessing it is until they leave. I phileo you.

Bar-High (Alyssa), I'm not really sure when it was we became such close friends, it sort of just happened after knowing each other for one week on Shasta. You're a hoot, I absolutely love every moment I get to spend with you because we're either laughing or drawing nearer to the throneroom. I'm not sure I know anyone that more thoroughly emits radiant joy in everything that they do than you do. You have such a raw passion for the things of Yahweh that you either are compelled to share it with the world or are otherwise incapable of hiding it from the world. I find myself drawn to you (...all the time, but also) when I am in need of a refreshing drink of how our Lord loves us. When He seems distant or the road seems dark/narrow, I see Him working, molding, and shaping you always. I see in you the abandon for Jesus that the woman who anoints His feet with perfume, kisses them, and dries them with her hair, nothing will get in the way of you giving Jesus all the worship He is worthy of. I am truly blessed to have you in my life. I phileo you, as well.

There is literally nobody else on the face of the earth I would rather see this vision Yahweh has given us come to fruition with than you two. Nobody else would understand me at the core of who I am as well, or understand what sacrificial, servant love looks like as do you two. Yahweh, you are too good to me.

Some light reading... peruse at your convenience

I stumbled upon this guy's blog, CoffeeSnobDavis, and found it really interesting. This guy is a hoot. I don't know if I agree with him on everything, but I love that something like this exists.

This is an excerpt from his 'about" page:
"I moved to Davis, CA and found too many cafes. Reviews on the Davis Wiki were cruel, always promising the best coffee¹ ever but only delivering heartbreak. If only there were more coffee snobs reviewing these cafes, I wouldn’t have to waste my time and money testing their bad coffee…"

He also includes some links to some really great sites:

This one links to a ton of blogs and various websites on everything you ever wanted to know about making coffee at home: Brew Methods

Yes. Love this site: Coffee Geeks. So good. I've only had a chance to skim the site, but the first article I found made it worth it to post: Less Throw Downs, More Spro Downs Please!. Go ahead and read it for yourselves if you get the chance, but it's enough to inspire me to check out this site some more. I mean... let's be honest- any of the three of us could easily be sucked into being a coffee geek.

His other links are good too.

"Our deeds emerge from our hearts revealing our true allegiance"

"What will be of uppermost importance: the success of my business (or ministry) or the vitality of my relationship with Him?"

-Darrell Johnson (D on the E, pg. 90)

Bringing Heaven Down Goes Public?

So first things first, Alyssa and I talked to our friend and fellow coffee-enthusiast Jenny, and - like Kurty - she's now in on the plan that she's been kind of a part of for a long time, and she's definitely down. So be excited. She's got some awesome ideas and she's stoked on ministry via coffee.

Second of all, as we were talking to her and sharing a little about the fact that we've already been blogging to share ideas and keep each other updated, it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to make this blog public. That way, as we start to bring more and more people into this plan, we can keep them updated as well. Obviously, we would still be the only ones to actually post - at least for now - but that way we could send people links and let them know what's been going on and what we're thinking/planning.

Thoughts?

Life is like a cup of coffee.

There are so many things I would like to say to preface this video, but I don't want to spoil the experience for you, so without further ado:

Life is like a Cup of Coffee:

Random, but awesome, idea

So, as I was driving back to SLO today, slightly jealous that the two of you get to hang out at least 9 months out of the year, I had a pretty great thought.

I was thinking we could write little hand-written notes for our regulars and put them under their cups so they could find/read them when they came in. Just another way to let them know that we think/care about how they're doing, as well as would be a pretty compelling incentive to have people become regulars and come more often.

Love ya'all, miss ya'all

Greetings from Australia

After this, I'm done with the rapid-fire posts, I swear! There's just too much good stuff!

Basically, I just wanted to let you know that I talked to Kurty on skype last night, and she's now officially in on the plan she doesn't know she's been a part of, where she teaches us about how to make espresso drinks SLASH maybe works for us for a while. And she's down.

And as one more side-note (because I know you are both looking for even more ways to spend time researching on the internet), spend some time youtubing "latte art" - coolest thing ever. We just have to figure out how to make a fig leaf.

Catalyst

Two mornings ago I had breakfast with my old youth pastor and his wife. We talked some about houseboats and they’re excited for this summer. It’s good to talk about the camp from the church side and hear more about each student’s journey before, during, and after their week on the water. Rob is pushing to get two boats (his dream is to be able to do a side-tie) and I am excited for them- which I expressed. I did, however, refrain from telling them how stoked I am about the new assistant director they’ll be working with up at Shasta. They’ll have to figure that one out on their own.

The conversation turned gradually toward plans for the future. Rob has a passion for and is really excited about creative ministries. He’s helping plant a new church downtown and it’s great to hear what God’s doing in the San Diego area and church community. I shared my plans which was more about sharing my passions than any actual plans. I told them about the coffee shop dream and was excited by their response. Rob believes that the church is moving in the direction of relational ministry. Reid has talked before about a body of believers that act and live out their faith proportionally more outside a church building than they do within and at breakfast Rob talked about the large number of people who are going through seminary school to become pastors in their work place. I’m paraphrasing a lot and insinuating some, but that’s the gist of it.

Rob and Nikki are excited for us and want to help us. They have impacted my life in so many ways and I love them both, yet still I was surprised by their genuine interest in supporting us. I’m getting choked up right now trying to express in words what our conversation was like. I know they don’t have much, but their joy in wanting to give whatever they can to help us affected my heart. They don’t know what they can do, but they want us to know that they’re here for us. Rob is currently looking up literature to send on who knows what, and I’m excited to receive it. They’re interested in any updates we get a long the way and want to support us in prayer as we progress. Also, they would love to help put us in touch with their contacts if there are people we want to talk to, or ways to help us raise money. Lastly, there’s a conference that Rob is in love with. I think I’ve heard of it before, it’s called Catalyst and is in Irvine. Rob described it as a conference that energizes those currently involved in ministries, mostly people under the age of 35. He said it’s a lot of young pastors, youth leaders, and people pursuing any sort of long-term ministry project. It’s a time to come together, collaborate, and share in the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t know how relevant that is to us, but Rob and Nikki want to send us three to it if we are interested. They said to not worry about the money, but to look into going. It's held March 2-4, which is a Wednesday through Friday and would be hard to swing. The website is here and if we can’t make it this year, he said to consider it for next.

(PSnow, doesn't Rob resemble Jessie a little? Every now and then it weirds me out.)

Our lives have been touched and changed. We have met the living God in such a way that forever our lives will be radically centered around him. That used to only mean picking a career of ‘going into the church’, and while that’s something I’m still considering, I’ve also come to believe in this coffee shop as a little church we are hoping to plant. I don’t say that lightly and it scares me a little. Just as a pastor should be qualified to open and shepherd a church, our current venture encourages me everyday to dig deeper and further into the richness of our Lord. I feel so far from qualified for any of this and am blessed beyond measure by knowing that our dreams are possible because of the greatness of our Lord.

Road Trip to Indiana?

No but seriously.

(I feel like I keep spamming this thing, but there's just a ton of cool news!)

So I got to talk to Shmanny last night about the coffee shop where she works at Purdue, called Greyhouse Coffee (http://www.greyhousecoffee.com). Man guys, God is a funny one. Basically I just explained to her (or tried anyway) what we summed up in our vision posts/business meeting and then asked her what her shop is like. And she basically said that everything I just described is what their shop is. So I mean, regardless of the fact that it would be awesome to go there, and we can't, what a cool affirmation that something like what we want is out there, and it's working!

Greyhouse is kind of like Red Rock in that it's owned and run by a church, but with the added twist that they're focused on college ministry like we might want to be. Just like downtown Davis would be, they're not on campus, but just a few blocks away, making them a really convenient hub for students to go hang out.

I tried to explain the whole customers:campers::staff:staff::community:dock hands metaphor, and she said that's pretty much their goal too. She doesn't know how they do it without being discriminatory or even asking really, but all the staff are Christians and ministry to customers is part of their training, à la SupesUlt. First they learn about making drinks and all the machinery, and then they talk about having conversations with customers, being intentional with regulars, etc. It sounds like pretty much all their staff are Purdue students too, which is really cool. It sounds like they have a LOT of staff, so they can work around people's school schedules pretty easily, something which probably won't be in our future, at least for a while, but is good to note.

And as for the quality issue that Barlow mentioned, Greyhouse is definitely all over that. They're fair trade, and really legit about the quality of their coffee and drinks. They use Intelligentsia Coffee (http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/), which doesn't really mean anything to any of us at the moment, but I'm researching it. Apparently they're really good. She also she she could find out who their suppliers are for other things and let me know.

Oh, and ALL their coffee is french pressed. I knew I liked these guys.

Another thing that makes them distinctive (and we should probably think of something along these lines) is that they also have crepes and gelato. Granted, crepes isn't going to set us apart much in Davis, but it would be really good to have a little something else besides coffee and pastries, so maybe we can brainstorm that one.

The one thing I don't necessarily like about Greyhouse is that they're open on Sundays. They're really good about switching schedules around so employees only have to miss church about once a month, but I'm pretty adamant about being closed on Sundays. I think that intentional example is a really important part about ministry to the community.

And in her personal opinion, we should have one exposed brick wall because it makes any coffee shop that much cooler. Hahah.

And one final side note: the wedding is either going to be in August if the BF graduates on time or December if he doesn't. If you wanted to know. :)

______________________________________________

And now two unrelated things:

One is this link: Mistakes to Avoid in Setting Up Your Church Coffee Shop

And two is that I forgot to mention that Mike O and I talked a lot about membership stuff in the car as well. I know we've talked a little bit about having "regular mugs" like they have at the little ice cream place in Walnut Grove, so Mike and I talked about the actual practicality of making that happen, how much the initial cost would be, the question of free refills. Again, I wish I had more constructive things to post about it, but I wanted to at least make a note of it here as something to think about.

That's all, folks! Love you both. Talk to you soon.

Oh boy! This is a big post!

So stick with me here, I apologize for long-windedness, I really do.

First and foremost, here's a nice little bazinga from my quiet-time this morning:

"Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines [...] yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord YHWH is my strength." (Zechariah 3:17-19)

Friends, even if we fall flat on our faces... Glory be to God.

Thing two: my visit to the Red Rock Cafe!

The Red Rock Cafe is the coffee shop that Mike's church owns/runs in Mountain View, and when Mike (O'Brien) and I went down to visit today, we got to go there!

It was actually really cool - I mean, yeah, I expected it to be - but still, REALLY cool! He said it actually used to be an independently owned business that was going under and then his church took it over. Their church offices are on the third floor of the building (and have been since before they ownedthe cafe), but once the shop started going under, they decided they should buy it out, and now here they are!

The downstairs is were the register/espresso bar is, along with a decent amount of seating, and then upstairs is even more seating, with a nice little view of the downtown area. Mike said they sometimes rent out the upstairs area if people want to use it for social functions and stuff like that - cool idea!

We sat upstairs for the LONGEST time just

talking, and Mike (O'Brien) and I got into some really good talking about just business stuff in general. I hope we didn't bore Mike (Corsetto) too much, although I think maybe we did. But he had some really good points and some really good concerns that I hadn't thought of before. And now, of course, as I sit here thinking I can't remember nearly as much of it as I'd like too, but I'm going to try my best.

(1) Multiple branches? I had never really thought of the idea before, and to be honest I don't really like the idea, but Mike brought up the good point that maybe one branch can't support all three of us. Or maybe it can; I really don't know. The point is, it's something to think about.

(2) Along the lines of multiple branches and just making ends meet, another point was something we kind of touched on in the "business meeting", and that's how much each of us work. We had talked about maybe having just one of us working full time at the shop to start while the other two hold outside jobs. But then, I mean, say you two have full time jobs elsewhere, then we just need to hire more people to work with me, so it's kind of really a trade off. Anyway, that's going to be a hard balance to find.

(3) LOCATION. Eric, we talked a lot about Yellow Wood and about why it went under, and we decided that probably a lot of it is due to location. I think we all already know that location's important, but I'm just kind of regurgitating everything I can think of here.

(4) We were talking about the "tour" and at looking at other succes

sful businesses, and Mike was suggesting that we look at other "genres" of business as well. AKA We could look at In-n-Out for example, as a business that provides a very different service, but does a lot of the things we want to do: fast service, quality product, vaguely faith-based (bear with me on that one). And when it comes to big companies like that, I'm sure there's literature where we can actually read up on what their business plan looked like when they got started and how they got their kick-start.

Whew. So that's all for Red Rock. It was really fun, to say the least. Also, as a side note, we went to Erik's Deli Cafe, but NONE of us got Sea Dogs after we realized they're tuna salad, and we didn't really want tuna at all. I thought that was hilarious.

And now for two things that I've told both of you individually, but I want to put here just for the record:

Thing one is that Shmann works at a faith-based coffee shop at Purdue. I am definitley giving her a call soon.

Thing two is that Berkeley could definitely be a good location for us. Still a college town, still an area we're relatively familiar with (I know that's a stretch, but it's not like we're moving to Utah), still could support about a million coffee shops, still has a good down-town type area. But here's my thing: it's urban, and I really like that. And I have to say that the city isn't exactly my "thing", and I think you both know that, but I feel increasingly called to an urban environment, and I think it's more than young-adult idealism.

The main reason is from a talk that Stanford Gibson gave at College Life last year that I'm sure Alyssa remembers about how the church should be more present in urban environments. Rather than talk about it, I'm just going to post a few quotes from him, along with the link to the full transcript and let that speak for itself. (The text, by the way, is Acts 11 & 13)

One of the most obvious but least frequently observed features of the early church is that it was primarily an urban movement. Early Christianity thrived on the density, desperation, depravity and diversity of the great urban centers of the Roman empire.

Isn’t essentially a historical curiosity. It is important to recognize because the urban nature of the early church was fundamental to its growth and effectiveness. The early church grew because it was a fundamentally urban movement. It grew because it came to love people and found them easiest to love in their densest, most diverse and most desperate state.

But somehow, contemporary evangelical Christianity has become one of the most anti-urban demographics of the American population. With the notable exceptions of the Black Church and the Catholic Church, modern American Christianity has gravitated to the suburbs. And, modern missiologists argue, this is sidelining us culturally. We are underrepresented in the city. And this is problematic in two ways. First, Christians should be wherever there are people and should be particularly attracted to the social ills that cities generate. But it is also a problem because culturally, Cities are upstream. As the city goes, so goes the culture.

Cities are not more important but they are more strategic. If we were going to be underrepresented somewhere, it should be anywhere but our nation and world’s urban centers.

OK! That's finally all I've got. I hope you waded through all that and managed to find something interesting/relevant/worthwhile. Let me know what you think.

Vision Casting

When I picture opening a coffee shop with my friends, I don't see a business. The building could contain anything- it doesn't need to be a cafe, it could be a restaurant, a vacuum store, a verizon outlet, a bike repair shop- we just happen to really love coffee. I see a place that starts with three people who are passionately in love with Jesus. We have oriented ourselves toward him and as Darrell said "Jesus has oriented himself toward the father... His passion is to reveal His Father. His joy is in HIM. He loves Him. Getting to know Jesus is getting to know this passion." Entering into this relationship has caused us to also enter into his passionate love for the world and for communities- to be compelled by his desire to practically serve and reach out to all who come into contact with him through us. This upwelling of passion is what drives us to open a coffee shop.

First we individually seek God and enter into the co-lover relationship established within the trinity. Next we minister to each other by building each other up in love and by pushing each other toward Christ. A lot of what this would practically look like stems from the stuff in the supes-ult. It's similar to what we've become familiar with within Sonshine. It's the ways we seek balanced lives, and the ways we discipline ourselves in the word as a group, regularly affirm each other, rely and trust on the ways each other are being guided by Christ, and keep each other accountable through truth and love. THEN we invite others into this relationship. We invite our friends and staff to experience and understand what's at the heart of our ministry. By practicing this lifestyle and modeling staff conduct after it, our coffee shop will be founded on something greater than ourselves.

If we are admin, staff are drivers, and customers are campers, then our surrounding business community is the Paradise Point staff. We will seek to be aware of the knowledge that not everyone will be able to personally experience the atmosphere we are seeking to develop behind the counter of the coffee shop- just as the Paradise staff do not experience the magic of going out on the water for a week, those in the business community will not directly experience or understand how our day-to-day business is run. Therefore we are very intentional in how our business is run and how we interact with our ‘neighbors’.

In the same way, what our business stands for is no secret. I don’t have much to say about this right now that hasn’t already been said, but yeah. We live our lives openly… we make public our failures, our struggles, and most of all the hope that we have.

This last point is open to be contested, but I want us to get really, really good at making coffee. I want us to become systematic and professional- to be a flourishing business, not a life-sucking enterprise. This will not happen overnight and we will always be relying on the help of others. It’s not a pride thing and I’m struggling expressing it in words, so as much as I shouldn’t, I’m going to utilize another Sonshine reference. I want to tap into the same desires that Reid has for us to be really good drivers. I’ve seen the desire in each of us, and I know we have each individually experienced the ministry that can blossom under a well oiled, well timed houseboat schedule or well executed ski-run. Our coffee should be tasty and enjoyed just as campers should have a good banana boat run.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I'm working on not feeling constrained by what I write here. Our vision for this coffee shop is adaptive. I have weird insecurities about putting into words something that will change over time and insecurities about realizing that I cannot fully describe the vision we have for what this coffee shop would be and stand for. I feel weird reiterating what you two have already so beautifully written- about restating things that are familiar, or that people already know. I KNOW these are the same insecurities I have about preaching or speaking. I recognize how ridiculous that is and the understanding of my ridiculousness hasn't caused the insecurities to disappear, but saying it aloud releases a lot of the power they have over me.

I just want to finish by saying I truly love you both. I’m so overwhelmed by love right now and I don’t know what’s going to come of this enterprise, but to some extent- whatever. THIS is what this is about- the process, the risk, the growth, the journey. Anything that comes of this is His fruit, but the fruit that is already growing is enough to satisfy for a lifetime. I have so much respect and love for you both and selfishly I think I’m the luckiest person to have such devoted, and also gifted friends. You are constantly teaching me new things and showing me new sides of our Father. Praise be to God. Praise YHWH. Hallelujah.

Mission/Vision

I envision God reaching three (kinda four) distinct people groups through His coffee shop, the surrounding community, the patrons/customers, and the staff (and business/church partners).

I envision touching the community first by being a quality business that has outstanding business practices. I also see opportunities for outreach through a bike ministry, opening up our retail space for functions such as small groups/bible studies and worship/open-mic nights, and generally providing open doors and arms for people in need. I also, having had huge heart growth for the homeless over the last several years, see real opportunities to reach out to the homeless in practical ways such as providing hot chocolate/coffee, meals, and other essentials.

I envision touching the patrons/customers by being a constant part of their lives. I envision a warm and inviting location where customers can come and enjoy quality coffee and conversation. I don't at all see customers as dollar signs, but as God's beautiful creation. I would want customers to leave thinking that our staff was "so stinking relational" (Pearl)

I envision a staff community that is about training Christian leaders and stirring up a passion for God's Holy Name. (After asking for Sonshine's permission, of course,) I envision a staff that is about befriending, encouraging, modeling, and challenging one another, the customers, and the community. I even envision something that resembles a Super Ultra Packet that teaches/instructs/hones things such as staff characteristics/special topics/living a balanced life/situational leadership as well as logistical/safety training. I envision potential outreach in staffing to include (but not be limited by) graduated foster youth, students studying abroad, and summer project workers.

I also see opportunities for outreach as we relate to the business world (i.e. growers & wholesalers) as a Christian business. I also see opportunities to partner with local/global churches in a symbiotic relationship (potentially sending out staff on missions?)



Most of all I envision this venture as an opportunity to put it at the foot of the Cross, acknowledging that ultimately this is not our business and that we are part of God's greater economy. I see it as a living, breathing, thing that exists outside of our involvement. It is bigger than us because it is not of us.

At the same time I recognize that unmet expectations lead to anger and frustration and that God cares more about and people are more affected by character and maturity than skill or ability. I expect God to glorify his Holy Name, bring His Kingdom, and have His perfect Will be done. And gosh darn it, I believe in a big God who can do Big things when people present themselves as living sacrifices for Him, not of their own doing so that no one may boast.