Thankful

Running a coffee shop is a very random thing. There is no discernible pattern to how business will flow from week to week. Some days the caffeine zombies attack at dawn with a relentless stream of bodies like a trail of ants flowing through the shop. Other days they hold back and bide their time, waiting to attack at 8:30 with an overwhelming wave striving to pillage our precious stores of muffins and lattes.

All your caffeine are belong to us!

Today was the latter, which left me with a quiet, contemplative morning of introspection. As many of you know I like to walk and pray, its a luxury I don't get much these days. As I was walking in short laps up and down the counter this morning I noticed that I couldn't think of much to say. It was nice and peaceful, my heart was light and I found myself giving thanks for the many ways God has been blessing.

Last winter my prayers were very different, I had lots to say and most of it was very chaotic.

”Lord help us!”

“Lord provide for us!”

“Lord what is the stinking deal?”

We were short of everything: cash, time, sleep and patience to say the least. I wanted to quit, cry , scream and kick someone all at the same time. If you have ever actually screamed at God (and lived to tell the tale) then you know what my state of mind was like. Our Father is patient though and in the few lucid moments I had with His Word He took me to scripture after scripture. In the end I learned a little about real faith, real trials and a real walk of dependence upon Him. The funny thing is that not much has really changed. Business is better, we are even expanding our hours but we are still short of everything. What has changed is that instead of frenzy there is peace and trust.

I have not arrived, but I did have a great morning and for that I can say “Thanks God!”

odds n ends for the week

My return to Facebook
Yup, I left but I am tired of the incessant whining of my family, so I came back :) I got tired of hearing “Dad did you see So and So's new pics on Facebook? Oh, wait you don't have Facebook anymore” or “Honey, did you hear what so and so said on Facebook? Guess you will never know...”

Is my family ruthless or what?

Supposedly my account resumes just like I left it but there was a disclaimer that somethings (friends?) might not come back and may need to be re invited. Sorry if you got dropped. Anyway, I'm there and you are free to pelt me with your wit and wisdom again.

New business hours
Starting Monday we are expanding our daily hours to 6am-9pm and Saturdays hours to 8am - 8pm. Nate is going to be working in the evenings until he leaves for Basic Training. Our hope is that our hours will get established enough in June and July that we will be able both justify and afford to hire someone to work a few hours a day. Its scary to think that we might have our first employees by August. Pray for us.

Walking under rainbows...

What a beautiful night we had. It started with a great pork BBQ dinner with family and friends. From there we caravaned over to the Bates Memorial Stadium which is lovingly referred to as “the Hole”. It was a hot and sweaty southern summer evening and there were about 2000 of us anxiously checking our cellphones to see if the threatening clouds were gonna unload on us. Sure enough just as the Seniors were all lined up to enter the stadium, the lightning flashed, the thunder rolled and the rain came down. We quickly retreated to nearby Hillcrest Baptist Church and waited about 30 minutes for a gentle summer rain to pass us by. When we returned to the Stadium we basked in the glow of rainbows and parted clouds that were alight with the amber rays of the fading sun. The rain cooled us down and turned disaster into a lovely lower Alabama evening. It was a hopeful backdrop for one of the most important nights in the lives of 378 Seniors who had gone through the storm and overcome.

Enterprise celebrates newest graduates The Enterprise Ledger

It was such a blessing to see Nathan walk across that stage and complete this leg of his journey. Thank you Lord that we were privileged to see our son finish well. How sobering it was to think that there were 8 sets of parents who didn't get to see their child walk last Thursday. I pray the Lord is a constant comfort to them as they rejoice despite their tears and heavy hearts.

We are so excited about the opportunities God has opened up for our boy in the Army. Nate we are proud of all you have accomplished. Be strong and courageous, do not fear, do not doubt what God has called you to or what He can do through you. Mom and I love you very much.

For those who don't live in the politically incorrect south let me say what a blessing it is to live in a part of the country that still prays before High School events. We had two key note speakers, our state Governor Bob Reily and Mrs. Kathy Strunk who's daughter Katie was killed in the tornado that destroyed EHS. With all due respect to the Governor, Mrs. Strunk owned the stage. Kathy opened up her heart and poured out a survivors tale of her search for peace in the whirlwind that took Katie and temporarily derailed her teaching career. In her words... “I opened the Bible and looked for the reason that God took my daughter, but what I found was my first love.” Perhaps one day, by God's grace, I will teach just one sermon that will be of equal caliber to the message we heard. It was all Jesus, all gospel and all heart.

To put the evening in perspective, my brother Mike, who lives in San Diego, said “If this graduation had happened in California a dozen lawsuits would have been filed before it ended.” God Bless the South!

It was a good night :)