A change in plans (5-27-08)

We had the best time in Alabama 2 weeks ago. We went back down thinking we would find a rental place so we wouldn’t have to move our things twice. We had also started thinking that we would look and see if perhaps the Lord was leading us to a different location for the coffee shop. Denise and I weren’t sure why, it was kinda like the story of Jonathon and his armor bearer in 1 Sam 14; we thought, lets just go and see.


Well, as we were driving around with Denise’s long list of rentals to look at we had to pull over to enter an address into the GPS. We were driving along Rucker blvd (which is the only road in Enterprise that goes to… you guessed it Fort Rucker) and we pulled into the parking lot of Ellis Plaza which had a For rent sign in the window of suite C. Denise said “you should call the number” to which I replied “Naa, lets keep looking". I wasn’t immediately impressed with the property - boy was I wrong. Denise insisted I call so I hopped out into the cool rain and peeked into the window as my cell phone rang. I spoke with the owner who said he could meet us there in a few minutes. Since we had some time to kill we entered the building for a look-see. The inside was very nice. The other tenants in the building included one of the largest Real Estate Agencies in Enterprise and a small Law office. Denise decided to go talk to one of the agents that was a friend of a Sam and Selina’s while I continued to look around.

Ellis Plaza... Calvary Chapel Enterprise?

I noticed that the building has a double door entrance and many offices and even a large conference room. It also has an empty 2nd story. When the owner, Mr. Ellis arrived we went and looked into the suite we were interested in leasing which was perfect for our coffee shop. It was even on the end so we could put in a drive thru if we needed to, though routing the traffic could be tricky. As we were discussing the details of how the lease would work, Mr. Ellis said “Hey, let me show you this…” He walked me out to the back of the building and showed me a large, unused warehouse. It was like the sun coming up at dawn as my brain finally connected all the pieces. Not only was this building perfect for the coffee shop, this building had everything we needed to house a Church. As I stood there telling the Lord “Tell me NO now Lord… this is too perfect” I looked out the large warehouse door and notice a huge empty field right behind the building. I looked up at Mr. Ellis and asked him “Do you own that field also?” He smiled and said “yes I do.”

Suite C, the new location of Boldly Going Coffee shop...

I wonder if he has a price in mind to sell that building for… since I strongly suspect that the Lord intends it to be Calvary Chapel of Enterprise in the near future. He is so good