Over the past two years

Recently Claire asked me to create a timeline of events that have shaped and propelled the phase of life that we are currently in, more specifically our pursuit of and calling to start a coffee business as means to reach people for Christ. For the past couple of weeks I have avoided this task like the plague. It has been two years and change since we decided to leave our jobs with Campus Outreach, move back to Charleston and run hard after this vision: using a for-profit business to combine commerce with gospel mission. We started in a dead sprint fully convinced of God’s calling in our lives. Now, it’s two years later and we are still convinced of God’s calling on our lives but we have realized that God is a God of marathons and not of sprints. It is a painful thing to learn to hang in there over and over again when it seems the end is in sight but it’s just another water station providing enough refreshment to keep running. It is also a painful thing for God to take your value system and your worldview and to tear them away and begin to reconstruct them around his value system and his view of the world.

It is a hard task for me to recount the past two years because I love comfort and ease and it has been anything but those two things. However, I have learned one thing in the past two years…just because it is uncomfortable and it hurts doesn’t mean it is bad or that God hasn’t specifically ordained it. Nowhere in the Bible does God say that he wants us to have comfort or happiness. He does, however, love for us to have joy. You see, happiness and comfort are completely based on our circumstances. If things are going well according to our value system or world view, then we are usually happy or we feel comforted. But what happens when something outside of our control opposes or denies us what we value? We become unhappy or uncomfortable. Take, for instance, the Apsotle Paul. He valued (like all of us do) not experiencing pain. So, he pleaded with the Lord three times for him to take the pain away(2 Cor 12:9). “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” God’s power… I like, my weakness…I hate. Then, there is that dreaded exortation from James, our Lord’s brother (James 1;2), “Count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds.” Joy in trials? This, I continue to learn…Joy can be had in any and all circumstances, even when I feel uncomfortable or unhappy. Joy is possible even when everything in this world looks bleak and hopeless. My joy is based on what is to come. Because of Jesus I now have a new hope, a hope in what is to come. Even though I resisted him and insisted on having life on my own terms, he still patiently pursued me and rescued me from the penalty for rebelling against the God who created the universe. The punishment I deserve was taken out in full on his own son two thousand years ago. And now that he has reconciled me to himself by allowing Christs perfect punishment to count as my own, he has declared me as having taken Christs identity as my own as his own son…forever! Henceforth, I have the option of aprehending this and having joy inexpressible. “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Sorry to be so long winded in my introduction but this reality never ceases to amaze me. It is a hard thing for me to be completely content in my identity as a son of the God of the Universe. In words, it seems easy enough. But when living this way completely contradicts everything that we hear on a day to day basis, it is difficult. Joy in difficulty…power in weakness…these lessons sum up the past two years for Claire and I. There has been lots and lots of weakening and reweakening and there have been many opportunities to seek joy in our difficulties. And there have even been times when we actually trust God in the midst of all of it.

So, I think for the sake of my own faith and for the ecouraging of those who have followed our lives and who are praying for us, I will put together a timeline of our progress and God’s faithfulness. However, for the sake of your eyes reading this blog I won’t make this posting any longer. Please check back soon and see the snapshot of our journey over the past two years.

TO BE CONTINUED….

recent pics

this is the little guy that's training us for human pups!




us
@ thanksgiving

look at Chris' skills with photography!


this is Chris shop! You local guys would love the outside patio: go there for some solace.

the fam I'm so thankful for

...at the end of the day (claire)

Well, what does one tell the world? The thought of these blog things have before brought about exposed type feelings in me, but I'm trying to get over myself because I thoroughly enjoy reading so many of your blogs. The details of life is what I treasure so. And when you call someone or e-mail a friend to catch up the details are what is first to be skimmed over. So, here goes nothing!

The details of our life recently? Well, as exciting as barista-life is... I just can't think of anything except spiritual lessons. Everyday is chock-full of them, and I usually don't see any of them until the end of the day. You know when you're in the fast pace of the moment we are usually blinded to the big picture? so, at the beginning of this day, I had to make myself recall a few:

-God, in His never, never, never, never, never-ending patience is showing me how when I praise Him when I most don't want to and against all my feelings, it is then that my life starts to get better: not in circumstances, but in perspective and that makes ALL the difference.

- I came to understand God's offer of grace in full in college, and I don't know if you had or have any preconceived notions when you became a Christian, or about Christianity but I did! One of them being I thought life was going to be a little easier, and I thought God wasn't going to require so much of me. When I looked the grace of Jesus in the face in college I knew I wanted forgiveness from God at any cost: how else was I going to get rid of all the guilt that was literally choking and strangling me? And the whole "counting the cost" thing?...how can one count the cost before hand when it gets this astronomically high? In all honesty, my faith right now really is costing me everything. But oddly enough I'm not sad or mad. I've definitley had to process with God a lot so as not to jump to wrong conclusions about His character. I've cried countless tears in the recent past, but crying to a God that is urging you to trust in His unseen-ness, talking to a Reality that really does answer into my calmed heart (once I finally commit the TIME to seek him to calm it) is the coolest thing in this universe. And it really is "all there" in the Bible and other people draw me to trust it daily.



Verse that's lifted my spirits recently: Psalm 131:1-3

Lord, I'm not going to over-value my finite perspective today. I'm not going to assume I know what you're up to. I don't concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. Instead I have calmed and quieted myself, like a child who definitely needs its comforting parent. O chosen one, put your hope in the LORD- now and always. *

*my little translation- read it and tell me how the Holy Spirit speak to you through it!









People I appreciate today:
+my husband! Chris who started this blog: what a romantic thing for him to do, huh?
...who helps me with my perspective on life constantly:things I think are cosmic, he bears with my stress and helps me sift them through
...who took me out on a date last night and pursued my heart,
...who doesn't ever tell me how selfish I am, but during the day I sometimes am full of regret for being selfish around him and hope that he doesn't think to himself how selfish of a person I am!

+ And I just love my mom so much, and one of the thousands of evidences of how much she trusts God is that she has never rubbed it in my face that she paid for me to get a quality college education, yet I have put on a green-apron nearly everyday for the past year and a half.

+ Sounds crazy, but I'm thankful for the corporate giant I work for. And as much as people bad-mouth the company, I have never seen one quite so dedicated to the top-notch standards this one is. So, tell your friends to do their research before judging it: like anything else. They pay their farmers more than the "fair-trade" peeps can.

+Also, am thakful for people who struggle in the praise-music business! Go get 'em on iTunes! I have benefited SO much lately from the overflow of other's hearts: the lyrics that come out of their struggles. Here are a few of my favorites and their struggles that "authenticate" their music:

-Laura Story's new album!! "Great God Who Saves" -her husband Martin was diagnosed with a brain tumor in their first year of marriage, and she continued to praise God through it all and birthed this record in that.

-Jeremy Camp-his new wife died after only a few years into their marriage yet he can sing "I still believe" that God is good and has a master plan that will benefit me.

-Ginny Owens- she is blind yet plays the piano beatifully and can articulate realness and candor in her lyrics like most artists seem they would be exposing themselves if they did so.

-Aaron Keyes- a friend of mine from college. He focuses on the greatness of God in all of his songs and makes me put my circumstances behind His greatness, majesty, and complete capability. So, if I really listen, I can't not be changed. His newest album is called "Not Guilty Anymore"





... At the End of the Day, remember it's us who serve God, not Him who serves us! most days I forget that, but He whispered it to me yesterday.

"Lord, if You kept a record of our sins, who could survive? But you offer forgiveness! that we might learn to fear you. I am COUNTING on the Lord; yes, I am counting on Him. I have put my HOPE in His word." psalm 130:3-5

"For even the Son of man came not to be served, but TO serve and to give His life as a ransom for many." -Matthew 20:28 are you almost commanding God to serve you by wanting certain desires so much?

The Journey begins...uhh...umm...continues!

As Claire and I struggle to catch up to the 21st century in so many ways, we have finally taken the plunge and set up a blog. As I'm typing this, I am thinking, "Why have I waited so long to do this?" What a great way to keep up with all the people we care about but are separated from geographically! Anyway, Claire doesn't even know that this is up and running yet. Boy, won't she be surprised! And I can almost guarantee that this blog will not remain sparse for very long. She is quite the writer. Well, please check in with us often so that we are able to share in this journey with you. And please allow us the pleasure of sharing in your journey with you. Shalom!