It's time

A year ago, I was published in a magazine answering a question about fear.

In the April 2013 issue of Oprah magazine, the question posed was "What would you do if you had no fear?". And my answer:

"I would open a coffee shop in our little

town. I work part-time and on the side

I do a lot of baking and cooking for

friends. I'd create a place that's eclectic,

warm, and inviting, where I could add a

little sunshine to someone's day"

About a month after this was published, I received a message via facebook from a complete stranger:

 

"Please don't be alarmed... I'm just an Oprah 

magazine reader. I could almost feel a calm 

over me as I imagined being in your coffee shop 

that u would open if you had no fears. 

I have a strong feeling that u will be successful! Good luck!"

Needless to say, I was surprised at the message. And that message never left my heart. I wondered if God had moved her to write that to let me know not to give up. That the time hadn't come yet, but it would. 

The cafe in our town has been up for sale a few times in the 20 years I've lived here. And each time, my husband and I have the discussion, but it's never an honest discussion, it's just a "what if". For whatever reason, it never felt right. 

A few years ago, I left the business world. After almost 20 years in management, I put my family and life first, and quit. Not knowing what my future plans were, we threw caution to the wind, trusting that God would put us in the right direction. I have been substitute teaching part-time, and spending a lot of time working at our church and cooking and baking for friends. And it's been an amazing 3 years, but I've felt out of sorts these last six months. Not knowing why, I found myself short-tempered, and unsettled. 

Two weeks ago, I received a text from my husband that there was an opportunity with the local cafe again. And when I asked him if I should call, he gave me the green light. 

Fast forward to yesterday. After multiple meetings with the owner, and our financial advisor, we have an accepted offer signed for the cafe, the down payment is waiting in our bank account, a logo is in progress, and I'm working on menus. It's a crazy thing. 

For some reason, my husband and I felt different this time. The time is right. I'm ready. Ready to have something to dig into. Something to be passionate about. And we cannot be more excited. 

Sure, it's scary. Scary as heck. But we both feel this is right. 

So it is all power forward, as I work with suppliers, menus, creative artists, etc., preparing for a May 1st opening. We will have 3 days to re-decorate, and get things changed over. I won't be able to completely remodel from head to toe. That will come later. For now, it's time to update the menu a little, adding my touch, change the feel and decor of the place, and hope for the best. 

I am hoping that the gathering place will become a destination for friends and family to gather, and to linger over a wonderful meal and coffee. To share stories, laugh, and love life. 

So welcome to the gathering place, to my kitchen, and my heart! 

https://www.facebook.com/thegatheringplacepittsvillewi

taking another step...

Tonight I am taking yet another step in my new journey. Soon, very soon, I will be able to let everyone know. But for now, I simply thank you.

thank you for the kind thoughts
 the support
  the prayers

Without the amazing people I am surrounded with in this life, I would not be who I am today.

My small town life.

People often ask me about living in a town of 800 people, in the center of a rural area. And honestly, having lived in towns from 15,000 to 400,000, I will say at first I didn't think I'd like it. And I continued to commute to a job in a larger town, where I spent much of my free time, for over 15 years. I didn't embrace the small town life at all.

shame on me

Over the last three years, spending the majority of my days and nights in this beautiful little town, I've more than embraced life in a small town.

i love it

Yesterday afternoon my husband and I took a long afternoon walk, noting the spring thaw, the flowers coming up, and progress in our little town of that post-winter wake-up that occurs every spring. The snow thawing, water running, grass beginning to turn green... it's a beautiful rebirth.

I had errands to run today, the first day of spring break at school, and decided to take advantage of the 50 degree weather and head out on foot to take care of my business. All totalled I was only gone for 40 minutes. In that 40 minutes, I returned a book to the library, bought stamps at the post office, picked up the week's groceries at the mercantile, bought my peat pellets to start my seedlings from the hardware store, and met and chatted with the new neighbor who just moved in a couple of houses down.

40 minutes

all on foot (love the health benefit of that)

saving on my carbon footprint, chatting with friends, neighbors, and towns people, and doing my heart good with the walk and fresh air

I couldn't do this when I lived in a metro area. Honestly from where my apartment was, there wasn't ANYTHING I could safely walk to.

So I love love love my life in this small town. I love the people, the friendships, walking everywhere, and feeling like I am living amongst a family of 800 people.

Fun experimenting!

I have a horrible tendency of NOT writing things down when I experiment in the kitchen. But I'm getting better.

This morning I played with my Sunday oatmeal - adding raisins, apples, cinnamon, and flax... and I wrote it down - and will make it again this week to make sure I've nailed it - and then blog on it.

I can't believe that I've finally gotten to the point where I actually cook without recipes. I trust myself. to an extent. And it's FUN.

big changes coming???

You all have followed my journey from the business world to domestic and part-time teacher. You have followed the ups and downs, my questions, and concerns.

And you know through it all I've known that God is in charge, and I need to have Faith and follow His lead.

I think He is leading me in a new direction. And I will know more this week.

Just know that Ken and I are EXTREMELY excited about this new possibility, and we are praying for His guidance, to where we are supposed to be.

I will keep you all posted.

I simply ask for continued prayers, that we keep our hearts open - and listen.

Change is GOOD. It is sooooo good...

God Bless!

Building strong Christians!

We live in a very small town. About 800 people. And our lutheran church - the only one in town - is small as well. Because of the small congregations in our town, all of the churches do youth events across churches. My son is off on a trip with one of the other churches this weekend, at the Acquire the Fire concert in the twin cities. And we had an event last night - where we watched "Last Ounce of Courage" - an amazing movie about freedom, the military, Religious freedom of speech...

This morning, we had several of our youth helping us at the food pantry. It's a pretty regular event - once a month - that our youth group does the stocking, picking, and heavy lifting. This month we had a need for a last minute group to work - and had FOUR kids show up to give up their Saturday morning to help. What a great group of kids.

Tomorrow our town has arranged a bus - to take a bus load of kids and their families - to go see the movie God is Not Dead at our theater - about 15 miles away. And we have a great turnout signed up already. We'll meet, go to church, have some lunch, and then hop on the bus for town.

I love having so much going on in these kids' lives. They are giving back, they are learning to stay strong in their Faith, and they aren't afraid to show it. It's an amazing group of young adults. And it's growing. The youth group continues to GROW! That is an awesome thing.

We are so thankful for all of the families supporting our youth program. And for the youth involved. It's our job - to grow strong Christians ready to fight the fight. And we are having a great time doing just that!

stranded....

I know I have been absent... In the last three weeks, we've had an extended vacation (read on), and my father has passed away.. So I've been a little preoccupied and not taken time to write. But I will be quiet no longer. :)

On Friday, February 28th, our family embarked on a road trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We've been to New Orleans 2 other times - as we have friends there - but this would be the first Mardi Gras for the kids. Our trip down was uneventful, although by the time we got there, the car was chugging and shutting off. We talked about taking it to a dealer that Saturday - but nothing more was said of it. (If only we'd been smarter.)

On Wednesday we reluctantly left New Orleans, and our dear friends, for our return trip home. My 16 year old was planning on being in school on Thursday and my 21 year old was working that afternoon. All that stood between us was around 1200 miles of a road trip. We got an early start - off before 7, meaning we would be home around midnight or 1am. Great timing.

My husband drove the first four hours, and then I took over. The car was NOT sounding good. We decided at that point that we better stop in Memphis and get it checked out. Smart phones were flying as we tried to decide where to go.... until I saw a billboard for a dealer - only a few miles away. I pulled off the exit, and the car died. My husband got into the driver's seat and tried - but there was nothing to be done. We called the dealer and arranged a tow...

You all know that I feel everything happens for a reason. So in my head, there was something that we were being held back from. And it didn't take long to figure that out. We found out at the dealership that the very interstate we were on, about ten miles north, had been closed for three days due to a foot of slush, ice, and snow... people stranded in their vehicles. So we assumed this was the reason for the car to break  down - and decided to get a hotel for the night. With the car fixed, we would head out in the morning. Taking only the things we had in our hands, the kids and I headed to a hotel about a half mile away. I'm not afraid to say it was a Holiday Inn. Because we had the most amazing service from everyone at that hotel, and I'm shouting it from the roof tops.

Unfortunately, we were NOT only there one night. Delays getting a part, and then the shop not working on weekends, ended up stranding us there until MONDAY. Very frustrating at first, but once we had a loaner car, we were able to turn our problem into an extended vacation, visiting some family, the Memphis zoo, and Beale street. We made the best of it, swimming lots, and just enjoying our family time. Frustrated by the costs, and the missed school and work, but understanding it was out of our hands, and making the most of a bad situation.

We did find that everyone around us was incredibly nice. It was like we were surrounded by people who were taking care of us. And for that, we will be eternally grateful.