Still settling in to life in Wisconsin, we’ve got A LOT going on. I started working at the closest Starbucks to our house last week. Tony and I knew before we got here that I would be putting my “career” on hold, whatever that was. We knew we weren’t coming out here to build our resumes, necessarily, but that we needed to be open and ready to do what was needed. Starbucks seemed like the perfect opportunity for me. I get to work at a place I am way too familiar with, meet some locals, and leave work at work so I can concentrate on whatever needs doing for GLC. So far, I love it!
Today, in my training, I got to taste Starbucks Thanksgiving Blend. It reminded me a lot of wine tasting when I used to work in restaurants. Did you know there’s a whole process to tasting coffee? Mmm Hmm…
1. Smell
2. Slurp
3. Say words like “nutty” or “citrus” or “earthy”
4. Take a bite of something (pairing)
5. Slurp Again
6. Say different words like “smooth”, “acidic”, “spicy”
That’s all I’ve got so far. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more about the proper ways to drink coffee. I dig it.
I’ve also met some great people. One of my trainers, after she asked me to “share a bit about myself”, told me she had heard of Great Lakes Church. She shared that she goes to a small-ish church in the area and her pastor mentioned us, asked them to pray for us, and to donate their pocket change to us in hopes of raising $1,000 in one month. Isn’t that incredible!?! She’d not only heard of us but has been praying for us. Another one of my trainers, a couple of days later, also mentioned she’d heard about us. I was STUNNED. She said she had a friend of a friend who mentioned it, and then she saw a bunch of people talking about it on Facebook (THANK YOU FACEBOOK). She said she wanted to come to the first service but had to work. Imagine that! She could have been number 175! Meeting these girls and other people has just confirmed for me that taking a job where I could meet lots of people was definitely the right thing to do. If I had gone back to something more comfortable for me like an office job, I would have probably only been around the same 5 people every day.
Tony and I just got back from Woodmen’s Grocery Store. It’s gigantic! About as big as Costco, but you don’t have to buy in bulk, it’s a little nuts. Anyway, he’s invited a few of the people that played music at the 1st Preview Service over for dinner tomorrow night. It will be our first time hosting anything social at our new place (aside from having our awesome roommate over for dinner). It’s been a good motivator to really finish moving in. I must say, it is a little strange hosting anything at all, when we really feel like everyone here is a stranger. I guess they will stay “strangers” until we get to know them, and that’ll probably just take time.
So, what I miss about home…
• Coffee dates with Katy Pratt
• Impromptu “We’re coming over to your house” plans
• Sushi
• Local wine
• Hills
• Seattle skyline from anywhere in Kirkland
• Predictable weather
• Café Lladro
• Running into _____________ (please place your name in the blank)
What I love about Kenosha so far…
• BIG SKY with cool looking clouds
• Great Lakes Church team
• Noodles & Co.
• Corn fields just a few miles away
• People don’t assume I’m in a cult, just because I go to church
• Huge grocery aisles of cheese
• Friendly, take-your-time, kind of people
• Our old house
• The squirrels that watch me do dishes from our back deck
• Working with Dave Nelson again
In other news... the Great Lakes Website is now up and running. Check it out. To those of you that go to EastLake, it may look a little familiar :) Also, since we're only having services once per month at this point, we had a couple of "Connect Events" this weekend. They went great. We had a few more people decide to help out and be on the launch team. The people here seem to love the vision and can't wait to be a part of it. We have our 2nd Preview Service coming up on November 9th and another Launch Team meeting this weekend to get organized and pray. Please pray with us that our Launch Team continues to grow and that we really connect with the community here.
8 comments:
I'm so glad you're working at Starbucks! You are perfect that job. I know that God will use you there, as he already is!, in great ways. How exciting! Thanks for the updates, keep'em comin! Prayin for you guys. :)
correction...you are perfect FOR that job...I was an English major once... :)
I think that you should wear the apron around town all the time. That way people will wonder, then ask what the heck? And then for sure you can tell them about GLC.....yes that is a good plan.
Did you know that coffee tasting is called "Cupping". I learned that at a tasting I went to in Bellingham a couple of weeks ago. Instead of words like earthy, citris, and acid I found myself using words like musty, dank, bold,and best. I didn't do very good... Love you guys and miss you both very much.
we miss you and it is so fun to hear about your life in Kenosha.. so glad you are enjoying Starbucks. we are praying for you and again.. MISS YOU TONS.
As here in Seattle, we started our 7 months-of-rain season today, I'm a bit perplexed by the fact that you listed "Predictable Weather" in the Seattle plus column...but, you know...there you go...
You're right, Noel. I should have said "Weather I'm familiar with"... I guess people around here think ridiculous wind, snow one day, 70 and sunny the next is pretty predictable.
It is so great to hear things are going well! My alter-ego totally wants to work at starbucks! :-)
Keep it up, and I will keep you all in my prayers. Love the pic of the squirrel!
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