Coffee Shop Journal

There is no doubt that “authentic” is the new buzzword these days. You see it as an advertising adjective everywhere you turn, and in ministry world we’ve been recreating “authentic” experiences and longing for “authentic” interactions with community. I even noticed today in shopping for a new messenger bag for my computer that I wanted it to be have an authentic, vintage appeal. Wherever this consumer-oriented, technology-laden generation turns, it now wants to be and feel authentic.

Be careful what you wish for!

Authentic comes with a price tag. Consider, for example, the Santa Barbara Starbucks where we began our day this morning versus the Java Joint, an authentic local coffee shop here in town. Both served amazing coffee. We enjoyed our time in each. But I noticed something about Java Joint: the distressed brick walls showed different colors of brick reflecting its previous lives in retail. It’s bathroom was carved out of a store room, and had rickety fixtures original to the building. The people who wandered in from the street were often just that: street people. At Starbucks the air-conditioning was running well, the bathroom smelled clean and the colors harmonized.

When you search for authentic, you may be surprised by what you find. Be prepared in ministry, design and life, to greet the flaws in “authentic” with gratitude at their originality and acceptance of their character. And when striving to be authentic, remember that the cracks in the facade aren’t scars to be hidden, they are the life God has given.

Joy comes in the morning. 3:30 in the morning. That’s the time I had to get up this morning in order to catch my 4:30 ride to the airport. David, Jillian and I are off to Santa Barbara, CA for a family wedding. Now I have to tell you, my attitude on this wedding was less than stellar. I am tired, ready to sleep in my own bed, and NOT ready to fly across the country. Last week I complained to my friend Jody about this trip (yes, I dared to complain about a trip to an ocean-side resort in Santa Barbara. Just go ahead and send me a virtual slap in the face). Jody wisely said, “You know, when you’ve prayed about your life and put it in God’s hands, sometimes he plans surprises for you when you least expect them. Like at a family wedding you are too tired to appreciate. Maybe he has a gift for you there!”

Thank you, Jody.

The pictures are blurry until I get my uploader out (does anyone else get blurry pics from their Macbook Air?), but you can see where I am sitting. Looking at the ocean, walking to a marina to eat in an outdoor cafe, driving up State Street and discovering shoppers paradise, hanging with family I rarely get to see. Oh yes, God brought joy in the morning, and unexpected refreshment in the evening. Maybe that’s the secret to living in the Kingdom: balance seasons of intense ministry with seasons of intense healing, sitting in Papa’s lap drinking up the joy.

I’ve been crazily, unbelievably busy the past two weeks with walking through God’s Kingdom with my eyes wide open. As you know, I’ve been feeling the lows of other people’s griefs, the highs of seeing my little Kylie start flapping her wings and getting some air, and the sheer fatigue of meeting the needs God puts in front of me.

Tonight I had dinner with my mom, who has memory and speech issues, my husband, and my single friend who recently lost custody of her four children and is struggling with medical issues that threaten to overwhelm her every minute of every day. Do you know what we did? We sat in Friday’s and we laughed. We laughed at the jokes my 12 year old neighbor tells every time he sees us. We laughed at the incredibly rude dad in the booth behind us who let loose with a burp that would have won any contest. We laughed at silly things, and we laughed at incredibly sad things. We enjoyed my friend’s recounting of the characters she has met in an ongoing support group. We laughed at her broke financial status, pretending to argue over the bill just because it was funny. We laughed at the charades we had to play with my mom, in order to bring her into the conversation. We even laughed when my mom said, “So what ever happened to that messy house you were having to clean up?” and my friend had to sheepishly admit that it was hers. I believe that God put a little bubble around us tonight and infused the four of us with just a bit of his crazy, undeniable joy and peace. It was the payoff for the tears I cried last week.

I was struck with one thought as we tussled over that bill at the end of dinner. My friend reached for her money, and truly wanted to pay even though I know her situation, and could never ever take her money. To my friend, that money she wanted to offer was the highest value thing she posessed. She wanted to give it to me. To me, the money for dinner was of relatively little value, a blip on the radar screen of life. I could give her that money and never think of it again. I thought back to my afternoon, an afternoon spent with three other friends working for hours on cleaning my friend’s home and preparing it for sale: a messy, thankless job that was only tolerable because it was shared and would be over soon. That time — those hours of sweat and strain — were my highest value offering. I can’t think of an offering that could possibly cost me more to give at this stage in my life.

How often do we salve our consciences by offering what comes easy to us — money, time, extra clothes, extra food — while withholding the true offering God wants from us? What is your highest value? ow does God want to use it?

This is my entry for the Watercooler Wednesday at Randy Elrod’s place.

What a weekend..a weekend that will go into our family history books and one that I’m glad to have behind me. My daughter is partying at Sonic tonight with her new freshman class and I am heading back for the long, long ride home.

After dropping her off, in classic Saunders style, David and I stopped into this garage-turned-coffee shop for an espresso to speed us home to Atlanta. While we were waiting for them to make — and remake — our drinks, we struck up a conversation with a young guy lounging at the next table. Turns out he’s a freshman at Kylie’s college, and a musician who plays percussion. By the time we left, we’d gotten into a great kingdom discussion about the difference between EE (evangelism explosion) and living in the midst of the kingdom. David and I were so impressed with the heart of this drummer with a heart. Great stop for coffee and oh so much more.

Then tonight we worshiped at one of our favorite home away from homes, Grace Fellowship Church. During worship, maybe because of our coffee stop, I was watching the drummer tonight. He was a conservative drummer, keeping everyone on that stage in the same place at the same time. He added so much to our worship experience. Without him, it would all fall apart. I decided that I would like to be a drummer. I’d like to be like our friend in the coffee shop and the guy on stage, keeping the beat steady so that other people can do their thing on stage. I have a whole new respect for drummers this week.

Sometimes the simplest of phrases catch my ear and stick with me. Today it was a random comment by Tim Stevens, written on his blog. He was referring to Ebenezers, the coffee shop run by Mark Batterson’s church, National Community Church. The coffee shop was built as a place, he said, for the church and the community to hang out. That was it: the church and the community to hang out.

How do you do that?

Assuming that most churches will never build a coffee shop, how do you provide opportunities for the church to hang out with the community? In this instance I’m (for once) not necessarily referring to the individual within the church, but the church as a recognizable community figure. How does the church build its “brand” in the community?

I think the best answers to that question are creative, outward-focused opportunities for the church to build into their surroundings. I’d love to see more creative solutions than are usually proposed for this, solutions like art shows hanging in the church hallways, refreshments being served at community events provided by the church, tutoring services for neighborhood kids. Or maybe something as simple as having church members hang at the local hot spot on Friday nights. For us, that would be outside the movie theater sitting in front of Starbucks.

How do you do it? Where do you go to hang out with the community as a church?

The car is packed with aqua and pink and purple and green girlie things. My credit card is maxed out with Pottery Barn purchases that she doesn’t need but she wanted anyway. My heart couldn’t resist. Her hair is freshly cut, her laundry is done and her sister is trying her best to be nice. She’s going to college.

We’re on the road to Atlanta today, hoping to grab a shopping day tomorrow before we drop her off at school on Saturday. Kylie is a happy, weepy, nervous bundle of contradictions right now, and her momma isn’t far behind. But for now…a road trip calls. And the little girl I raised is getting ready to go out and prove that her heart is HIS heart and her future is calling.

This is my submission for Watercooler Wednesday at Ethos - Cultural Watercooler.

Swimming is where it’s at this Olympic year. I can’t resist Michael Phelps’ quest for the history books. One little lesson was brought home to me watching the past few days of Olympic glory. Apparently when you are swimming, how you finish is as important as how you run the race. At least two races that I know of were won — or lost — based on the swimmer’s hand position as they tapped the wall for the finish. The swimmer who kept their form and extended their hand to touch the wall won over the swimmer who flexed their hand at the last moment.

In life, too, we are often judged on how we finish. Blow the last seconds and you may not stand on the podium receiving your medal. I want to finish well. I want to follow through on my words and promises. I want to represent Him with my hand extended, forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what lies ahead.

I’m going to finish well.

We’ve turned a corner here in the Saunders household yesterday. The beauty of non-stop ministry situations is that they usually begin to see the light of truth clear away the darkness, and I feel as if I’m seeing that process play out in both the physical and the spiritual realms. When God restores broken things it feels like jumping into a clear, clean pool on the hottest day of summer. Everything is washed and refreshed.

Since I’ve had a few minutes to catch up on all my blogosphere friends, I thought I’d post links to the posts that I really enjoyed and helped me through the last two weeks. I haven’t had time to comment on them, but all of them either touched me, inspired me or humored me!

Ed Bahler wrote an interesting post this week that I’ve thought a lot about.

• A Rabbi and a  Christian: on how some of the issues the church faces are also facing Jewish faith communities.

Pete Wilson wrote about making sure, as you lead, that you are leading people to the right place. While you are there look at the link he gives to an Olympics cheer site.

All-time favorite blog post title of the week goes to the Church Bartender gang for this post: Let’s Get Naked.  Come on people, you know me…you can trust my recommendation. David Helbig and Jeremy should especially go check this one out.

I love everything Jeff Shinabarger posts, but I enjoyed dipping back into the culture/arts side of life with this post on Beautiful Losers.

When Anne Jackson talks, I listen over at Flowerdust, her blog. But writing on the Deadly Viper Character Assassins blog this week she had a great viewpoint on the John Edwards Affair. Grace…what a great word.

Joni wrote about Loneliness in the church and reminded me of one of my core values: hospitality. It was a great reminder of why we do what we do.

My friend Lisa Duvall just started a blog, Life according to Weezie. Go check her out and encourage her with a comment!

I’d give you more, but a nasty, nasty storm just blew threw and knocked out all our power. One girl is hollering in the shower and another keeps pushing the TV Remote. I guess I have to go! Enjoy, all.

The Tangible Kingdom, by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, has probably affected me more than any book I’ve read recently. It strengthened my resolve not to just think about the work God has for me to do here, in His community, but also to DO the work. Words are useful, and my stock in trade so to speak, but they are limited in their use. So reading the Tangible Kingdom I began to wonder what kind of adventures would await one who stepped out into the wide, wide world. This week I learned a few lessons about life out here, and I thought I would try to return to my first love and put them into words.

• There is nothing more important to do than the thing God puts in front of you that only you can accomplish. It just won’t look like you thought it would. This thing that you must do will almost certainly test every preconceived notion you had of yourself. Competing opportunities will immediately look far more attractive. But only you will be able to do this thing. That’s how you know that God is in it.
• Don’t expect a storybook ending. There is a storybook ending, of course — God’s story, and not yours.
• Don’t expect to feel sufficient. Funny thing about jumping into the fray: it’s a battlefield and there are casualties, including you. We can’t do it. We can’t begin to even comprehend it. But there are wounded sitting next to us in coffee shops, churches, or even our small groups who are counting on us to do it anyway.
• So do it anyway.

Maybe that’s the biggest and hardest lesson I’ve learned this week. Nothing is tied up in a pretty bow, nothing turns out beautiful in the end, it’s messy and grimy and covered with unimaginable filth. But we have to do it anyway. I had no idea so many, many people were waiting for me to agree to walk through the kingdom with my eyes open, connecting with the people around me. I had no idea. I’ve never been more heartbroken.

But somehow through the grime and sludge of life out there, I’ve never been happier. Jump in with me.

I don’t often blog about our weekend services at Christ Fellowship, not only because I’ve been traveling so much but also because Dave Helbig, Kerry Mackey and now James Duvall are in a better position to represent our church. Last night, however, Pastor Tom Mullins reminded me of his best friend John Maxwell, who is a teaching pastor here as well. His sermon focused on Olympic Gold, and what makes up a champion’s identity. The questions Tom asked put heart back into me and picked me up from the battlefield. So I decided to share them, briefly, with you.

What defines you? Are there experiences — good or bad — that define you? People? A Job?

Champions are NOT defined by…

• Fears: “Extreme fear can neither fight nor fly” — William Shakespeare
• Failure: “Failure is not falling down: it is remaining there when you have fallen.” — Unknown
• Former Successes: “You can never ride on the wave that went out yesterday.” — John Wanamaker

Rather, our identity in Christ is what focuses us on the life God wants us to live. Philippians 3:14 reminds us that we should forget what is behind and strain towards what is ahead. For me, that was the moment when God stepped into that sermon and spoke to me. Humans have a tendency to get stuck in the mud of our failures, but we’re supposed to forget the past and instead STRAIN toward the future that God has for us. We can be set free from the weight of both our failures and our successes, which can equally weigh us down. This changes everything. Pastor told us that before he left on his recent trip overseas, John Maxwell sat down with Billy Graham for an hour or so, one on one. Always learning from the past, John asked Dr. Graham about the great crusades and move of God he’d been a part of. Dr. Graham — at his age of 90 ish — said, “John, I don’t want to think about the past. I want to talk about the future.” Wow.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for thoe who are in Christ Jesus. — Romans 8:1

I leave you with the three points Pastor threw in at the end of his message.

1. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Nothing.
2. Nothing can overpower your life — you are God’s.
3. Nothing can prevent God’s plan from unfolding.

You can find Pastor’s message on our website here, or look Christ Fellowship up in iTunes.