A First Taste

The espresso machines were delivered and installed yesterday in Mosaic...so exciting. Mark brought me a latte yesterday afternoon and this morning, Bree delivered me an extra hot, vanilla latte TO MY DOOR! I could get used to having a coffeehouse literally 50 yards from my front door! It was wonderful - I'm going to head down there this afternoon to practice my barista skills...it is really happening.

I'm supposed to be writing an article for the Mosaic newsletter, which is to go out on Monday. My topic is "What are my hopes and dreams for Mosaic?" I don't really consider myself a writer. In fact, this blog is really my first attempt since college at any type of writing...and I don't really think of this as "real" writing - even compared to other blogs. For me, it is more a way to vent, get my thoughts out and keep my friends and family informed on my life. So, I haven't written a word for my article. The blank page intimidates me. I instantly feel insecure, like I have noting relevant to say.

I have many hopes and dreams for Mosaic...In fact, I can't really think about it without tearing up. I flash back to Mark, Heidi and I sitting around our kitchen table around three years ago - we were just talking, sharing our hearts about how we wanted church to be different....how we were tired of the status quo, same-old same-old way of "doing" church....we wanted something radical that got back to the essence of what Christ talked about in the gospels. So someone, not sure which one of us (I'm sure Mark will take the credit), came up with the idea of a coffeehouse. It morphed from a dream to a vision to now, a reality. I envision a place where people, all different kinds of people - young, old, rich, poor, singles, families, kids, grandparents, Christians, non-Christians (whatever that means) could all be together in community. I want a place where people who might never come to a church service would feel comfortable, maybe not even realizing that they are in a church, being loved by Christ. Not in a fake, Amway salesman kind of way - but sincerely, with no expectation of them ever stepping foot in our sanctuary on a Sunday morning. If someone wanted to come on a Sunday, great - but no expectations.

Through some situations out of our control, the coffeehouse will be run on a donation, pay what you can, basis. We are working on the wording of how to convey this idea. A couple of things that people have come up with are "What is it worth to you?" and the word "Priceless" - meaning, we think you are priceless and our products are priceless. I love both of these ideas because I have to constantly evaluate, what is it worth to me? What is this relationship with Christ worth to me? What is living in community worth to me? What are these people that I call my friends and family worth to me? And out of that - How do I show them that they are worth everything to me? How do I treat people to convey that they are priceless? Do I do that at all?

I'm hoping and praying that through this endeavor, we will have an opportunity to express to our friends and neighbors that they are priceless to God and to us...that they are worth being in community with - not for any other reason than that they are human beings, loved by God, created to live in fellowship with Him and others. That and a really good latte...those are just a few of my hopes and dreams for Mosaic.