Here Comes the Sun

Today was a very good day! Not all that much happened but I attribute much of the positivity to a phone call that I made last night accepting a job offer that is set to begin on Monday, February 1st. Before Joseph and I moved out here, I was in touch with a place called Land of 1000 Hills Coffee. I first touched base with them back in September because of a Craigslist posting they had published looking for a barista for one of their (at the time) two stores. I contacted them to learn more about them and it turned out that they are a company started by an Anglican priest who wanted to "do good" for the people of Rwanda. He found out that their coffee industry had been decimated by the genocide and started to work towards recovery of that particular economy. In starting Land of 1000 Hills Coffee, he has been able to impact the Rwandan community by investing in local coffee growers and establishing above fair-trade pay for the locally grown coffee. He, in-turn, sells that coffee here in the States in two stores in Roswell and Atlanta. Land of 1000 Hills has poured a large amount of money into the local economy and continues to grow here in the States.
So, how did Joseph and I continue on our journey to be working for LOTH? It happened that our dear friend, Cheryl Bell, who had, along with her husband, been encouraging us to come out for Passion City Church, had a contact at LOTH named Amy. Amy and I were able to meet at Passion 2010 after much email conversation during the Fall. She introduced us to Karen who does all of the hiring for LOTH and passed along my resume as well. I met with Karen last week for a job interview and pitched the idea of Joseph and I co-managing their newest store, which just happens to be in the same town where we are currently living. The Cumming store is set to open March 8th and we have been offered the position as managers.
Aside from the LOTH ministry itself, there are some very cool things about our opportunity to manage the Cumming store. For one, we will be able to split the position in a way that allows one of us to always be with Mercy. As well, the store is inside of a ministry called "The Warehouse" that exists to equip young people for ministry in music, audio/visual and other creative facets of leadership. The Warehouse is located in a development called "Family Festival" which hosts soccer fields, baseball fields, batting cages, a playground, a karate studio, burger joint, swim club and lots more. It will be the perfect place to hang out with Mercy when we are not working. As well, it is right up the street from the newest YMCA which is a wonderful facility.
We really feel God's hand in this and while the pay is not the highlight of the job, the hours free us up to pursue ministry and allow Joseph to continue to teach bass (he currently has five students). Passion City Church is now in full-swing and we hope to be able to really plug in as the congregation firms up and we eventually find a permanent building. We plan to continue to live with Dianne while we work out what life will look like in the coming months and hope to be able to afford a small house or condo within the next year or two.
Mercy is growing exponentially, it seems, and she is starting to look like her mama more and more each day (Yay! Finally). I often look at her at night after she falls asleep and just study her face, trying to lock away in my memory exactly how her sweet, rosy cheeks look as she lays next to me. She is such a gem and a most definite gift from God. We think she will be walking very soon as she is super strong and very active. Of course, I wouldn't mind if she waits awhile because she is already hard to keep up with.
The transition here to Atlanta has been good; it's been hard too. I don't recommend moving to a new place without jobs or a place to live but it seems to be how we roll and God has rolled with us. At times, I have felt totally debilitated but I'm getting my sea legs finally. I really look forward to starting work on Monday (more than I thought I would) and I also look forward to working with Joseph. This will either solidify our dreams of opening something of our own someday or give us a good wake-up call.
I can't say enough how much I have loved talking to friends back home and feeling so supported in this move. I really miss home but this is a great place to be. I actually met a woman today at Mercy's doctor's office who is from Pasadena and went to the same elementary school (Linda Vista), high school (La Canada) and college (UCLA) that I went to. When I asked her about living here and how she found it she replied "great place to raise a family, great place to afford a home, good friends, good food, good life!". That is a recommendation that I can live with!