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Today, I have a special guest. His name is Justin and he is married to one of my best friends, Jenny, a fellow Soli Sister. Because I am passionate about people living into their callings AND community, I asked Justin to tell us about his new adventure. And we SDG girls love adventure (or at least we are learning to, like me). Here's Justin's amazing story.
Community?
I sometimes feel that my community is lost and disconnected.
Not because it actually is, but because
I have been disconnected and kept myself apart from the masses.
Why? Good question. I used to believe “people” made horrible
decisions and only “individuals” could be a light to those in darkness. I avoided the masses because those were the
“people” who cut me off in traffic, had 21 items in the ‘20 items or less’
checkout line, or insisted on paying by check at the exact moment I was in a huge
hurry. In my opinion, these “people” –
the nameless, faceless masses – made horrible decisions that would inevitably
annoy me. Frankly, I had the attitude:
“who needs ‘em?”
These days, however, I’m singing a different tune. Over the last couple of years, as my
circumstances changed, my understanding of community has drastically shifted. I used to think that my community involved my
wife, my children, and five others with whom I have walked for two decades. I didn’t need anyone beyond that. Until, that is, I did.
After a series of really hard life changes, my wife and I
found ourselves without money and scrambling for everything. I was diagnosed with epilepsy, we had our
second child, and I lost my job. My
daughter developed inexplicable health issues, then my wife also started
dealing with severe health problems that still aren’t resolved, and on and
on. Nothing seemed stable and it felt
like everything was always crumbling around us. We were drowning, and we
definitely needed help.
We were beyond pride.
It was time to reach out.
As we slowly started letting down those outer walls of pride
and sharing our circumstances with “people”, we started to experience two
Scriptures that, I believe, embody community:
Mathew 18:20 – Where two or more are gathered in His name,
He is also there.
Galatians 6:2 - Help carry one another’s burdens, and in
this way you will obey the law of Christ.
In the last four years I have been challenged to rethink
what my community looks like due, in part, to kind gestures from strangers. Here’s one of about a thousand stories I could
tell you (all of which God has used to transform my perspective and realize the
supreme value of people, as God sees them).
There was one night early on in our ‘Period of Poverty’ when
I knew Jenny and I needed time together, desperately. We needed a night out, we needed a break, but
we only had $30.00. Not, I just got paid
so let’s blow $30.00. That is all we had
to our name. We thought: let’s split a
meal to save money. Let’s not even go
out to save the money. Shouldn’t we give this to the church? My stomach won out and we went to dinner. I could feel tension rising as the bill came
to the table. Had we made the wrong
choice? Would God be mad at us for
eating out instead of buying groceries? How
would we ever afford our $25 meal?
The waiter walked over and, instead of handing us the check,
she simply said: “That table over there took care of it.” We looked and there was no one there. They had already left before we could
acknowledge their gift. Jenny cried with
joy and humility; I changed my definition of community.
As far as I was concerned those strangers were the “people” I
had previously resented and avoided, and, yet, they had just bought me dinner
for no reason. To me, that couple
embodied both of the verses above. They
were gathered, God was with them and did amazing things through their community,
and they truly helped carry our burden. For
me this was the beginning of a giant leap in my personal understanding of what
community is and can do.
The stories (experiences) kept coming. Neighbors brought us groceries. Fellow church-goers (anonymous) paid our
mortgage. Family and friends and
strangers alike stepped up to help us get back on track in known and unknown
ways. In the end, I realized I was
living Matthew 18:20 and Galatians 6:20, and I was on the receiving end. All of those folks for which I had had
disdain – those “people” – were now the very ones that helped me feed my kids
and keep a roof over my family. Talk
about humbling.
With this realization and new understanding of community, after
many other transformational experiences, I have decided to start a new venture
called Stonebridge Coffee. I have always
wanted to own my own business, and a coffee shop fits me in so many ways. I like places where you can hang out, be
yourself, and slowly, over time, get to know others. I like places where live music can be heard. I like meeting places. I like the idea of owning my own business so
that I can buy strangers dinner some day, employ people and help them pay their
bills, and provide a physical space where God is present on a daily basis.
Stonebridge Coffee is designed to be a light in my community
and serve what I once called “people”. Now,
I look at “people” as part of a greater community that has the ability to make a
powerful difference in individuals’ lives. That’s why Jenny and I decided to try to raise
our startup capital through something called Crowd Funding.
Crowd Funding is a way for “people” to support and build up
other people, whether they know them personally or not. To us, this process is all about Hebrews
10:24-25: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and
good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day
approaching.”
Stonebridge will strive to live that out as a business in
the way we can give to those around us, but we also want to live that out in
the ways we receive. For Jenny and me,
our understanding of what it means to walk in community has had a lot to do
with learning how to humble ourselves and ask for/receive help. That’s why we jumped on the chance to write
this post when Jen asked us to.
So, why a coffee shop? Why Stonebridge Coffee? We see Christ
in a community of twelve, impacting the lives of millions, and all of it being
launched with a last supper. Stonebridge Coffee, with God’s help and our
community’s help (which now includes you) will be for some the first time they
experience a smile, a safe place, new music, coffee and even Christ.
Won’t you join our team?
You can help launch this venture by giving to our startup needs and/or
by spreading the word to everyone you know.
(Note from Jen: And guess what? There are rewards for those who donate, level by level, so YOU can have a reminder of what YOU helped to build! I know how the SDG gals feel about prizes, so I thought you HAD to know about this!!)
