Utopia

Dad buzzing by on the lawnmower, grass clippings on the washed out driveway, three mismatch ducks roaming the barnyard, the smell of an overgrown lilac, freshly turned under manure, steak and morel mushrooms on the front porch for breakfast, and a bath in my garden tub to top off the day. I'm never going back to school.

The Intersection

The intersection: our personal intersection - we were created with this in the Lord's mind. The intersection of passion and purpose known and revealed only by God. The intersection is where we find incredible joy.

Today, I think the Lord exposed a little more of my intersection to me. It's like a puzzle - you see many pieces but can't imagine how they could fit together, let alone fit together to make an amazing photograph. Here are my pieces:

- I love Africa, Afghanistan, basically all of the 1040 Window (where the most people live who have no way of ever hearing about Jesus).

- I love plants and growing things, in particular I love tree fruit. It amazes me how a beautiful, wonderful smelling flower could turn into something that tastes as amazing as a sweet cherry. Come on, really. That has got to baffle everyone.

- I love coffee. I am proud to work for Starbucks (voted 7th best company in the nation to work for by Forbes - and rightfully so).

- I have a huge desire to spend a good portion of my life living and serving the Lord in any one of the numerous countries in the 1040 Window.

- The major coffee growing regions of the world land almost exclusively in the 1040 Window (with the exception of Latin America and Kona coffee from Hawaii).

- Turns out coffee is actually a tree fruit. It comes from what is known as a coffee cherry...hmmm... coincidence? No, it's just the way God rolls.

- Starbucks has three Farmer Support Centers. One in Costa Rica, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. Two of which happen to be... in the 1040 Window.

- Had a meeting today with Dave Olsen, creator of these Farmer Support Centers. Yes, an amazing man and one of the first partners at Starbucks. An unbelievable special opportunity to meet with and speak personally. He even gave me his e-mail address to talk more about opportunities overseas with Starbucks. Again...it's just the crazy way God is.

So these pieces are coming together for me slowly, and not necessarily working for Starbucks overseas, that was just an exciting part of my day today, but most importantly the first six pieces. That's my passion and I'm thinking it may also be my purpose.

A Life Handwoven Life

"If you travel to the north of India, you will see the most magnificent saris ever made, and Varanasi is where the wedding saris are handwoven. The gold, the silver, the reds, the blues- all the marvelous colors threaded together are spectacular. These saris are usually made by just two people- a father who sits on a platform and a son who sits two steps down from him. The father has all the spools of silk threads around him. As he begins to pull the threads together, he nods, and the son responds by moving the shuttle from one side to the other. Then the process begins again, with the dad nodding and the son responding. Everything is done with a simple nod from the father. It's a long, tedious process to watch. But if you come back in two or three weeks, you'll see a magnificent pattern emerging.
This is an image I always remind myself of: we may be moving the shuttle, but the design is in the mind of the Father. The son has no idea what pattern is emerging. He just responds to the
Father's nod."

-Ravi Zacharias, Walking From East to West

Yay, I shook the Hindi.

हाउ दो इ गेट आईटी आउट ऑफ़ हिन्दी?????????

वाल्क तो थे मेल बॉक्स

वेल्ल, फर्स्ट ऑफ़ इ ऍम ब्लोग्गिंग इन हिन्दी। इ नीद तो फिगुरे आउट हाउ तो फिक्स ठाट। सो इन थे मैं टीम, हेल्लो तो अल माय इंडियन फ्रिएंड्स।