Hope & Coffee

Holding on to a lot of Hope and a little bit of Coffee

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Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight! Over the the years I have found ways here and there to combat the chaos and stress but never fully felt peace. One year, probably one of my hardest to date, I went for a walk. It was cold and I was home in Kentucky for the holidays.⁣ ⁣ I found myself walking to an old park that I grew up playing at as a child. So much of that park had changed but as I kept walking, I followed the path that lead to a bridge over a creek. And there, at the end of that bridge, was a tiny red bench. Sitting on that bench in dead winter, I felt like I could finally hear. I felt peace and the only sounds around me were the rushing of the water and the wind blowing through the trees.⁣ ⁣ I had no idea how bad I needed that bench until I sat down on it. I realized that my life had become very loud, the demands and stress of my job were not lessening and I was just starting to cave. I remember being so discouraged by some devastating situations going on around me that I could not change and just the general feeling of being overwhelmed.⁣ But as I sat at that bench, alone in silence, I could hear my own heartbeat. It had been a long time since I had experienced that kind of quiet. And on this day, I realized that the version of peace that Jesus promised in John 14:27 was not my definition of peace. Yes, the silence was beautiful and necessary for the moment but it was a moment and it was not my every day.⁣ ⁣ I tend to think peace is a quiet day where everything goes right, or my house is clean or my phone is not constantly lighting up with new messages, or a completed task list or a day without people needing something from me. I used to measure peace according to how high or low my stress level would be. However, Jesus used that bench to remind me of my own disconnect with him, with myself, and with the true meaning of peace.⁣ ⁣ “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.”⁣ ⁣ The peace that Jesus gives is a state of the heart that brings a steadfastness and calm even if everything around us may not be calm. His peace feels better than that moment on my little red bench and lasts much longer. That time we threw a Christmas party in the middle of the Costa Rican/Nicaraguan border ten years ago! Happy Birthday @lightforceintl , you made it ten years ♥️ In 2009, @little_house_big_love and I took A LOT of non-direct 3am bus rides to plan an outreach in that border. Our friends in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Kentucky along with border police, customs officials and the head officials of immigration helped us pull off one of the greatest Christmas events. It was and still is quite an adventure! 1) November 27, 2009 2.) December 5, 2009 3.) November 27, 2019 Can you feel it in the air? It’s momentum as the anticipation of the holiday season builds and people begin to make plans. Decorations go up, calendars fill and some, like me, pray for snow. ⁣ ⁣ Many of us have waited all year for the season that makes hope contagious.⁣ One of my favorite things about this time of year is the beginning of Advent kicking off a week long reflection on hope. And lately, I have needed to hold on to a whole lot of hope and a decent amount of coffee. ⁣ ⁣ It feels like the perfect time to hope like crazy. You know why? Because right now people around the world are celebrating Advent by lighting the first candle-the candle of hope. And when I think about that, my heart wants to explode with hope at the magnitude of hundreds of thousands of candles interrupting darkness. We need hope to keep burning. I need hope to keep burning.⁣ ⁣ I recently learned about the incredible true story of the famous and loved Christmas hymn, O Holy Night.⁣ ⁣ In 1847 in France, a young poet, Placide Cappeau, who rarely attended church, was asked by a local priest to write a Christmas poem. While on a long journey to Paris, Cappeau penned words about the birth of Jesus . He contemplated the story of the nativity and as he poured over his words, he felt inspired and hopeful. ⁣ ⁣ His inspiration lead him to collaborate with a famous composer, Adolphe Charles Adams, to put music to the words. Adams, who was Jewish and did not celebrate the birth of Jesus, agreed to put notes to his friend’s words. Three weeks later in a small French town, Cantique Noel was sung at midnight mass on Christmas Eve.⁣ ⁣ While the song grew in popularity with the church and towns people, its popularity would be short lived with the church. (Continued in comments) I’m so excited about this post that I don’t even care that it contains a selfie! ⁣ ⁣ The culture of coffee in Costa Rica changed my life. I learned the beauty of setting aside intentional time to sip coffee and share that time with a friend. I have collected so many amazing memories and stories over coffee hour.⁣ ⁣ It has been a longtime dream of mine to partner with a local Costa Rican roaster and farm to sell my favorite thing in the world, COFFEE! And now that dream is a reality thanks to Café la Chola.⁣ ⁣ One of the neatest things about Café la Chola and the farms partnering is that all are women lead and owned businesses. ⁣ ⁣ In addition to all of these incredible business women we get to link arms with, is how jobs and opportunities are provided to women who are survivors of domestic violence or trafficking. ⁣ ⁣ LFI is selling this coffee to support our efforts in Costa Rica and internationally. I have a limited supply with me in Kentucky, so message me if you would like to purchase some amazing coffee!⁣ ⁣ “Our coffee is a tribute to all the courageous women forging dreams into realities. We hope that each cup of coffee honors these women by delivering a world of flavors that create stories, moments, and emotions. “ @cafe.lachola.cr ⁣ Dear Fall, thank you for finally showing up. #auntieadventures #fallcolors #fallbabypictures #kentucky As I got caught up in a frenzy of work and errands today, I felt overwhelmed. I made myself stop and sit down. Instead of pulling out my “To Do” list, I pulled out my gratitude list. It’s something I started awhile back when the work felt hard, sad, discouraging or overwhelming. It’s so easy to focus on set backs or negatives when your role is to look toward the future and think about all the ways you are moving forward and growing. ⁣ ⁣ But today, I went over my list of things I’m grateful for in LFI. Like the fact that we are rounding the corner to ten years as an organization. Or the fact that we are seeing some big dreams become reality this year! And that I work with some of the most amazing human beings. ⁣ ⁣ Soaking in the good and stopping to be thankful is a game changer! Gratitude will always combat stress. ⁣ ⁣ We will share more in the coming weeks but two big dreams that are finally becoming reality are, the opening of a drop in center in Costa Rica and partnership with an amazing coffee company!! 📷: @totesrach It’s a beautiful thing to be able to call more than one country home and more than one group of people, family. After spending the majority of this year traveling and building the global side of @lightforceintl , it has been so good to be back in Costa Rica seeing all of the programs, catching up with staff, partners and all the kids. I know this trip is going to go by so fast and so I am trying to soak up all of the coffee, conversations in Spanish and hugs I can possibly take! We also have some really exciting things to announce in these next two weeks, so stay tuned ♥️ 📷: @totesrach My Great Aunt Nora has faithfully prayed for me and supported @lightforceintl since the beginning. Over the years she has sent me encouragement and hugs over email. This past weekend, I was able to see her, hug her and thank her in person. I hope I am half as cool as she is when I am 87! ♥️ In 1945 my grandfather lied about his age and enlisted with the Marines. During his time in basic training he was planning to marry a girl and start a life once the war came to an end. WW2 ended and he was sent home only to find out that the girl he wanted to marry was not for him. As fate would have it, he met a young girl two years later and he fell in love very quickly. Some said it was quite the whirlwind romance. This girl lived in Kentucky while he lived in Ohio but he was determined to win her heart so he wrote her almost daily and she responded equally. Their love grew quickly and though the distance was hard, they made it work. On December 28, 1947 these two love birds tied the knot and would remain married for 52 years until his death. They had four children, 14 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren. In 2010 The love of his life would pass away but together they left a legacy of love and family behind. On July 20, 2019 that legacy of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will all be together for the first family reunion since their passing. #isaacsfamilyreunion2019
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