tonyandkirsten.org

Just so there is no longer any confusion, Kirsten and I are still alive.

Keep on doing all that God has before you!

After being closed for over two months, Stomping Grounds reopened today in its remodled and expanded state. My anticipation of this day has been building for weeks, and I can say I was definitely satistified by the experience.

Stomping Grounds has a special place in my heart, and if I were forced to name a favorite coffee house in Ames, I think they would be my choice. It is the first coffee house I ever visited in Ames, and as far as I know, they are the oldest currently-existing coffee house in operation in our fine city.

My first visit there was in November or December of 1995 — my freshman year in college. I think Santa Fe Espresso opened in the spring of ‘96 and Gregory’s also opened sometime in ‘96…You could get a latte in the MU for the first time in the Fall of ‘96, and I think Taraccino opened in the summer or fall of ‘97, with the Burgie’s on Airport road appearing in about December of ‘98.

I became a semi-regular customer at Stomping Grounds in ‘99 while I was support raising to go on staff — I got hooked when I found out you could get double stamps on your card on Mondays…and they also used to have a “daily special” latte…which was a latte with a flavor combination of some sort for about the price of a latte with no flavors.

It’s been amazing to see Stomping Ground go from being a small, somewhat ugly coffee house when I first started going there (any one remember the blue-yellow-green splotch-painted walls with coffee bags on the ceiling?) to a small cool-looking place…to its current rendition as a spacious, even cooler place to hang out.

If you go on a Monday afternoon…I might just see you there!

Last night, I found out how truly important it is to comment on blogs. My dear friend, Paul Johnson, expressed sadness that more people don’t comment on his blogs. Figuring that Paul is not alone in wishing that regular readers would actually comment, I have devised a plan.

This afternoon, I’ve sworn to create the ultimate program for making people feel better. It’s a robot that will check all my friends blogs and post “Hi.” whenever there’s a new blog. That way, everyone will know I read their blog. To be timely though, I figure it should check everyone’s blog at least 1000 times per second, just in case. I’m not sure if I have that much processor power on my workstation at all times, so this blog posting robot will have to actually be a virus that infects every computer on campus and uses their spare cycles. That way, I’ll be sure that my friends know I like them.

I have to tell you that I was pretty surprised when I realized that 12 people had signed up at the Rock Ministry Fair with an interest in either data entry or other administrative tasks. That’s a small army, compared to the fact I’ve never had more than one or two people interested at a time in past years.

So now, I’ve had to spend a more than a little time this week getting people started on projects, trying to figure out the best way to get certain tasks done and what projects and tasks I can delegate to some of these men and women in the future.

It couldn’t come at a better time…A lot of people have been asking me questions like, “so how are you going to NOT work full time when the baby is born? or “Who is going to do what you’ve been doing?” I haven’t had good answers. I still hope to do ten or twelve hours of admin work after I have the baby, but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to what some of my weeks look like.

I was starting to get a little nervous about where the help was going to come from. I was trying to trust God, but at the same time I felt like I needed to get people started on things this spring, so I would actually have time and energy to train people if necessary. And to see who really liked it once they started doing it!

From the results of the ministry fair, God is clearly providing. I know all 12 people probably won’t remain interested in the long run — some will be too busy with other ministry opportunities or with classes or jobs. But even if half are willing to help out here and there…it could make all the difference in the world.

I’m still praying for someone to “take my place” on staff a year or two from now when raising our child starts taking more of my time…and/or at the time we perhaps add another bundle of joy to our family. I know a few potentially qualified people are praying about the church plant to Chicago…so I am trying to actively trust God that He will lead someone to stay, or that maybe He will raise up one of my new volunteers to be employed in ministry in a full or part time basis.