Never Say "Just..."

Mira, our fabulous chef

We knew that Fill My Cup Cafe was bracing for a big Saturday.  A complimentary newspaper article about the cafe had just been released a few days earlier. In faith, we expected a hungry community to sample our breakfast buffet.   Our chef was ready.  She spent the night in the big house. We were up early to set up the outside tables, spread linens, and bake, bake, bake!  Then it happened:  the bake, bake, bake part didn't happen.  No electricity!  This meant no bacon, no American pancakes, no coffee!  One of three phases of the entire electrical system was down.  "Lord," we prayed, We need power - your power!  Help!"

Phil, maintenance guru

God shows up in many ways.  To the rescue was Phil, the owner/maintenance guru.  Honestly, there is not a thing that this guy can't fix!  Within 20 minutes, we were frying the bacon, brewing the coffee and singing.  Our doors were about to open for a grand day....we could feel it.

And, just like that, the neighborhood kids took the lead! After that, it was all fun...until water streamed from under the dishwasher and into our work floor area.
On the other side of the counter, families were filling their plates with fruit, scrambled eggs, fresh breads, and pancakes.  "Don't panic," our chef said.  "Call Phil."  We did. He came.  He fixed!

Today was our best day of service out of the three weeks that we have been opened. We faced some very challenging opposition within the first two hours, but a team of willing souls successfully countered the difficulties to see a delicious ending.

Customers are curious about the Americans who serve at Fill My Cup. The majority of Swedes are not interested in church or God.  They certainly avoid any discussion about religion, almost aloof and cautious about the topic. Many of them are unaware of the double meaning of Fill My Cup.  However, there is one matter that raises their curiosity: volunteerism.  They will pause to ask us why we are here in Sweden.  It is not that we are Americans nor that we are living here for three months that piques their curiosity. They want to know how we find these volunteer opportunities.  And so, we tell them about our connection with our church and our assignments through the church.  They are genuinely interested, but not invested, at that point.  However, with curious reservation, they often ask where we have served and may even ask about a particular experience of ours.  We are amazed at the avenues of opportunities that God uses.  We have an opportunity then to ask them where they attend church.  Gulp!  A vast majority do not.  But, we tell them about the International church we attend while living here.

We had an AHA moment several weeks ago at our International church when a fellow Christian said that we should never say JUST when we witness to just one person.  "Never underestimate the power of the planted seed," he went on to say.  "See that seed become an orchard!"

Once again, Fill My Cup has filled our cup.  It has been an amazing day filled with challenges and promises.




Keep Looking Up...and thank you for reading our blog.
J:m and L:nda