Personal journaling is not my thing.
I once had a diary as a young girl, and I came across it all these years later. It’s been fun to look at my childish penmanship and my youthful thoughts.
One of my entries states, “Fun day, I wore my yellow pants and had chicken for dinner!”
Now, however, I do like to write in a little notebook about what the Lord has done. Those entries hold stories of how God has answered my prayers, and they remind me of his faithfulness all along the way.
When we started the journey of Omega Espresso Bar, it began with brainstorming over coffee and tea. We spent time in many different cafés, excitedly writing thoughts on napkins, dreaming of our own brick-and-mortar location. We naively picked out chai flavors, mug styles, and even how we’d display the cream and sugar. We relished those details.
One thing we knew was that only women would work at the coffee shop. Our vision has always been a solid theme of empowering and showing hope to women who have come from compromised backgrounds.
However, in (or is it after?) the dreaming comes the reality of making it happen. We knew we needed more than an idea on a napkin if we were going to get anywhere. Enter wisdom from others!
Talking with those who had already walked this journey and had gotten their non-profit organizations off the ground opened our eyes to reality. (Newsflash: it has nothing to do with mug styles.)
With laser focus, we then fine-tuned our mission statement and clarified our vision. We continued to walk through every open door. We scheduled divinely-appointed meetings.
And we kept thinking we’d have our own store one day.
We’ve had solid opportunities to do just that. But the more we have prayed, the more we have realized that having our own shop isn’t what His plan is for us right now.
Instead, by partnering with multiple coffee shops in the greater Portland area, we’ve been able to reach more women and to mentor them, broadening our impact. That was never in our plan originally. He put this crazy OEB idea in our hearts and He is leading us still.
So we have been writing down what He has been doing lately.
It is a blessing to see how He works. We get a front-row seat to watch His amazing plans take shape. The original vision of empowering women hasn’t changed. Soon, we’ll share more of the details, the timeline, and the dream.
God’s ways often come as a beautiful surprise. His faithfulness to the vision He has given us continues. It still involves coffee and lovely women that He calls His own. And, we are constantly learning from others. But, in this journey, we have also learned it isn’t about our dreams but His.
Looking ahead, we anticipate writing a memorable journal entry about what God is doing right now!
