Sometimes a cup of coffee ain't so bad. I've never had a cup of coffee in my life, and I'm 59 years old. That's a lot of life...LOL! But during one shift at Cafe 41:11, I had my first coffee experience. A group of kids stopped in aging from 15-18 years old. They were a happy group, and we started to kid around immediately. They saw some coffee flavoring on the counter and asked if I could make them a Latte.

I said with raised eyebrows, "What's a Latte?"

They thought that was pretty funny. (I didn't get the joke...as usual). Well, anyway, they taught me how to make a Raspberry Latte. We laughed about different ways to say the word Latte (guess you had to be there). Within 10 minutes, I felt we were looking into each others faces and eyes really smiling with one another.

It was then that I realized:

Sometimes a strong cup of coffee (i.e. strong message) needs a little warmth of heated milk (i.e. love added to it) topped off with a sweet dab of whip cream (laughter) and a drizzle of chocolate syrup (friendship) to make a sweeter coffee (connection with the Lord's love for us).

Smile and Drink up!

I love this place!

See you Tuesdays 3-6,

Paula Browand

Many of you have heard about my partner on Tuesday eves 6-9pm, Jeff, Mr. Sundae.

I've probably invited you over to the cafe with the warning: DON'T COME AT 6:00 because the kids are already lined up at the counter when we get there! It is a great time and new people come every week. Last Tuesday, we had at least 8 new people in. When Jeff is making sundaes without a break for the first hour, at least, it's hard to make time to ask our cafe friends questions. But Jeff tries.

Sometimes it's as simple as, "What did you do today to deserve a sundae?"

And Jeff will talk about how we don't have to do anything to deserve God's love. Jeff is a blessing in more ways than his sundae making. Please pray for God to bless him. If you have any extra sundae fixings, we can always use them too!

I'm generally loading and unloading the dishwasher so we have enough sundae dishes to make more sundaes. But this week a mom was in with her 4 daughters and grandson. They had sandwiches, Ramen noodles, and then sundaes as she explained that she had lost her full-time job and they were struggling to get by on her part-time income. She was thankful to have heard about the cafe and to come in and enjoy a meal with dessert!

Last week I happened to have a friend's camera (I'm ebaying now as I am emptying my house to get ready to sell it) so here are a few snapshots!

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Janis ><>

The glow of the television softly dispels the darkness of my living room. I sit comfortably on the couch enjoying a late night movie and my favorite loose fitting sleep pants and a bowl of butter with popcorn in it. Nearly crawling under my skin is my faithful companion. He leans comfortably against me. Cooper lives and breaths comfort. He's mastered this motionless sport.

On Good Friday, he and I stay up late watching Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. (It's tradition.) I look at him while shoveling a handful of popped butter into my mouth. A few imprisoned kernels dash through my fingers and some dribble off my chin and land on my shirt. My old pal quickly nabs the escapees swallowing them whole like a shop-vac. Cooper doesn't know...that I know...that he knows I have food.

He stares at me with an intense look of boredom. Then bears his teeth with a mighty yawn. Sometimes just watching him revel in gluttony completely exhausts me. Cooper has the spiritual gift of mesmerizing people. It's not just me. His power also effects family and friends. Psychiatrists often call the house too, asking if he's available to hypnotize their clients working through addiction.

"You don't like this movie?" I ask.

His ears spring forward and his head tilts, "No, you can't have anymore popcorn. I asked if you like this movie?"

He turns his face toward the television yawning...again.

"Murrr," he groans resting his fuzzy chin on my lap.

"Are you trying to hypnotize me, Bubba?" I ask. "Cause I'm not sure what's going but I feel like resting my eyes."

Cooper doesn't budge. He only shifts his big brown eyes to the right like those eyes behind paintings in haunted houses. I fight off fatigue to focus on the film. Suddenly, our conversation sparks a question in my mind:

I wonder if Cooper knows Jesus?

Uncertain about this, I begin exercising my evangelism muscles by walking him through the gospel.

"See how they're whipping Jesus?" I say grabbing more popcorn and pointing at the television. "He endured this brutality to bring us to God."

"Hmmph," Cooper sneezes then sits up.

"Why? Well that's the million dollar question, isn't it? Because people hurt each other. We're an angry, selfish, hateful, lustful, lying, disobedient bunch of scoundrels. Our hearts are so totally screwed up that we cannot love each other or God for that matter. The Bible calls this sin. That is the bad news."

Cooper nods, following the popcorn leaving the bowl and entering my mouth.

"The punishment for sin is death. Jesus took the whipping we deserve, and He died on a Roman cross. Then rose from the grave. If we confess our sin, then Jesus promises to forgive us, wash away our sin, and give us eternal life with God because He defeated death. And He gives us His Spirit so we can love like Him. That is the good news, Bubba!"

I give him popcorn. He happily bites it out of my hand, crunching and chomping with gusto.

"Forgiveness of sin, and eternal life with God, is a free gift just like the popcorn I gave you. We can't get eternal life by being a good person...or in your case...by being a good Dawg," I say tapping his head with my buttery index finger. "Jesus hands it to us freely when we repent and believe in Him."

Cooper doesn't respond to my invitation. Not this time. I know he heard me, but I don't think he was really listening. At least I can go to the grave with a clear conscience knowing that he's heard about the love of God found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And who knows? Maybe I will see him in Heaven...

If you're struggling with how to share this life-changing story, then practice on your "man's best friend." I promise he/she will still wag when you come home from work. Walk your furry pet through the book of Romans or a favorite tract. It's a great way to strengthen your evangelism muscles!

...The movie reaches its climax as we fall asleep on the couch; just a sinful boy, and his impulsive dog, full of popcorn and thankful for God's love.

The sixth grader's head bobs past the flashing neon open sign hanging in the cafe window...

This is no ordinary sixth grader. He's my nemesis. My archenemy. I'm not being harsh. This lad is truly cunning and a skilled barbarian. We've waged war three times. He won our first battle. I won the second, and then he slaughtered me during a third confrontation. Jesus once said, "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked" (NIV, Luke 6:35).

I understand the "lend to them expecting nothing in return" part. I do that.

But I gotta' love them too?

I have to do good to them after they whip my backside...in chess?

...I notice him through the window, and he sees me. Our eyes lock like gunslingers out for revenge. While exchanging gazes, the tune from the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly resonates in my mind. My rival smirks confidently at me knowing that he's schooled me before. I can see that he is not afraid of me. I can see it in those round blue eyes of his. He looks away and disappears behind the brick wall next to the front door. It opens and the sound of honking horns and rumbling afternoon traffic escorts him in. A cloud of dust from the dry air wraps around him like a cape.

"THEERRRE he is!" I announce to all the cafe guests.

"This guy has beaten me TWICE at chess," I inform them holding up two defeated fingers.

The cafe erupts with a few "WOO-HOO'S" and an "OH YEAH" or two.

The young chess-tournament-junkie hops onto a stool along the coffee bar just grinning.

Oh that grin! He just wanted to smear his great victories right in my face. I'll never forget that grin of his. It's burned on my Hypothalamus. His smile is totally innocent and adorable...but cunning! There is intelligence behind it. It's the kind of smile that starts out with lips closed and then opens wide revealing teeth that will bite you during a chess match.

Okay, so here's how he beat me last time:

Early in the game, I castle my King. It's safe...right? WRONG! While I take out his Bishop, one Knight, and a Rook, he sneaks his other Knight toward my castled King. For some reason, I never visualize the possible future movements of that straying Knight. Until...you got it...checkmate!

Here's the kicker. The kid doesn't say checkmate.

As calm as can be, he grins at me with that grin saying, "Gotcha!"

And nonchalantly knocks over my King. OOOH, that burns me up!

I've gotta'  go now. I need to Google: unstoppable chess moves before opening the cafe.

Those who liked the "bike" e-mail I sent a couple months ago are gonna' love this one! A guest's bike at the cafe was taken last week by a group of kids. So, we cruised the streets of Medina in search of his stolen wheels. We couldn't find the bike. So, once again, I lent him a used bike hanging upside down from the hooks in my garage. It was a form of transportation until we found out what happened to his bike.

This past Sunday was Mollie's birthday. Mindee, Mollie, and I returned home from a relaxing evening out. Mindee pulled "black beauty" (our '96 chevy cavalier) into the driveway of our house. She pushed the button on the garage door opener. The garage door slowly squeaked open revealing the bike I lent our friend. My first thought, Tommy returned the bike. He must be finished using it. I got out of "black beauty" and walked over to the bike. A handwritten note was neatly wrapped around the frame. I pulled off the note and began to read,

"Dear Tim,

It wasn't my fault and I have a witness! Jesus, the Holy Savior, must not want me to have transportation. You have my permission to write an e-mail about this. I'm just lucky I wasn't riding it at the time!

Your brother who you must hate by now-

Tommy"

I put down the note and thought, what happened now? I meticulously examined the bike.

The front tire was flat.

You know the scene in The Money Pit with Tom Hanks where everything is going wrong? At one point, they just want to enjoy a hot bath. So, they begin pouring buckets of water into the tub when suddenly the tub falls through the floor and shatters into a billion pieces below them. Tom Hanks stands over the newly formed hole and begins laughing so hard he can hardly breathe. I nearly laughed that hard yesterday.

I don't hate Tommy. I love him. A flattened bike tire will not keep me from loving him. Nothing will keep me from loving him. The Apostle Paul reminds us, "It (love) is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs...It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (NIV, 1 Corinthians 13:5 & 7).

Paul's words are a common occurrence at wedding ceremonies or hung neatly in a frame at Grandma's house. But I wonder, do we really believe these words? Do we truly live these words?

Love is superlative. It surpasses and is excessive. True love fully embodies the "always" and "everythings" of life. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus...right? Then why do we allow disappointments and harmful actions and hurtful things to separate us from each another?

We hurt Jesus all the time and He still listens to us and welcomes us home. Is your love for someone a little flat?