Chapter 71
Coffee Bartending-I Never Knew What A Day Would Bring
For almost a year the espress O’ House survived off the receipts of the cash register- a miracle in itself. I was able to incorporate, install a sign, and keep the bills paid. I had one embarrassing experience that left me frantic. The utilities were being handled through Jim’s office, the attorney that sold me the business. Paying bills was always a last minute ordeal. I had given Jim the money for the electric bill, and when he got tied up on a law case and couldn’t get to the electric company in time, they came and turned off my lights in the middle of the afternoon. I laugh today, but at that particular moment I was in despair. What can I say? 
When a person lives close to the edge, life can get exciting!
Another memory left me speechless, yet no one else around town seemed to appreciate it. One afternoon it began snowing. I looked out my front windows and saw snowflakes the size of my hand falling ever so beautifully upon the streets of Lawson. I had never witnessed anything this lovely in nature, providing an afternoon display of God’s storehouse of snowflakes, gigantic snowflakes! I was mesmerized by the beauty and jealous for such seasons. I tell people “the gulf Coast weather is either hot or hotter, and our storms are called hurricanes!” I most thoroughly enjoyed the changing seasons of mid-America.
The espress O’House was a real lesson in humility and a lesson in life. I was like a fish out of water. Yet, I began to see the lost state of humanity. College girls would come in with their heads shaved and rings from their belly buttons to their eyebrows. Senior students would come over from the college, and I would ask them what they wanted to do or be upon graduation. They would shrug their shoulders and say, “Don’t know”. One young gentleman came in wearing black leather pants and jacket. He had a steel ball pierced through his tongue and what seemed like 30 studs in his face. It was like he was daring anyone to comment. He went and sat at the table most displaced from the others. As the other customers sifted out I struck up a casual conversation with him. I found him to be the nicest young man, simply looking for someone to listen to him. When he left, one would have thought we had been seasoned friends. He seemed so happy that someone conversed with him. I was a barista, a coffee bartender. People would come from all walks of life with all sorts of problems; I welcomed them all. The homeless, bankers, pastors, students, painters, people looking for a cup of coffee and a friendly smile would fill my life each day as I discovered new depths to the love of God.
I would fix Southern style seafood gumbo, hot pressed po-boys (sandwich meats and dressings pressed between two halves of French bread), soups, and salads. I look back and realize today that it was a ministry in the midst of a trial. Many days I would walk down the main street of downtown Lawson giving out coupons for a free gourmet coffee drink. My children would come in and help me mix up the drinks as well as raid the pantry.
I saw all kinds of things and heard all kinds of things. One man came to my shop to hide from the police. I found out they wanted to question him about a murder, so I sent him up the road.
Once, a couple of gentlemen came by with the intent of relieving me of my cash. A lot of prayer and a little finesse turned that episode around. Another time a lady from the bookstore next door stuck her head in and was looking around. From where I was standing she could not see me, but I could see her. She was dressed in all black with a black hooded overcoat, and once she caught my smiling face she scurried on.
Owning and operating a coffeehouse in a downtown area near a college was certainly a learning experience to prepare me for a ministry to all walks of people. Although every day I was giving myself to them, I probably received much more in return as I learned more about the love and compassion of Christ and the Father for His children.