God put a huge dream in our hearts close to four years ago. We have a vision to open a coffeehouse/venue (Ebenezers Coffeehouse) in the heart of Uptown Charlotte. Instead of building a space solely for our church to meet in each week, we envision opening the coffeehouse to the community sixteen hours a day, seven days a week. We see a multiple-use venue that can hold anything from a national recording artist to a public school graduation. But it doesn’t happen overnight. And I’m becoming more and more ok with that.
In the meantime (between the revelation of the dream and the completion), I have learned so much. Patience hasn’t always been at the top of my list, but I can see it’s value as I try to use every moment as preparation for the fulfillment of this dream.
We are in an exciting season right now with a lot of people and potential partners coming around this dream. We continue to have meetings line up one after the other as we share the plans. And we have seen miraculous doors of favor come our way.
I’m also learning quite a bit about the fact that we are not the only thing happening in our city. We want to play a complimentary role in our city, not take it over. We want to be a part of the fabric of the Uptown business community as much as we want to be a healthy and thriving church. And all of these things take time.
In the meantime, I’m learning how to pray. Like – really pray. It’s become a normal part of my weekly routine to head to the city, walk the streets and pray for God’s wisdom, favor, understanding, patience and direction. As far as I can see, I want this to happen five minutes from now. But every moment longer than my own impatience has taught me so much.
What dream do you have in your heart? And what are you doing in the meantime before it comes to pass?
