The seasons are changing...

All around me the leaves are changing colour from burnt orange to a dull brown and I know that the autumn feel in the air will quickly be replaced by the frost of another Northern Irish winter. As the weather turns cold one thing has changed in The Press for sure, the use of the radiators, thank the Lord for the extra ones put in last spring!

Just as the seasons change outside, so do the seasons of life and The Press is no different. This September we started back into our normal routine after a lovely break during the summer months. The Press has been going well, yet we've been plagued by one major issue that is a core value of any coffee shop... that being our coffee machine. Since September when we re-opened our coffee machine has not been working so we have only been selling filtered coffee. And even though I'm a huge fan of our filtered coffee, mostly because of the amazing quality (compliments http://www.eacoffee.co.uk/), I still long for a frothy cappuccino or latte every now and then, don't you? Plus I know how incredible the Ethical Addictions coffee will taste in this form! Especially coming into the harshest winter months.

So since September I had been making phone call after phone call trying to chase down a man to come and look at our machine but with no success. These are the glamourous parts of running a small business venture! Then Vineyard Church Dungannon (vineyarddungannon.co.uk) held the Explore 58 Conference in October and we had a miracle take place. The miracle came in the form of one of the attendees offering to pay for our coffee machine to get fixed. Let me just say this is a very generous offer due to the cost of labour coffee engineers charge. So thank you A. for the gift of fixing our coffee machine!! I'm still buzzing from your generosity! We also had another donation towards equipment which is fantastic because recently our panini presses have been acting up, or more accurately not toasting.

I tell you these things to show the reality of following after a dream God has given you. I believe with my whole heart that God is on this venture. He's given me a whole lotta grace multiple times in the form of people's patience, prayers being answered in a timely fashion and in the form of some of the most amazing volunteers! Now I'm human like anyone else and things like a broken coffee machine can eventually drag you down week after week so when these two things happened it felt like a little stamp of confirmation that I am in fact pursuing what I'm supposed to pursue. Now has the coffee machine been fixed yet? No, but it will be very soon. Have we gotten a new panini press, no, but we have funds available now to invest in new equipment. I had been going through a season where the steam was running out, my leaves were falling off the tree and I wasn't sure if any were growing to go back. But just in time God stepped in, He touched things to change them because I could not. That's what the seasons are all about, watching God change things, where we cannot. So I'm thankful for the winter months coming up. I'm thankful that very soon I will be sipping a latte and eating a freshly toasted panini. My question is this: Will you come join me? Will you invest and invite your friends along? The Press could be so much more than a coffee shop but it will take you to make that happen and I hope in time it will be.

Happy winter days!!!

Moratorium meets The Press...

This past weekend The Press was exceptionally lucky to have NATHAN CHUD play for us. Nathan is my brother-in-law who currently resides in Boston, MA pursuing his degree in Education while his wife Marisa studies law. These two are not only family but good friends whom I love deeply.

It's been a dream of mine to have Nate come and play in The Press, but a dream I honestly didn't think would ever become reality. Yet with Nate doing a European pre-tour of his newly released album Moratorium (available on itunes and also at www.NathanChud.com ) he squeezed us in. Thanks Nate!

The night was full of original music, some great covers and even a song or two that Bryan and Nate's Dad wrote years ago. The atmosphere was buzzing and it was brilliant!

Lately I've started a habit I like to call mental snapshots. I pause in certain moments and attempt to memorize the feeling, the faces, the emotions tied to that space and time. Similar to the way a snapshot captures a moment in time. I realize this is not new but for me it's pure fun. I took quite a few mental snapshots on this particular night and was overwhelmed with how blessed I truly am. I think I've said it on here before but I'm living a dream right now. Some days I wish I could just go back to sleep but the fact is I'm living my dream wide awake. (side note, great book by Erwin McManus- Wide Awake) This dream is time consuming, energy consuming and sometimes I ponder just how we're going to make it financially but there are so many times where this job makes me stop, right where I am and shout out a simple 'Thank You' to my heavenly Father. This coffee shop is His, I'm His so it's nice to remember that sometimes.

If you are living out your dreams, remember to thank the dream giver and if you aren't, maybe it's time to start asking Him to dream over you. Pretty sure He's got some good ones left!

Hello Faithful Followers of The Press Coffee Shop!! You know who you are:)

The Press has been open for a couple of weeks again after taking a break over the summer to regroup and rethink things through and we're so glad to be back! The summer saw us make some artistic changes aesthetically to The Press which if I do say myself are pretty amazing!!! The place looks even more beautiful than it did before. Thanks Dave for making that happen!

We are slowly implementing some small changes as the weeks tick by but one of the things that hasn't changed is our music nights! We kicked off Sat. 14th of August with Paul Corrigan and Cedric Has a Name (Chris Steenson) and it was a brilliant evening of chilled out listening. We are also having live music tonight 28th August with Paul Haughey who is new to our list of musicians but is very welcome.

But what I'm really excited about is the upcoming month of September! We have some seriously sweet things coming up.

Saturday 4th Sept is our first ever Open Mike Night and we're hoping to get some new talent in that also includes poetry readings, short stories, stand-up comedy and whatever else people bring along with them. I hope this becomes a regular item on our calendar of events over the months. Then on the 11th Sept Doyle Mills and his acoustic band will be playing which should be a class night as well!

Now this next item is one to put in your diaries: Nathan Chud, my brother-in-law will be making a brief stop in Northern Ireland on his tour to promote his new album and he'll be playing in The Press on Saturday 18th Sept. I would love to see a HUGE turn out for Nate, I mean, he is coming all the way from America to play for us (and promote his new album I guess:) ). So if you are around at all and can make this night please do! Nate has been playing for years and has a huge heart for people, God and music plus he's a downright great entertainer! So come show your support people!

So to end this post, I would like to say thank you to my bosses Jason and Michelle Scott. You both believed in this vision and in me enough to let me run with this. Any success comes down to you releasing me, so thank you. I respect and admire you both so much!!!

Now see you all soon at The Press!!

Ahhh... Summmer!

June is coming to a close and July will be here tomorrow. I don't know where January-May went really but I am happy to be into the summer months and even a bit of summerish weather here in Northern Ireland. As for The Press, June was relatively quiet. When good weather hits a country normally drenched 8-12 months out of the year in serious rain people tend to not stay indoors but enjoy being outside which I applaud! Maybe it's the bit of Alaska in me that thinks good weather=being outside. I was not discouraged by this fact mainly because I think I anticipated it. Along with that anticipation The Press will be closed for the month of July to give all of our wonderfully faithful volunteers a much earned rest from doing things that they really don't have to do.

As I write this I am aware that The Press will be actively closed for the next month but it will continue to live and be active. Over the past few months I have been dreaming up the next stage of what The Press could look like, what I hope it will become and continuing to dream with the Dreamgiver about what He sees in it and what it's purpose is to be. Over this last year, it has not been so much about the coffee or food (which by the way are still excellent!) but it's been about the people. The people who come in only once, the people who come in every week without fail, and the volunteers whom I see so much potential in and only hope that I can partner with God in calling that out in each of them. So over the month of July I will be working on more of the unseen items of The Press, the practical items, admin, and hopefully getting it ready to step into the next stage of this dream.

Last Sunday a great guy called Alain Emerson spoke about 'enlarging our tents' and that's exactly what I feel like God has been speaking to me about in regards to The Press. It might be small and hidden from the majority of people, but I believe in time The Press will be a light in our town, it will be a safe haven for broken people and it will serve one of the best cups of coffee if not the best in Dungannon! Not all of those things have happened yet but that's what a dream is, something too big to do on our own that we have to partner with God and others to accomplish it and on my own I know I could never make these things a reality in The Press.

While our doors are closed my heart remains open to all that God desires The Press to be, who He wants The Press to reach, how He wants us to serve Dungannon and also the world. It's a pleasure and privilege to be living out one of my many dreams, and I want to encourage anyone reading this to ask God to dream over you and your life! You never know what kind of surprises He has in store!

Creative Expressions and the future...

On the 17th of April, 2010 The Press Coffee Shop hosted 'Creative Expressions': An art night showcasing local talent and live music to encourage passion for the arts in Dungannon. The night was a brilliant success, much more than I could have hoped for. As I walked around on the night I felt like as if I was living my dream with my eyes wide open. Loads of people turned up to view the art and we were so fortunate that ALL of the art put forward was of a very high standard so a huge thank you to all of the artists and participating schools! The music added an extra element of warmth that invited people in to The Press so the tandem of the art and music worked beautifully as it usually does. We hope to have more events like this in the future and part of what I'll be doing over the summer months is setting out a plan with some new goals for the coming year. The live music will continue to be a staple but The Press may get a bit of a facelift in a few areas, we'll see.
Recently I have had so many moments of pure love for my job in The Press as well as my other job as a receptionist. I know we are in an economic crisis and I feel so privileged that I am allowed to pursue my dreams in the midst of others losing theirs. But I would love to see you all out in support of The Press, especially this Saturday night as it's one of the nights for live music. Dylan Ruane is playing and he's a real crowd pleaser. So hope to see you this Saturday and in the future! Thanks for reading! Oh, and I'm attaching a link to my photos from the Art night if anyone wants to take a peek. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173742&id=618891244&l=0f92ada49a

Live Music!!!

Hey Everyone!!! Once again we're having live music in The Press tonight from 7-9pm. Dylan Ruane is a guy from our town and he's played for us in the past and does a brilliant job. I'm really looking forward to him entertaining us all again tonight too. If you're around come out and support The Press!

Also, just an update for The Press: since January things have been slowly picking up speed again. A highlight that we're looking forward to is an Art Exhibition night in either April or May. I'm working on getting the main local secondary schools involved through using their students artwork. We're going to have it displayed in the Storehouse and have live music that night! I'm really excited with the potential of this and have recruited some people who used to be art teachers to help me plan and organize the night. I think the arts is an avenue that God really works in and I would love to see The Press support the community in this way. If you are interested in helping out in any way please contact me through the church 028 8775 2133. Thanks and hope to see you soon!