From the outside looking in, it’s an artsy, community-centered coffee shop where you can get a great cup of coffee with a smile. But if you’ve spent much time inside those doors you already know that it is so much more than that. At first, I thought I was the only one who had come to need this place far more than I needed that caffeinated, mid-morning pick-me-up. But I have come to learn that there are many who flock to this haven for far more reason than a great cup of Joe. To be perfectly honest, this last year or so has been one of the most painful and challenging years of my life and I found myself withdrawing from underneath my supportive umbrella of friends and family, partly to spend some extra time alone with God and partly because it’s just what I do sometimes. There were days when I felt like there was no place on this earth where I truly belonged – except here.
The owners (Tom & Lisa Nichols) and amazing staff of Deja Brew Coffee House, as well as so many of the regular customers have become a treasured family to me and I have walked through those doors every day (yes, I go there on a daily basis – don’t judge, just come see for yourself why) feeling like the people behind the counter are genuinely happy to see me - not because I am handing them my debit card or putting a tip in the jar – but because I matter to them. I have been treated like a family member from the very beginning. They notice when I am not myself, no matter how good I think I am at hiding it and they are quick to offer an encouraging word or a comforting hug when I didn’t always have the courage to ask for it. If there was ever a time when I would be in such need of that kind of a welcome on a daily basis, this year would be one of those times.
I have shed many mournful and joyful tears inside those walls and prayed many a prayer with a variety of people – sometimes people I had just met. I have laughed until I thought I might cry and cried until I laughed (and been laughed at as well). We have exchanged “back in a day” stories and current battles that we only wish were behind us and walked away shaking our grateful heads over how it is possible that we are all still smiling and breathing today!
As lovers of art and music, my family and I have enjoyed many a Saturday night mingling with some very talented and fun musicians and spectators at Open Mic Night. It was here my daughters found the courage to sing in front of a crowd and received so much encouragement and support for doing so. What a gift to a mother who deeply desires for her daughters to find and use their talents and to make no apologies for exercising the personal freedom required to share them with the world!
Because of a foundation that Lisa & Tom started, we have had the honor of seeing a community rise up and rally around a remarkable young man and his equally remarkable family to raise funds that would help propel him to a position of command and triumph over a condition that has a grip on his physical body but is no match for his brave heart. My daughters and I have been changed and inspired by this delightful young man’s courage and determination through an uphill battle that would discourage most. But this is no ordinary boy and what he and his family have accomplished as a result of the support that was so freely given through this local coffee shop is nothing short of a miracle.
This same community of exceptional people of all backgrounds and ages has supported me and a cause that means everything to me. They have selflessly offered their time and skills to raise funds and awareness for how we can better serve and protect the youth of our community and help those who have already suffered unthinkable abuse and neglect. As if that were not enough, my own daughters watched God exceed their expectations last Christmas through the support of Deja Brew when they welcomed us to use the coffee shop to display homemade gifts and chocolates that they worked hard on to raise funds to provide a well for a drought-stricken village in Kenya. They originally set out to raise $200 for a water pump, but God was calling us to take him out of the box and to believe He is who He says He is, so we asked for a $2,600 well instead that would provide much more water and freedom for our neighbors in Africa. He showed my daughters that He is a God who does exceedingly and abundantly beyond what we ask through Deja Brew and so many cherished friends and family who supported that effort. By early spring, a check was on its way to World Vision for $3,900 because He is God and because God blesses us, His children, with more of the same – His children.
He often shows up to comfort or pursue us with His fierce, crazy love through the people He puts on our path. He knows I sometimes fall off the radar and withdraw from people, but even my pitiful coping strategies cannot stop His love from finding me. So He used my latte-lust to lure me right back into His comforting, healing arms. That is exactly what this coffee shop has been to me – every time I walk through that door, it is as if He is reminding me that I am loved, that He sees me and that He wants to bless me. Every time my “Deja Brew family” greets me with a needed hug, includes me on some inside joke, shares their “Twinkie Rap” songs with me, invites me to a special event in their life, flaunts their soft hair for all to touch, blesses me with their creative/musical gifts or whatever else it may be, I am hearing the whisper of God sweetly saying “I love you and you are never alone, so keep going.”
Oh and did I mention that they have outstanding coffee?
Merry Christmas and may your eyes be ever-seeing the many ways that God pursues you with His love and
wants you to know that you are never alone.
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