Bonnette Acres

September is coming to an end and October is right around the corner. The days are getting shorter, and here in Poland the weather is getting cooler. I wouldn't say fall is fully here, but I can feel the beginning signs. Decorative scarves & chai tea latte's have re-appeared in the shop. Soon the shop will always smell like apple's and cinnamon. It will also smell like cloves but I try to act like it doesn't exist- since I am allergic. So it is now known as "The spice we don't speak of." But I love fall. It use to be a toss up for me which season I liked better, fall or spring? But over the last 5 years I think I have just had so many good fall memories that is has proudly won over as my favorite season. It is just so cozy, ya know? The colorful leaves, filling your lungs with the crisp cool air, and drinking lots and lots of coffee & tea! So like the headline up there says, I have been doing a lot of anticipating lately. Because as a shop ...

This past week me and 14 other staff members from all of the "Sweet Surrender" coffee shops headed to Copenhagen, Denmark. This is where we attended the 8th annual Nordic Barista Cup. The event is part competition/ part conference. It is where all 5 of the Nordic countries (Iceland, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) come together to compete to see which team knows the most about coffee. Also during this time there are many lectures and MANY coffee tastings (also known as a cupping in coffee lingo) helping all of us coffee interested people learn all about what is happening right now in the world of coffee. You might think it is strange for a group of 10 Polish people + 5 Americans to go to a event where are countries are not even represented. But in Poland "Well made coffee" is still on the rise. It is still at the beginning stages so there is not a big championship for Poland and surrounding countries to compete in. This is as close as we can get to the expe...

So this past month, much like the previous ones, I have STILL been dealing with immigration issues. At the beginning of this week I had turned in everything I thought I had needed, and was ready for my official meeting on Monday morning.  I sit down, to my left sat Jarek my wonderful translator and my biggest help in getting everything I needed for my residence card.  My case advisor went on to tell me that I had turned every thing I needed in, BUT..... The last document I had turned in was not what they needed. I have now heard that phrase way too many times. They told me I had to open a bank account here in Krakow, and have the bank print a paper saying that I have enough funds to live in Poland. I had to have the paper in by Monday. Ok, I can handle that, right? Well I go to try to open an account. The bank tells me it can open an account for me a Non- resident, but the computer did not. The lady tried for an hour trying to make the computer understand. But it would not...

This morning I sat in a cushy red back movie theatre seat, and sang along while the polish choruses flashed up on the wide movie screen. In this moment all I could do was think "Wow, God you really have shown me so many different Easters in my life." When I think of Easter growing up in Alabama, I think of waking up so so very early for sunrise services up on Burritt mountain (I think that was the one...) , I think of listening to "He's Alive" on our way to church. I think of a perfect spring afternoons flying our new kites we got in our easter baskets that morning. The whole family together out by the abandoned lot of land on the other side of the road from our house in Owens Cross Roads. Easter in Tennessee never left me hungry. From a huge pancake breakfast to amazing dinner at J. Alexanders. Sorry to talk about food first. But it was soooo good to not remember. I am also reminded of just peaceful moments of being with my friends and family. Oh and the ...

This past week, weekend, and 24 hours have been a bit crazed. Millions of emotions packed into a fortnight. Ok... maybe not exactly a fortnight wikipedia says it officially means 14 days. But the wording sounds so perfect, I am going to keep it.  Moving on. Right now I am sitting in our tall swirling stool, behind the bar, looking out onto the coffee shop. Eating a chocolate chip granola bar, dunking it into my perfectly creamed & sugared Guatemalan coffee. While old Jars Of Clay songs echo in the background. In this moment, I am able to finally breathe. Remember why I am here and why I want to be here.  A lot of things have tried to make me forget that lately. From literal pain on Saturday getting through irate Ukrainian mobs to yesterday getting a call that my horrid trip on Saturday was pointless, and I had to leave again. NOW! I was confused, mad, and very angry that I had to go through all that crap and it didn't mean a thing.  But in less then two hours...

I have mentioned a couple of times about my issue with getting a visa here in Krakow. There has been a lot of complications- finding foreign affairs, getting the right paperwork, and running out of time before my 3 months were up. If you don't get your paperwork in before a certain time, they make you leave the country. Well my 3 months are up tuesday, and my paperwork was late. So I had to leave.... I was told by some of the church members here, that if I just take a train to the Ukraine, go and get my passport stamped and then just turn around- all will be good. So I asked if my coworker would come with me. The cool thing about her, is that she is originally from the Ukraine but was adopted by Polish missionaries. So she speaks both Russian & Polish. Exactly what I needed to help me cross the border. Our 4 hour train ride up was calm & for the most part kind of relaxing. Meaning I slept pretty much the whole way. We then had to get in a small bus/ van that was exact...

The longer I am here, the more I am introduced to different topics I had never thought about before. One of those is a different look at Ministries that have a Business connected to them. As I was preparing to come to Poland, the thought really didn't cross my mind that Sweet Surrender was not only a ministry but also a business. In my head it was just a Ministry that sold stuff, if that makes since. But after being here, seeing the behind scenes of what it takes to actually run this Ministry/Business I have realized there is a whole lot more to it. Some coffee ministries have really awesome ministries, but not very good coffee. Then some have really REALLY awesome coffee, but barely keep it together on the ministry side. So as we look and see these facts, of coarse our goal is to be the best of both worlds (not only Hannah Montana has that problem) but from what I have seen it is a whole lot harder then it looks. Just like most things in life. Here at Sweet Surrender w...

The month of March has gone by so quickly, I am still unsure how to word all that has happened. The weeks leading up to this past weekend, was anything but relaxing. The days were filled with cleaning, many tram stops, grocery shopping in bulk, immigration papers, cleaning, being approved health wise to work in the shop, and of coarse more cleaning. Though the days were long and half of the time I was unsure what was happening, we still found time to have fun and soak up the comforting friends beside us. Friday morning started with a team meeting, that was such a sweet meaningful time and for me that really strengthened me for the weekend. I am SO thankful to have a strong team here in Krakow. We are all different in ages and in personality, but we all have the common call to serve in Krakow. As we sat around the bright comfy couches in the shop and prayed for each other and the crazy weekend ahead, I could not have been more thankful for the people God has placed in my life here. ...

This past Sunday was a huge day at Krakow Church of the Nazarene. We took in 13 members! It was so exciting to be apart of. These 3 families are so on fire and ready to see what God will do. To me though the best part of the day was after the membership time. Me & another one of the moms took the kids out to the room next door and had Kid's worship. This was the first Sunday that I lead. So I was a little nervous of how the kids would respond. The lesson was "How God is the ultimate Superhero". I asked them to think about there favorite superhero's and what there superpowers were. Then I taught them the always fun Hillsong Kid's song "Jesus is my Superhero." I went on Google translate (Love that site!) and translated the lyrics to polish, and the lady who was translating for me read each sentence after I read the same in English. This way they could understand what the song was about. They LOVED it! They thought the video was hilarious, and really ...

This coming sunday will be a month since I have been in Krakow. I love how at the end of my last post I wrote how updates would come soon. I guess in my time, that means a month. Ha, sorry for waiting so long on telling you what has been happening here. I guess I tend to get so wrapped up in things, I forgot theres another world out there (outside of Yonkers...) Anyways, me and my roommate Katie (who is pretty much amazin' by the way) have gotten our apartment all set up, learned exactly how to get to ikea by tram and a couple buses, and we have learned where to find really really good cupcakes. But on the serious side of things the coffee shop is coming along, and everyday something is happening. Almost all of the plumbing & construction is done, there is just still lots of small things that tend to add up. Today we FINALLY got our really nice espresso machine all hooked up so now we can make the world's best cup of coffee. At least we shall try. Through connections fr...

Last night I left poznan (where I have been staying for the last week and a half) and got on a night train to my new home in Krakow. Me and my new roommate Katie arrived here in Krakow about and hour before church started. Everyone was super kind, and very excited of me being here. After church me & Katie headed out in the very cold snow to a mall close by. Where we ate some very tasty pizza hut, and stocked up on groceries for our lovely apartment. I really love the look of everything here. It has a very modern/ sophisticated feel. Though I was not able to get a good look at the city today, because of the blanket of snow. But I guess that was nice too :) Me & katie will spend the next few days, getting things set up here. Doing some different touch ups on the shop. We are hoping the shop will be opening sometime in February. That is if we get the needed funds in by time.  Please be praying for the funds to come in quickly and that we are able to open this ministry to t...