Time is ticking away, some days are crazier than others. These past few months have been a challenge for me. I am learning more and more on how to run a business and it is not always fun for me. Luckily, I am surrounded by a great staff who make difficult days a lot easier to handle. One of my biggest accomplishments is I can balance our books for the shop....OK so that's really not that hard of a task.... but no one in my family would believe that I would do it, so here is my proof-

We have also been working on changing our menu from the winter to summer food. I am a bigger fan of our summer menu, especially our drinks.... But, I am not a fan of the extra work it has been for me. I have had to rewrite recipes, prep lists, and directions for both food and drinks. It has been a lot of work. But, I am confident that it will be good and the girls will be able to do it all!!!

But.... All work and no play is not a good thing. So, on the few nights I do have free, I am finding different things in the city to explore. This past Sunday we went on a hike in the hills outside of Krakow. It was beautiful. And then we heard the thunder and then saw lightening. All of a sudden the sky opened up and it started to pour on us. So, we ran back to the cars and headed home. But, it was a great hike while it lasted!

But, most of all the best thing to learn in all of this is to enjoy the moments of beauty that is all around me. And to do that all I have to do is go to my roof!

My Life is Full of DETOURS

We had 2 days off from the shop this week. My fellow volunteer and I decided that we didn't want to just sit around in Krakow. After all, everything was going to be closed anyways! So, we pulled out my book on central Europe and decided we should plan an adventure. And we had one!!

I never paid much attention to European geography until I moved here. I knew Slovakia was below us, but did not realize how close it actually was to us! So, we decided to go to Slovakia, see some castles and some mountains. I borrowed a car from a friend, he gave us a map and sent us on our way!

We left Monday morning and crossed the boarder in a couple hours. The drive was BEAUTIFUL!!! As soon as we left the city we were in rolling hills and eventually mountains. On and on we went until we got to Spis to see castle ruins. It was a huge castle from the Romanesque period. It was on a huge hill above a small town. We climbed the hill following the trail that is not the main trail.... We walked around and around the hill on a tiny path just wide enough for one step. And if I misstep, down the steep grassy hill I would roll! But, when we finally found out how to enter the castle, it was well worth the creative way to get up there. We explored all of the rooms and ruins before we tromped back down the hill.

We then continued on our drive around the mountains. We found a resort on the side of the mountain. This resort boasted mineral hot springs that could cure anything. So, we crashed there for the night and had a relaxing morning in the pools before heading out to explore some more of the mountain range.

While exploring mountain roads we stumbled upon some caves that we decided to explore! We hiked up the mountain side and wandered through a cave filled with tourists?! But, it was still really neat to see. Along with all of the cave juice that was splashed between the two of us!

After our hiking through the cave we decided it was about time to head back to Krakow. So, we took the long beautiful mountain roads back to the city. It was a great getaway. We didn't have much of a plan when we stated and we got to see all kinds of beautiful scenery. We also spent time getting lost on the roads and on the trails. We took a lot of detours and found a lot of beauty. Sometimes we need those extra twists and turns in life!

A Different Kind of Easter & A Concert of Blessings

This was my first Easter out of the States. It was a very different experience. The more I am away from the States the more I think we try to commercialize every holiday. Easter is a big deal here, but not with bunnies and plastic eggs. Easter baskets are something you get before and you fill it with different things such as cheeses, breads, handmade goods, and flowers. Friday evening we had a Great Friday service in the shop. We combined with the Wesleyan church. It was a wonderful time.

Easter Saturday we went to the square. I was informed that this was the Polish thing to do. So, we took a walk down the river in the sunshine and experinced all of the booths on the square that were set up. I tried the fried mountain cheese with cranberry jam! We looked at all of the wonderful hand made items. And I bought a bunch of tulips to decorate our place with. A wonderful day in the sunshine on the square!

Easter Sunday we woke up to pouring rain!!! We dressed in our nice springy easter dresses and then got drenched on the way to church! We had our service with the Wesleyan church. It was a wonderful time. We sang choruses in Polish and listened to our volunteer preach and great traditional Easter sermon! Afterward we headed to the square and had a not so traditional Easter dinner. It was pouring rain on us the whole time! We ate at one of the booths set up. So, we had kielbasa, potatoes, and even a zampikanka! Great traditional Polish food, however not what I would normally eat for Easter dinner! But, us girls enjoyed our time together, even if we were soaking wet!!!

This past Friday night the shop was blessed with a beautiful concert! We have a gospel choir (DeocintriCity) that rehearses in our shop weekly. They had their first ever concert in our shop! Also, they were joined by our friend Kelz, who is a rap artist from the UK. There were at least 45 people in the shop that night, not counting the choir. We were very busy as people ordered food and drinks! But, when the concert started everyone sat in awe. They are a wonderful group and the presence of the Spirit filled the shop. The concert turned into a time of worship. It was AMAZING! Afterward they embarrassed me as they thanked us for opening our shop up to them every week. But, I felt like they Blessed us so much more with their performance. It was a wonderfully successful evening that was enjoyed by all!

"Official"

What does that word really mean anyways??? Is it really that important?? Probably.... But that doesn't mean we always follow it! The shop has been operating (slowly) for the past couple weeks, even though we have not been given the "official" approval. We have been working through a disastrous mess and finding creative ways to provide our food and drinks with noise, dust, and chaos coming from the kitchen. But, all that chaos ended Thursday and I was left with the aftermath. We quickly called Sanitation and scheduled our "official" inspection. They said they could come Monday morning. So, Friday I went to work. I had to find the kitchen under all of the dust. I had to clean EVERYTHING, nothing was left unharmed by the construction of the "wall". How could one simple sliding wall be such a problem?? I then spent all of Saturday re-cleaning the entire bar area. And Sunday after church me and the other 3 volunteers spent the afternoon deep cleaning the rest of the shop. All this for a 30 minute visit from Sanitation Monday morning. And they only spent 5 of those minutes looking around the shop. They saw we put in the wall and then sat down and started the paper work process. 25 minutes later it was translated to me that we are now "officially" open! Three weeks of disaster and frustration for a 30 minute official visit. But, that is what we have to do, so we do it!

And now... Sweet Surrender Krakow is officially open for business! And here is our newly constructed wall that created such a headache in my life-

Workin....... or Waitin..........

It has been a slow few weeks. After Sanitation came and told us that we had some work to do in the kitchen we have been stuck. We have been in the shop as much as possible. But, it's kind of slow. We have had a few visitors and meetings in the shop. Most days it's just quiet. But, yesterday the work started! And our kitchen once again became a disaster zone! They told me that the work should be completed by Wednesday! So, we are praying that we will be able to open a week from Monday!!! Until then we will continue with our chance meetings!

Opening Weekend!!!!!!!

WOW!!!!!! What a month!!! I did not realize that it had been so long since I updated my blog. Time is just flying by here! The past two weeks have been especially crazy for me. We had a big push to get everything finished in time for the Party this past Saturday. And it was a push! Friday we had a huge cleaning day. We were trying to get all of the construction mess out! The team worked hard and then our worker comes in and says "we need to put a hole in the bathroom for water heater." "WHAT?!" We have our guests from Poznan arriving in a few hours, the party is tomorrow and they have to put a hole in the client bathroom! Luckily they were able to get away with only putting a hole in the shelf and not in the floor! But, that was the kind of week I was having leading up to our party!



Saturday was party day! We had special guests reGENERATION from Poznan. Also, we had 2 wonderful volunteer helpers from Poznan join us! We started the party at 6pm and within 30 minutes the place was packed out! We had at least 200 people come through the doors during a 3 1/2 hour party. reGENERATION was wonderful! The church family jumped in and helped the coffee staff. The three main men in the church were in the back taking care of the dishes like no other. And when one of us girls tried to jump in and help we got shooed out of the kitchen. The brand new staff members quickly bonded with the team and everyone was in great spirits! It was a very successful night!



Sunday we had a worship service with reGENERATION. We had about 50 people there! It was an awesome service. The presence of the Lord was all around. Everyone was blessed! And we enjoyed a great time of fellowship afterward!



The biggest impact on me this weekend was seeing the church members reactions to the party and service. They were all blessed and had tears in their eyes. And the group bonded unlike before. We all were having fun and letting loose together in the middle of the stress and busyness. At one moment I was listening to the concert and the feeling of the Spirit's presence was so heavy in the room. I looked around and saw all my polish family being blessed and I was in tears. I was amazed at the blessing of all the hard work and stress. It was an amazing opening!

Hidden Blessings

Being Krakow has been a blessing and a challenge. I am loving the city and the new friends. And over these past 3 weeks that I have officially been moved here God has shown me again and again how He provides and reminds me that I was called to Krakow.

Honestly, I was really nervous when it was suggested and decided I was supposed to live with the new volunteer coming to work with me. Not because she seemed like a scary person or anything, but because I have a problem.... I don't really like to share my personal space. I tend to like my space. And in our apartment the only way we can get away from each other is if we go into our bathrooms! Then you add into it that we not only live together, we are working together all day too. A scary thought for a girl that doesn't like sharing her space. But, God was had His hand in this arrangement. I could not have a better roommate or co-worker. We find enjoyment in similar activities and our personalities compliment each other. Really, I could not have asked for a better roommate, or a better friend!

When I was moving to Krakow I given two different names of girls I should meet. They were friends of friends. So, I contacted them and made plans to meet up. They both were God sends. Both girls have become great friends. They both have been offering their help with shop stuff as well as just being a friend I can go and hangout with. Another blessing is that one girl is gifted in music and the other in art. Both are areas we promote in our shop. I did not know that when I met them, and was not expecting them to be a help, but both have offered their services without me even asking for them. Blessings from God.

In other news..... I know everyone is dying to know about the shop. Well...... it's almost done!!! There are still a few more projects to be done, but they should be completed in a week or so. The money has been pledged and we can finish! We have planned our Grand Opening for March 19! It's going to be great! We are so close I can see the finish line! Also, the church has started out strong! We have been meeting regularly on Sundays. We are becoming a core family and God is leading us on!