Appendix E-J

As part of celebrating our 5th anniversary, someone who is part of Everyday Joe’s will write something about it each month. Anything from essays to sonnets to interpretive dance. How interpretive dance would translate to this blog, I’m not sure…but it’d be interesting.

Whatever is written, it will come from the life that is in this building. 144 S. Mason seems to be alive and breathing…and it is something you can’t ignore when you walk in. Lucky no. 7 comes from the heart of Diana Sitzman- long-time EJ’s volunteer, coffee goddess, avid reader, world traveler, and a fantastic cook. We love her very much.

There’s some social theory about the importance of third places, I think the main point being that our contemporary society tends to lack somewhere to go other than work and home (first and second place).  We should all have a place where our social needs are met and we can be involved in our community.

Everyday Joe’s is my third place.

I remember on my very first day there, one of the other volunteers said I’d love it because it’s just like “Cheers,” and every day since then I’ve seen how much truth lies in that claim.  I do love it, that’s undeniable.  Why?  Because sometimes, I really do just want to go where everybody knows my name and is genuinely glad I came.

I’m a good example of how God knows us better than we know ourselves and will provide accordingly.  I’ve never been too socially needy and quite content being by myself, but I can’t deny that it’s nice to be known as a distinct person, not just another customer or co-worker.  It’s so encouraging for me to look back at the past 3 ½ years and realize that in one way or another, Everyday Joe’s has served as the answer to almost every prayer I’ve ever prayed, and I’d wager that approximately 90% of all the really great things in my life are as a result of my involvement there.

This building is alive because God is alive and moving in it.  It brings people together and fosters community in a way that no other church or coffee house in town does.  But it’s also an instrument of change within individuals, and has a pretty profound impact on who many people are becoming, not just myself.  It’s, a place to be challenged but also supported; a place of joy, of play, of rest; a place to love and be loved.

Every time I walk into the building (or even just think about it) I know God likes me, because I’m allowed to be a part of this phenomenon.

Further:

• Diana Being Hugged by The Moroccan Tom Cruise

Popularity: 22% [?]

So, here’s the deal.

The usual Monday post did not make it up yesterday. This was mainly due to the fact that the large refrigerator…the primary purpose of which is to keep the soda pop and milk cool and drinkable…was warm when I came down to open. Warmness is not conducive to dairy products.

Sounds like something that would take place on a  Monday…a major organ in the coffee house body taking a dive (if the espresso machine is the heart, I’d say the refrigerator is at least one of the kidneys). This Monday was the Monday after our 5th birthday party, which was a nice time. A nice time on Saturday and back to the art of maintenance on Monday. A very nice fellow we know recently spoke about maintenance. Listen to that below if you like.

[audio http://www.everydayjoes.org/images/songs for blog/June%2022%209am%20Darren.mp3]

Back to the refrigerator. A good guy came yesterday and battled with the machine for near 8 hours, only to have the machine claim victory with its foot on his chest. He told us what the fix would be and that it would cost $800. We told him we’d let him know.

Now, we’ll leave the story to Daryle Dickens, the executive director of Everyday Joe’s:

Let’s see, how many lessons can we learn from what happened over the past 24 hours with the large cooler?

That is all.

Popularity: 23% [?]

In case you don’t know, Everyday Joe’s coffee house…and everything else that occurs here at 144 S. Mason…is volunteer powered. 95% is a precise estimate.

On the Everyday Joe’s front, this includes our baristas, our sound techs, people who help clean around the place, and the folks who take your money at concerts. It is not uncommon to hear people say that they FEEL something different about this place, and a large part of that is our volunteers. They are here because they want to be, not because they need to pay rent. They are a family.

As the semester wraps up, please take a moment and say thank you to a volunteer at Everyday Joe’s. They are truly amazing and we love them very much. In fact, here are several ways you can say thank you:

• Bake them a snack
• Bake them multiple snacks
• Give them a firm hand shake and slap on the shoulder
• Make them a craft of some sort
• Say thank you

If you’re ever interested in volunteering, just come in and let us know. We’ll train you and we’d love to have you in the family.

love.

Everyday Joe’s

Popularity: 10% [?]

As part of celebrating our 5th anniversary, someone who is part of Everyday Joe’s will write something about it each month. Anything from essays to sonnets to interpretive dance. How interpretive dance would translate to this blog, I’m not sure…but it’d be interesting.

Whatever is written, it will come from the life that is in this building. 144 S. Mason seems to be alive and breathing…and it is something you can’t ignore when you walk in. The fourth installation of this series comes from Amy McKean, former volunteer, board member, and Everyday Joe’s accountant. She’s a generally happy lady, and we wish she didn’t move to Denver.

Popularity: 18% [?]