IN THE MIDDLE OF A MIRACLE

Just wanted to let everyone know I am in the middle of something incredible happening in my life.  It is almost beyond belief.  It involves not only my coffee business but also something personal.   No, I'm not getting married :), hopefully one day, and no I'm not meeting Taylor Swift :) also hopefully one day.  It will all be in my new book, The Chicken Whisperer, due out around Thanksgiving.  Thanks to everyone for your support of my first book, Chainsaw Preacher.   I'm excited about sharing this next phase of my life.  Here is the prologue:

THE CHICKEN WHISPERER

I decided to write this book knowing quite well it would be as helpful to me as it might be to others.  I looked at the first part of my life and quite frankly I was disappointed with the quality of my relationships, and I knew it was my own fault.

      I also knew if the second half was going to be any better, I was going to have to fix what was wrong with me.   This may come as a surprise to those of you who have read my first book, Chainsaw Preacher, where I appear quite adept at the art of relationships.  But remember, if we are really living we should be growing.

     Like a lost man stumbling through the desert seeking water, I began randomly looking around and found my thirst quenched in the most unusual place.  It was in a book I found in my attic while dealing with a giant squirrel.  The bad news is the author of the book admits very few people will ever believe his format of living and loving will actually work.  The good news is, the few that have embraced it have died leaving a legacy of love, including the author who died quite some time ago.

     This author, who refers to himself as a Chicken Whisper, told an incredible story of loving someone who struggled to love him back.  Later, in an attempt to show his love for this person, he lost his life.  But his story, unbelievably, is still very much alive.

     It is my intent to live my life according to the wisdom of this Chicken Whisperer and to share with you how I arrived at this conclusion.

Timm

A LITTLE GIRL CRYING IN MY WINDOW

    This may be my shortest blog entry ever but it is also one of the most important.  I was working at Java Cafe, my Dyersburg location, last week and I witnessed something that moved me.

     Last Wednesday night, after blending a Dirty Snowman, I looked out our front window and saw an older man holding a young teenage girl, and she was sobbing.   For the next thirty minutes she leaned into him, apparently with her world falling apart.  Something in me said take her a scoop of ice cream but just as I got ready to do just that the drive thru window started ringing.  

     While I was steaming milk for a creme brulee I  watched her out of the corner of my eye, my heart feeling her pain.  I tried to even hurry my drive thru customer off just so I could rush to her aid with a scoop of birthday cake ice cream.  I was too late.  She left.

      I spent several years of my life helping this age group of people.  I just thought it fitting to remind everyone that their world is often small and fragile.  Many of them are moving through the difficult stage of life under capitalized (missing parent) and overwhelmed (bigger issues than good grades at home).   They are often held hostage by the pressures of fitting in and keeping up.    What little bits and pieces of romance and friendship they forge become vital, intricate parts of their hope .  To us they are silly infatuations, to them they are signs of God. They are at a tender stage of life when love is hard to define but desperately sought after, a stage where love comes and goes in weeks and days.  It is a time of life when the kind words of wisdom are incredibly nourishing and the presence of a caring soul is powerful.  It is a beautiful time, a dangerous time, and a critical time of passage.   

      Please take some time to look around you and see who is crying in your window, and step into the moment with understanding.   We can make a difference.  Someone did it for me, and hopefully someone did it for you.  Thank you for helping.

Timm