FAITH BARISTA BLOG'S 1st BIRTHDAY IS HERE !
** GOD'S HEART NECKLACE GIVEAWAY **
To celebrate, I'm giving away Dayspring's "God's Heart For You" Necklace

This beautiful silver sterling necklace features a pendant
with the engraved words:  created, chosen, celebrated, and cherished. 

Enter the God's Heart Necklace Giveway At The End Of Today's Post !

I couldn’t tell you the name of the streets I walked as a child.

Don’t need to.  I can describe the Tetris-like enclave of broken curbs, windowless doorways, souvenir shops and Hunan, Szechuan, and what-not restaurants, like the profile of my first puppy love.

Many of the buildings showcase new paint jobs, but one characteristic doesn’t fade.

History.
read more…

“Great faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. 

It’s simply taking God at His word and taking the next step.”  ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Going on vacation always does a number on my scripted mindset.  I think I’m getting away to unplug and break out of routine, but I end up learning just how tied I am to the familiar and the comfortable.

I was reminded of this as I spent some time in the Northwest to attend a wedding and visit family, just a couple weeks ago.

Suitcases and Starbuck’s

For starters, the stress started with the packing.  I like to be prepared. read more…

1 mile long by 1.34 miles wide.

100,000 residents are boxed into a square mile full of one-way streets.

Tourists from all four corners of the world come to visit. With cameras glued in one hand, those in matching cargo shorts plod through Chinatown, San Francisco to stop and peer through smudgy windows. Some save a lifetime to travel to the City-by-the-Bay and as a side attraction, make a detour here.

They snap pictures at paper-painted fans, hand-carved jade pendants hanging in glass displays, and rummage through a pile of plastic cable cars on sale for two dollars and ninety-nine cents.

Passing right by them is a different group of travelers. These people gave up everything to breathe the air in this very neighborhood. read more…

“Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.” ~ G.K. Chesterton

I don’t know if dogs and cats dream of getting their first kisses. One thing’s for sure, humans are different.

I remember wanting my first kiss so badly, I thought I was going to die waiting. I did not want to get to college and be the only girl on campus whose only kiss was her bathroom mirror.

Luckily, despite my mother’s best efforts and my propensity to like books and play in the orchestra (the cool kids were in band and track-and-field), I did get my first kiss before donning cap and gown.

The kiss was just as magical and dizzying as it appears in the movies.

But, it wasn’t true love. read more…

“He didn’t tell me
how to live; he lived,
and let me watch him do it.”

~ Clarence Budington Kelland

Is Father’s Day worth remembering when you don’t have a daddy?

Since my daddy left when I was five, I’ve never really had a hard time with Father’s Day.

I described it to my friends this way whenever they asked if it was sad growing up without a one.

I don’t feel anything.
It’s probably like being born without a limb. You can’t miss what you’ve never had.

Now, that I’m not a kid any more, I don’t have to lie. read more…

45 minutes.

That’s how long the drive was going to take from the burbs to San Francisco.

The weather man said it was going to be hot that day.  So, I wore a summer halter dress.  I wanted to wear something bright and happy, figuring I was going to be in some of the pictures.

But, I also knew better.  San Francisco is Fog City, baby.  If you ever get a chance to go there, here’s a tip:  always, always bring a light jacket. No matter what the weather channel tells you.

The weather can change on a dime, even if you look out the window and squint because the sun shining.  Because far in the distance, behind those green mountains, the fog is quietly collecting.  Before you know it, you’re going to go hunting and end up walking out of a tourist trap, wearing a chunky sweatshirt stamped with S-a-n  F-r-a-n-c-i-s-c-o in large letters across your chest. read more…

With all the focus on organic eating, wearing, and drinking, you’d think we’d all be living truly organic lives.  Are we?

A while back, when everyone was caught smack dab in the swine flu scare frenzy, a friend of mine got hit with a bad case of the flu.

It’s no fun, of course, so I figured I’d drop by and cheer her up — by bringing over some fresh fruit.

“Oh, what kind of fruit?” my friend asked, when I called to say I was on my way to stop by.     read more…

It’s a little over a month since I wrote the script to the story I wanted to kill.

I actually stopped calling it a film. It’s a 90 second video clip.

It’s more like the trailer to a movie, like a preview you’re forced to watch at the theatres, before the actual movie you paid to see starts.

Except in this case, it’s not a movie. It’s a real story about me, going off script.

You could count the number of people who know this story on one hand.

Until now.    read more…

Even if the economy has capsized our savings, we can continue to build an investment in Everyday Joy.

In the mornings, I rummage through the top headlines to see what’s grabbing the national interest.  Without fail, there will be a new poll or survey to tell me how we’re doing financially. Every one has a best guess on whether the tide has turned yet.  Or not.

One thing’s happening for sure.  According to the latest poll taken by Associated Press-GfK, we Americans are cutting down our debt — some by more than one-half — and even boosting our savings — the highest increase since 1998.

But, guess what?

Our stress from debt hasn’t eased any.  read more…

I was recently talking to a friend who was a bit down.

He felt stuck in a rut, too tired to think about changing anything and yet, wishing things were different.

“Have you thought about joining a new small group at church?  Maybe it will inject some ideas.”

“Yeah… thought about that…”  He pauses.  I wait.  His eyes look tired. “I doubt it would help.”

“Well… it doesn’t hurt to try… You never know…”  I tread carefully, trying not to oversimplify his predicament, still gently encouraging.

“It’s actually worse, if I try… ‘Cuz then, I might get my hopes up…  Then, I’ll end up getting disappointed.”

Have you ever felt like my friend?   read more…