Behind the scenes of a family business
It started with a dream, as all good things do, a noble desire to do something better, something holier in business.
Guadalupe Roastery grew out of that dream.
Through the years our family has experienced both the joys and fruits of this labor and also the crosses, the disappointments, and the struggles.
Thus is the way of the Christian life.
It is most visible to me during this time of lent that the cross is so necessary for our salvation. And it is often in the time of struggle that we are more grateful for our blessings and consolations.
I have spent the last several years watching the life of the business play out from the sidelines so to speak, immersed in my own personal joys, triumphs, sorrows and struggles of raising and schooling our young family. Nonetheless, it is ever on my heart to be more involved in helping my husband with this work, this dream.
However, God continues to show me clearly where He wants me to spend the lion’s share of my time and attention and that is here - here in my kitchen baking sourdough while little hands help, here at a table piled high with schoolbooks and paper and pencils, where I have the great privilege of helping to shape the minds and hearts of the souls that were entrusted to our care.
And it is here, as I sip the most delicious coffee on earth (I may be a bit biased) while snuggling a still sleepy toddler, that I realize how grateful I am for this life I get to lead.
I also realize how grateful I am to all of YOU, my husband’s loyal customers. It is really you who keep this dream of his alive. It is you who help keep this work going, and it is you who make it possible for this work to help keep the dreams of coffee farmers and their farm laborers alive.
It is in this realization of my gratitude, that I discovered the most powerful way that I can help support my husband in this work; I can pray!
Duh, right? I’m ashamed to have not thought of it sooner.
Today, I will begin a novena to Saint Joseph, patron saint of workers, fathers, and families. I will be praying for YOU, for all of your personal intentions and in gratitude for your support. I will end my novena on Saint Joseph’s feast day, March 19.
Then, beginning on Saint Joseph’s feast day, I have arranged for a novena of traditional Latin masses to be said for the success of Guadalupe Roastery, that it may continue to bear good fruit!
I’d also like to extend an invitation to all of you to join me in prayer. Let us pray for each other and ask for Saint Joseph’s intercession for all of our needs!
ITE AD JOSEPH!
In gratitude,
Taresa