Three positive outcomes from this unexpected season!

Dear readers, I know that none of us were expecting to come into this year and have to learn what social distancing looks like or having to work from home for the first time, and possibly having to frequent your favorite local restaurants and cafe less. Yikes! Who could have known?! But in light of the current circumstances, we as The Meeting Place Cafe staff were reflecting on some of the positive things that have come out of this season for all of us, and we created a few points that we wanted to share with you. Here are the top three things that  have challenged us to grow most! 
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1. Relationships-  We all have a group of even a handful of friends that we like to catch up with at a cafe or meet up with for an adventure, but that had to change for a little while which was tough, but also showed us something about our relationships. We found that a space was created for one on one meet ups, forcing us to go deeper in our relationships and really talk and get to know our friends on a much more personal level. This is really beautiful, as we often fall into the habit of ignoring the real "stuff" when we're with our friends and we ignore the sometimes difficult realities and instead we try to focus on having fun and unwinding when we see each other. But we have started to ask questions like "how are you really doing?" There were also a lot less people in the cafes which allowed for customers to get to know staff better! I personally started having regular little chats with the staff of one of my favorite cafes in the area, and am happy to say that we are all on first name basis now!

2. Skillset- We decided that this was a good time to improve our coffee skills and make our drinks better and more consistent! We have been working on our latte art! We were even adding little personalized notes on the cups of our customers! But we also know that it wasn't just us, but plenty of other companies and coffee shops really took advantage of a slower season to make sure everything is up to the best level! Only the best for you!

3. Creativity- We have had to find new ways of reaching out to people and make sure that people still knew we cared about them and had been thinking of them even when we were closed. We recently started a prayer request jar where people can let us know how we can be praying for them! It has been great to take time to talk to our regulars and keep up with their lives!

I know there are a lot more positives  that have come out of this season, but also am not unaware of the difficult things that we have had to go through. If you are someone who needs some encouragement please don't hesitate to reach out as we would love to hear from you.
Many blessings to you,
Love TMPC