Hope

Today is Easter. In my home, this is everyone’s favorite holiday of the year. We wake up with hearts full of joy and greet each other with “He is risen!” (and respond: “He is risen, indeed!”). We usually attend our church services, exchanging the same greeting and reminding each other of how the One we worship is alive. After church, we usually invite over to our home a rowdy gathering of close friends and family for our traditional Pascual Easter Feast. It is a potluck feast with only one rule: Bring your favorite food. Homemade bread. BBQ wings. Ice cream. For me: Mom’s Filipino eggrolls. We celebrate with this feast, pointing to the wedding feast of the Lamb, told at the end of the Bible… the ultimate celebratory feast. We can imagine that all of the best foods - all our favorite foods - would be served at such a momentous celebration. Easter is a day filled with life, love, and laughter. It’s a day filled with HOPE.

Last week I had an interview with a local publication, telling Taproom’s story through the COVID-19 crisis. At one point the interviewer asked me: “What’s your hope for the future?” I paused for a second, asking him to repeat his question. My hesitancy was not because I didn’t have an answer, but because an immediate answer was brought to mind, purposefully memorized, ingrained as my automatic response to the question, “What is our only hope in life and death?” The short answer: “That we are not our own, but belong to God.” In the interview, I hinted at my hope not resting in a business, in financial success or failure, or even in my physical health. My hope in the business crisis is the same as my hope in life and death: It all belongs to God. In the end, He will prove himself to be in control, to be victorious. Easter is the epitome of celebrating a victorious God who is not thrown off by the most challenging of adversity - not even death itself.

But wait… How is Taproom doing?

The business is actually doing very well through the crisis. Our community rallied around us in an amazing way, snapping up gift cards, continuing to buy coffee drinks and bags of beans, and tipping our baristas through a virtual tip jar. Because of that consistent outpouring of support, we have been able to stay in operation and not lay off any staff. We’ve only slightly reduced our evening hours and cut out most of our food program, and yet our overall sales have remained at sustainable levels. We are not currently worried about our chances of emerging out the other side of this dark tunnel as a healthy company and staff. I am grateful.

What does this mean moving forward?

I have always seen myself as a steward of what God has given me. I am entrusted with a business, finances, employees, customers, and moments of people’s lives. I hope and pray that as the COVID-19 crisis continues, I will continue to steward all of that well, for the glory of God. Taproom will keep serving cappuccinos and lattes. We will keep passing bags of East Pole through car windows curbside and dropping off gallons of iced coffee on Kirkwood porches. We will support other local businesses, industry friends, and our community heroes, with coffee and financial donations. And we will continue to spread a message of HOPE, for now and for the future.

On this Easter I am still filled with inexpressable joy. Even though our Pascual Easter Feast today was only attended by a Mom and Dad and four little Pascuals, we still chowed down on Frosted Flakes, homemade bread, Honey Buns, and eggrolls, pointing towards an even better feast to be had in heaven. I hope and trust in a God who is in control and who will always prove himself faithful. In Jesus Christ, we saw the despair of a Good Friday death turn around in a miraculous Easter Sunday resurrection. May we all rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.