January 2022 Newsletter
Grace and peace be with you this new year! It’s the middle of January, and even though we’re not in the kitchen this month, we’re still trucking along (Haha! Get it?) with business and projects for Shobi’s Table. With a good chunk of time in the office, we’ve made good headway on our first ever cookbook. The goal is to have it ready to sell by springtime to help ring in a new food truck season once all the snow and ice is gone.
As we begin the new year, we’ve also got some announcements of transition to share with you. Our Kitchen Manager Daniele and our Kitchen Assistant and Bookkeeper Taylor are both stepping away from Shobi’s Table and have discerned a move to new adventures. I am so grateful for both of them and what they have brought to the cafe. Daniele has been with us for over a year, and has brought a real sense of ministry to her position and creativity to the kitchen. Her hospitable demeanor and mad music-choosing skills will be missed! She will be with Shobi’s until the end of January. Taylor has been with us almost since the beginning of the pay-as-you-can era of Shobi’s Table, lending her expertise in the kitchen as well as wrangling the books into shape. Her work has left us in a much better place administratively, and has built a solid foundation for the next person to step into. She will be with us until sometime in February. We give thanks for all they have given Shobi’s Table and wish them well on their next steps! If you would like to send a card or a note of thanks to both or either, please send it to Shobi’s Table (attn: Daniele or Taylor) 105 University Ave W, St Paul, MN 55103.
As we do the sad work of saying goodbye, we are also preparing to welcome new folks to Shobi’s Table, which leads right into our next announcement… We’re Hiring!
Two positions are now available at Shobi’s Table. We are hiring both a Manager of Kitchen and Community Operations and a Manager of Ministry Administration. If you would like read more or to apply for one of these positions, you can find all the information on our website at http://shobistable.org/job-opportunities. They can also be found on indeed.com, MN Council of NonProfits, and Facebook. While it is great to have these jobs posted in lots of places, we know that another great way to let people know about the openings is word of mouth. If you or someone you know might be interested in a unique opportunity to work in a food-based ministry in St Paul, MN – please share our website far and wide!
In February, check back on our website and social media to see when we’ll be back in the kitchen and serving lunch. We’ll be in touch with volunteers to start filling up the volunteer schedule again. We can’t wait to see you in the kitchen or at lunch again!
Leaning into this time of transition, and preparing to get back into the kitchen, I invite you to continue sending your prayers and financial support to Shobi’s Table. I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is within all that is happening right now and calling us forward into a new year, being courageous to trust the excitement of the unknown. Good things are coming.
In peace and gratitude,
Kari Olsen
Director of Shobi’s Table
PS. I leave you with a poem by one of my favorite kitchen-poets, Gunilla Norris.
At the Threshold
Stand at the kitchen door with me.
Honor the heart of transformation.
Honor your own heart
Where everything is
Always changing.
It is the very same dwelling.
Pause at the door.
Your heart needs this.
My heart needs this time
For recognition or it will go astray.
It will forget to reach for
Its real joy… its true becoming.
Pause at the door.
This is good and necessary
For this room is every room.
The world lives here.
Pausing each day helps us know
Nothing is outside us.
Honor the heart that can feel
The joy and the terror of
The world in you and in me.
Only what is truly human
Can walk this path, walk through
And be constant. Bow to that heart.
Hold my hand. I need you for courage.
We become who we are together,
Each needing the other. Alone is a myth.
The path leads through this door.
I cannot go to the kitchen without you.
Let us enter together.
