Local Business Creates Space for Community, Christian Connections
Sofie Lang-Bradford has always been a Christian, but it wasn’t until college when she accepted Jesus as her personal Savior as a matter of choice. And the past five years she has experienced unprecedented spiritual growth in new ways in her daily life, especially since she opened her own business last year. She came to an understanding that material things of this world do not matter – instead, it is the eternal perspective that she is adopting. “I have a more mature spiritual discernment of the ways God is working in my life and in circumstances around me.”
Sofie grew up as the oldest of four children in a military family. Born in Georgia, she was raised in California until she was 16 years. She moved around with her family thereafter, and graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.A. in economics. At that point, she went into the Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant and was stationed in Korea, where she met her husband Rolandrias (a.k.a. Skee), also a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force. It was love at first sight -- after six weeks they were engaged, and married in four months.
They were soon separated when she returned to Florida and he was sent to Iraq f
or Desert Storm. Their first child Chelsea was born, now age 14. Then Hurricane Andrew hit and destroyed their home. The family lived in Alabama, then the United Kingdom. Both parents were still in the military, but soon ranked captains. Sofie left the military after the birth of her second daughter, Taylor (now age 12). The family moved to Ohio where Sofie worked as a homemaker for a year. Then in 1997 her husband left the military and they both took jobs with Bell Atlantic (nowVerizon) in Baltimore, Maryland. They soon had son Joshua, age 6, and son Dylan, age 3. In 2003 Sofie went back to school to get her Masters in Business Administration, unaware how God would put her advanced education into practice soon thereafter.
“All along I could see events in my life transpiring according to God’s plan, not necessarily mine,” Sofie explained. After the family built a house in the Fulton area they decided to start a business for more economic security. They trusted God to “open and close the doors” of opportunity to guide them in their choices. About eight months ago the couple opened a coffee shop – Sofie does not even drink coffee, but she loves to talk to people, has a very engaging personality, and embraced the idea of establishing a gathering place for the local community. Her shop, The Daily Grind at Maple Lawn shopping center on route 216, opened in July 2006. It has been a lot of hard work to get started, especially with four children and her husband working full time elsewhere. Now she employs 17 people on a part-time basis and can be found there daily herself.
“We in American society lack community gathering places to meet, chat and simply hang out,” Sofie noted. She wanted to address that need in Fulton with her business. It has been very rewarding, she explained, to see how quickly the idea of a community gathering place has been embraced by the community.
“We have several Bible study groups meeting weekly here, pastors from many churches come to work on their sermons, families meet to share meals, youth soccer teams come for celebrations.” The Daily Grind has a cozy environment, with decorations in shades of coffee such as latte-colored walls, black modular furniture, cinnamon tones in the chairs and tables, and a fireplace surrounded by leather couches and chairs. Reasonably priced items are offered such as coffee, juice, other drinks, baked goods (muffins, bagels), panini sandwiches, chili, soups and salads, and Italian gelato.
“The past year has been a struggle, stressful in ways, but God has helped so much,” Sofie noted. “He has brought incredible people into my life. Moreover, I have a deeper reliance on the Lord than ever before -- I have to pray daily to meet our needs.” Her relationship with God has grown stronger than ever, there is a growing trust and her anxiety about things is greatly reduced.
“We want to start up some new events in the spring and summer such as live music by local artists on Saturday evenings and activities for children such as storytellers, magicians, crafts, etc.” She also will continue being involved in community events such as raising social awareness to prevent domestic violence or fundraising for good causes.
More information about the Daily Grind or Sofie’s story can be found by contacting her online at www.dailygrindunwind.com. Written by Anne Woodworth
Sofie Lang-Bradford has always been a Christian, but it wasn’t until college when she accepted Jesus as her personal Savior as a matter of choice. And the past five years she has experienced unprecedented spiritual growth in new ways in her daily life, especially since she opened her own business last year. She came to an understanding that material things of this world do not matter – instead, it is the eternal perspective that she is adopting. “I have a more mature spiritual discernment of the ways God is working in my life and in circumstances around me.”
Sofie grew up as the oldest of four children in a military family. Born in Georgia, she was raised in California until she was 16 years. She moved around with her family thereafter, and graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.A. in economics. At that point, she went into the Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant and was stationed in Korea, where she met her husband Rolandrias (a.k.a. Skee), also a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force. It was love at first sight -- after six weeks they were engaged, and married in four months.
They were soon separated when she returned to Florida and he was sent to Iraq f
or Desert Storm. Their first child Chelsea was born, now age 14. Then Hurricane Andrew hit and destroyed their home. The family lived in Alabama, then the United Kingdom. Both parents were still in the military, but soon ranked captains. Sofie left the military after the birth of her second daughter, Taylor (now age 12). The family moved to Ohio where Sofie worked as a homemaker for a year. Then in 1997 her husband left the military and they both took jobs with Bell Atlantic (nowVerizon) in Baltimore, Maryland. They soon had son Joshua, age 6, and son Dylan, age 3. In 2003 Sofie went back to school to get her Masters in Business Administration, unaware how God would put her advanced education into practice soon thereafter.“All along I could see events in my life transpiring according to God’s plan, not necessarily mine,” Sofie explained. After the family built a house in the Fulton area they decided to start a business for more economic security. They trusted God to “open and close the doors” of opportunity to guide them in their choices. About eight months ago the couple opened a coffee shop – Sofie does not even drink coffee, but she loves to talk to people, has a very engaging personality, and embraced the idea of establishing a gathering place for the local community. Her shop, The Daily Grind at Maple Lawn shopping center on route 216, opened in July 2006. It has been a lot of hard work to get started, especially with four children and her husband working full time elsewhere. Now she employs 17 people on a part-time basis and can be found there daily herself.
“We in American society lack community gathering places to meet, chat and simply hang out,” Sofie noted. She wanted to address that need in Fulton with her business. It has been very rewarding, she explained, to see how quickly the idea of a community gathering place has been embraced by the community.
“We have several Bible study groups meeting weekly here, pastors from many churches come to work on their sermons, families meet to share meals, youth soccer teams come for celebrations.” The Daily Grind has a cozy environment, with decorations in shades of coffee such as latte-colored walls, black modular furniture, cinnamon tones in the chairs and tables, and a fireplace surrounded by leather couches and chairs. Reasonably priced items are offered such as coffee, juice, other drinks, baked goods (muffins, bagels), panini sandwiches, chili, soups and salads, and Italian gelato.
“The past year has been a struggle, stressful in ways, but God has helped so much,” Sofie noted. “He has brought incredible people into my life. Moreover, I have a deeper reliance on the Lord than ever before -- I have to pray daily to meet our needs.” Her relationship with God has grown stronger than ever, there is a growing trust and her anxiety about things is greatly reduced.
“We want to start up some new events in the spring and summer such as live music by local artists on Saturday evenings and activities for children such as storytellers, magicians, crafts, etc.” She also will continue being involved in community events such as raising social awareness to prevent domestic violence or fundraising for good causes.
More information about the Daily Grind or Sofie’s story can be found by contacting her online at www.dailygrindunwind.com. Written by Anne Woodworth
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