This Coffee
There's this thing about being in ministry that's hard to explain. It's the best and worst all at the same time when you suddenly realize that all of your worlds have overlapped. That all your friends, family and the people you worship with are also the people you work with. That the things you say or post on social media represent more than yourself. That most of your social interactions are also meetings. It's actually a big asset at times that the people you work with and for are also invested in your spiritual life but other times you just long for a truly authentic conversation with a friend over coffee. Just you, your friend and this amazing cup of coffee.
I hope it's not self centered to say it but this is why I believe God loaned Mandy back to me for such a time as this.
Mandy and I used to hate each other in Kindergarten. I mostly remember because of a big fight over the prettiest dress in the pretend-play bin in our classroom. For the record, I won. But it didn't last long, and within the next eight years that we spent in school together we were the closest of friends. She, and a small cluster of other friends, and I did a whole lot of life together, attending a small, private Christian school. We went on camp outs, had slumber parties, took road trips, learned Bible verses, had crushes on boys that God knew we were not meant to end up with, wrote silly stories, played MASH and hopscotch and four square.
We've never truly lost contact, but Mandy joined the air force, got married and moved to a huge list of exotic locations-Guam, Italy, Hawaii, and Germany just to name a few.
We had opportunities to connect off and on, and she even gave birth to her first baby in Arizona within a few weeks of me giving birth to Moses.
Then, for the past year she's been here with her two little kids, staying with her parents while her husband is deployed.
And it's been such a gift. She's helped with VBS and those holes in the church nursery worker schedule. Seriously...if you want to give me a gift for Christmas send nursery workers...can I get an amen from all the children's pastors out there???!!!
But also she sharpens me and makes me want to strive for the best. She's not a person who will let you believe for one second that she's perfect but she is a person who reads her bible, sets goals for herself and meets them, and works at whatever she does as unto the lord. She's not uncomfortable or afraid to talk about her faith and conversations about her love for Jesus come as naturally as some people talk about the weather. Sometimes we don't need the "I'm fine, your fine, we're all fine..." friends. We need someone who sharpens us. We need a running buddy to keep pace with.
And there's a realness of conversation that's only possible with someone who remembers when you had permed bangs in 1988 and will still be seen in public with you. There's nothing I could tell her that would shock her or she doesn't already know.
We meet once a month for coffee, omelettes and eggs benedict. We always say, "This coffee is amazing!"
So amazing in fact that we typically spend almost two hours getting refills and fixing all the world's problems together. But it's not time wasted. It's time my soul needs. This week I went in a hot mess. I spent Sunday night in the ER with an anaphylactic child. My tire has a nail in it and I had to get me and the kids ready by 6:15 to take Dan to work. I told her I felt like it was time to order lunch! But I left feeling restored and less focused on my problems.
I know that this coffee ritual will only last for a short season. But I love that God knows what we need even before we do. I love that some things in life do last. And, I love that Sunnyside has never kicked us out for drinking too much of their coffee.
I hope it's not self centered to say it but this is why I believe God loaned Mandy back to me for such a time as this.
Mandy and I used to hate each other in Kindergarten. I mostly remember because of a big fight over the prettiest dress in the pretend-play bin in our classroom. For the record, I won. But it didn't last long, and within the next eight years that we spent in school together we were the closest of friends. She, and a small cluster of other friends, and I did a whole lot of life together, attending a small, private Christian school. We went on camp outs, had slumber parties, took road trips, learned Bible verses, had crushes on boys that God knew we were not meant to end up with, wrote silly stories, played MASH and hopscotch and four square.
We've never truly lost contact, but Mandy joined the air force, got married and moved to a huge list of exotic locations-Guam, Italy, Hawaii, and Germany just to name a few.
We had opportunities to connect off and on, and she even gave birth to her first baby in Arizona within a few weeks of me giving birth to Moses.
Then, for the past year she's been here with her two little kids, staying with her parents while her husband is deployed.
And it's been such a gift. She's helped with VBS and those holes in the church nursery worker schedule. Seriously...if you want to give me a gift for Christmas send nursery workers...can I get an amen from all the children's pastors out there???!!!
But also she sharpens me and makes me want to strive for the best. She's not a person who will let you believe for one second that she's perfect but she is a person who reads her bible, sets goals for herself and meets them, and works at whatever she does as unto the lord. She's not uncomfortable or afraid to talk about her faith and conversations about her love for Jesus come as naturally as some people talk about the weather. Sometimes we don't need the "I'm fine, your fine, we're all fine..." friends. We need someone who sharpens us. We need a running buddy to keep pace with.
And there's a realness of conversation that's only possible with someone who remembers when you had permed bangs in 1988 and will still be seen in public with you. There's nothing I could tell her that would shock her or she doesn't already know.
We meet once a month for coffee, omelettes and eggs benedict. We always say, "This coffee is amazing!"
So amazing in fact that we typically spend almost two hours getting refills and fixing all the world's problems together. But it's not time wasted. It's time my soul needs. This week I went in a hot mess. I spent Sunday night in the ER with an anaphylactic child. My tire has a nail in it and I had to get me and the kids ready by 6:15 to take Dan to work. I told her I felt like it was time to order lunch! But I left feeling restored and less focused on my problems.
I know that this coffee ritual will only last for a short season. But I love that God knows what we need even before we do. I love that some things in life do last. And, I love that Sunnyside has never kicked us out for drinking too much of their coffee.
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