Coffee Date

 

Good morning dear friends 🙂 Let’s sit down over some coffee, shall we?  I know what I’m going to have – homemade coconut mocha! (click the photo above for a link to the recipe).

 

The coffee date is nothing new; in fact two of my favorite bloggers ever have them frequently on their blogs, and it’s always one of my favorite ways to get to know them.  I actually do pretend we’re sitting down and drinking something frothy and caffeine-y and wonderful and just dishing about life!

 

So while it’s not a new idea, here goes:

 

If we were having coffee this morning I would probably start off by taking a great big sip and asking how you slept.  At some point during this initial part of the conversation I’ll talk to you about mattresses and how ours (even though it’s basically new) is making Nate and I feel like we’re 80 years old.  I’d probably ask if you have any suggestions, know any chiropractors who work for bloggers pro bono, or if you’d like to give me a massage.  I’ll pretend I’m kidding, but I’m almost certain I’d be serious.

 

If we were hanging out over coffee I’d probably tell you about our friend Andrew.  About how he has cancer, probably won’t live to see 2014, and (when/if God calls him home) will be leaving behind an amazing and beautiful wife and an amazing and beautiful little girl.  Andrew performed our wedding ceremony and played a massive role in leading Nate to Christ; he’s played a huge part in our family because of both of those things.  He helped teach and lead Nate, and therefore Nate has become an amazing teacher and leader.  During our wedding ceremony he opened my eyes to the words of Ruth and what it looks like to submit to my husband in a biblical way.  Even now, in the midst of the immense sadness he and his family face, his faith is bringing me even closer to the Lord.  There aren’t a lot of people I can say that about.  I’d probably be sobbing at this point, and we’d stop and pray for them.  Just pray.  I don’t know what to pray for other than God’s will being done and hoping beyond hope that God’s will is to cure Andrew in the most miraculous way.  I would tell you how much I love my husband, and how I don’t know what I would do without him – and once again I’d say a silent prayer (for the 10th time that day) thanking him for Nate.

 

If we were having coffee right now we’d probably talk about how this whole blogging gig is going – it’s so funny when my friends find out what I do for a living.  I can remember so long ago when I started I never dreamed that I’d be able to make a living by doing it.  Then I remember finding out that people actually did that – they quit their traditional jobs and BLOGGED FOR MONEY.  Oh, how I dreamed to finally achieve that!  And now that I have?  I just can’t believe how lucky I am, and yet I can’t believe how so often I still find myself comparing my blog and my writing and my photography and my social media success to others.  Every time I catch myself doing it I feel so ridiculous and bratty.  And I fall down on my knees and thank the Lord for this gig.  I love it and I love that I get to share my heart with you guys!

 

If we were having coffee I would maybe venture into telling you about all of my crafting projects as of late.  I promise to get a post up on those soon, but I just have to share how productive I feel when I make something that’s not food!  Food I make all the time – again, a huge blessing – but crafting is now the new baking in my life.  It’s what I do when I need to have a creative outlet and release…I can’t wait to finish up the big one I’ve been working on!

 

Finally we’d probably talk about books.  I have really been making a huge effort to read more lately, and I’m loving it.  When I was growing up I would plow through about 3 books a week, and then life took over and it stopped being a priority.  Lately I’ve read the following:

7 by Jen Hatmaker (OMG. Read this now)
Don’t Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman
1000 Gifts by Anne Voskamp
The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns
Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequest (Just starting this one)
Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott

We’d talk about what we liked and didn’t like about each one, and I’d probably hungrily make a list of all your new reading recommendations because thinking about what to read as adult (i.e. not Baby Sitters Club books) totally freaks me out.  I get all anxious and scared that I’ll spend money on something I hate.  And this is when you’ll start to really notice how weird I can be 🙂

 

We’d probably hug and say see-you-later for the next coffee date, and I’d leave feeling happy and completely refreshed because you have totally blessed my socks off by being my friend!