Back to the routine

How's that song go? "It's the most wonderful time of the year..." yeah, that one. I know, I know, it's not Christmas but it is the start of the school year out here in South Dakota. And my son started kindergarten this year. I don't know who's happier and more excited--he or I?

What's really cool is the fact that he's totally into transformers now. Yeah. That's right. I'm raising my son right. I've introduced him to the awesome that is Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. And today, he told his teacher "I like Transformers because my Daddy introduced me to them." No lie and no prompting from me.

Not only is my son returning to school but so is my wife. After a few years hiatus from teaching, she is now returning to school to teach part time. This means that my two-year old is in day care (which I think we all needed to tell the truth).

So what does this all mean? Structure!!! Yippee!! This is what someone like me with ADHLAS (Attention Deficit...Hey! Look! A Squirrel!) so needs and to tell the truth craves. I'm so happy to have structure back again. I even was able to hit the gym early this morning for the first time since...well, since summer started. And so now I'm working on getting back in the routine.

It also means that I'm starting to get back in the routine of watching LifeChurch.TV podcasts while I'm on the stationary bike. It means getting back into having that quiet time in my mornings with Bible and coffee.

I so need structure..to tell the truth, I'm shocked my Straterra kept me together this long without that much structure.

What about you? With the school kicking in, with things getting back into a routine, are you looking forward to it or dreading it?

what I've learned from coffee--A lenten meditation

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love coffee. There's just something about it first thing in the morning that gets me going. And, no, it's not the caffeine. Okay, it's not just the caffeine. It's all the memories wrapped up into it. There's something about sitting around with friends drinking coffee and eating a slice of pie. There's something about standing around after church, coffee in hand, gabbing away with friends.

Recently, I've realized just how thankful I am for coffee.

We've all gone through hard ache and pain. We've all heard the cry of the catawampus. But what happens at the end of the tunnel? What's the outcome?

For me, it all boils down to coffee. Literally.

Take three items here--carrots, eggs and coffee beans. Carrots are hard, stiff. Eggs are fragile, coffee beans are hard and oily.

When problems hit, they can hit us hard and totally mess with us in ways we'd never like. It's a lot like boiling water. Hot, scalding, violent.

Carrots in boiling water become soft, floppy, and loose a lot of nutrients. So many times, we can run the risk of entering into a season of problems just like that and be beaten up so much we come out just floppy.

Eggs on the other hand get cooked. They look the same on the outside but on the inside they are hard...and that cooked yolk can be bitter. We can run the risk of looking the same on the outside, but be bitter and hard on the inside.

Coffee beans on the other hand are a different story. You put coffee beans in boiling water and you get coffee. Coffee beans change, they are still in boiling water, but the water now becomes coffee. Both change. And, in my open, are better for it.

Now, if life just down right stinks right now, don't become a carrot, don't become an egg. Allow it to stink but don't allow it to change you. Allow it to make you into something wonderful--let it turn you into coffee.

In fact, God promises to make you coffee

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God. Isaiah 43:2-3

Paul says something in Romans that helps me to remember that I will always be coffee because of the grace of God.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Looking at Easter, it's because of Jesus that we can truly be coffee by the grace of God.

Are you coffee?

The Joy of...Coffee

There's just something about coffee. I love it. I wonder if all the problems of the world could be settled if we just sat down around a table and drank coffee and relaxed. I've had coffee from Greece where it's so thick and rich that the grounds stick to the sides and they tell your fortune from them. I've had coffee in the Ukraine and Hungary where it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up straight. They sip it from little cups savoring each drop wherein I took them like shots of whiskey one right after the other (not that I've ever had whiskey before...). I've had coffee with dignitaries and coffee with homeless people. Coffee is the great equalizer and coffee creates memories.

I have just as many memories in my coffee as I do non-dairy creamer. My first mug of klah came from my grandmother. I had a paper route when I was 13 and we were living with my grandparents. Each morning, I'd start my day with a mug of the warm delicious caffeine and she'd smoke her cigarette having the satisfaction of being the first person on the street to do the crossword puzzles.

There's something about coffee and spiritual health as well. As I dive into God's word each week, coffee is my constant companion. Always there as I struggle and wrestle with the word of God. It's with me as I pray. And it's with me after church when we're socializing and having the Adult Bible Study. And it's here with me now, cradled in a large green mug bearing the name of Michigan and decorated with evergreen trees and a full moon.

More and more coffee has been seen for its medicinal benefits as well. When drunk black, it helps with weight loss, athletic performance and even production of calcium(or so says Yahoo! Health). When diagnosed with ADD, my doc asked if I'd ever tried upping my caffeine intake. Generally when people are first diagnosed with ADD, they try caffeine because it in fact has a calming effect on people with ADD. After I explained my two pot a day habit, medication was instead prescribed. Apparently, I'd been self medicating all these years.

What about you? How has coffee been there for you?