Saturday, February 28, 2009

I Love Coffee!!

I love coffee! I know that comes as a shock to many of you who know me…but I must confess it. I love coffee! I love the aroma, the way it is made, the work that goes into it. To me…coffee is a form of art. I might even be called a bit of a coffee snob. I love to find local coffee shops that serve locally roasted coffee so that I can partake in the art of the area. A favorite memory of mine is sitting in a little coffee shop with a little old lady on the side of a mountain in Costa Rica. Her coffee shop overlooked the communities coffee fields that all took part in harvesting. The cup I was drinking was the product and pride of the village of Monteverde, Costa Rica.

If you asked me, “Do you love coffee more than God?” the answer would be simple. There isn’t a chance that I love coffee more than God. A few weeks ago I was talking to my teens about making a sacrifice for a time and one of them asked if I could go without coffee. I felt challenged. I would never say that I love coffee more than God but could I give coffee up as a testimony for how much I love God? 

I'm not say that you have to give up something as if it were required to prove to God how much you love Him but it can be healthy in a relationship from time to time to say, “I love you this much.” We do so many things in our lives that are not inherently bad but sometimes we put them above God without realizing it. What could you give up for a time? What is something that consumes you more than God? What is something that you could remove from your life that’ll bring you closer to the God who created you?

I am proud of my teens. This past weekend at Winterfest they were challenge with living “Elemental Lives.” Everything that happens in life comes down to two elements – L-1 and L-2…Love God and Love Others. When these elements come together powerful things happen. Many of the teens are taking this challenge of Loving God and making a sacrifice for a time to work on that major element in their lives. During this time they are also going through daily devotionals to help them focus on L-1 and L-2 and apply them to their lives. I look forward to seeing what kind of growth happens in their relationships with God and with others.

2 comments:

Sammie said...

it's a good challenge. I challenged myself to only drink fair trade coffee, and it's quite difficult.

Ryan Russell said...

I struggle with that too. My biggest hold up is not only finding fair trade but finding where it doesn't cost a ton of money. My version of fair trade is someone typically gives me a bag of coffee...I think that is fair. When I do buy coffee I try and buy something that is at least locally roasted. I actually just bought an amazing Highland Grog coffee in Gatlinburg, TN right before I gave up coffee for Lent. It has been tempting me.