the best part of waking up...is Folger's in a cup!

It was not a good way to start my day. The alarm went off and I wanted nothing more than to stay in my bed and keep sleeping. The room is still dark and the blankets feel so comforting. I wake up. I roll out of bed (more like jump out of bed...since my bed is ridiculously high off the ground, I can't sit on the edge and touch the floor with my toes). Normally, this would be the point in my morning where I walk slowly with my eyes somewhat squinted as if by keeping them semi-closed I can stay in my world of sleep longer and I make coffee in my handy-dandy coffee maker. However, today when I woke up I decided to use some old coffee which I had kept in the fridge over night and heat it up for this morning. I got my little mug and filled it up and placed it in the microwave. And the familiar 'ding' of the microwave clock told me...come get your coffee, it's all ready! But I was busy doing other things: contacts, clothes, checking facebook, getting books and notebooks ready...and then I heard a crazy noise, someone else had used my coffee maker but had not set the filter at the right spot so the coffee was spurting all over the counter. It was a mess. It was a sad waste of what would have been beautiful coffee. It was not a good way to start my day. So I helped figure out the problem, wiped up some of the spilled coffee and then it was time for me to head out the door. I looked at my cup of coffee, alone, waiting for me on the counter and sadly turned away without getting a single sip.

Now for the rest of the day, I noticed my attitude was not very positive. I was cranky. I was unhappy. I was moody. I was tired. Lunch time rolled around and people wondered if it was safe to sit with me or if I was going to bite their head off. After my last class of the day, I returned to my apartment and finally reconnected with my cup of coffee. O what rejoicing ensued!

Now, what is the point of all this? Is this simply a tale that proves my unhealthy addiction to coffee?
Please, you must know me better than that! Of course there's a connection somewhere...

All that time I spent without having a cup of coffee, I felt the loss. All morning I thought, I missed my daily cup of coffee. I need to have some coffee. My morning feels so incomplete without my coffee. Nothing felt right until I had my coffee. It's not hard to brew some fresh coffee. It doesn't even take 5 minutes. You pour the water, put in the coffee, and hit "on". And as it brews the smell permeates the air. I love the smell of coffee. I love how it lingers in the air. When you heat up old coffee, you don't get to smell the fresh brewing. There is no rich aroma. Here's what God showed me today through my coffee:

God wants to be my coffee. God wants to be so intertwined with my life, my daily routine, that when I don't talk to Him, when I don't read what He has to say, I will feel the loss. He wants me to be so relient on Him that when I don't go to Him, I will go through my day thinking I missed my daily God time. I need to have some God time. My morning feels so incomplete with my God time. Nothing will feel right until I spend some time with Him. Sometimes I try to use old coffee. I think, well I went to church last night and I got my God time in. I'll just reheat that, I'll just count that for today. But there's this thing called a relationship and God wants to have one with me (and with you). And He wants that relationship to be fresh and new every day with His fragrance pouring into my life. He wants me to allow His presence to linger in the air and permeate the room. And you know what? I want that too.

I don't want to have another bad day because I didn't get my coffee.
I don't want to have another day trying to make it through without my God.

The coffee is always ready to be made.
God is always ready to hang out with me (and you).

So, let my alarm ring loud and clear in the morning...so that I can rise and start the day.
The right way.
With my fresh-brewed cup of coffee.