Coffee snobbery to a new level

Anyone who know my husband, knows that he loves to make yummy coffee drinks.  We own a little espresso/barista machine that he uses to steam his milk and makes shots of espresso for the most wonderful latte'.  Every morning throughout the year he makes me a coffee drink that far surpasses any coffee shop.  I'm pretty spoiled.

When we go camping or if we are at a hotel, away from his espresso machine, he will bring along our french press so that we do not have to go without great coffee.  He really gets a kick out of serving people by making coffee drinks for them and watching their faces when they discover how good it is.  It's early right now and I'm going without coffee until he gets up to make me one.  I just know that it's worth the wait.  I usually only have one coffee a day so it better be good.  He loves making me coffee, you could even say it is his "love language" to me.

In Cameroon, coffee is one of their main exports.  The books that I have read say that they grow coffee there but do not usually drink the coffee.  We were concerned about being able to find coffee in Ndu where we will be.  A friend who has been there mentioned that you can get it but we will need to roast our own beans!  The thought of this makes me giggle.  Drew is already so particular about making the perfect coffee, I know he will embrace roasting his own beans.  There will be no stopping him and he will no longer be satisfied with a normal cup of coffee again.

Blessings Showered Down

December is here and I’m starting to freak out a little at how fast the time is going.  This morning I was taking a long shower, talking to God about all the things on my mind and trying to let go of my worries.  Ever since my children were small I have had a rule not to bug me in the shower unless the house is on fire.  I justify it because I have always been with my kids day and night.  Being in the shower is like a little retreat or personal spa treatment, it gives me time to renew my mind and be a better Mom.

 I was showering and praying about what to bring to Africa without over packing.  No small feat, because when we camp we pack for comfort.  I definitely struggle with over packing.   This will be much longer than any camping trip I have ever been on.  It's not fair to compare it with camping but that is the closest thing in my experiences.  We will have a house to live in so I certainly will have a comfortable place but it will be different. 

Right in the middle of my prayer, the thought came into my mind – How many people in the world don’t even have enough water to drink?  What would they think right now if they could see me standing here?  Besides the shock of seeing a naked, overweight, very white, 40 something woman- I wonder what would go through their mind?  I’m sure for some it would be something they could barely wrap their minds around.  They would probably think I had lost my mind wasting water like that.  If I wanted I could drink my shower water and not get sick.  Here I am with gallons of water washing over me and down the drain, while people all over the world are dying from disease caused by  infected water.   It’s not like I can bottle up the water going down my drain and make any kind of difference, but do I really understand what an amazing blessing it is not to worry about water?

We may or may not have access to showers on a daily basis while in Africa, but at least our showers will need to be much shorter than we enjoy here.  I read one story of a short term missions team that was in Africa for 2 weeks in a village that had a shortage of water.  They had rationed out water for the team to drink but one lady was using the filtered water to wash her hair.  All I could think was – Please Lord, help me not to be so culturally insensitive that I do something so incredibly selfish.  I know that I am selfish through and through and  my eyes are going to be opened to that fact more and more while we are in Africa.  

Today I am thankful for my fresh water to drink, my toilet to flush, my hot shower, my sink with running water to wash my dishes.  I'm also thankful for the amazing blessing of getting to go without these things for even a short while and live like most of the world.  We live in a land of abundance, in a season of even more abundance.  God, show me how to be content, to let go of wanting more, to be satisfied with the blessings all around me big and small.  Help me to be satisfied in you alone.