I Love You a Latte

img_0561

That’s a model employee right there! Humble, too.

I’ve been barista trained! Check it off the bucket list. Some of you may have extravagant things listed on your own bucket list, but mine has always been about the small things. Like being able to do french braids, skip rocks, and make a darn good latte. The “big” things seem to be gifts that fall into your lap, whereas the little things in life get pushed underneath the rug and before you know it your life just isn’t quite as rich as it could be. You’ve climbed Everest, but you don’t know how to listen to someone for more than 15 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, “Mountain Top” experiences are incredible, but only if supplemented by daily joys.

 

February 14th approaches, and like a giant snowstorm some of you are ridiculously excited and others are burrowing in, shutting the doors and windows, and lamenting it’s arrival.  This was my childhood experience:

Pink and red tablecloths, sparkling pink lemonade, a bag taped to the back of every chair for valentines, hearts everywhere, and at a least 15 girls under the age of 12 running around with bows in their hair. Don’t forget a heart themed craft at the end.

My Mom went totally over. the. top. It was wonderful. My favorite part was the plastic champagne glasses with sparkling lemonade. So fancy! Needless to say, I associated Valentines Day with a giant party with fun crafts, and not with needing/wanting/lamenting a significant other. I’d wish I could brag and say that I remembered that spirit forever and was never bummed out on Feb. 14th ever again, but alas, angst happens. It makes me a better writer now.

If Valentines Day is tough for you this year, I ask you to please, please, please, just make one valentine for someone. Even if it’s for your skinny love, unrequited love, or roommate. It’s up to you if you send it.

Skinny Love

when two people love each other but are too shy to admit it but they still show it.
One year, after an early morning swim practice my teammates took car pens and decorated all my windows with hearts and “We Love YOU”s! Gosh, that meant the world to me. I didn’t wash it off for weeks.
Yesterday, was the one year anniversary of my husband and I’s engagement. What a day of pure joy. I’ll always remember Jesse standing outside my house with a giant bouquet of blue flowers. He still has the lyrics to the song he wrote me taped to the side of our guitar.

img_0566img_0567

When I tell people that I’m a newlywed they usually ask “How did he propose?” and every time I tell the story I blush a little bit cause I can’t stop gushing about the little details. A notebook with stories and entries of our dates, a beautiful bouquet, a song played on the edge of Whatcom Falls. Confetti guns and our friends re-writing the lyrics to “Uptown Funk” just for us. It was a 1 year and 4 months of weekly date nights. 1 year and 4 months of funny conversations and shared jokes. Holding hands and nervous butterflies meeting each other’s family. First fight and first kiss. Cooking together and going to parks. All the little moments came together, and now we could finally celebrate.
We didn’t know what the next month would bring, and frankly we didn’t care beyond that moment. What a memory.
Speaking of not knowing the future, I believe that is a common trait we all share. Sure, we get glimpses or hopes or fears, or a the dentist appointment reminder call we didn’t want to remember for the future. You don’t get to know all of the details, or the moments. A year ago all I really knew was “I’m marrying Jesse soonish.” And that was enough for then. What’s enough for today? I’m not sure. Perhaps a quiet morning with a cinnamon sugar latte and a short devotional.
It’s exciting to see ideas take shape and then become reality. Even more exciting, though, is when God’s ideas take form…When baby Moses comes along, we’re ready for something amazing to happen. It will be from this unassuming moment that God will do the least expected.
-John D. Barry
It will be from the most unassuming moment that God will do the least expected. A cute guy comes to the Rec Center where you work and tries to use his friend’s ID card to get in, and then you marry him 3 years later (true story). You start to nanny a baby, and then end up becoming practically extended family. You become last minute roommates with a friend-of-friend who turns out to be spiritual warrior. A baby is born to rescue a whole group of oppressed peoples. (In no particular order).
The work and effort you are putting in now, the little unassuming moments, are the building blocks of the sweet and precious mountain top experiences. The work you put in now may be the only thing you can hold on to when the storm comes. To put it into another layer of metaphor:

PUT YOUR RUNNING SHOES ON!

fullsizerender 3

(Metaphorically). (Or not metaphorically, because running is good for you).
The race isn’t over, people. Tie up those laces and be ready to walk, jog, run or crawl (We all have those seasons). Don’t be discouraged!

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

12 1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Hebrews 12:1-3, The Message.

Phew! This is a long post for me which, frankly, might have been influenced by sampling a lot of new espresso drinks I’ve made.

 

What ‘unassuming moments’ do you know recognize as being pivotal in your life?

– K