Coffee Date // 1

If you and I were getting together for coffee, we’d sure have a lot to talk about! 

What did you get to drink today? Are you a die hard coffee fan? Or do you go for the fancier, “froo froo” drinks, as my husband would put it? 🙂 I’m clutching a vanilla chai – my go-to cup of happiness. I’d admit that although I am such a coffeeshop person, I actually only have coffee on Saturday mornings – a few hazelnut-creamered sips from my husband’s mug will suffice – but I’d also be quick to tell you that that is one of my favorite times of the whole week! Don’t you just love slow mornings spent in a quiet house with loved ones? It is a time of week that I cherish. And so are these times – we just don’t seem to get coffee together enough!

How are you doing? My guess is, we’d be giggling over some silly little jokes already. I’d tell you a funny story from a couple weeks back – how I thought that I could make Friday an even better day by chugging almost a cup of my husband’s morning coffee. But instead, I soon felt adrenaline surging through my legs, my vision buzzed clear, and my stomach got jittery and upset. It’s silly how quickly (and thoroughly) caffeine hits me. The good news, though, is that I suddenly had the energy to power-walk around the elementary school and accomplish a great number of errands before the kids arrived at 8 am! 🙂

If we were on a coffee date, I’d ask you about your job, your path…if you feel that college prepared you well for this road you’re currently on. Are you surprised by your after-college experience? Is this how you’ve always imagined your future? I’ve found that the plans God had for me after graduation were incredibly more beautiful and fulfilling than what I could’ve come up with myself. To be honest, I’ve only recently submitted myself to God’s will regarding His plans for my work life – and it’s so beautiful how happy I am, now that I listened to Him say where He truly wants me! I’d admit to you that some days, college feels so recent and I feel so young and naive in this big world. And on other days, college seems worlds away and I know – oh, how I know – that I’ve grown and stretched and fought past who I was even then! I’d ask you if you ever get lonely. Leaving college and its world of “instant friends” can be quite a reality check. There’s such a big world out there and sometimes we can feel lost in it.

I’d lean in and quietly tell you that sometimes, yeah, it can be hard living far from so much of the things I was used to before. I’m not a 10 minute drive from a mall, or 5 minutes from a Starbucks. But on the flip side – oh, the life that is offered us out in the country. Rush hour doesn’t even exist! And you know, our small town even has a little health foods store. You’ve just got to look around to discover some gems! And my husband and I, we’re such dream spinners now. I haven’t dreamed dreams like this before I met Bjorn. I used to quietly plan and take baby steps. But when Bjorn and I are dreaming of the future we have together – that I have with this practical, wise man – it’s so liberating and exciting! And it still feels safe. I’m slowly but surely realizing that I can have even more goals and plans and hopes – my heart is twisting happily in so many directions, directions that could all come together so beautifully. What are your dreams? Do you have a passion you’re aching to make bigger and more real in your life?

I’d glance down at my chipped nails and comment to you that once again, they need repainting. Why does it seem I’m always touching up nail polish? Do you have any suggestions for making it last longer? Then again, I don’t really mind painting them over and over. It’s kind of a relaxing ritual I have. What little routines do you have that relax you or make you feel put together?

If we were on a coffee date, I’d gush about the book series that my husband and I are super into right now! My best friend and her husband introduced us to the Wingfeather Saga books and we haven’t looked back since borrowing the first book from them! In fact, we’ve gone ahead and ordered the remaining three! It seems kind of silly to be so in love with a book technically meant for kids… but the depth and the wit and the mystery and the outrageous hilarity and action is unbelievable! I’d recommend it to you immediately! It’s definitely a series worth checking out. Bjorn and I are knee-deep in the third book right now and still find ourselves amazed by plot twists around every bend! It’s a heartwarming, interesting, action-packed series – the perfect books to bring along on a road trip to read out loud.

Tell me about you – how you have been doing. If we were on a coffee date, I’d want to hear all about your latest dreams, how your husband is enjoying his job, or maybe what this time of marriage or singleness has been teaching you. What have you been reading lately – and learning from God lately?

Eventually, after many laughs (and probably a refill of our drinks), it’d be time to head home. If we were on a coffee date, I’d leave you with a hug and an “It’s been so good to catch up!” and a mix CD of songs I’ve been loving lately. This one would be on it for sure – it’s always in my head after my husband plays it in the morning before work:

 

Love you, friend! Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday.