Far too long...

It's been nearly a month and a half since my last opportunity to post anything here. To those of you who check periodically for new posts, I apologize. You know that little thing that sometimes gets in the way of what we enjoy doing... life? It popped up again.

I've just completed 9 credit hours in 4 weeks, pushing me toward my goal of graduating from Mizzou in May; I now need 24 credit hours to graduate with two degrees: History and Religious Studies. I know those are probably the first areas of interest you would have pinned on me since I've started a coffee shop on campus here and continue to be a coffee fanatic... but this is the real me, a history loving, religiously studying, coffee freak.

I don't want you to expect some major post today, but I do have a story to share. Yesterday after church, my family and I went over to a friend from church's house for lunch. They (a married couple) entertained us for a few hours very comfortably. Inevitably it seemed, the conversation turned to coffee. 

This seems to be a pattern. Whenever I'm around, with people who know anything of me, the talk turns to coffee. Why? There are a million topics we could have shared yesterday, none having anything to do with MY beloved mistress, coffee. In fact, I actively tried to steer the conversation away from coffee towards the beginning, but to no avail. This may seem a bit odd, that a man in love with the stuff would avoid talking about it. My reasoning here is that whenever the conversation begins to turn the direction of my love, I get very enthusiastic and begin to sound like a lunatic.

This may be the reason why people enjoy talking coffee with me though, because I get so into it- I turn into a coffee information geyser, gushing coffee knowledge to the laymen and women who rapid fire questions to what they perceive as the coffee guru in their midst. I was even conned into bringing by small roaster over (their house is a mere 80 yards from my own) and demonstrating (in vague terms) how the coffee roasting process is carried out. I left a bit for them to try in the next few days, giving them ownership in the product- all things I had done while working in the industry full-time. It was like I had been selling coffee to them the entire time without a real motivation- beyond my own passion, that is.

Here is the key, I think. Those of us in the industry who are selling coffee for the money and exclusively so, are in danger of losing the "spark" that people like my neighbors see and exploit for their own growth in the subject. Without the "spark", the love of coffee, the burning passion for this silly subject- those who are nominally interested in coffee can never be persuaded to anything more. So, to those of you who are in the business, cultivate your passion for your product. Your passion will show and it will sell.

Lord, thank you for a great day yesterday. Thank You for great friends in the church. I pray I could have a passion for Your Word and Your love like I do for this menial substance, coffee. Keep my head deflated and on straight. Here we go.