November 8, 2008

• Coffee & TV Shows

  So…although I usually post like a madman, I felt like letting that last one simmer for a while. Not to mention a certain day came and went during the latter half of this week.

  **And let me just take a quick timeout to say THANK YOU to all of you that wished me Happy Birthday this week. I literally received about 50 or 60 wall comments, emails, etc…to congratulate me on my day. Plus a ton of phone calls and text messages…and even some gifts…it was overwhelming. So thanks.
  (p.s. I’m not very good at saying thank you…so I’m trying reeeeeeealy hard, but my empty-tin-can chest makes it all the more difficult…so thank you…from the bottom of my…tin-can?)
  
  Another blogger makes reference to me on one of her posts…well…turns out you’ve been winning the last couple of days, sawwadeetekaka…but in the end, I’ll kick your blogging butt. Heh heh…just thought I’d throw that in there for some good fun…

  If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that we put Noah in Kindergarten this year, making this the first time that BOTH kids are in school and out of the house in the morning (at least until 11:30 or so…). So after 5 years of having a little munchkin hanging out with you all day, said munchkin is gone in the morning and Christy and I are finding that we have about 3-4 hours in the morning of precious alone time…and it’s been an adjustment.

  But nothing that took us very long to get used to…I mean, we’re not crazy!!

  With two little guys, our day starts pretty early in the morning. After dropping the kids off at school, one can usually find us at the local Starbucks reading our books and talking with people.

  For a while, the cost of the coffee outweighed the benefit of the time spent at Starbucks. THEN, a weird thing happened. This local Starbucks became the place that Howard Schutlz dreamed it would—a place to connect. We started to notice that the same people were always there around the same time every day. Sure, some came and went with their Joe-to-go…but a good many of the folks were sticking around…but here’s the weird part…they were talking…to each other. 

  Strangers.

  People with no other connection except for their desire for a swift kick-in-the-pants in the morning…these people were talking.

  So what did we do? We joined in the conversation, of course!

  And the conversation was anything if not interesting.  Politics has been a hot topic lately (well…where has it not), along with the state of the world, religion, philosophy, and other things one would never imagine would be discussed with a group of strangers over coffee.

  Honestly, it’s been quite fascinating to watch/partake in.

  And living where we do during the week–these aren’t your ordinary people–these are lawyers, pop stars, writers/producers, actors, etc…all connecting with a grad student in theology and a music pastor/film composer with just as many opinions as them.

  So now, of course, this isn’t just any conversation.

  It’s networking.

  It’s connecting.

  It’s community.

  It’s relationship.

  …and it’s an important part of our day.

  I don’t always stay for very long. I leave after a little bit and generally Christy will stay a tiny bit longer and then walk home to get some exercise or something. Sometimes I bring the laptop and work while I’m there, other times I just read and study.  I’m fairly convinced that being connected with these people will eventually turn into an opportunity to work with one or more of them–but that’s not why we do it.

  We do it because we were made to do it. God formed us for community.

  And whether that’s hanging out with precious friends for dinner and The Office on my birthday, studying the book of James with my small group, or talking about Obama over Pike’s Place Roast (which is quite gross, btw), it’s what we were made to do…

  …so we do.

  • 11:00 am
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