my experiences

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The Coffee Shop

I’m not much of a coffee drinker, in fact I don’t drink coffee at all.  I don’t think I have ever bought a coffee for myself, and if I have, it wasn’t to savor the flavor. Recently, my wife and I were in Calgary visiting our daughter who happens to love coffee.  As a result, I have now visited more coffee shops in the last 5 days than I have in my entire life.

Being new to coffee shops, I observed the various places we visited and made some observations. I found that coffee shops often use black boards to display their menus.  I’m not sure if that’s because they often make mistakes and chalk is easy to erase, or if the people who work there are really neat printers and like to show it off.

 I also found these shops unique.  They each had their own unique decor and expressed their owner’s personality.  There were a couple of things, however, that were common in all.  The tables were small and very close together.  Strangers were sitting inches from me and nobody seemed to mind or even notice that they were in my space.

The other common thing was the noise level.  It was loud in these coffee shops on two levels.  First, the coffee machines make an incredible amount of noise for only working with water, milk and coffee beans (our coffee maker at home is virtually silent).  And then there is the talking. People have to talk over the noise of the machines, but also over the voices of the people sitting about 4 inches from their right ear.

Also, from the “research” I did, people like to frequent the same coffee shop often. Apparently, it’s because they like the atmosphere, or the location, or maybe it’s the coffee they like … but I can’t really comment on that – I just had water.  It was good tasting water, mind you, and I am now becoming a connoisseur of fine water.

I started thinking about the similarities between the coffee shop and the church, and I think there are some parallels to make.  Churches have a personality of their own just like coffee shops, and people sit close together when they are in the sanctuary and stand close together in the foyer after church. You might even find yourself right next to someone you don’t know well or have never met.  It’s loud in church when we sing, or when the pastor is trying to emphasize his point, and it is loud in the foyer before and after church with people talking.

There is one difference, however.  People don’t mind going to the same coffee shop over and over again, sitting by people they see often, while never interacting or getting to know them. It’s different at church.  People will soon look for another church if they come and no one talks to them.

The biggest difference between the coffee shop and the church is God.  His love for us has connected us together and should draw us towards those who enter our church for the first time. His love should motivate us to take that first step toward them or open our mouths to say hello.

No matter how much you love that black stuff in your cup, or the atmosphere of the shop, coffee will never move you to open up to the person next to you.  Only God can do that.

Until next time!

Pastor Paul

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Birthday Cake

April 26, 2012

When I became a parent, life became dominated by doing things for my kids. At first they needed help with everything.  I remember the day before Karlie was born, we decided to go to the store. We just grabbed our coats and went out the door. The day after she came home from the hospital we decided to go out.  But first she needed to be fed.  Then she needed to be changed.  We had to pack a bag for her (just to go to the store). When we were finally ready to leave, I didn’t feel like going to the store any more.

In time, our kids became more independent.  I remember Mike, at one and half years old, telling Lily, who was trying to get him dressed, “I do it myself.”  But as they grew they still needed lots of assistance with things like tying shoes, homework, and driving them places.  And when they got older, the assistance they needed just became more expensive (car insurance, trips, university costs).

The other day however, I had an experience that seemed to turn the tables to them helping me.  Lily was turning 50 and I decided to make a cake for Lily.  Having a birthday cake on her birthday has always been a big thing for her.  Usually I buy one, but this was her 50th – a special birthday – and I knew it would mean a lot to her if I made her birthday cake.  The only trouble with that was, I’ve only made about two other cakes in my life.  I knew making the cake would not be too hard as the instructions are on the cake mix package.  But the icing, I didn’t have a clue what to do for that!  Well, a quick text to my daughter got me some help. She not only confirmed what flavour of cake to make, but she told me the kind of icing to make and she texted, “I’ll email you an easy recipe.”

That gave me a funny feeling.  It wasn’t me helping my daughter, it was my daughter helping me.  It was actually a pretty nice feeling.  She’s an adult now, and she’s looking out for her dad, doing things for him.  I kind of like that feeling; I look forward to more of these types of experiences.

The whole experience reminds me of how God longs to change our relationship.  Some of us spend years doing everything for ourselves and everyone else. But God wants to come alongside us and help us.  We are so used to helping ourselves, that we sometimes resist God’s help.  But having His help is a blessing.  And when we come to realize this truth, we will begin to appreciate His help.  We may even begin to seek His help more and more. You will find that God wants to help in the decisions you make, the problems you face, and the thoughts that race through your mind. He wants to direct your life.  You can resist and keep doing it yourself or you can receive the blessing He offers and let Him help.  The greatest thing we can do, is allow God to help us through life. Begin today to take Him up on His offer to help . . . with that career decision, with the purchase you are contemplating, or the life path you are considering.  We will experience the blessing when we seek Him for things we have always done ourselves.

Until next time!

Pastor Paul