I've Spilled My Coffee...

I used to spend part of my summers in my dream role as a barista at my local coffee shop. As an avid coffee drinker myself, I loved talking about different coffees, craft lattes, different roasts, etc. As I have become more invested and passionate about my coffee consumption, a pot of drip Folgers coffee does not quite cut it anymore.

As I was home for my lunch break today, I decided I needed an afternoon pick-me-up that was better than the K-Cup coffee from the break room. I made myself a pour-over using my Chemex with a new roast my husband and I had just gotten. As I was carefully pouring water over the grounds, I got a call on my cellphone conveniently taking my attention elsewhere. As I turned to answer my phone, my elbow tipped the Chemex over, and the coffee I had spent time making spilled everywhere.

I tell you this story for a reason. I recently came across a post that was instantly brought to my mind as I seeped up the coffee with paper towels. The post told of a similar story in which a man found himself spilling his coffee after someone had bumped into him. He was asked, "Why did you spill the coffee?"?He answered, "Because someone bumped into me". This actually was not the correct answer. Yes, he did in fact spill coffee but the only reason he spilled his coffee is because he had coffee in his mug. Had he had tea in his cup he would have spilled his tea.?

Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.??

I have noticed a common theme in the simple accident of a Friday afternoon and the metaphor that this story is. This theme carries across to my life and probably many others. This isn't to say we are severely lacking in our coffee consumption, while some of us may believe we are.

Looking at life beyond our favorite caffeinated beverage, we must ask ourselves two questions:??What is filling me up? What am I pouring out? It's so easy for us to get into a mindset where we are so incredibly busy in meetings, at events, working, spending time with friends and family, and pouring into them that we don't take the opportunity to look inward. The reality is that whatever you pour into yourself affects what you will pour out. So, what are you putting in??How are you filling your time? What are you doing to pour into yourself? Taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually is just as important as caring for those around you and checking those never-ending to-do's of your list.

There is a certain perspective that comes with a lifestyle of pouring into yourself.?

Personally, I get caught up many times spending a lot of time pouring out into other people and other tasks and activities in my life to the point where I feel like I am close to empty. Much like the coffee analogy earlier, I needed to look at how I was pouring into myself. Personally, who I am and what I pour out is rooted specifically in my relationship with the Lord. Through Him, I find relationships, peace, comfort, and abundance beyond what I could ask or imagine. As it says in Psalm 23:5, "my cup overflows" because I have a God who provides for me and fills me.

So, what is filling your cup? Is it God, joy, or gratitude? Or is it negativity, loneliness, exhaustion?

As a barista, I can tell you that my job was to pour out into other people. I got paid to talk to people and to pour whatever order they chose that day. It was rewarding for me because I greatly valued each and every one of my customers. There were a few customers that I had regularly who, when they walked in, would greet me with a smile, and I would know exactly what they were going to order. I knew bits and pieces about their stories, and they knew bits and pieces about mine.? It was a blessing that, while I spent time pouring into them, they took time to pour into me as well.

That's part of how relationships in general work it is a balance of pouring into one another. In any case, it is important to remember that?before you can?intentionally pour out to other people you need to be intentional about how you pour into yourself. Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:39 that we are supposed to "love our neighbor as ourselves". I think it's easy for us to focus on loving others before looking at the important factor of loving ourselves. As a professor once told me, you must be a healthy "I" before you can be a healthy "we." Each relationship you cultivate is formed with the ingredients and things each person brings to the table individually. In a way, we are all kind of like baristas pouring in and pouring out to others.??

So, my dear reader, my prayer for you today is that you take time to pour into yourself intentionally so that you may feel joy and feel it to the full (John 15:11). I pray that as you pour into yourself, you also may go out confidently into your relationships with other people and pour out fully and love abundantly.?

With joy,

Hannah