The question approached me like the subtlety of fall; you don’t really feel it coming, but suddenly it’s upon you.
Do I love God?
Which is a strange question to consider, given my nearly lifelong devotion…
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I left a very stable 15 year teaching career to roast coffee.
Some might think I was crazy to do it...
In fact, when I first announced the concept behind Wild Goose Coffee Roasters, one of my colleagues bellowed, "My gosh, Nate, THAT has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"
And that was all the motivation I needed.
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To My Dear Boys,
It’s a different world than the one I grew up in. A very different world.
In some ways, it’s a much better world. But in a lot of ways things are pretty rough. Hatred abounds, whether between the sexes, between nations, between ideologies, between races. It’s everywhere, boys. It plays out on social media, on the news, and in classrooms and playgrounds.
Avoid hatred at all costs, sons. It is everywhere, but it doesn’t have to be inside of you.
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I struggle with a lot of things, but I never would have pegged myself as an angry person. Those who know me would describe me as a pretty mellow, easy-going guy.
So all this time I’ve considered anger to be number seven on my personal list of deadly sins.
That is, until I heard someone say that anger is rooted in a dissatisfaction that things aren’t perfect.
Oh
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I woke up an hour earlier than my alarm this morning.
It’s probably related to the workload I have on my plate right now: In addition to the day to day responsibilities of running my own business, I am flying out tomorrow morning to attend Coffee Fest Dallas (yes, if the comic book people can have their own convention, then we coffee people certainly can as well!)
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Election season.
Political signs on every corner, my mailbox stuffed with political propaganda, a list of presidential candidates that gets people from all political persuasions fired up out of fear, hatred, angst—all with an increased level of voter apathy among the younger generations.
Why such a furor?
I think it’s because we feel like we’re continually being let down by our elected officials. It can be due to shady morals, untrustworthy actions, or simply unfulfilled promises.
But is it possible that we get let down because we allow our hopes to get too high?
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As a parent, I find that I learn so much from my children…
My oldest son, Garrett, has been asking for new soccer cleats for a while now. He is an avid fan and dedicated player, and the cleats he’s been using have had their fair share of punishment.
He had some extra birthday money, so I decided to take him and his brothers to Sport Chalet; the store is closing shop after many decades in Southern California, so everything in stock is massively discounted.
We negotiated the chaos of the parking lot, making our way to the back of the store where the cleats were. To our delight, there was a sign marking all cleats at 60% off.
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We’ve all been there... Rejected.
I’m not talking about when someone rejects your outfit, or rejects your sales pitch, or even your resume.
I’m talking about when they reject you.
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I made reference to physical and financial pain in my last post, and a number of you have reached out to check in on my well-being, and I’m oh so grateful.
To fill in some of the details, let’s back up about 6 weeks…
I wrote a post called Finding Your Harp, where I chronicled the value I was finding in cycling—how it was my source of physical, emotional, and even spiritual recharging.
Shortly thereafter, my harp broke.
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Growing up, I never cared much about being popular.
That is, until I hit junior high.
Then I had to have all the right brands of clothing , because I knew that if I was wearing anything that might be found on a rack at Mervyn’s, I could risk the danger of being socially ostracized.
So my parents would give me a clothing budget, and I would blow the entire wad onone pair of pants and a shirt or two.
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