All in Faith
We recently had the opportunity to join some beloved family members at Six Flags for the day. Given that we have three boys who jump at any whiff of adventure, we trekked over to what used to be called Magic Mountain (now Six Flags California) for a day of fun.
One ride, in particular, caught my attention:
It’s the new version of Freefall – redone from the days of my youth to be four times taller, and a million times more thrilling.
Take a brief moment out of your day today and look around at the people in your midst, particularly if you’re in a public place.
As you glance around, make an effort to look into each person’s inner being – in a non-creepy way, of course, because people get arrested for being creepy, and we certainly don’t want that.
But take a look. What do you observe?
What I see is complex and conflicted human beings.
This Christmas season has completely snuck up on me. Maybe it’s the spring-like weather we have here in SoCal, maybe it’s something else, but I’ve been having a “holy crap” moment right about now—hoping, pleading, and praying that Amazon can deliver on their promise to have gifts in hand before Christmas Day.
But this panic I’m feeling is more than just meeting deadlines and having gifts to offer my loved ones in a few days.
The panic I’m feeling runs deeper. At its core is the desire not just to give gifts, but to give good gifts.
You know, those ones that strike a chord in peoples’ hearts, the ones that say I see you; the ones my family will cherish, and remember.
Maybe that’s too much pressure, but the truth is we all want to give good gifts. But I’ve noticed a deeper question surfacing inside of me these past few months...
We had no idea Las Vegas was about to happen.
We recently released our latest coffee t-shirt, and as you can see from the picture, it has nothing to do with coffee.
We wanted to go with something simple; a message we could all rally behind, and so we went with “Love People”.
We figured it was time to get back to the basics—that we all can lean in directions opposite of loving people from time to time, and so we thought a tangible reminder wouldn’t be so bad.
Because loving people is one of the more difficult tasks we have.
I was driving down the 210 Freeway the other day stuck in the state of unfettered joy that is Southern California rush hour traffic (don’t tell me you can’t relate). You know, the kind of traffic where texting while driving is probably legal; where you get the privilege of studying the nuances of any and all scratches, dents, or other blemishes in the cars around you; where your desire for listening to yet one more podcast about business, spiritual development, or anything else for that matter has died a slow and painful death; where all you want to do is move out to the prairie, learn a new dialect, and watch cows in the pasture.
And I don’t even like cows, which shows you how much I hate SoCal traffic.
I’ve been reading a book about different personality types, and my particular type, it turns out, tries to avoid pain at all costs.
Now, I get that it’s human nature to avoid pain, but apparently people with my personality type will go to nearly superhuman lengths to avoid it. It seems that pain is something that is particularly difficult for someone with my makeup to deal with.
And since God isn’t really interested in stagnant character development… the past 11 months have been some of the most difficult of my life.
If I could pick one image to describe how this past season has been for me, this would be it.
Cloudy, cold, unclear, and filled with an unbelievable number stop signs
So this is what it feels like to have your back against the wall…
I promised in my last post that I would keep you all updated on the progress as we transition into a new location for our roasting facility. So please forgive the tone of what I’m about to say. After all, it’s 2am and I haven’t slept a wink tonight
You know the feeling. That one where you’re up to something good, something that benefits others, and no matter which direction you turn, it seems like all of the forces of nature have been set out specifically against you, with the sole aim of thwarting your efforts?
That’s where the past few days have left me.
Battered, beat down, discouraged, and several times on the verge of sheer hopelessness
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…
