Day 121 – Friday Freedom
Day 121 – Friday Freedom
Drinking Cold Brew coffee from Starbucks is both an addiction and a hatred – I order this drink probably three times per week and expect it to amp my caffeine levels to dangerous levels (which it does). I also expect it to taste like a bad cigar in liquid form (which it does). I get this drink without water or ice so I maximize my Starbucks investment, but every time I swallow it back I nearly gag on the taste. I should just change my order to something more palatable, but when I get to the counter I feel that I have to take on my coffee nemesis – to face my fears – to battle my Goliath. I keep thinking that it will become an acquired taste that I actually acquire, but so far I have no acquisition. Maybe if I ate some tar on the off days I would be able to fall in comparative love with the Cold Brew. Anyway, I begin with this because this was one of those Starbucks days. I could have just drunk my free corporate housing coffee, but I had to brave this challenge one more time. Cold Brew – I will conquer you by falling in love with you…
So as most Fridays go, I had a good one. I started off meeting with my Lubbock Pre-K group and then I met with the lead from the Lubbock landscaping group and went through their analytics. I talked to them about how their holiday lighting business was going and they told me it was busier than last year – they blamed me for that success. I accepted that blame. After this I hung out with Melissa for lunch at Carprisi’s Italian eatery. As we chomped on Manicotti and Canneloni, we talked about whether we would have pets after we get married. Animal preferences are a big deal. Trust me, it’s deep stuff. After some emotional discussion we decided on starting with a turtle over a dog or cat so that we could ease into taking on more responsibility. Turtles are cool – we both like them. And Melissa said that if we wanted to have something we could pet, we could just glue some soft wig hair onto the turtle’s shell. I already feel sorry for this turtle – kind of like I feel sorry for dachshunds that are forced to wear sweaters. Still, I think we will have the softest and coolest turtle in town.
Meditation: Jesus offended the religious leaders with several different statements and told them that they were doing the religious things correctly but were forgetting to handle the bigger things that please God – like doing justice and bringing mercy to bear on others. I couldn’t really put myself in the place of these leaders, but I did get convicted by the fact that I don’t take opportunities to do justice and to mete out mercy. In many ways I think that I leave those actions to church leaders. I sort of expect them to be the ones who do the “professional” ministry, while I go about just working and making a living. I need to stop thinking like this. I need to realize that I am a disciple of Jesus who needs to actually put God’s desires into practice.
I have a long way to go…
