WOW. One favorite food? When I have so, so many? I could list ice cream, or bulgogi (curious?), or strawberry shortcake, or chicken with artichokes, or CHOCOLATE. All favorites. Sigh…how to choose?
But then, I got thinking, also spurred on by Hannah over at Aspire, about my coffee. Sure some could say that I was all in it for the caffeine, but for me, the coffee has a deeper meaning. So, now with that intro, I will boldly state that coffee…specifically coffee at Startbucks, or Caribou, or Dunn Brothers…is probably my favorite food. I mean, beverage. Want to know why? Well, I’ll write about it anyways…..:)
I didn’t start out as much of a coffee drinker. Even when I was in college studying architecture and interior design, when I was up late creating scale models, I just didn’t reach for coffee. Specialty coffee was a newer phenomenon back then (notice I didn’t say WAY back then). There was a coffee house in the student union building. So I’d get a mocha now and then…but SERIOUSLY…I was terrified to even order. There were so many choices, too many, and it was just weird. Too bad there wasn’t wikipedia WAY, I mean back then.
So I got married, had Hannah (who came up with this fun idea), Chloe (my aspiring pastry chef…and man, is she good), and Grace. Then we moved to San Diego for a while. And let me tell you that Starbucks is EVERYWHERE out there. And they had drive-thrus. Now, that may not seem like a big deal, but when you are the mother of three young children a drive-thru can make or break the deal. Especially when you used to live in Minnesota (which, by the way, is the current state of residence). So I’d find my little green mini-van slipping through the Starbucks drive-thru. And I became hooked.
ahhh…the drive-thru
Well, now by the time we moved home several Starbucks and Caribous began to get the idea that a drive-thru was a great idea. I don’t know how having a drive-thru when it’s -22 degrees helped business. Are you kidding me? It’s AWESOME. Anyways, I learned to love my little treats.
But there’s still something deeper.
Money was tight. There weren’t many luxuries that I could buy, and my husband, Todd, always wiggled in room for me to get a latte once in a while. Then he got sick. By this time we had Caleb (our 5th baby). Caleb was six weeks old when we noticed something wasn’t right. And then it took another 5 weeks for Todd to finally have surgery, find out it WAS cancer and then begin treatment. Well, the day he had surgery I was at the hospital alone except for baby Caleb. I still don’t know why I was there alone. I cannot believe no one came with. However, I’ve started to believe that it was critical that I was there alone. I wept and poured my heart out to the Lord. If there had been others I probably would have hid the rawness, the aches, the pain and the fear.
Ok…coffee connection?
When I came down the elevator after saying goodbye as they led him off to surgery I started to pray. And I prayed and prayed and prayed. I remember praying this quick, 2 second silly prayer, “and please Lord, let them have REAL coffee…like Caribou.” I’m not sure why that came out in my prayers, but it did. Perhaps it was comfort, or security that I was wanting. Well, I get off the elevator and I walk to the food area, and I see a sign that states:
Methodist Hospital PROUDLY serves Caribou Coffee.
I was blown away. My coffee mattered. My little, itty-bitty prayer mattered. It put into focus what a caring God we serve. Not only can He move mountains, but he loves me, and you, so much that those little details, the little quirks about ourselves, matter to Him. And, how I love Him.
The four years since this date have been full of joys and struggles. There have been really devastatingly hard times. Our financial picture became trashed due to almost a year of lost work. The economy crashed. Pain. And still joy. My Elijah. And Samuel. And the amazing blessings of my five older children: Hannah, Chloe, Grace, Brennan and Caleb. That we are still cancer free. We have a home. Amazing friends.
I still get my coffee. The kids have discovered that without it it’s like my kryptonite. So if they see me stressed, or anxiety-ridden, they’ll tell me, “why don’t you go get a cup of coffee mom? We’ll tidy up and watch the little ones.” Tidy up? (my other trigger point) and Get coffee? They’ve got me figured out.
I know coffee isn’t all that I need. The Lord is truly the number one. There have been times where I’ve fasted from coffee. But, I’ll tell you the truth, that for me, coffee is comfort, relaxing and a fave food of mine. And deep, deep in my mind I’ll never forget the blessing of the dreary December 19th when I saw the Caribou sign in the hospital lobby.
I can’t wait to hear about all your favorite foods! Link up. Join in. 🙂
(oh, one last thing…one year I received $65 of coffee gift cards for my birthday. Then this year I got a Keurig coffee maker which can brew Caribou coffee. I think it’s safe to say that my secret is figured out)
23 comments
HAHAHAHA! “I think its safe to say my secrets out.” Yes, Momma, I think it’s VERY safe to say so. 😉
What a GREAT meaning behind your love for coffee! You should’ve told me earlier…how cool is that. And PROUDLY. That’s the part that gets me.
Thanks for joining! Your post was great, as always.
Love you. 🙂
–Hannah
And I love you back.
I love the peanut butter post. 🙂 Even though I sometimes like the organic peanut butter…not when I rush to stir it and the oil spills, but I like it. And, Hannah, sometimes I do but the Jif Natural….it’s just as good! Tastes like Jif, no junky stuff, no thick layer of oil.
Do you remember when Grandpa made peanut butter? MMMmmmmmmmmmm. If you could only buy THAT!
Love ya!
your coffee stories are so sweet. i love how the Lord grants us tiny blessings like you getting caribou while at the hospital on such a scary day. oh how He loves us!!! bulgogi – what is it?!?! yes, i’m so very curious! happy friday, sweet gal!
Ah, coffee. I suppose I’m kind of like you when you were in college, because I don’t mind coffee — in fact, I enjoy an occasional cup — but I don’t drink it a whole lot.
As far as public coffee goes, however, I can honestly say that I’ve never had Starbucks (*shock*), only Caribou (and after drinking Caribou, why go back?).
As for bulgogi, my curiosity is roused. I can only guess it’s in one of three catagories (and I’m assuming all of these are wrong): 1. A meat, 2. A pasta, or 3. A Norwegian dish. =D
A fellow Minnesotan,
Camden
Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
No one has correctly discovered what bulgogi is. Not yet. Using Wikipedia is NOT allowed.
I’ll just state that it is NOT a food native to Minnesota. Or, in that case, the Midwest.
I was going to look it up on the internet, but guessing adds all the fun to it. Is it a California-native food? If not, my next guess was going to be somewhere European.
Also, I asked my Mom this morning what her favorite food was. She thought about it for a while and then replied: “Hmmm… either chocolate or coffee.” That’s not the greatest part. The part that got me laughing was when I discovered my younger sister making a PBJ sandwich– and my Mom talking about the benefits of organic peanut butter against Jif! =D
Camden
Proverbs 1:5-6
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
Bulgogi: a delicacy in the countries of South Africa, this is a fire-roasted treat of wild honey, grasshoppers and sesame seeds.
Yeah, I have no clue what it really is…. 🙂
Thank you for posting your coffee story- such an encouraging and touching story of how God truly loves and KNOWS each and every one of us.
Love from a Daughter,
Joni
It’s from the continent of Asia.
Thanks everyone for the fun and sweet comments.
Blessings,
Rachel
what a cute coffee story and such a fun positive blog. 🙂 I enjoyed reading.
Nicole
http://lettersfromcoco.blogspot.com/
What an amazing story and it came out of the topic ‘food loves’. Who knew?
I love how some of the most simple pleasures in life are some of the most beautiful ones.
Thank you for sharing your story and being honest with everyone.
What an amazing coffee story. The Lord even cares about those little things we love so much. I think I broke the rules by post an entire day’s worth of food as my favorites! Blessings!
Thanks all for the sweet comments. You’re all quite kind.
Bulgogi: It’s Korean. I have two cousins who are adopted from Korea (they are my daughters Hannah – Aspire, and Chloe’s age) so they seem more like their cousins than mine. Anyways, my Aunt and Uncle (who are close to my age) strive to keep their Korean heritage alive and prominent and have therefore introduced the entire family to fabulous Korean food.
Bulgogi is very thinly sliced rib-eye steak that is marinated in a Korean type marinade. Then it is grilled (very quickly as the meat is super thin) and served with rice, Kimchee and sesame leaves. Kimchee is spicy pickled cabbage. And it is GOOD. However, I will NOT let my family open the container in the house as it causes the whole house to smell like cabbage. You take the sesame leaf, add some rice, bulgogi meat and kimchee. Then you roll it up and ENJOY!!
It is sooooooo good. On our annual trip up to the lake in July our first meal up their is Bulgogi. My Aunt and Uncle make that along with hotdogs. Too funny. When we go to the lake it’s a huge group: my parents, my siblings and their families, my aunt and uncle and family, and our family. When my grandparents were alive they’d come as well. SUPER FUN. This year will be our 27th year in a row going up there.
OK. That was a really long explanation for bulgogi!
Bkessings,
Rachel
Great post! You have a beautiful blog!
Peachy! Now I’m craving Starbuck’s…and it’s almost 11 at night. So yeah, that’s not gonna happen! And Becky has tomorrow off so not getting any tomorrow, either!
And yes, the Lord cares about even the tiniest details of our lives!
Praying!
Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Prayer Bears
My email address
What a great coffee story, Rachel! It’s so neat to see how God cares about the small things we enjoy so much. And bulgogi sounds really good! I’d never heard of that before today. Thanks for telling us about it! Have a wonderful weekend!! 🙂
~ Love,
Lindsay
Nobody should have to go thru days like that alone. I am so glad you found some comfort in Coffee that day.
I love my coffee off any on also. But crave my mother’s chocolate cake with carmel icing and fresh strawberries all over it.
🙂 🙂 I have my Keurig on the counter and it also proudly brews Caribou Coffee! I think we’ll be great blog friends! 🙂 I love this post. God recently did something just like that in my life that I have yet to blog about but it was one of those moments that I just knew God heard me, He knew me, He saw me and He was right there with me. What a wonderful testimony to our faithful, personal God! I’ll be back to visit!
When we had 2 girls in the PICU at Children’s Hospital last fall, my husband and I were thankful that the cafeteria served Starbucks!
Rachel! I’m so glad you found me, and came over and followed, so that I could find you! Praise the Lord!
Did you know I had cancer, too? I am so happy for you that your husband is still cancer-free. It is 8 years next month for me. Thank you for sharing so vulnerably–God was glorified. He is so good, is He not?
I am looking forward to getting to know you better:)
Blessings,
Wendy
Faith’s Firm Foundation
http://www.faithfultojesus.blogspot.com
I my gosh girl….you had my eyes welling up with tears! I love LOVE your coffee story! I feel like we’re long lost sisters or something! haha! I too find comfort in my coffee. It’s a strange thing but I do.
Thanks for visiting my blog today and leaving a comment. It’s so nice to ‘meet’ you and hopefully one day, we’ll meet in person and chat over our coffee.
Hope you’re having a fabulous Saturday! 😉
Thanks for your kind comment on my post!
I love that this most important lesson has been taught to me yet again. God definitely knows what is important to us (big or small) what makes us happy, what comforts us. We (me really..) shouldn’t be afraid to ask, He if it is important to us, it is important to Him.
Lovely post Rachel! How God answers our prayers is really amazing to me… even in the smallest, most insignificant ways. Your coffee story is a great example – and encouragement.
Well, nice to know what bulgogi is! Lol… I would’ve never known that {and I was about to Google search it… oh no! =D}. The different cultures and foods are so interesting… not that I could eat any or most of them! 🙂 I’d say that I’m leaning toward Italian food… or Austrian. IDK…
Anyway, great post! You are always so encouraging to me…
Thank you dear sister in the Lord! {And thanks for raising an amazing kid like Hannah… she is a sweet girl and I’m glad I can call her my friend.)
Blessings in Christ,
Charity
http://www.charebear1010.blogspot.com
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
~Isaiah 40:26-31~
Can I just say….AMEN!
Coffee has done the same things for me on multiple occasions, and I really think God does provide things like that to provide comfort and a little bit of “home”.
And you sound like my mom…a cup of coffee and R&R while the kids tidy is a like a miracle cure for my mom when she’s feeling down. 🙂
Loved your post! Hannah is so stinking creative with these ideas! She needs to give me some! haha. Juuuust kidding. 😉
Love,
–Abigail