Coffee and Me

After a short drive to Kwik Star each morning for my coffee, I gave in and bought a Kuerig One-cupper to replace my worn-out pot. After all, a morning without coffee is not a good way to start out my day.

My first memory of coffee is the tin pot bubbling on the stove soon after sunrise while bacon sizzled in the frying pan next to it. I watched my parents drink it with their breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. Dad would come in mid-morning for his second cup, the smell of farm animals on his coveralls.

In the church basement, as an older child, I would tie on my best apron and work in a large kitchen with my mother and the “circle” ladies cutting donated cakes and making sandwiches. Several large, blue-speckled pots sat on the stove top, a worthy flame underneath. Although I wondered, “Why the egg?” –I never asked.

I never had an interest in tasting the black liquid until I went to college and heard that the caffeine in coffee would enable me to study without falling asleep. And, so, I took sips—grimacing with each gulp, in the wee hours of morning on test day. Grimacing that is, until I discovered the caramel, gooey, humungous rolls in the campus cafeteria.  A cup of somewhat bitter, hot coffee was the right balance between the brown-sugary sweet roll.

When I started teaching, I would wait for my first cup until I got to school where a 24-cupper stood grandly in the teacher workroom and the teachers gathered for their good-mornings. After several years of teaching and a move or two, I provided day-care in our home. I started out each day, rain, shine, or blizzard by walking to the Kum and Go with my plastic re-fill cup. I’d choose the donut with cherry filling and chocolate icing, fill my cup, and walk home....

Today, I listen to the swish of my Kuerig One-Cupper, get out my Bible study materials, and settle at the dining room table for an hour. This time of content, this time of peace, this time with the Holy Scripture is my impetus for getting out of bed in the morning. It is sweeter than any caramel or jelly-filled roll.

Psalm 119:103  How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!