Day 122- A Coffee Shop First

Today I drove to Mobile. That's about a 2 hour drive from my house. I have a friend who had a heart cath there and I wanted to be there to pray with her and her family.  I spent a good bit of the day there.  When I got home, I went to Hannah Grace's dance recital.  It occurred to me that I've never (nor have I ever seen another Dad) run up on the stage during the dance recital and join in the dancing. I decided not to do that for a "first."  I saw another friend of mine there that could have joined me but he was on crutches so I did not ask him.  I also did not see where that would further the kingdom of God here.  It seemed like it would have a very strong chance of making a lot of people at least a tad bit upset with me.

Usually when I drive home from Mobile I'll stop at a truck stop and fill up with gas and get a cup of coffee.  The gas there is usually reasonably priced and the coffee is kind of terrible.  Part of doing "firsts" is getting out of the routine. I've noticed a coffee shop that I've never stopped at before at an exit where I hardly ever get off the interstate.  So, today I stopped at a coffee shop I've never been to before as my "first."

Part of the reasoning behind this is that I realized that I'm tired of the terrible coffee at the truck stop.  OK, maybe it's not terrible; it's just awful.  Perhaps it's OK, but I decided to just stop at a Starbucks and get a better cup of coffee today. Then, I remembered seeing this other coffee shop and there's a Wal-Mart across the street which has reasonably priced gas. It's funny how I've gotten into a routine of stopping at the same place that I don't particularly enjoy.  It's just convenient, not much traffic, and has good gas prices.

I really liked the new coffee shop. The latte tasted really good. They had a blackboard that explained what was in each type of coffee: latte, cappuccino, espresso, etc. That is all kind of helpful for people that are not used to the fancy names for cups of coffee. Not that I stopped to read it or anything. This coffee shop also offers beignets. There's a real plus. The truck stop does not have beignets though it does offer some terrible looking pizza. There was also several other menu items that looked promising. There was a sign that said "Live Music." It was not lit so there was no live music today, but maybe one day there will be. Live music beats dead music every time, methinks. Last, but not least, the restroom was a lot cleaner and nicer.  There is real surprise.

Loved the blackboard that explains what is in each type of coffee; great idea

I have a new place now that I'll start stopping on my way home from Mobile.  This "first," though admittedly small, proved to be valuable.  I got the idea from a book that I read that said simply changing your routine can be invigorating and enlivening. After Hannah Grace's recital tonight, we stopped and had a bite to eat at McDonald's on the way home.  We took separate vehicles(guess who went early and got seats and who stayed home and got Hannah Grace properly dressed and made up?) and as Laura and Hannah Grace were about to get in theirs, Joel and I hid by our car.  Just as they reached out for the door handles, I set off the panic alarm on their vehicle.  Joel and I thought this was a good change of routine and quite funny.  Laura and Hannah Grace did not suspect that we did this until Joel ratted me out once we got home.  Of course, I knew he would; that made it funnier.

Here are a couple of routine changing ideas for you.

• Kiss your spouse for 10 seconds longer than usual the next time you see him/her.
• Read an extra chapter of the Bible.
• Tell someone that you love them that you usually don't (not someone that you have a crush on).
• Text someone a Bible verse.
• Pray for someone that would not expect you to and then call them and tell them you prayed for them.
• Call someone that visited your church lately and tell them you were glad they came.
• Tell a child that you are proud of them.

Perhaps you can think of a better routine changing idea.  One reason I like this is because God is a creative God. Think about how creative God is. There are no two people or two snowflakes the same. There are many different types of laughs (giggle, chuckle, cackle,guffaw, snort, tee-hee, etc.). God made a bunch of different colors and food. Aren't you glad He did not make just one type of food?  What if it was liver?  Have you ever thought about how many different types of birds there are?  I read where there are over 900 different type of crickets in the world. He is so creative. Feel free to allow His creative energy flow through you today.

Creatively enjoying the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. His creativity
2. A successful heart cath on my 88 year old friend
3. A new coffee shop that I enjoy