Day 9- Coffee or Tea?

So, I'm hunting a first for today. It's not been an easy day to find one.  I've worked on  a sermon this morning (nothing really novel there) and visited friends at the hospital this afternoon (hard to think of a real first there but I'm trying).  The family I'm visiting today is having a baby. I guess I could have offered to assist in the childbirth; actually, no, I could not have for so many reasons.

 So, I'm at a bookstore catching up on some work while the baby decides if this is the day or not. So, I've spent plenty of times at a bookstore.  Not much new here that I can think of.  So, I go to the coffee shop and decide I'll have a new drink. Not terribly exciting I know, but it is better at this stage than the childbirth thing.

So, I see a Chai Tea thing on the menu and ask about it. It sounds healthy and I think that would be good to blog about; making a healthy choice.  The lady says it's basically tea and milk.  She does not think it's particularly healthy.  It does not sounds tasty to me either.  So, asks I, what is the healthiest drink you have?  I'm about making a healthy choice here.  She is not sure there are healthy drinks.

So, there is a new decision making process here.  My eyes catch the words "caramel, flan, and latte" all in the same drink. Healthy sounding? Uhh, no.  Tasty sounding?  Definitely.  Have I ever had this before?  No! The old brain says this is a first!!

So, caramel flan latte it is. I open the top and boy, it looks better than I thought it would. It has the whip cream looking stuff with caramel drizzled on it.  It seems like there should be ice cream underneath and not coffee. Still, this is not turning out to be a hard first at all.  Let's give her a try.

Not surprisingly, it tastes pretty good. How healthy is it? I'm thinking that's not worth looking into.  It's like what Lewis Grizzard said about Haagen Dazs ice cream, "If you need to ask how many calories and fat grams are in it, it's not for you." I didn't even need to use Splenda in it.

So, here's the thing I thought about today. If I want healthy food and drinks, a coffee shop is probably not the best place to go.  Perhaps a health food store or even a grocery store would be better.  I could probably have found a restaurant that served healthy food.  This, however, is a coffee shop and I got a tasty and overpriced cup of coffee.

I can do this in my life in other places. It is easy to go to places for things that those places really don't have.  If I want spiritual nourishment for my soul, I don't need to watch TV or read the newspaper.  If I want joy in my soul, I need to go to places and people that are joyful. If I want peace, I need to go to God's promises and stand on them. I think we sometimes try to get things out of stuff that God never put in them. Lasting joy and contentment are found in Christ; not in possessions, hobbies or coffee.

Not an exhilarating first.  But the very act of watching for something to do as a first has opened my eyes to new possibilities for the coming days.

Glad there is abundant life in Christ

Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. God is a life giving God
2. Bookstores
3. I live in a country where good hospitals are easily accessible (i.e. people like me are not delivering babies)