Oh Dear Coffee, How I Miss Thee...

Sometimes I have ideas that seem noble and genius, but two weeks later just seem stupid. Anyone with me? As most of you know, the season of Lent is upon us. Being a Protestant excuses me from the obligation of Lent, but I think there's definitely some wisdom behind this season of fasting in anticipation of Easter. It kind of saddens me when I see the importance placed on Christmas and the way Easter is ignored (I'm pretty sure I've blogged on that before, so I'll get off that soapbox now). Regardless, I feel like the time before Easter is a great time to deny myself of something in an attempt to increase my dependency on Christ.

But I wasn't going to do Lent this year. I had so much on my plate with the new job and looking for a new apartment, etc. that I thought it would be easiest not to add another stressor to my life. I didn't even think about giving anything up until Ash Wednesday night. And as I was driving home I wondered if there even was anything I could give up for Lent. Chocolate? No, I don't eat that much chocolate. Meat? Nice try, idiot. Coffee? Don't be ridiculous... Wait, what? The fact that I dismissed coffee so quickly shot up a red flag in my head. I'm all for having a few creature comforts, but any time a creature comfort becomes indispensable to me, I know I need to take a good hard look at myself and examine if that thing is controlling me. I don't ever want to fully rely on anything, save Jesus.

So there was my genius move. With no preparation, with no proper farewell, I gave up coffee for 40 days. Some of you, like my mom, won't see what the big deal is. I mean, it's just coffee, right? Who cares? Some others of you, like my dad, will wince. What were you thinking, Corrie? I tell you what, guys, it has not been easy. I typically have two to three cups a day and it's killing me. I didn't give up caffeine altogether (I mean I have to be around teenagers all day. We don't need any casualties due to my crazy notions), but the comfort and peace I get when sipping a cup of coffee is what I mist the most. It's a feeling that hot chocolate and tea can't match. Trust me, I've tried!

So here we are, a month away from Easter, and I would kill for a cup of coffee. I mean it, I might actually commit homicide if I thought that the detectives would haul me into the questioning room, then while deciding who was going to play Good Cop and who was going to be Bad Cop, they offered me a cup of day old coffee. It just might be worth it. Do you get free coffee in prison? Just kidding. But seriously I sell at least a bag or two of coffee at Shop Good every time I work, and it's painful to smell the aroma of the locally roasted coffee as I bag it up and give it away to someone who might not appreciate the blessing of the bean...

OK, so maybe I still have some issues to work concerning my dependence on coffee, huh? Hopefully I'll learn a lot from this experience. Right now I'm just hoping to make it out of Lent alive. Life will go on, Corrie. Life will go on. Be gentle with me, I'm in a fragile state.