Jazzed Up Coffee and Peace Vibes!

Peace, Love, and Coffee: how an incredibly awkward moment touched my heart.

Every now and then a strange or just plain awkward situation happens that makes you wonder "What just happened here?" Yesterday while getting coffee at the LSU union, I experienced one of these moments. I work on LSU's main campus, and my office is right next to the student union so I mosey over on occasion to get coffee. I ordered just a regular medium roast coffee and thought I would "jazz" it up with a little cocoa powder, small amount of honey, and a few dashes of cinnamon. I noticed a young, female, college student come up next to me at the coffee station.  I gave her a small, casual smile and finished what I was doing. And then I could see in the corner of my eye she was watching me. Really she was almost studying what I was doing, again from what I could see in my peripheral vision. She came up a little closer to me and said "What are you doing there?"I said "Oh, well I am just adding some things to my coffee to make it a little tastier without all the syrups and such". She looked intrigued. "Oh ok, that looks like a good idea!". I thought to myself  "She must be a freshman, got to be a freshman.....or just a novice coffee drinker. Obviously not a coffee connoisseur such as myself! Been there, done that sister. Coffee is the only thing that got me through the college years!". So I actually replied "Yeah, get you some of that cocoa and honey and try it. Add just a little of each". Then she looked straight at me and said "You seem... ..so...peaceful."What??

What in the heck?! So I replied, "Really?" Then she repeated "Yes, you just seem so peaceful and well I don't know you just seem that way. Peaceful. That's just really awesome" Before this moment, I casually had looked at this young student, but now I was looking much more closely at her! I was observing to see if I had missed dread locks, a tattoo of a peace sign, bell bottoms, or even glazed-over, blood-shot eyes. As I scrutinized her appearance more...she really looked liked a typical, young, female, college student in a t-shirt, running shoes, and the trendy mid-calf black leggings (quite customary now that things are colder, and students can no longer comfortably wear running shorts). She seemed genuinely sweet and quite lucid. Then I awkwardly replied "Wow, I didn't realize I was giving off....peace vibes!!". She laughed a little and was like "Yeah, its great!".

I NEVER in all my life was told I looked "peaceful"! If anything, I was always told "What's wrong?" or "Why do you look so serious?" So to have a random stranger tell me that I looked peaceful and then seemed almost surprised by it herself was something truly thought-provoking, kind of awkward, and yet actually completely touched my heart. So what was the reasoning behind this? Why did I look peaceful? Was I smiling gleefully while making my coffee? I didn't particularly remember doing that. Did I give her a warm smile when she first came to the coffee table? Don't recall anything more than a casual, side-glance smile. But for her to say that and then say it multiple times to me, I was dumbfounded.

Then I thought... am I peaceful? I am sure my kids and husband would beg to differ! I can run a tight ship sometimes, but I have certainly been trying to loosen up. So a new thought struck me, in the past 24 hours I had finished two very influential and stimulating books. One was a book about creating healthy habits entitled "Better than Before" by Gretchen Rubin. I actually plan to do a blog post on this book soon and her suggested strategies; with the New Years upon us I know we have some healthy habits we would like to master. I had listened to the audiobook version of Better than Before on my commute to and from work, and just finished it that morning. The other was a book I was reading by Matthew Kelly entitled "The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic". I finished it during my weekly hour of adoration. What is adoration? Its an hour of quiet time! Peaceful quiet time in prayer, reading, or just literally sitting there quietly with God! I spend an hour every Tuesday night at the adoration chapel at St.Mark Catholic Church. As crazy as my life can get, and I admit some nights I really don't "feel" like going! But I am ALWAYS glad I did. The peace and comfort I get in that one hour is incredible.

So one book more secular, but nonetheless very informative; and the other certainly more religious. I like to read a variety. But both books I finished on Tuesday, and both left me thinking "I can do this! I create lasting, healthy habits and help others to do so too!" and "I can go out and hopefully inspire young adults such as myself to return to the Catholic church, and hopefully learn to love and appreciate the beauty of it!" It's no secret it's hard creating lasting, healthy habits. And its sad to see the alarming rate of people leaving the Catholic church. However, I still felt a renewed sense of empowerment to encourage others. Which I am sure was the intentions of the authors. But I also know as mentioned in one of my past posts that I can not force....all I can do is try to live it! I suppose the inspiration that completing those books brought me, the renewal of energy I felt from them, and my power hour in peaceful adoration reflected in some way with this college student. Maybe she saw a glimpse of things that do bring me peace. My family brings me peace, gratitude brings me peace, reading brings me peace, writing brings me peace, exercising brings me peace, healthy and yummy food bring me peace, good wine brings me peace, friendship brings me peace, of course coffee brings peace, but above all my faith in God brings me peace.  I have not always been this way, and anxiety was a huge issue I use to deal with daily!  But I guess its been an ongoing peace-seeking process.

So in my departure from the coffee station, I smiled at her much more warmly as I should have done in the first place and boldly said "Thank you, that means a lot, and you have great day!" in complete sincerity. Perhaps I could have sat down with her and talked to her about creating healthy study habits, or keep going to church even though you are no longer under your parent's roof. But that didn't seem to be the approach to take at the moment. Maybe at the moment, all she needed in her crazy college life was a little peace, a warm smile, and some "jazzed up" coffee!

Gratefully,
Diana

Amazon link to "Better than Before" book

Better Than Before author website: Gretchen Rubin

Amazon Link to "The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic" book

Dynamic Catholic link

Thanksgiving Day: Stop Saying We are Blessed?

Did the title catch your attention? It did mind several months ago when I came across an article entitled "The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying" from the Huffington Post by Scott Dannemiller. The title immediately caught my attention, and I wanted to know what was that one thing! What should we stop saying?? I was struck even more when he was describing how we often just naturally and automatically may refer to ourselves or our material possessions as being "blessed" or "blessings". I know I do it often because I feel that I am also expressing my gratitude in some way when I recognize them as "blessings".

Dannemiller, a speaker/author/blogger/worship leader, chose to stop saying he had been "blessed". In fact, he said just because he had a successful career and a promising future did not qualify him as being deserving of it. These external gifts were not "blessings" for which he had been granted and rewarded with because of his exemplary faith and piety. Although he was a family man and earned a decent, respectable income, he proposes that calling ourselves blessed as being almost "offensive" to the hundreds of millions of Christians who earn less than $10 a day. He describes his first-hand experience about the misconception on the theory of prosperity, and that faithful people struggling to feed their families were simply told they were not being faithful enough. They were living with the mentality that God would provide if they just worked or tried harder then they would be shown favor. However, just because one did not happen to be born in a country of affluence where we are favored with our everyday basic needs comfortably being met, did not mean faithful, struggling people are less blessed or any less deserving!

I am not judging here as I indulge in things myself and often refer to it all as the "blessings" in our life. I like to buy new shoes, drink wine, get a new purse, and enjoy fine dining. Although I would be lying if every time I make a purchase or my husband and I enjoy a nice dinner, that I don't feel small pangs of guilt inside me. How many kids could the money we spent on that dinner have gone towards feeding that struggling individual; or if I had not bought those shoes or that purse, how much could I have donated to help someone scraping by to put food on the table or buy clothes for the kids. I always tell my husband "we are so blessed.....oh, we are so blessed". His response is "Yeah, we are, but we also work hard too!". Yes we do, but that doesn't entitle us to it, if anything we have been given gifts that are a responsibility to use wisely. He works at a demanding job that requires great skill and calculations (uggh), and I had worked very hard in veterinary school. But as Dannemiller points out in his of the article.... just because we work hard doesn't guarantee us a comfortable life. 

"I have no idea why I was born where I was or why I have the opportunity I have. It's beyond comprehension. But I certainly don't believe God has chosen me above others because of the veracity of my prayers or the depth of my faith. Still, if I take advantage of the opportunities set before me, a comfortable life may come my way. It's not guaranteed. But if it does happen, I don't believe Jesus will call me blessed......My blessing is this. I know a God who gives hope to the hopeless. I know a God who loves the unlovable. I know a God who comforts the sorrowful. And I know a God who has planted this same power within me. Within all of us. And for this blessing, may our response always be....Use me."

 See full article here The One Things Christians Should Stop Saying

While I don't truly believe we should stop saying we are blessed, or stop thanking God for the material and/or tangible things in our life.....I do think often I am guilty of not being grateful for just the fact that I have been beautifully crafted and created to live this life. I am so grateful for the things we have in our life, but I have to remind myself it isn't because I chose it, deserved it, or worked hard for it. I work no harder than that struggling or "scraping by" person, I happen to be given it, abundantly and undeservedly. I want to wish you all a.....and I will say....blessed Thanksgiving! I am beyond grateful for my family, husband, children, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, friends, health, career, job, car, home, and YOU! The people that actually read what I have to write about. I am still working on the true "mission" of this blog, but for now I just write what comes to my mind and heart.

Gratefully,
Diana