Grass clippings

 I love coffee. That being said, I can only drink so much coffee, before my heartbeat takes it's turn on the uneven bars, the beads of sweat make a beeline from my wrinkled brow to the bearded finish line of my chin and my non dancing shaky hands challenge me in a duel against the keypad of my laptop...looks like Coffee takes gold, and me what do I get? A mug and chain latched around my wrist, and eyelids so heavy in the early morning, that we keep a miniature crowbar on hand to ensure proper vision for the trip to the bathroom. (which, by the way, is cold )

Let's be honest, I can only talk about the cold weather and rain to our blog audience so many times, before they grow weary of my constant grumbling and gnawing on their eardrums. So today I am going to talk about something different. This brings me to today's topic...

  "The watered down, grass clipping flavored, pinky finger sticking out, saucer using, recreational beverage"   Known as Tea

 Those are a few of the words you may have heard me mumble from under my breath at your winter social gathering, family reunion or the occasional bar mitzvah. "Tea? No thanks... Coffee for me." That thick, richly aroma-ed, caffeinated treasure so deeply interwoven into my DNA, and my core.

Some how, time... maturity..... sophistication... and social graces.. (or rather more likely the frigid rainy winter of Southern Chile and the tendency of mine to overdose on my daily caffeine intake) have shifted my hot beverage consumption and molded me into a well rounded (pun intended) mug juggler.
My limited liquid vocabulary is now filled with all kinds of new words Oolong, Rose Hip, black, Boldo, green, camomile, yellow, mint, white, herbal, mate, Coronada, Ecco, etc.. Hey if you know of something else available down here, I am all ears....and why not dabble in sweeteners while we're at it? White sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar, honey, stevia, palm syrup, but never treading into the dreaded realms of sucralose, and aspartame.

All this said, coffee is still the cornerstone to my mornings, my go to beverage... and I still hold to the fact that some teas taste like watered down grass clippings, and all the honey and milk in the world won't change that.... but I drink them anyway, because I cannot defeat the two headed caffeine monster chained to my wrist. He is a double edged sword. My antidote and my poison.

Just like my beverage palate has been adapted, so we too personally, have been sculpted and enhanced in our new surroundings. We look at life with different perspectives today, than we did a year ago. We often think of our Nepali/Bhutanese friends at River's Edge, and how difficult it must have been for some of them, coming to a totally new culture, new food, new customs, and language barriers. Not to mention finding work, taking care of the family, transportation, and even finding new friends.

In our day to day activities, it is easy to quickly forget just how blessed we really are. Sure, it will rain on us and it will get really cold, and the firewood we try to burn will be wet.... and there is no Goodwill Industries store around the corner, with the freshest winter styles available at the drop of a dime. We can't just jump in our car and swing by the grocery store. Forget about Reese's peanut butter cups with out paying an arm and a leg, and Thai food is virtually non existent unless we make it.

God loves us! We love each other. We have amazing families and friends. We are surrounded by the body of Christ here and all over the world. We have good health. We have a roof over our head, shoes on our feet, and I can't think of a time when we went hungry or thirsty. We even have a heating blanket!!  Summer is coming! We have internet, skype, and magicjack. We have jobs, (well a job) and really the public transportation here is pretty good and if it lets us down, our legs still work. And we can share all of this, with every one....our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends and even strangers. (maybe not the heating blanket)

Thank you everyone, everywhere, for loving us, encouraging us and praying for us on this journey!