Lesson Learned from Bubba's Coffee Bean Business

My grandson Brayden is amazing.

He's affectionately called Bubba,

'cuz ya' know, every Redneck family,

even ones transplanted into a  metropolitan world,

hasta' hava'  Bubba.

Bubba decided that since he lived in Seattle,

birthplace of coffee,

he needed to make some coffee.

His recipe was.....

unique...

Take Gwamma's antique coffee grinder

off the shelf where it was displayed.

(How in the world did a two year old know what that contraption was for?)

Unscrew all the lids from her vintage shakers

and pour all the salt and pepper into the top.

Put the contraption back together and grind.

Keep grinding.

If it gets a little hard to turn the handle,

stick out your tongue.

It weally, weally, weally helps.

Open the little drawer and evaluate the grade of your coffee.

Make the lopsided pirate face if you are disappointed

salt and pepper didn't grind into coffee.

Of course, we are all mature enough to know

that apart from a miracle,

no matter how much you grind,

salt and pepper cannot become coffee.

But, Bubba had an idea.

Bubba had ambition.

Bubba tried to make a dream come true.

Contrary to 1981 LHS senior class motto,

what he dreamed,

couldn't be achieved.

No amount of

grinding and grimacing

could help the elements overcome their natural state.

I am a realist.

In sixth grade, I had a teacher who challenged me to

achieve a higher academic standard.

He asked me to read

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

and discuss the literary value with him.

As much as I wanted to please my teacher,

I coudn't match his enthusiasm for the book.

I hated it.

It wasn't real.

I knew a seagull couldn't soar like an eagle,

no matter how hard he tried. 

Even as a child,

I was frustrated with the human reasoning

that the mind could overcome physical impossibilities.

Of course, we all need hope,

but I longed for a realistic hope.

Why waste time wishing for something that could never happen?

 

When I began reading the Bible,

the Lord gave me the perfect solution for those

aspirations to attain high and lofty goals.

 

Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.

 

Ah-ha!

Instead of just dreaming about impossibilities,

I learned to pray.

It would be the power of the Lord that would

teach me to fly like an eagle,

not my stubborn determination or my wild aspirations.

Right now, I am facing several tribulations;

 situations that seem impossible with human reasoning.

I am the salt and pepper in the grinder of the world.
With prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit,
all the grinding and grimacing
will overcome my natural state.

When the grinding is done,
and the little drawer is open,
we will see what the Lord has created
from the salt and pepper.

I am a realistic.

It really could turn out to be coffee.




Or at least gold.