SHIFTWORK

A big ol' pile of shiiiiii....FT work. 
(Country song, baby! That's how we do!) 

I can't believe I haven't blogged about my new job yet! That's right, you hard-workin' fools. I'm one of you. I'm in the real world now. The world of taxes and grown-ups. The world of clocking in and "just saying yes" to the customer. The world of gas-guzzling drives to work and nonsensical orders. I'm a coffee barista.

I never thought this day would come, but come it has. The first time I pulled the green apron over my head, I straight-up looked at myself in the mirror and said, "How could you?" I never thought I'd give in and become one of... them. A friend of mine who's been battling coffee colic for several years now was so overjoyed when he heard of my employment that he pulled me into a heartfelt hug and whispered one word into my ear. Welcome.

But after having four weeks on the job, I gotta say... I love it. The coffee scene is a fascinating place. I love the people. You can tell a great deal about a person by the coffee beverage they order.

The steady working man comes in and orders a house coffee with no room for cream. Black. Bold. Like a man.

The steady working woman comes in and orders a chai tea latte. No water. Because they're tough like that.

The steady boyfriend comes in and orders a tall drip, and after glancing side to side to make sure nobody is listening, whispers that she wants a double, tall, nonfat, extra hot, soy, sugarfree hazelnut latte with two splendas and extra foam. I always give him a compassionate nod.

Teenage girls order the "skinny" anything.

The insecure teenage boys order hot chocolate.
The secure teenage boys order caramel macchiatos.
The way too secure teenage boys order strawberry and cream frappuccinos.

My favorite are the completely nonsensical orders like this:
"Hi, can I have a half-caf latte with an extra shot?"

A triple half-caf? Why not just get two regular shots like a normal person? I don't understand.

Or this:
"Sup! Can I get a nonfat mocha with double mocha, extra whip, and caramel on top?"

Way to go picking nonfat there, champ.
But I just smile and say yes. Because that's my job.

And like I said, I love it. I love having the opportunity to influence a person's day for the better. I can give the customer something delicious and fully caffinated that will make they're whole day turn around! I love the customers who enjoy mindless chatter, who forget what they ordered and are pleasantly surprised when I remind them, and who appreciate a smile or a cheesy joke. At my store we have a customer who orders a decaf coffee every single day. And every single day, my co-coworker gives it to him and says "Two extra shots, that'll be ten dollars". And every day he thinks it is funny. It's great.

Not every day is perfect. One day, this super hot guy walks in. Seriously, ladies. I drooled a little. And he comes to my register and orders a tall drip. Bold. What a man. And I completely messed up his order. I entered it wrong, overflowed his cup, and gave him the wrong size. He just smiled and said it was fine. As he was leaving, I mumbled an apology. "Sorry! I was distracted by... your face." I don't think he heard me. And today, a whip cream exploded into a mocha I was making and it created this comical geyser effect which shot straight up into the air and back down on my shirt. But the customer I was making the drink for thought the high pitched scream was pretty funny.

The only downside to this job so far is the time it takes. I still nanny in the afternoons (By the way...Nanny Hanny. How have we not thought of that yet?) so this job now takes up pretty much all my time in the mornings. Sometimes I open as early as four thirty am. So when do I spend time with the Lord? I have to say, sometime I can be such dunderhead. I really didn't think it would be too much of an issue. I actually thought I would be ok with oh-just-a-little-less-time-then-usual during the week. I was completely spiritually drained after three days. Here's the thing. When you don't fill your heart and mind with the Lord, it doesn't become or remain (If you're a guy. Buuurrnn!) empty space. Especially not in my brain. It's quickly filled with something. It was shocking to me how quickly MYSELF filled that space.

After going through some tough times at the beginning of this year, my relationship with the Lord had never been better. The Lord is truly close to the brokenheared (Ps. 34:18). I had learned to cling to him. I had bonded with him over my hurting. He pushed me to grow, to trust, and to follow. The process is truly an amazing and beautiful thing. Then the weeks of resting and recovery came, and that was a blessed time. And then came life normalcy.

Normalcy is the poison to my apple, the Chris Brown to my Rihanna, the sunburn to my day at the beach, and the official leech of my spiritual life.
-Hanners
(Can I quote myself? Too late. I already did!)

My life so quickly became self-indulgent. I really began to realize how much I needed to be vigilant during the good times in life.

Teach me to do your will,
   for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
   lead me on level ground.
Psalm 143:10

Notice this verse doesn't say, "Lead me to level ground." Its easy to follow Jesus when you're on a "spiritual high" and it's easier than you think to cling to God when you're at a "spitiual low". It's the middle ground that's the most difficult. I challenge you to read Psalm 143 today. It's the psalm written for the day to day. Sometimes the true testing of your faith and love for Jesus is not the mountian nor the valley; it's the level ground.

I guess it's time for me to get used to spending time with the Lord at night. Lucky for me I now know how to brew coffee, right?