So, I tried drinking coffee yesterday afternoon. Goodness knows why - I have never liked coffee and never been a coffee drinker. Although that in itself confuses me a little - I adore Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream, and like mocha flavoured chocolates, candies, etc. But the actual drink itself I've never liked.

However, yesterday I brewed a pot of coffee (I finally learned how to do that without asking for directions from my dinner guests), filled a mug, put some sugar and cream into it, and tried a gulp or two. I almost got as far as sitting down on the couch with it and nursing it along, but before that I realized that no, I don't like coffee, not even with a MASSIVE amount of sugar in it and a generous dollop of cream.

So why do I periodically attempt to drink it? It's perfectly acceptable that I don't drink coffee. Perhaps I figure if I drink coffee then I'm a "real grown up." Come on! Who are we kidding? It will take a lot more than coffee to pull that off!

It reminds me of how I often will forget the lessons that I've learned from God so far in my life. I'll forget that I need to slow down before I speak and think about what I'm going to (or hopefully NOT going to) say. I'll forget that I must book one or possibly even two days for myself in the space of a month. I'll forget that without rest, worship, time in the Word, prayer, and listening to the voice of my Beloved, I'll get tired, weak and drained, rather like a withered and dehydrated orange peel (that's a nice parallel, eh?). Sometimes I even forget that I've read a certain scripture, and I might revert back to the understanding that I had through my culture before I learned that truth of God.

Worse than forgetting specific lessons, that need I seem to have to periodically question what I think I know and to try drinking coffee reminds me that every so often what I have learned to put my faith in (i.e. that I DON'T LIKE COFFEE) gets tested and questioned.

The remedy? I have been saying this so much lately to pretty much everyone I know - time in the Word. The Christian handbook. The place with all the answers, the faith-boosters, the assurances, and the truth.

Time.

I'm sure it's the same for all of us - one of our most precious commodities. Is it worth it? Getting up earlier to spend time reading the Bible? Staying up later just to talk to God? Giving up on other enjoyable activities to make time for the greatest Lover that ever lived? Oh yes, make no mistake - time with Jesus is always well worth it. It may start as a discipline, but will end up being a passionate joy. It is completely satisfying - more so than anything else.

But I have to say, a not-so-distant second was pouring the rest of that pot of coffee down the sink.