Coffee With Dad

I never appreciated what I had back home until I left. During college my dad and I would be up in the morning together. He did not work until 2:30 in the afternoon, and I sometimes had late morning classes. On these days, which occurred at least twice a week, I would brew some coffee and we would sit and talk over a cup of coffee. Each time I drink a cup of Maxwell House coffee I remember those times. Back then I just saw this “coffee time” as a chance to relax and enjoy the coffee, but now that I have moved away I miss coffee with dad. Occasionally when I get to go back home, we brew up a pot and get to talk. Now I treasure the times I go home and have a cup of coffee with my dad, I am more eager for those talks then Christmas morning.

Moving away from my family was the hardest thing I have ever done. My mom is one of nine and my dad is one of eight, which makes for a family of over 75 relatives. Over 50 over those relatives live in my home town. I had to ask myself which mattered more to me, following God’s plan for my life our staying in my comfort zone back home with my family. Ever birthday, father’s day, mother’s day, anniversary, 4th of July, dance recital, and New Years that passes I question my choice. But moving was the best choice I have ever made.

While the choice was hard, I have no doubt that it was the right choice. Since leaving I have witnessed and been a part of some amazing things. Just to be a part of the church I am with now amazes me. If I had chosen to stay in Dayton, Ohio I would have never been a part of these things. But the hardest thing was learning to have a cup of coffee with a different dad.

I had to learn that there was a greater dad to have coffee with then my dad in Ohio. I had to learn how to have coffee with God. This was not an easy task to accomplish, but with God’s help I figured it out. I finally realized that this was what a quiet time was all about, coffee with God.

God does not want us to memorize the bible, follow some rules, and be unattached from real fellowship with Him. In the Old Testament this is why the tabernacle was build, in the New Testament this is why Jesus came, because God wants that fellowship with us. Some of the original Hebrew refers to God as daddy; He wants to be my dad.

There is that struggle that some people face of growing up with an absent or bad father. These people grow up with a poor view of what a dad is supposed to be. Donald Miller wrote a book “To Own A Dragon” on his reflections on growing up without a father. However I grew up in a house where dad was there. He was at my soccer games, he read stories to me. So I already had a good point of reference of what it means that God wants to be our heavenly father. God is like no other father on this earth, and a cup of coffee with Him is better than with any other father.