Nectar of the gods!

     My husband and I looked at each other this morning, with two small children crawling around us, and both had the same thought... Coffee! After one strong cup of the "nectar of the gods" I feel like I can do anything. The husband gets packed up and sent to work, the kids are fed, they play in the living room while I put my "off duty" sign up and have my morning Bible time. The baby then goes down for his morning nap and I start our lessons with my three year old. We fly through her reading lesson and all her little workbooks (I really like the Kumon books). She then sits to have her alone reading time while I catch up on some housework, laundry, bills etc. By the time 11:00 rolls around I need a nap because my coffee has started to wear off and I feel less like superwoman and more like Cinderella (before she gets married to the handsome prince and moves into a fancy castle).

     In actuality this post was supposed to be more of an ode to coffee instead of my mornings play by play; so now I will get to the true point!

     In our family coffee has always been more of an event than a simple drink. Ever since I became of coffee drinking age I have developed a true appreciation for these times together. I remember every thanksgiving we drove up North to my grandma's house to spend the holiday with all the family up there. At some point my dad would take us girls to the mall and we would sit under the tiny palm tree in the tiny coffee shop and share a moment. We did this every year until my grandma passed away and even though it has been quite some time since we visited that little coffee shop I will always remember it and the fond memories that we created there.
That is just one of the many examples where coffee has been the tool to get the family together. To this day my dad still brews a pot every morning at nine and every evening at five with an open invitation to the family to come and sit in the yard with him and mom and continue to make those memories that are so precious in this life! I already started with  my daughter, when she was 2 I took her to starbucks for special girl time; she was holding her juice box, looked up at me with so much love in her eyes and said "so, mom, how are you doing today?" My tiny little 2 year old sat there like she was "so big" already feeling how special that moment was.

     My challenge today is... take time to smell the coffee. Get your best friend, sisters, brothers, parents or kids together and create a special spot that you will look back fondly at and say how thankful you are for those memories. Life is short, remember to always live in the moment!

-Shannon Leah