Vic and I are coffee drinkers… She makes “half-caff” at home and enjoys her cup or two or three during the morning, while I can drink any kind of coffee anytime, anywhere. We are Starbucks fans – we call it “Five Bucks” because between my “venti brewed coffee, leave room, two shots of sugar-free vanilla” and Vic’s tall latte, our tab always runs around five dollars. And if you have no idea what that last sentence means, you are hereby ordered to drop what you’re doing and get to the nearest Starbucks for an education. Don’t forget your wallet.
So imagine our frustration over the last two years as we have experienced the constant hassle of malfunctioning coffee makers. We’ve had eight coffee makers in the past two years – five in our home and three at my office. There have been a variety of problems – one died because we didn’t know the use of unfiltered well-water meant we had to de-lime, de-scale, and vinegar pressure wash the coffee maker every three days; another had switch problems that turned the machine off after brewing only one or two cups at a time (the manufacturer sent us two replacements that did the same thing); the hot plate on yet another machine quit heating up (There’s nothing like lukewarm coffee when you’re expecting something hot!).
Strangely enough, we never gave up. There was never a time when we said, “This is so frustrating and tiresome that maybe we should think about giving up coffee.” Instead, we trudged to the convenience store for a couple of Styrofoam cups of questionable vintage. More than once I carted the coffee maker from the office to home and back so we could have coffee. We are hardcore, committed, dedicated coffee drinkers, and we’re willing to work through the hassle to get the stuff.
It might be a stretch, but I think there’s a larger truth here: We’re all “malfunctioning units” – constantly giving God fits by getting our lives gunked up… by quitting too soon… by failing to hold a spiritual temperature above lukewarm. And yet He doesn’t quit us. There’s never a point at which He says, “Forget it – this person isn’t worth the effort.” God’s grace means – among many other things – that He never ceases his furious pursuit of the messed up and straying creation that He loves so much.
Now, I’m going to try to keep that in mind whenever I see a hot cup of coffee – or about a dozen times a day. Whichever comes first.
