| I don't know about the rest of you but this time of year both exhilirates me and stresses me out. With all the shopping, baking, decorating, wrapping, school, church and family parties, working to pay for it all and falling far short, bills, bills, bills, it can definately be overwhelming. It certainly has me thinking. Do I need to spend all that money on presents that some, not all certainly, don't appreciate? Am I spending more, buying the best things in an attempt to "buy" the love of those I give to? Am I rushing to get it all done so I look good to those looking in to my life? Then today my sister-in-law, Denise, who just finished treatment for breast cancer sent me this message. Coffee Cups A group of alumni, highly established in their
careers, got
together to visit their old university professor.
Conversation soon
turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the
kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an
assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass,
crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some
exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the
coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand,
the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice
looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind
the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you
to want only the best for yourselves, that is the
source of your problems and stress.
Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to
the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive
and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all
of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you
consciously went for the best cups... And then you
began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs,
money and position in society are the cups. They are
just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of
cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of
Life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we
fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." God
brews the coffee, not the cups.......... Enjoy your
coffee! "The happiest people don't have the best of
everything. They just make the best of everything."
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak
kindly. Leave the rest to
God. I think lately I have gotten too involved in the prettiness; external things that don't really matter. What I really long for is a great cup of God-brewed coffee in an old, plain, chipped cup. I know without ever tasting it, it will be the best coffee ever made.
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Dennis and I got home from our cruise late Monday (early Tuesday). We had an awesome time. It was my parent's 40th Anniversary so they came as well as my brother and his wife. Our cruise began in Miami then on to Key West and Calica, Mexico. I really enjoyed Key West. We did some shopping and sat in the Hog's Breath Bar and Sloppy Joe's Bar. There were live chickens inside the bar! Not something you see everyday. It was a little too hot in Calica (actually, we were in Playa del Carmen). It was mid 90's and 90% humidity. We did cool off by parasailing. We took a jetski out to a boat, pulled along side while it was still moving and hopped on. We did the reverse on the way in. Scared me to death but so much fun. The view while parasailing was breathtaking. All ocean and sand for miles. So many colors of blue....
