Obsessions

Lately I have been thinking about what we love and what we spend most our time thinking about. I don't know if its because we are in another country and everything seems so far removed but I have really noticed some of our obsessions. Join me now as I "air out" every one's "dirty laundry"...

Grilling, drafting and enjoying the outdoors

Virgil's obsession is nothing new. His obsession is football. Always has been and always will be. Maybe I just notice it more because I was under the disillusion that we would move out of the country and never hear of the sport again. I was wrong. Very, very, very wrong. Since I know my dear husband reads this I think I should say how much I LOVE football, fantasy football and all things pigskin...go Broncos! Love you Honey! :) In all seriousness, it makes him happy. I mean REALLY happy. I mean giddy like a man on his wedding day happy. If that is the kind of joy he gets from watching one game a week, so be it, I'm good with that! John and Virgil recently had their fantasy draft. It really brought a lot of joy to me to watch them as they reconnected with old friends in Texas. They yelled, they game planned, they bantered and it appears to me that they had a lot of fun. Now I'll admit that I am not a fan of fantasy football, but I am a fan of the relationships it creates and the bond that the men share, which I will NEVER understand. Thank you guys in Texas for putting up with John and V and for playing Fantasy football with them. Soak that "thanks" in, guys, because you will probably never "hear" me say that again!

Planning and scheming

Sean on the other end, drafting with the boys

Then there is Jenn and I. We are obsessed with coffee. One of us is more obsessed then the other, but I won't say who :). Since we moved to Peru, pregnant and in need of the bean, we have found that getting good coffee here is a really hard thing. Prior to moving here we searched long and hard for the best local small coffee shops and beans. Starbucks...blah! Now that we are here we can't find decaf, which is a must in a pregnant or nursing moms life, and we cant find good freshly roasted beans. Peru exports some of the finest green beans but getting our hands on them is a whole other story...literally, we will blog about it later. So, since we can't get good locally roasted beans we decided we would roast our own. So we have become obsessed with figuring out how to roast. So now we spend countless hours on websites learning new things about beans, roasting, coffee cupping etc. We even have little Liam on the fast track to being a professional roaster! We have big dreams involving coffee. I know that sounds silly, but we do believe that Lord has given us a passion for it for a reason. I would love to have a little shop one day. Until then we can build relationships with others using this passion as a means.

Liam and I roasting as the guys draft their fantasy league.

Jenn and the beloved roaster

Liam and Jenn roasting

I think I actually have a couple more obsessions other then coffee, like Downton Abbey, cooking and my boys...but for now we will leave it at that. So whats the point? Well, there is two...1.) now you know a little bit more about us...what we love and how we spend some of our time. 2.) Now you know how we spend some...some times to much... of our time. I have to say I have been a little convicted by #2 lately. I can spend to much time on my obsessions and not enough time obsessing over loving people and the Lord. I can and should spend way more time reading the word and/or worshiping. Instead, though, I justify spending time doing other things as a means to relationships with others. Don't misunderstand me, they are exactly that. They allow us the opportunity to get to know others on a real level. They create conversations and a way to open up. Thanks to coffee we can have friends over for good coffee, interesting conversations etc, but I know its not enough. 

have passions, loves, obsessions and dreams. We can use these for good, but we need your prayers. We need to be reminded that we have to have balance. We need to love on the Lord and His people more then we love on the Broncos and beans! Imagine the possibilities! Peruvians coming over to watch American Football, learning new things and relationships opening up! Imagine, us roasting incredible coffee, meeting roasters from around the country and building relationships with locals as we sit and enjoy a GOOD cup of coffee together. 

Lots of possibilities with our obsessions. Balance, though, is key. 

I am convicted as I am learning new things about how to share life with others everyday.