When I first met Estelle, I saw a timeless beauty that radiated from her. One of those women who wears time like a diamond necklace.Estelle is normally in my life for a couple of hours on Sunday, but I interact with her maybe 5 minutes a week. I wanted to know her on a deeper level. I wanted to know how she managed to weather life and retain such a radiant glow inside and out.
I assumed from the onset that Estelle must have had a very easy life. I remember as a young girl, I went with my parents to visit a couple who had been going through some very rough times. The woman looked terrible. She had deep, deep lines under her eyes, her skin was rough, and her hair frazzled and worn out. I asked my mom "Why does she look like that?" and she answered "She's had a rough life." I suppose that I deposited that "truth" deep within myself. To this day, or until now maybe, I believed that going through hard times makes you look worn. I worried that if I risked too much, if I loved too hard, if I really put myself out there and completely failed...that it would be visible on my face.
At my coffee meeting with Estelle, I discovered some things. Estelle, was born in 1940, but it is very obvious within minutes of getting to know her, that she does not see herself as an "older" person. Estelle is a life long learner, who taught herself how to use Twitter from its inception. Not only does she love growing organic tomatoes; she can out hashtag any 12 year old who cut their teeth on a mobile device. Estelle, is simply...fascinating!
The most important thing I dicovered about Estelle, is not that hers has been an easy life. But that her deep faith and very tangible relationship with God has given her the grace to continue on and to come through big challenges with a timeless elegance and beauty that has come from leaning heavily on this deep relationship with Him to ease her burdens. Estelle lives an energetic and purpose filled life, driven by her desire to give hope to others that they can overcome any obstacle in their life, with God's help. The only lines she wears on her face are the reflections of God's smiling on a well lived life spent leaning firmly on Him.
The coffee was strong and bold....so was the company.
I expected this post to be about my first cup of coffee in this project, but I find myself thinking a lot about who I will choose and why I will choose them. I started with one parameter "must be someone I don't know", and almost immediately it grew into "someone I don't know or someone I want to know better"...then I added "must be passionate about something". I had more volunteers than I anticipated, and I've realized there isn't time in a year to get to everyone who I want to put on the list.
Admittedly, I am intrigued by the total stranger qualification. So much so, that I find myself browsing professional networking sites to find people that look interesting to me. I realized quickly, that I'm favoring certain "types" of people. I am already discriminating and I've only just begun. I am finding I am more interested in attractive people and people who are interested in the things I like, people with cool profile pictures or well written bio's.
I think it's human nature to be drawn to those who are like us, but what am I missing by surrounding myself with people just like me? What opportunities to break down barriers and cross over cultural lines are passing me by? I still intend to fill this year with people who are interesting to me, but I am already planning a second project of coffee with the unlikely choices. Now THAT ONE...that one might actually be SOMETHING!
Ours is a busy life...filled with projects and plans; And we use it as an excuse to hide. In our culture where we are ever connected, yet completely disconnected; Hiding can be somewhat of a normal response.
I am fueled by ideas and my husband fuels my fire like no other. There is NOTHING in the world I would rather do than sit across from another human being, coffee in hand, and exchange thoughts and ideas. Just the idea of having ideas stirs my insides like a coffee grinder.
So why do I hide? Why am I so constantly "busy" that I don't make time for what fuels me? Why do I share my coffee with Facebook and Pinterest instead of getting face to face to fuel my fire?
I'm setting out to intentionally come out from my hiding. To meet some new people this year and to go deeper with a few amazing people already within my circle. My husband has agreed to join me in my adventure. So come along and meet them too. Follow along with us, if you will, maybe you will find some fuel for your fire as well.
