When I find a product I love, I can hardly wait to tell other people about it. Listen up, all you local coffee lovers. If you live in my area (you know who you are) get yourself over to DJ Liquidators right now. As of last weekend, they had a very large box containing bags of a wonderful, rich, smooth coffee that I've been enjoying since the first time I found it.
It's called Gourmet Bean (made for the Gourmet Bean coffee shop in Washington, DC, according to the label on the back). The foil bag is a Ravens purple color about the size of a Ziploc quart-size bag. It last me a couple of weeks.
Best of all, the bag only costs $1.00. One dollar for delicious Gourmet Bean coffee. I drink one large cup of it every morning. I was hooked on Dunkins, but Gourmet Bean surpasses even the coffee America runs on.
Every morning, you'll find me in the living room with a cup of Gourmet Bean coffee in one hand and a pen in the other, with my Bible and book study plopped securely in my pj'd lap.
DJ Liquidators is also my favorite place to buy big sleeves of disposable cups, lunch snacks, writing tablets, and stocking stuffers. It's cheap and conveniently located in the same shopping center with Gabriel Bros and Weis.
Gourmet Bean. A buck. Delish.
My guarantee: If you try it and decide it's not for you, I'll buy the bag!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Not Eating like Mephibosheth
This morning I came to the place in my Bible study in 2nd Samuel where King David says, "Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness?" Reading it, you can almost feel the grief so raw from Jonathan's death, though it's been many years, that David can't quite get himself to utter that name without crying. I picture him asking in desperation a question he doesn't expect an answer to. "Is there anyone at all, still living after all these wars, that I could show my love to like I would if Jonathan were still alive?"
A servant says to him, "There is Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, but he's crippled in both feet." As a young child, he was dropped by his nurse, a fall that injured him for life.
"There is someone?" David's heart fills with excitement, "Bring him to me." Mephibosheth at comes at once and bows down to pay homage. I imagine it took quite some effort. I am not crippled, but both my feet always hurt and once I'm down, it's painful to get back up. So I empathize with Mephibosheth. At times pain is downright humiliating. When I want to be smooth and graceful, instead I hobble and limp. My old golden retriever and I move much the same way by the end of the day. At times I feel like a dead dog. That's the expression Mephibosheth used: "What would you want with a dead dog like me?" I deal often with a sense of shame because of my looks and the way I walk. I know I shouldn't, but I do. I use humor to cope at times, but it's a real deep longing to feel like I measure up.
Anyway, back to Mephibosheth: to his great surprise, the crippled son of Jonathan hears these words, "Please, sit at my table. Eat with me." The scripture says he was treated like a king's son. Not like a hired hand, a son! He was eating with the king, not bringing food to the table for the king.
I read on in my Beth Moore book. The name Mephibosheth means "shame destroyer. " God was starting to speak to me as I put the book aside and meditated. Whenever I've pondered this story of grace in the past, I have been overcome by identifying with Mephibosheth and only him. But today, not only did I feel crippled from the fall of sin, I also had trouble picturing myself seated at the table of the Lord. Instead I saw myself carrying food from the kitchen and saying to those seated, "Here you go, this is good stuff. Try some." In my mind I was simply delivering what smelled good and what little I might have sampled in the kitchen, hoping there might be leftovers.
God was saying, "No, you're not a hired servant. You're my daughter. Sit down and eat and enjoy everything I've prepared for you. I don't want you to live your life just giving out bites to other people."
I realized it's been a while since I really feasted at the Lord's table. It's probably why I spend so much effort trying to fill myself with physical food and activities and conversation and hobbies. Sure, I am faithful to read my Bible almost every day , and I certainly get something out of it almost all the time. And I've been offered rich food in the form of great sermons at church, but lately haven't really appreciated it for myself. It's been more like filling service trays to deliver to others at the next "occasion" rather than sitting down with the King Himself for a full course meal. I am praying that God gives me grace to see myself as one who belongs at the table, not just near it waiting for crumbs.
A servant says to him, "There is Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, but he's crippled in both feet." As a young child, he was dropped by his nurse, a fall that injured him for life.
"There is someone?" David's heart fills with excitement, "Bring him to me." Mephibosheth at comes at once and bows down to pay homage. I imagine it took quite some effort. I am not crippled, but both my feet always hurt and once I'm down, it's painful to get back up. So I empathize with Mephibosheth. At times pain is downright humiliating. When I want to be smooth and graceful, instead I hobble and limp. My old golden retriever and I move much the same way by the end of the day. At times I feel like a dead dog. That's the expression Mephibosheth used: "What would you want with a dead dog like me?" I deal often with a sense of shame because of my looks and the way I walk. I know I shouldn't, but I do. I use humor to cope at times, but it's a real deep longing to feel like I measure up.
Anyway, back to Mephibosheth: to his great surprise, the crippled son of Jonathan hears these words, "Please, sit at my table. Eat with me." The scripture says he was treated like a king's son. Not like a hired hand, a son! He was eating with the king, not bringing food to the table for the king.
I read on in my Beth Moore book. The name Mephibosheth means "shame destroyer. " God was starting to speak to me as I put the book aside and meditated. Whenever I've pondered this story of grace in the past, I have been overcome by identifying with Mephibosheth and only him. But today, not only did I feel crippled from the fall of sin, I also had trouble picturing myself seated at the table of the Lord. Instead I saw myself carrying food from the kitchen and saying to those seated, "Here you go, this is good stuff. Try some." In my mind I was simply delivering what smelled good and what little I might have sampled in the kitchen, hoping there might be leftovers.
God was saying, "No, you're not a hired servant. You're my daughter. Sit down and eat and enjoy everything I've prepared for you. I don't want you to live your life just giving out bites to other people."
I realized it's been a while since I really feasted at the Lord's table. It's probably why I spend so much effort trying to fill myself with physical food and activities and conversation and hobbies. Sure, I am faithful to read my Bible almost every day , and I certainly get something out of it almost all the time. And I've been offered rich food in the form of great sermons at church, but lately haven't really appreciated it for myself. It's been more like filling service trays to deliver to others at the next "occasion" rather than sitting down with the King Himself for a full course meal. I am praying that God gives me grace to see myself as one who belongs at the table, not just near it waiting for crumbs.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
"I Just Feel So Happy Today"
My students are so excited about BizTown. Today they wrote a radio ad, a TV ad, and a web page ad. They got interviewed by Lisa (my boss) and me for the jobs of CEO, beverage manager, food manager, and sales manager. They named our candy and soda business ZZ's Treats. Isn't that sweet? (pun intended)
As one boy was leaving, he said, "Mrs. Zubrowski, I just feel so happy today. I wish every day was this happy. I cannot WAIT for BizTown. I hope I get the job of beverage manager. I will do my best, no buts and no complaints. Do you think I'll get the job?"
I said, "I don't know. A few other people want it, too. I would say go home and pray and ask God about it and trust that He knows the right job for you."
"Okay, I'll do that. Even if I don't get the job, I'm going to be faithful and do my best. I will make sure everything--the tables, the counter, the drink station, everything--is cleaner when we leave than when we get there!"
I'm welling up with tears as I write this. Who could say no to someone with such humility, enthusiasm and desire to do their best?
As one boy was leaving, he said, "Mrs. Zubrowski, I just feel so happy today. I wish every day was this happy. I cannot WAIT for BizTown. I hope I get the job of beverage manager. I will do my best, no buts and no complaints. Do you think I'll get the job?"
I said, "I don't know. A few other people want it, too. I would say go home and pray and ask God about it and trust that He knows the right job for you."
"Okay, I'll do that. Even if I don't get the job, I'm going to be faithful and do my best. I will make sure everything--the tables, the counter, the drink station, everything--is cleaner when we leave than when we get there!"
I'm welling up with tears as I write this. Who could say no to someone with such humility, enthusiasm and desire to do their best?
Monday, February 23, 2009
Front-and Back-Burner Ministries
My friend, Terri, recently posted that she would like to start a massage ministry to women. Could anything be more appealing? Okay, so there are some folks who don't like to be touched, but the vast majority of us love such "hands-on" ministry. She is exploring the notion of helping to relieve women's physical pain and suffering as a door to ministering to their spiritual needs.
It got me to thinking. What ministries might God have for me in the future? Right now I feel I have two front-burner ministries: teaching elementary students is my bigger front-burner ministry. Caring for babies in the church nursery once a month is the other, smaller, less frequent, front-burner ministry.
As for back-burner ministries, I'm not sure. I ran into an old friend Saturday who is the director of the Greater Baltimore Crisis Pregnancy Center. A kinder woman than Alice is hard to find. Will God call me back there as a counselor? Another thing I'd like to do one summer is host a neighborhood Bible study for women. Perhaps Kelly will tell you of the wonderful fruit she has seen from the one she's been hosting? Sarah, my sweet girl, came home from a school "assignment" at a local nursing home where she was talking with a lady suffering from dementia, who repeated herself quite often, a common mixture of funny and sad. Sarah wants to go back and it's something I'd like to do, too.
How about you? What are your front-burner ministries at present, and what back-burner ministries has God put on your mind for the future?
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