What I'm Drinking: Once again, the amount of coffee that has been consumed this week is borderline addiction level.  I'm averaging a good five cups a day, and that doesn't count the two cups I usually have at night.  I heard on the news today though that coffee is just as good for you as water, because it is in fact 97% water.  But then they dropped in the line about how this only applies if you drink your coffee with no sweeteners, so that comforting statistic quickly dropped out of the window for me.

The convenient store two minutes from my house put their coffee on sale for ninety-nine cents for any size cup.  That's a disaster waiting to happen for me - it's been two weeks since this sale started (which will go 'til the end of January) and the clerks already know me by name and face.

             

So my coffee for the past week has mostly consisted of the above, and I'm not complaining. Coffee for the week and under $10? Nope, not a complaint at all from this addict.
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What I'm Thinking: How interesting is it that everyone puts up a facade of 'having it all together' for each other?  We go about our lives with the phrase "I'm fine!" as the response  to anyone asking us how we're doing, and we may not even have anyone in our lives who really asks us "No, how are you really doing?"

It's okay to not have it all together - believe me, I'll be the first in line to say that I am falling apart.  Some days I'm making it minute by minute by the grace of God, held together by Him and a bunch of good intentions.

Yet what is even more amazing than the solidarity found in this day-in-day-out struggle is the beauty of a God who has been through our experiences and has remained steady in the face of adversity, hardship, and temptation.  The readings this weekend were on point for this subject.  The first reading was from the book of Isiah, and check these verses out:

"Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he was put to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.  He shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied, by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities."  (Isaiah 53:10-11).

Then, the relate-ability of Christ to our struggles was magnified in the second reading from Hebrews, where Paul wrote,

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the Heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confessions.  For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we,  yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

It's ok to not be ok.  It's also highly recommended to draw near to the one who has it together at all times - Christ Jesus.  People will disappoint us.  Friends and even family will come and go, creating ripples in our lives.  But Christ?  He's the steady one who we can lean on - he's not going to shift with time, but instead promises to be a presence

So lean on him.  Don't loose hope or get lost in the struggle.  Go get yourself some ninety-nine cent coffee.  Be Not Afraid.