Do you take time to notice moments that are unusual?
Moments that are just out of the ordinary enough to mark them as special.
About a year ago I was attempting to come out of a depression that met me at the vulnerable intersection of moving across the country, not knowing anyone that lived close to me, trying to finish school, and being overly worked to the point of extreme exhaustion and fatigue. In the midst of this chaos, I found myself leaning on trying to find “beauty in unexpected places.” The truth was that I couldn’t do anything to lift my circumstances emotionally, logistically, or financially. In this stuck place I needed to find God in my every day life. I have tried to make special note of the moments that catch my attention if I will just lean in a bit.
I found God in a coffee shop window
Recently, I was with a friend
after a long day of arduous travel. I also have to note that I had gotten a series of disappointments, and was rubbed raw in someways. Thankfully, our time together is always generative and honest, and for that I am grateful. Here we were sitting in a coffee shop and what maybe a mundane meeting was already healing me. Coffee shops have always been a sacred place for me. I don’t know when it started or why it started, but I feel a sleepy restfulness come over me when I am in one. As someone who has high anxiety, I have felt myself able to drink my beverage slowly and sigh in a coffee shop. Nothing is expected of me, and typically, if I close my eyes for a moment and take a deep breath, I will start crying. It feels like the Clearing from Toni Morrison’s wonderful book Beloved. In this place, my flesh can be at peace.“Between despairing hope and groping faith.
Of this bleak desolation, life seems unaware.” Howard Thurman
As we sat there in the front of the coffee shop, looking out the window and talking, the most curious thing occurred. A young white girl was passing by with her mother and when she saw me her face changed into something so warm, curious, and loving. She stopped and waved so vigorously that as I think about it now, tears fill my eyes. She kept waving to the point that her mother grabbed her and ushered her along. Why did that girl react so happily to my presence? It could have been something as simple as my cool glasses. ha. I will never know. I do know that I felt so seen. So comforted. So…loved? I realized that so many of the cares lifted off of my shoulders in that simple moment. This was a God moment for me. A sacred moment. I may never see that young girl again in this life, but I am grateful to her nonetheless.
I hope you can have your own coffee shop window experience this week. In the ways that you need it and that matters most.
Black History Month has come to a close and Women’s history month is upon us party people. I could say so much about the reverence I have for the women who are in my life, and about the women that I learn from daily, but we will be here for a long time. I will highlight two things, a book by Tamice Spencer Helms that I have enjoyed, and a substack post/poem I did with
that you can find here.*If this post has impacted you in some way, please feel free to share it.*
I found God in a coffee shop window
I love this so much.
God moments in the coffee shop 🥹