Coffee Shop Season

Yes- the weather is about to make the turn here in SC- I think, anyway, since it is teasing us in the mornings with a slight chill in the air.

I am ready for it- this summer has been hot and long in some difficult ways, and I always look forward to bonfires and sweatshirts and a reason to drink hot coffee.

But that isn’t the type of season that has been on my mind in the past few weeks, even though I am ready for the slide from summer to autumn that is about to come. My mind has been on the season of parenting I am in- a season that is constantly changing and right now, for me, has just changed again in a way that makes me aware of the way nothing ever stays the same.

Four of my five children have been baristas at some point- and the fifth one is only not a barista yet because she is too young to get a job- so coffee shops have been an important part of our lives for years now as we would go to visit them as they worked, or pick them up from work, or take our own homeschool work or my writing to the location so that we could be a part of the culture there and maintain a connection with our children.

My oldest daughter has been the manager of a local coffee shop for a couple of years, and last week she left to begin a career in a totally different field. It is such an exciting transition for her, and a wonderful career move- but it jolted me into realizing that once again, the season is changing. No more going to see her at work (because it’s a little weird if your mom shows up at your office and just sits down with her laptop!). Coffee Shop Season is over for her.

There have been other seasons that have now passed, like Sippy Cup Season, when I was constantly finding sippy cups that were filled with mysterious liquids I would not dare to even smell, and it seemed like no tops matched the currently clean cups.

Or Teaching a Kid To Read Season, when the rewarding job of sounding out letters also was extremely painful for my impatient self and tested every bit of calm control I had not to just yell out, “CAT!! IT’S CAT!! Just like it was the last 5 times!”

Or Houseful of Teenage Boys Season when there was always a faint smell of feet and the grocery bill was ridiculous and I never knew whose cars were in the driveway.

All AMAZING SEASONS- with so many blessings and so much fun- but also with hard times and tears and lessons to learn.

And none of them lasted, and none of them will- that’s what the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3. What matters is that we learn to live in the moments that happen now, as best we can, whatever season we are currently in.

Right now I am in Starting a Business Season, and Running a Co op Season, Senior Year Season with one daughter, and Homeschooling One Child Season with my 7th grader.

All beautiful. All difficult in some ways, and just pure joy in others.

I don’t know what season you are in- maybe it’s Diaper Season, Everything is Going Great Season, or maybe My Life Feels Unmanageable and I Just Want to Have Time to Take a Shower Season.

Whatever it is- it is ok to embrace it. To pause from constantly looking to the next season, the next change, and to just be where you are, to see possibly what God might have to show you in this moment that is beautiful and worth being present for, right now.

So...even though I am ready for some Sweater Weather and cooler days, I will take a minute this afternoon to enjoy the sunshine and the warm temperatures, since the season hasn’t changed yet…and I hope you will too.

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“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

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Blessings,

Shay Kemp