My Love Language is Coffee

 

If my cupboards are any indication, my love language is definitely coffee (the picture below shows about 24 mugs – a fraction of the coffee cups we own). I suppose coffee would fall under Gary Chapman's described language of quality time. I want to savor a good cup of coffee in the company of someone close to me.

Over the last month-and-a-half, I have been leading a Wednesday night class at my church on the topic of hospitality. We are following the SheReadsTruth study and each week I have asked different women to share personal experiences. In addition I also include supplemental content that I run across – mostly from the blogs I read.

Last night I shared a little from the blog Fellowship Kitchen. The author, Alyssa Passage, writes about the faux pas of sharing personal pain during the holiday season, and that in keeping those struggles to ourselves we do a disservice to those who might be able to love on us.

She says:

Silence costs us…

The silence, about what effects our hearts, leads to loneliness and isolation even while we sit at packed holiday tables, elbow in the mashed potatoes.

Silence costs listening ears, comfort, camaraderie, and the plethora of hugs you need. No, gestures like that won’t cure the hurt but at least we’ll be surrounded by love and the voice of truth, “You’re not alone.”

And as a final thought — let’s dually hold sadness and peace in our hearts, not because everything is alright, but because Jesus is a bringer of gifts. And those gifts often arrive in the arms of friends and family. - See more at: http://kitchenfellowship.com/if-the-holidays-hurt-your-heart/#sthash.dRDnvKiO.dpuf

 

So if you are hurting in some way this holiday season, whether from anxiety, difficulty parenting, aging parents, infertility, miscarriage, death, job situations, or whatever your heartache is, I hope you will chose to share that burden with someone close to you, perhaps over coffee. 

 

And if you know someone who may be having a difficult time right now, I hope you will choose to show hospitality to that person by offering a listening ear, a hug, or a note to let that person know they are not alone. In this season we are reminded that Jesus was the ultimate gift giver and those gifts can arrive in the form of friends and loved ones.