Two Punches

I have been known to leave important things in places where they weren’t, shall I say, helpful. Like the four or five times I’ve left my laptop computer at home and not discovered it until I walked into my office. Or the countless times, I’ve put my cell phone in my desk charger and forgotten about it — until Nancy tracks me down on another phone and asks why I’ve been ignoring her calls.

But I never forget to carry my Peet’s Coffee card. There’s no way I could forget to have that business-card-size passport to caffeine with me. No, when there’s free coffee at stake, my mind is like a steel trap.

The deal with a Peet’s card is that the cashier punches it every time you buy coffee. Buy nine cups and the tenth cup is free. Nothing tastes quite as good as a cup of free coffee. Although, coffee at work is free and it tastes no where near as good as a free cup at Peet’s. I guess it’s because I’ve earned the free cup by keeping up with my card and remembering to have the cashier punch it.

Recently I noticed that some of my friends — I’m on a first name basis with all of the cashiers (of course, they wear name tags) — have been punching my card twice. I thought I was special. But I worried about it a little bit. I mean, was it fair to other customers that these lovely people are partial to me?

A couple of months ago, I decided to do the right thing and speak up.

“So, what’s so special about me?” I asked.

The young woman looked puzzled. “What?”

“Why are you giving me two punches?”

She smiled sheepishly and tapped a little sign next to the register.

“Senior Citizens receive two punches” it read.

“But I’m not a Senior Citizen,” I protested.

“Are you sure?” she inquired. “You know, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. And you get free coffee twice as fast,” she said helpfully.

“I am NOT a Senior Citizen!” I assured her.

“Okay, if you say so.”

I’ve noticed that she still punches my card twice when she thinks I’m not paying attention. I guess she thinks that I’ve just forgotten how old I am.

I won’t allow this to go on much longer. That’s just the kind of guy I am. And besides, I WILL be a Senior Citizen by Peet’s standards on my next birthday.

Day One

Day One of a new year. A time to start fresh. An opportunity for turning that new leaf.

Yet I carry over so much unfinished from last year. And I would just as soon leave much of it there. But as I turn in my chair, I can see it’s still with me . . . lurking just over my shoulder . . . waiting to see what I will do . . . if anything at all.

Even with a lot of baggage, I still feel great hope for what this next twelve months will bring. God has promised much. Maybe not riches and glory — despite what some of the TV evangelists tell us. But He has given us everything already. Our hope for the future — and the present — is what we have in this first day of the year and what we will have in the last day of this year.

May your year be filled with good things. And when tragedy comes, may you be surrounded by friends who are divinely connected. All will be well. We’ve got that promise.