I hadn’t fully adjusted to the time change. I felt well rested, but it was a little before 6am CST and I was in bed scrolling through local coffee shops, scrolling past the list of nearby Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts until a smattering of local independently owned coffee shops appeared. I scanned to see which ones were close to my hotel and were open, at 6am, on a Saturday, in a very quiet downtown Chicago. Stan’s Donuts and Coffee caught my eye, with it’s fun and festive pink logo, the same fun and festive pink signage I walked past a couple days before on my way to dinner. They were festive, offered gluten free pastries, specialty hot beverages with a variety of non dairy options, and…they were open! I slid into my jeans and black sweater, put on my coat, grabbed my hat, scarf, and gloves (the sun in early March in Chicago at 6am-ish was not going to fool me) and after a quick elevator ride down 37 floors, I was off to Stan’s.
Out of all of the gorgeously tempting donuts and fritters, I quickly saw and chose a blueberry gluten-less donut. I inquired about their tea selection. While I was impressed they offered more than English breakfast tea, earl grey, chamomile, and green tea, I decided to go for a chai with almond milk. As I waited for my chai I sent up a little prayer that it would taste good and not be watered down. I’ve had some pretty bad almond milk chai teas and I was hoping Stan’s would be one of the better almond milk chai teas I’ve had. As I picked up my cup from the shiny white counter to, it looked think and frothy- this was a good sign. Still, I cautiously took the first sip, and my insides smiled. Success! Regret set in almost immediately for ordering a small. I decided I didn’t need the extra calories of the larger size and walked the four blocks back to my hotel to enjoy this early morning delight.
As I continued to enjoy my chai I thought that perhaps the day was over I would go back to Stan’s and get another. They closed at 9pm and I had a full day ahead, feeling like another warm beverage of some sort would be a great way to wind down the day. And then I thought, but what if it’s not the same. What if there’s a different person there who makes it and it’s watered down and nothing like the goodness of this one? That’s the thing I reminded myself, about independent businesses. You may order the same thing but you’re not guaranteed to get the same thing. So while I love supporting independent businesses in general, and more so when I travel, I am also still a huge fan of Starbucks. Why? Because they’ve been around long enough and are vast enough to have making their beverages down to a science. My usual Starbucks beverage of choice tastes the same whether I am ordering from Starbucks in Spokane, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Miami, Buffalo, Manhattan, or Chicago. Whether the space is about the size of my bedroom in the lobby of a hotel, at an airport, or large enough to include a drive through, it tastes the same. I can count on it and sometimes I don’t want any surprises, any uncertainty, to send up any prayers for it to be watered down. Sometimes I want what I know for sure, to rest in that, to be comforted and revived by that.
I know you are four paragraphs in and I’ve talked way more about chai and travel than I have about grit or grace. Thanks for bearing with me. There was a point. There is a point. In fact here is the point.
“We can ALWAYS be certain of the presence and work of grace in our lives. Regardless of what season or situation we find ourselves in our lives, God has been around long enough, and His plan for our good has existed long enough, that His grace is perfect, down to the unique science of who He has created us to be. There is no situation that catches God or grace off guard.”
Read that again. There is no chance that we will get a watered down version of grace, of grit, of purpose, of equipping, of unconditional love. We will never experience the sweetness of grace and have to wonder if next time it will be just as sweet- it will. We never have to wonder if we go back to God needing more ___________ that He will switch up and we will lose out. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, forever ever.
My prayer for you this week as that you will ground yourself in grace and in knowing you have been given the grit for whatever season you find yourself in. That you will remember while you were made for more, you were also made for this very moment and so was God’s grit and grace for you. That while you may be surprised by people this week you would simply remain in awe and gratitude for the constant presence of grace in your life.
With Love,
Grit + Grace