Though I’m still in Lois Peterson mode (see the Jun 8 2007 entry called HeavenQuake below… don’t miss the comments), she’d probably slap me upside my head and say, “Get on with life.” So, back to life…
As I write I’m picking coffee grounds out of my mouth. From my lips. My tongue. My teeth. The ones I miss, I just swallow. Extra fiber. I’m a man in my 40’s, you know. 
My day started at 1:20 A.M. when my delightful little boy called out for a savior from whatever spooky monster haunted his room. Dad the Savior. We fell asleep together in his bedroom.
By about 5:30, I was up. Step one: make the coffee. Caribou blend mixed with Italian blend. Grind it with grinder wrapped in towel to minimize noise. Put in the cone-shaped filter. Dump in coffee. Turn on the coffee maker. Hit the computer. Read the Bible. Esther 7. Great chapter.
Time for coffee. But no coffee! Aarrghhh. Forgot the water. Oops. Understandable, given the hour and my sleep deprivation. Add water. Drag self back to computer.
A few minutes later–a tepid cup of terrible coffee. Forget this coffee maker. I’m using the French Press.
I tried to recycle the damp grounds from my first attempt. Being cheap doesn’t pay. God punishes those who re-wet coffee grounds. Another terrible cup of coffee. I am despondently woebegone.
Not an auspicious launch for the day. Strange emotions plague the sleepless.
Let’s start all over. Do it right. Lots of fresh grounds. Boiling water from a screaming tea kettle. Four heaping scoops of strong coffee. Two mugsful of sizzling water. Four minutes of steeping. A perfect cup. I have delivered.
Coffee: the new smell of the body of Christ. 
And I had birthed the perfect cup.
Except for the quarter-teaspoon of grounds left clinging to the lip of the carafe from the first failed attempt. If only I had noticed! A school of black specks does backstrokes in my hard-born cup.
Filter it! my somnolently parsimonious frontal lobe cries. Bad idea! shouts my cerebral cortex. Frontal lobe triumphs. Unfortunately. Cone-shaped filter goes into a clean mug. Ground-defiled coffee gets poured through. Filter breaks on the bottom. Grounds remain. Ground-defiled coffee settled for.
Hence the teeth-picking.
I am absurdly blessed. But a good cup of coffee to start my day would be nice.
Why I thought I was the only one who thought coffee was an essential to devotional time!
HAHA Honestly, you really never know how GOOD a GOOD cup of coffee is until you’re in Africa drinking chickory “coffee”. You can’t French press that stuff enough to make it good. Yuban tastes good compared to chickory “coffee.”
Brian, you’ve been in the wrong part of Africa!
I’m not that much of a coffee fan, but I sure liked the Ethiopian coffee ceremony. (First they roast the beans). The resulting coffee is strong but not at all bitter, though you sometimes have to contend with coffee grounds.
Ok, maybe I’m showing my naivety, or maybe I’ll just plain dumb, but I can’t figure out what C8H10N402 means??? My curiosity is killing me! Were you expecting us to figure it out (I’m helpless) or were you figuring we knew what it’s supposed to mean (help!!) or were we supposed to ignore it and not worry about it? I’m always willing to learn something…
Thanks.
Oh, I didn’t do well in chemistry….
Poor, dear Jean!
C8H10N4O2 is the God-breathed chemical commonly known as caffeine.
Bill
Thanks!
Like I said, I didn’t do well in chemistry. In fact, I never took chemistry. However, I think caffeine is indeed a God-breathed chemical. How clever He is!
Do you have a brother Leo?
Dave
Hi Dave,
No. Leo is a wonderful pastor in Southern CA, and we’re not related. He spells his last name differently. In fact I emailed him and told him he spelled his name wrong. He was very gracious and funny in reply. There’s another guy with my last name who preaches in southern IL, his firs name is Joe, and it’s no relation either.
Watch out.
We’re taking over.
Bill