Last week my husband came home from a long stretch of
working out of town. It was a difficult time for him to be gone. One of our
kids had been gone for a week in England that ended in a bit of sickness,
making him miss his plane. Once home, this same child needed surgery (unrelated
to his British excursion). Recovery at home has not gone without its bumps as
infection at the surgical site set in, and this 6’2” son of ours nearly passed
out. I’m happy to say that he is finally recuperating, slowly but surely. For
me, it has been a time of stretching and a time of trust that God was and is
working through every trial. As I sat at the computer looking blankly at
messages on the first morning after my husband’s return, he quietly came over
and set a freshly perked cup of coffee in front of me, hoping he had just the
right amount of cream in it. I just looked at that steaming cup and cried. It
was offered without my asking and was a symbol of love and sacrifice without
having asked for it. It was a beautiful gesture and now as I think on this, I
begin to reminisce.
Years ago, one of my sisters treated me to something that would
become an addiction to me; the joy of freshly perked coffee. Ahhh…I can hear
the percolators now, each with their own voice, own personality, own strength.
The very thought makes me yearn for morning to have my first steaming cup of
the day. I have, since my first cup, accumulated a collection for every
possible occasion. From travel perks that brew three cups to party size of up
to fifty. Tall and elegant, short and squat (the pot belly is one of my all
time favorites), I love them all! But not all of my memories have been sweet.
Indeed, some have been downright life threatening!
One morning, early on in this new found love, I lost the
little clear top to the lid of my percolator. This just could not be! I must
have my coffee in the morning, and not just any coffee. Should I leave the kids
to fend for themselves, and run down to Casey’s for a cup-a-joe? Or better yet,
call my husband at work and have him get it for me and deliver it lights and
sirens (this was an emergency)! No, that would never do. Surely I could find a
solution. Frantically looking in my utensil drawer I found the perfect answer to my dilema. The
turkey baster! With great confidence in my ingenuity, I took off the rubber end,
and fit the thing snugly over the hole in the pot lid. Sure enough, the coffee
began brewing beautifully, but for one SNAFU. Do you know that the force of
those things, once they really get brewing, sends the coffee shooting pretty
high and since the baste end narrows, it sends the force of the coffee clear up
to the ceiling for goodness sake! Who would have thought? I did persevere
though, staying well out of shot, and in time was laughing over the whole thing
as I enjoyed my first cup.
Then there was the time that the cord started smoking in
mid-brew. Since the smoke wasn’t at the wall plug and I didn’t actually see
flames, I let the pot go till she was done. The perils I’ve put myself through
for that perfect cup!
Foolish you may think I am for these follies, but sometimes
going through the heat and flames is worth the end result. I see this in many
things but nothing more valuable than marriage. I have watched friends marriages
go through all sorts of life threatening…even soul threatening situations to
the point of looking like the flames and smoke would consume them, but because
they believed, because of perseverance the likes that I have rarely seen, they
have come through to become a more purified image of marriage than I have ever
born witness to. In my own marriage I have experienced the smoke a time or two
but had we not let things ‘perk’ as they should we would never have come
through to the beautiful blend that we are. I would much rather compare a
really good marriage to being ‘perky’ than to a dull ‘drip’. Too many marriages
rely on a quick drip. They want immediate gratification and are not patient
enough or willing to sacrifice for each other to wait for the perks of a well
brewed relationship. The result is bitter, not better. Even perked coffee on
reheat cycle is fresh!
Silly though it seems, my perked coffee is a rather
enjoyable reminder of the sacred. As every marriage is going to have it’s time
of built up pressure, ready to blow it’s top, or smoke warning of coming
flames, my only advice? See it through to the last perk. You’ll be glad you
did. It is so much better to have the results of a great percolator than be
lost to perdition. And, on perfect cue…my coffee is ready!
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