Thoughts from a Barista in Training

So many of you probably know that I have been working at a coffee shop for the last 3 and a half months! I love it. I really enjoy working with my co-workers, learning to make legit, awesome coffee and of course enjoying discounted and sometimes free coffee! A college student's dream come true? I think yes! Since the beginning of this year, I have started training as an actual barista, like how to actually make the lattes and the espresso and all the other cool drinks! It is so fun! I love it, even though I'm not the best at it!

So here are just some random thoughts... Most of my thoughts are about God and about who He is and our relationship with Him and I just think its fun that He has revealed more and more to me about this, all while learning to make a latte! So here goes:

1. The Perfect Grinder. So for those of you that don't know (or for those of you that are coffee professionals), Brewing coffee can be done in a variety of ways, there is the coffee that you brew at home, probably with a french press, or a paper filter, or a metal filter or there is coffee that you can enjoy from a coffee shop, in the form of espresso, or iced coffee, or ice bledded coffee drinks, the list goes on and on about the different forms of how you can enjoy coffee. But your enjoyment of coffee, ultimately, is not based on the sugar that you've added to it, but about the specific grind that you've used for the coffee. Take for example an espresso grind, verses a french press grind. Both are delicious and bring out different characteristics in the coffee, but if you use an espresso grind in your french press, you will most likely end up with grinds in your coffee- gross! To sum up- use the right grind of coffee for the right kind of filter. Simple right? It was funny though when I actually thought about this and how that kind of relates to us and God. God has chosen each one of us, for a specific purpose and has wonderful things planned for us- far more than we could ever imagine. But sometimes, (I am espcially guilty of this) we try to be a different grind. We want the french press grind, when really we were made for an espresso. Both forms of course are still enjoyable (for the coffee drinker and for God), but when used inappropriately the results are very disappointing! But praise God that He has a plan for us, He is the best Grinder out there and knows what He's doing. He knows what coffee is best for what type of grind and their is purpose in His shaping and molding of us!

2. Check your shots. Brewing a pot of coffee at home is pretty easy, I would say for most. And at our coffee shop we have exact grind- water porportions that we follow. When it comes to making espresso shots though, there is a form that is vital to the quality of the coffee that's brewed. There are many factors that play a part: how much coffee there is, the pressure of the coffee that has been pressed, the amount of water, the temperature and the time at which all of this occurs. While making espresso shots this last Monday, my co-worker suggested that I taste my own espresso shots. He said that just because it looked tasty, doesn't alway mean that it is the best coffee. It could have too much of a bitter taste, or too much of a watery taste, it could straight up just be bad, but what my co-worker said really hit me. It made me think of how God sees our hearts. He is not so concerned with what we do or say on the outside, but He is greatly concerned about the "flaver" of our hearts, if you will. Just because something looks good to eat, doesn't always mean that you'll enjoy the taste of it. Same with Jesus- just because we act like we follow Christ- go to Church, be a good person, etc. doesn't mean that we actually do- based on the condition of our hearts. But God can see our hearts, what motivates us, and if we are genuine or not- all by looking at our hearts. I praise Him, because on the outside I fail, a lot, but I know that He is faithful to see my heart and because of my first point, He is able to mold me and make me into the perfect grind!

3. Coffee Shop Gospel. To become a barista, you are not just thrown in the position and left to figure it out on your own. No, you are carefully trained and watched over until you are able to handle it by yourself. This probably sounds fimilar if you have ever learned to walk, ride a bike, read, drive a car, operate an attraction at Disneyland, thread a movie reel at a movie theatre, the list goes on... But my point is that you were taught how to do something, not just for your own knowledge, but you were also taught so that you could train and equip those that follow you. My professor this quarter recommended that we form study groups so that we could teach each other certain topics- if you can't teach someone about something, you probably don't know about that something very well. This third point came to me while reading the book of Acts this morning, and keeping in mind that I wanted to write this blog. If you've ever read the books of Acts, you would have noticed the number of times that it records "and their numbers increased daily", "they were being added to daily", and "many believed daily". Wow! I cannot imagine to live in such a way that the gospel was preached every day, and every day people believed. I'm not saying that, that doesn't happen today, but it probably doesn't happen as often as it should, or as often as it did in the book of Acts. But the book of Acts records the first disciples preaching, baptizing and procliamin the name of Jesus, and I wonder if they hadn't. Where would the gospel be today? It probably wouldn't. Scary, right? But the disciples were smart enough and were taught to go and teach others about Jesus. All I do is praise God that He and His story of salvation are bigger than me, failures included. I praise Him, because despite my failures and unworthiness, He still uses me in crazy ways to be a part of His Kingdom! Wow! Not only did I benefit from this story of salvation, but now I get to play a part! And what did I do to deserve this? NOTHING!


This was a lot of fun for me to write about. I hope that God is teaching you something about Himself wherever you are working or studying or playing. He's is inescapable and so I know what where you are, there He is too, and I hope that you have your eyes open to see Him and learn from Him.

Oh yeah, one last thing...

I hope there's coffee in Heaven, but if not I will be beyond satisfied with the One that created it!



Just for fun... some of the women that God uses to mold me in the perfect grind!