Calling all Coffee Friends!

Wow! There are a lot of coffee friends out there! It is so nice to meet you! As I looked at the blog today and saw how many of you share that same love for that warm cup of jo that my friend and I share, it made me smile!

I think I inherited my love for coffee from my daddy. Mama liked coffee too, but daddy loved his coffee. He would drink it all day long, all year long. Even in the summer, he would say it help to cool him down to have a cup of coffee! I wasn't sure I understood that back then. I remember we had a funny coffee cup that said "Coffee Hound", and it was a huge cup. Also, he had a literal half cup. It looked like a cup cut in half vertically with a flat back. He would tease people by having mama serve it in that one if they only wanted a "half a cup". Coffee brought people together to talk in my house. Life stopped for just a little while to sip a cup of coffee, take a break and chat for awhile.

For me, I have taken coffee drinking to a new level! I can be found with multiple cups at once, as you can see from the photo. I get in such a tizzy that I forget that I already have one poured, and I will pour another! On this particular day, we were at a nail salon with the girls in the bridal party for my second daughter's wedding. We were there to have a relaxing morning getting our mani and pedi's done before the wedding rehearsal that night. We had spent the whole day before decorating, confirming plans, having family and guests arrive, and going in a million different directions, so when I got in the chair. it was all I could do to sit still, never mind relax. The lady doing the pedicure kept slapping my legs saying relax, relax! Well, with all the stress and all the caffeine that was running through me, relaxing was the last thing about to happen! I was going ninety miles a hour and afraid to stop. The wedding was not over yet!!!!! If I stopped it wouldn't happen, or so I thought!

I look back and laugh at this photo. The second cup was not mine this time. It actually belonged to the mother of the groom. Yet, it summed up the day(maybe I should say year) in a nutshell. Within the next 10 months of this photo, my friend and business partner in JavaGirls had all four of her children get married! I was not sure if that was good or bad. She survived, so I guess it was good! Also, I became nana to my second grandson and also learned grandson number three was on the way! Also, during this year I fell down a flight of stairs, suffering multiple soft tissue damage, which put me off my feet for four months and in PT all summer! My friend and I gained a lot of wisdom along with the gray hairs that year! We saw our children's lives, as well as our own, change that year. We cried, we laughed, we prayed, we trusted God, and we lived to tell about it! Funniest of all, we can tell you how long it takes to get to the next coffee shop from anywhere in town! Needless to say, we kept Starbucks and D&D in business that year! My sister kept us supplied with Starbuck's gift cards since she couldn't be there to help. Is that a sweet sister or what? God bless her! Those coffee stops made PT runs and wedding runs go a little smoother. Actually, a lot smoother.

Can we live without our coffee? Yeah, sometimes we can. It keeps us going some days, and it "cools us off" on others. Just like daddy said! Sitting down to pause for a minute with a warm cup is calming and yes, relaxing! I've learned to take the time to see what God has done, and what He will continue to do. For this is when "Java Girls" was born. I learned that if I stopped, the world could and would keep on going. So, remember to stop, enjoy your coffee, your family and your friends! It will all still be there when you get up. Sometimes with a new adventure!

Till Next Time,

"Java"mamacooker

The Truth About Being Mom...

...It's not all fun and games to the mom!

First of all, I only do this because my mama does not have a computer and can't see this photo. She would kill me! That's what she wanted to do to the teenager that took this picture and thought it was sooooo funny. Now, "mama's rear in the air" will be forever in the family photo album and now all over the world thanks to me and the www ! At least I have a reason for spreading it. There is a lesson to be learned from it.

When we bring those little darlings into this world, we just love them and enjoy all the warm and fuzzy feeling we have. We don't know all that is yet to come. It's a good thing. God allows us to be naive and blind to the future for a good reason. There are some things in life that we are better off not knowing until they hit. Being surprised can cause two reactions, one, we over-react and say and do things we shouldn't, or two, we are just stunned or don't even know it happened and are speechless. The later reaction gives us a chance to think about it and may be our saving grace. It's best this way because we can then have the right reaction after we think it through. God's timing can tame our reaction! Now, my mama would have never posed for that photo. She would have probably taken that camera and thrown it away. She was a true lady! At that time ladies didn't laugh at things like that. But, (no pun intended!), after the fact, when the film was developed weeks later, what could she do. Everyone else was having a good ole laugh at mama's expense, and after she got over wanting to strangle the kid that did it, she let it go and now we all have a good laugh over it, including her.

Life can hit moms with surprises sometimes. Some funny like this photo, some not so funny. It's not always a light hearted thing. Mom can often be the "butt" of the jokes, she can be mis-understood, un-appreciated, taken for granted, and sometimes it's not funny, it's very hurtful. This is especially true as your children get older. You know, during that time when they are so much smarter than you? When we give it time, we can have the right reaction. We take it in, see that it wasn't meant to hurt us and then react correctly. Our kids often don't think with adult minds. In fact, the Bible talks about it in I Corinthians 13:11, it says "When when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:". Wisdom comes from God and with age, and we are all still growing older and wiser everyday. Even our children.

So moms, when you're caught with your rear in the air and it's not funny, just take a minute to see what develops. It may not be as bad as you think. It may just mean that they saw things differently than you did. A little patience can go a long way in dealing with your family!

Still Cookin,

Mamacooker

P.S. I was just reminded that the other victim in this photo was my moms dear sister-in-law. She had to be dear to be out in that hot garden helping to pick peas, or butter beans. She was and still is one of the best! Sorry Aunt _ _ _ _! I just had to do it!

Journal Give-away!

Congratulations to Aestraea for being the winner of our journal giveaway. We will be having another giveaway in the near future, so be watching for it!
Of course, our first giveaway prize just had to be a coffee themed journal! (Please note - the Starbucks card is only an embellishment.) I, Javamamacooker, aka Renee, have my altered journals for sale in my etsy shop, javagirls.etsy.com. My business partner, Ruth, and I create custom and personalized altered keepsake journals.
Thanks for all those who decide to follow. I hope you'll enjoy my blog. Click here to visit our shop.

Inspirations for Moms

This is mama with her first baby. See the love in her. She was in her glory. I was reminded of this photo after I found such a nice blog today. It's called Nursery Love. You can find it at http://www.nurseryloveblog.blogspot.com/ From one mom to another this hit me right in the heart. This woman has a passion for her family, one of the greatest earthly gifts from God only second to our salvation. Strong families are a gift to this world. The next generation is in our hands, so it's up to us to give them what they need, to be the best they can be. I am reaping the blessings of my labor now. I'm still a mom to two children at home, two married daughters one of which has made me a NANA to three adorable grandsons! Double the fun and blessings of having your children! And no, I don't wish that I had them first! I wouldn't have been the same person I am now anyway. It is great being a mom, just even better being a nana! Like a double dip of ice cream is always better than a single! More sweetness, more love, more hugs and kisses! Someone once said to my daughter, my what a big task you have been entrusted with raising sons. Three men, for the next generation. That is a huge responsibility and challenge. Leaders, providers, father's of the next generation. I have faith in God and in them that they will do their job well. They have the Lord, they have each other, and they have God's Word. By the way, children do come with an instruction book. I look forward to the years ahead, watching them grow into little men. I feel the same for little girls. I'm am so blessed watching my daughter be a mom. What a reward. Also, my mama, ma-maw to my children and now grandchildren is reaping her blessings when talking to her great grandson almost every week. Jack loves to talk to "the ma-maw" and tell her what he has been up to. You see, she lives over 1200 miles away from Jack and he's only seen her once, but he adores her. His mom is doing something right!

So, I'm excited to meet more moms doing wonderful things and loving their children and husbands. I love this little give-a-way on Nursery Love's site and hope I win because I want that little crayon roll up from http://www.babysewpretty.etsy.com/ for my oldest grandson Jackson. He will love using it with the new write and sketch journal that we make for our etsy shop at http://www.javagirls.etsy.com/ . Also, for you ladies that just love your husbands you may want to check out our journals themed "Letter's for My Husband". We are currently out because of the Valentines Day rush, but we will be posting another one very soon!
Until next time,
Mamacooker

Teaching Thankfulness

I have a lot to be thankful for. I had a mom and dad that loved me. They loved life and they loved God. This picture shows that at an early age they were teaching their baby girl to pray and be thankful for what God had provided. As you see on the table it was a humble meal. Peas from the garden, and it looks like mackeral cakes and biscuits. I remember having those later in life. They were so good. Mama could make anything taste good. It didn't matter what we had, her love went into it. She was thankful for what she could put on that table. Daddy was also a thankful man. He knew what He had was from God and hard work. When we sat at the table our heads were bowed as we thanked God for His provisions.

It's so easy today to get caught up in the frenzy of life. Running here and there, grabbing snacks or fast food on the run. Do we really take the time to be thankful? Even if we utter our "thank-you Lord for this food" are we really thankful in the same sort of way as back then? I know I'm not. It's a shame that we take so much for granted. As I lugg the groceries from the car to my house I am reminded that I didn't have to pick the beans, shuck the corn, milk the cow, and most of all I did not have to kill the chicken that I was feeding my family that night! I could not do that! I don't know how those women did it? That right there is something to be thankful for.

I bring in my fully cooked rotisserie chicken, put my spring mix salad in a bowl and zap a veggie in the microwave and serve my rice from the rice cooker and WA LA, I'm done. Okay so we have it easier now days. I know we do and we have challenges they didn't have. So what can we do? Embrace the moment we live in, look around at all we have to be thankful for. The grocery stores, the schools, the gas stations, the jobs we have, our faith in God. This is what our existence is about.

I guess what I'm getting at is appreciation for what we have, the time we live, and what the God of creation does for us everyday. I hope to convey this thankfulness on to my children and grandchildren. I want to be like my mama and daddy, thankful for the "peas, the canned mackeral and biscuits", and enjoy showing my children how to pray, and truely love life.

Thanks mama and daddy. You taught us well.

Mamacooker