The Pressure Cooker

Sounds of childhood. Most of us have memories of those don’t we? One of the sounds I remember was the electric mixer my Mom would used to make mashed potatoes. It was really loud and whenever she would use it there would lines of static that would appear across the television. My brother and I always got so bent out of shape when that happened.

Another sound I remember for distinctly is the sound of the pressure cooker. It was sort of a gentle hissing sound that would go on for hours and hours. Anyone else have that sound captured in your head?

Pressure cookers are really pretty amazing. Basically, by increasing the pressure inside the cooker, you are able to cook whatever is inside faster and more efficiently. You can take a really tough cut of meat, cook it in the pressure cooker, and it will come out tender.

Today I want us to look at the Nation of Israel and the pressure cooker they were in for 40 years as they wandered in the wilderness.

Now we all know the stories of what happened to Israel in the wilderness, good and bad. But let’s look at why God said he put Israel through the pressure cooker.

Turn with me to:
Deuteronomy 8:1-2
(1) All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
(2) And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

God tells us here what his purposes were for allowing Israel to wander for those 40 years:
1. To humble them
2. To prove them
3. To know what was in their heart
4. To know whether or not they would keep his commandments


I lined up a special treat for us today so we could learn more about what God was doing in the lives of the Israelites as they wandered.

Please join me in welcoming our first guest. A man named Eliezer who is wandering in the wilderness with the Nation of Israel.


1st Israelite man to interview – Eliezer

Ryan –
Hi Eliezer, thanks for taking time out of your journey to join us here today.

So now that you are half way through with wandering in the wilderness….

Eliezer –
What!! We are only half way through???

Ryan-
Oops, sorry, I don’t think I was supposed to tell you that….

So anyway, I wanted to see if you could tell us about how your journey to the Promised Land is going.


Eliezer –
· This has been a TERRIBLE experience

· The food is so different than what I am used to. We eat rice & beans….I mean manna & quail for EVERY meal

· Moses gives us homework EVERY night and even over the weekend.

· We’re supposed to follow the teacher….I mean the cloud and fire that is leading us where we are supposed to go. But I really doubt they are taking us on the best route.

· One time we came to a new place and we weren’t supposed to drink from the pool of water because it was bitter. Then Moses through a stick into the water and said it was OK to drink now. Come on!! A stick??

· Anyway, this journey has been just awful. Every time we turn around there is some need to be met or challenge to be overcome. Moses is always saying trust God, trust God, blah blah blah. I think this journey is going to kill me!

Ryan –
OK…
Well, thank you Eliezer for coming today to share your perspective. It has been very…enlightening…

Now let’s welcome our second special guest from the Nation of Israel, Caleb.


2nd Israelite man to interview – Caleb

Ryan –
Hello Caleb, thanks for taking time out of your journey to the Promised Land to join us here today.

So now that you are half way through with wandering in the wilderness….

Caleb –
Wooo hooo!! We are half way through already?? That is wonderful news. God has been so faithful to us.

Ryan –
Well fantastic, I am glad to hear that is encouraging news for you. So I brought you here today to see if you would share your perspective on how the journey is going.

Caleb –
Great, thanks for asking me to be here.
· This journey has been an AWESOME time to see the mighty hand of God at work in our lives.

· God has miraculously provided us with all of the food we need to eat each day. Not only that, but God has given us variety in both manna AND quail!

· Sometimes I don’t understand where or why God is leading us by the cloud and the pillar of fire, but I trust that where He leads me is always best. I know that He will use those in authority over me to guide me as well. God has given us great leaders in Moses and Joshua.

· And the things God has done for us!! Don’t get me started!!
- The parting of the Red Sea
- The fresh food every day
- Water to drink when we need it

I could go on and on.

Oh, there was this time that we were really thirsty and we found this pool of water. But the water in the pool was bitter and not safe to drink. God told Moses to throw a stick into the water and voila! The water was made good!!

· So I would have to say that this journey has been awesome so far. Every time we turn around there is some need to be met or challenge to be overcome. And every time, God shows Himself strong on our behalf. What a blessing and privilege to see the hand of God at work right before our very eyes.


Ryan –
Wow. Thanks Caleb for sharing your perspective. It certainly is exciting to hear about what God is doing in your life.


I. One of the major things that will determine “how” we go through the pressure cooker God has us in is Perspective

- Perspective is how you view something. It is the lenses through which you look at the circumstances of your life.

- We always joke about the glass being half full or half empty. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? I meet a lot of people that say, “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist, I am a realist”. And that’s great, because God is a realist too, and we are supposed to be like Him right?

- The question becomes, are you letting the reality of God’s constant, never wavering, unfailing care for His children govern your perspective?

Do you know what happens to the cooker if too much pressure builds up inside? That’s right; you will have the Big Bang in your kitchen. Let me share with you one of the critical design elements of a pressure cooker.

On top of the lid is a little valve with a very important function. This little valve is designed in such a way to allow the right amount of pressure to build inside the cooker in order for effective cooking to take place, but it allows the pressure to escape when there is too much. This is what makes that lovely hissing noise I talked about.

Look with me in:
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
(1) Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
(2) And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
(3) And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
(4) And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
(5) But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
(6) Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
(7) Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
(8) Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
(9) Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
(10) Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
(11) Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
(12) Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

(13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.


II. The second thing that is critical to being in God’s pressure cooker is the relief valve of a right relationship with Him.

- God promises to never put more pressure than we can bear…..IF we use the way of escape.

- When we are walking with God in intimate fellowship, there is nothing He will allow in our lives that will cause us to blow up.

- Instead it will end up doing in our lives the very same things he intended for the Nation of Israel.

1. To humble us
2. To prove us
3. To know what is in our hearts
4. To know whether or not we will keep His commandments

The pressure cooker of Language School.

The pressure cooker of the mission field.


1. What is your perspective like today? Murmuring and complaining, or rejoicing at the hand of God in your life?

2. What is the condition of your pressure relief valve? Is your intimate relationship with God open and functioning?

First Semester Spanish Spanish Love Song

Waiter, there's a gecko in my shower...

Does anyone remember that little skit on Sesame Street? Where the muppet with the bald blue head orders some soup and then explains to the waiter (Grover) that there is a fly in his soup?

Anyway....

Tonight I heard some mild screaming coming from our front bathroom. Keeley was about to give our girls a shower (since there are no bathtubs here) and before they got in they noticed a little visitor was already in the shower.

There in the corner of our tile shower was a small gecko, about 3 inches long.

We were able to scoop him up into a little plastic aquarium we have. The girls have had a great time looking at him. Geckos are very common here, but this is the first one we have found in our house. They eat the bugs that we don't want, so he is a welcomed friend.

Dreaming in Spanish

Many people who are fluent in a second or third language have told me about a good indicator of language proficiency.  They say that you really have an excellent command of the language when you begin to dream in it.  Now, I also know some people who say they never remember their dreams, so for those folks this indicator won’t work.

 

Since we started language institute two weeks ago to learn Spanish, I feel like my head is full to the top with sustantivos (nouns), adjetivos (adjectives), articulos (articles), and verbos (verbs).  Our teachers give us homework assignments and many times I am working to complete them before I nod off for the night.

 

Several nights ago I sat up in bed and started to speak (this happens on a fairly regular basis and Keeley has had a variety of reactions ranging from amused to annoyed).  Usually whenever I sit up in bed it wakes Keeley up and she asks me what is wrong.  On this particular occasion my reply was something like this, “I can’t find el verbo” (which happens to be a fine example of Spanglish). 

 

Upon realizing that once again I was talking gibberish, Keeley sighed and went back to sleep.

 

Now for those of you that talk in your sleep or try to talk about your dreams first thing in the morning before you are “really” awake, you can relate to me when I say that at the time you are saying whatever you are saying, it makes complete and perfect sense.  Because of this I am always bewildered at why my wife is looking at me like I am crazy when I say these things.  Fortunately we are able to have a good laugh about it in the morning after she reminds me of my dream-induced statements of nonsense.

 

So although I can’t yet say that I am dreaming “in” Spanish, I can with full confidence say that I am dreaming “about” Spanish.

First Time on the Roads

Today I had the opportunity to experience another first. Driving in a Latin American country.

We went out to lunch with some Tico friends, and as we were about to leave for the restaurant my friend asked me to drive his car. I resisted, he insisted, so off we went.

Just about all of the cars here are stick shifts. Fortunately I have owned several in the past and can get in one and have it all come back to me (I learned to drive a stick by going around and around the Independence Center shopping mall).

Today is a national holiday here in Costa Rica, it is Independence Day. Because of this, traffic was lighter than usual, so it was probably a good day for my first outing behind the wheel. Unlike the States, most businesses were still open today even though it is a holiday. This made selecting a restaurant fairly easy. At the recommendation of our friends, we went to a seafood place called El Balcon del Marisco. Goooood stuff!! I had some ceviche that was out of this world.

After lunch we went shopping at a store called "Pequeño Mundo". They sell a little bit of everything at cheap prices. I bought a cool Costa Rica shirt for $2.00 US.

Upon leaving this store it started to rain. So it was time for another first, driving in Costa in the Costa Rican rain. And although we passed a bad accident, we made it home without being a part of one.

It was fun to drive again. It has been almost one month since I drove last in Kansas City. It seems strange to have gone that long without driving. We did find a car for sale that we are interested in, so maybe we will have some wheels of our own soon. Then it will be time to stay off the sidewalks. No, really. I'm serious. The sidewalks are just for walking here. :-)

Potty Mouth

In our language school we have three classes each day.

- Language - 1 hour

- Phonetics - 1 hour

- Grammar - 2 hours

In phonetics class we are focusing on learning to make the right sounds in order to correctly pronounce Spanish words.

One of the exercises that our teacher has us do is to recite a list of sounds that help us learn to put the sounds of different letters together. These are not real words mind you, just combinations of sounds based on the vowels.

Some of the sounds end up being pretty funny sounding. This past Thursday we were going through and reciting the sounds that go with the vowel "u". Upon reaching a certain part of the list of sounds, it was all I could do to contain myself.

Listening to a room of 5 grown men and a serious Tica Spanish teacher say "upu pu" (Sounds like "ooh poo poo") struck me as incredibly funny. Some other choice sounds were "upi pi" and "udu du".

Now I know what you are saying, how juvenile of me. And I have to say I agree, it is juvenile.

Maybe my 4 and 2 year old girls are rubbing off on me. Maybe I cracked under the pressure of learning. Maybe I never grew out of thinking that innocent bathroom language (or sounds) were funny.

Whatever the reason, I am going to have to exercise self-control in my phonics class in order to not disrupt our learning. :-)

Driver's License Adventure

We all have stories about going to the DMV, waiting in long lines, and then finding out you are missing one of the documents you need. Well, this past Wednesday, Keeley and I added an experience to our list of stories.

A Tico friend of ours (Costa Ricans refer to themselves as Ticos) offered to help us get our Costa Rican driver's licenses. There is a one month window of time after you arrive in the country when you can get a license without taking the test (in Spanish). So needless to say, we wanted to take advantage of this window and get it taken care of the "easy" way.

Copy of our Missouri driver's licenses, front and back.......check.
Copy of our entire passports, including the blank pages....check.
Money for the license fee ...................................check.

Everything we need to complete the process. Or so we thought.

So off to the license department we go with our Tico friend driving the four of us. Then it starts to rain as we are driving through downtown. No big deal, it rains all of the time here.

Then it starts to hail. That does NOT happen all of the time here. Most Ticos don't use ice in their drinks, much less have it falling from the sky.

After experiencing our first tropical hail storm, we made it to our destination. Inside our friend asked the nice man at the information booth where we needed to conduct our transaction. He directed us to a waiting area in front of some teller windows. After waiting for about ten minutes and moving from seat to seat (it was a sitting line, not a standing one..), our friend asks one of the tellers if we are in the right place. "No", was the answer, we needed to go to another building further back in the complex. So off we go, our girls in tow, to the building in the back.

The next building had an armed guard at the door that would check your documents to see if you had everything before he would allow you to enter. He checked our documents and directed us to a booth containing one of 5 clerks. The woman in our booth looked at our documents and asked, "Medico examin?". Ummm.....yeah......ummm.....didn't know about the medical examination. Our friend had called to see what we would need, and apparently this little piece of information had not been communicated.

OK, so now in order to make this whole adventure something other than an large investment of time with little to show for it, we needed to quickly get medical examinations and return to this building and get our licenses.

We all loaded into the car and tried to find somewhere close to get this medico examin that we needed. Our Tico friend knows someone just about everywhere we have gone with him, and this situation was no different. After consulting with one of his "friends", we drove around the corner to a couple of small buildings. The change in neighborhood "atmosphere" that occurred in just one block of driving was quite drastic. We went from a downtown business district not unlike many cities in the US, to a back alley location like you see in the movies and say, "Oh my, what are they doing in a place like that?". While Keeley waited in the car with our girls (doors locked), I went with my friend into a small building (around 10' x 15') to get my medico examin. Here is how it went:
- I handed my passport to a lady sitting at a small desk.
- She filled out a form with my information and handed it to a man at a second desk
- I paid her 12,000 Colones (around $24 US) for both Keeley and I

- The man at the second desk asked me if I had any diseases, how much did I weigh, and how tall was I.

- I signed the medico examin certificate.

- Done. I walked out with my official medico examin document.

(Keeley came in after I was done and had a very similar experience, the only difference being she had to read a line of letters on a wall mounted vision chart)

Now it was back to the other building. After showing the same guard our same documents PLUS the medico examins, we went into the booths again to present our documents. This time we had everything we needed and the process continued fine. We took some papers they gave us outside to a mobile bank (a large van with two teller windows in the side of it) and paid for our two licenses. Upon receiving our official receipts, we went back inside the building, presented our papers in the booths again. Next it was time to get our pictures taken, so across the room we went to wait in line for our pictures. We smiled for the camera, put our fingerprints into the system with an electronic scanner, and then sat to down to wait for our completed licenses to be ready. A few minutes later they called our names and it was official.

We have our Costa Rican drivers licenses!! Exhausted, but pleased, we returned home thanking God for allowing us to get this done in one day. Some hassles are universal.

New Fruit - Manzana de Agua

One of the many things I love about Latin America is all of the fruits that are available that you can't find (or easily find) in the US.

Last night after church we went to the house of a family that lives near us in our bario, San Francisco de dos rios. They are wonderful people and extremely helpful as we learn to become Ticos.

While we were visiting their home, they introduced us to a fruit none of us had tried before, Manzana de agua. In English it would be "water apple". Wow. Delicious. It is roughly the shape of a small pear with a one large seed inside. My wife described the taste as like eating a sweet smelling flower. Our kids loved them too.

We will be hunting for these when we go to the feria (local farmers market) next weekend!!

Better Than Bars

If you have ever vistited a Latin American country (or downtown Kansas City), than you are very familiar with the bars and gates on every door and window of every house.

Our house is no exception. We have a front gate, a gate at the front door, and several locks on the wooden front door. I feel like I have moved into Fort Knox.

Last night while we slept, there was a loud clanging on one of the many locked gates around our house. Keeley woke me up because it sounded like someone was trying to get in.

OK. Adrenaline is pumping. Now I need a weapon....OK found a metal flashlight. Then it dawned on me that I don't even know what to yell at an intruder in a language they will understand. Some choice Clint Eastwood or Arnold Swartzenager lines should do, everyone knows those. So around our dark house I crept.

After a thorough checking of all the gates and doors, I was satisfied that our home was still secure and no breach had taken place.

Now I need to go back to sleep. Right. While I waited for the adreneline to be absorbed back into my body, I prayed with Keeley and pondered what had just happened. Here are some thoughts.

Here we are in a new place where there is so much to learn about and adjust to. Satan would love to have us be consumed by fear and worried about our safety at every turn. It would be easy to be so preoccupied with fear that we are unable to minister the way God would have us to. As we prayed, we asked God to give us a spirit of power, and of love, and a sound mind.

Because after all, God is exceedingly better protection for my family and I than some steel bars on our doors and windows. The same God that stopped the mouths of lions from eating Daniel is the same God that brought us here to Costa Rica. The same God that protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the firey furnace is the same God that brought the sun up on our new home today. God wants to build our faith, and last night He used to rattling bars to draw us closer to himself.

By the way, after talking to the neighbors behind us today we found out that there are some cats that fight each other at night and they scamper up the gates causing them to rattle. They also run on the roofs making a racket too. God is good, all of the time.

Jones'n For Some Internet

Yes, I'll admit it. When I have to go for more than a day or two without checking my e-mail, I start to get symtoms. Hands get shaky, my mind wanders, I even start to crave SPAM.

Just kidding about the SPAM, that stuff is nasty. Anyway, when we arrived in Costa Rica early last Sunday morning (about 2am), I began an involuntary Internet fast that lasted until Monday evening at 6pm. Can you believe that?? Over 24 hours without e-mail!!

I am feeling better now though. A couple who lives behind us has internet and a wireless router, so we are using their wireless internet (with permission...).

Seriously though. The Internet is a great tool, but I am a little disgusted with myself for missing it so greatly. I need to use it when it is there, but change my grip on it from a white-knuckle to a gentle handshake.

I'll write more later, I need to catch up on my web-surfing. :-)

30 Seconds of Encouragement - 8/18/07

There we were, rushing through one of the largest, busiest airports in the United States.  Atlanta International.  Passing through a corridor on our way to use an elevator (since the large off-road double stroller we brought will not fit on an escalator), I heard someone call out my name.  Not that the name Ryan is all that uncommon, but in general you don’t hear names of any kind being yelled out in the middle of a busy airport.

 

I looked to see who it was that was trying to get my attention (or the attention of someone else with my name), and my eyes fell upon a familiar face.  It was Jim Edwards from the Kansas City Baptist Temple.  Some of you already know why Jim was in the Atlanta airport at that moment and why it was so cool to see him, but for those of you that do not, let me explain.

 

Jim Edwards and 24 other people from our church, the Kansas City Baptist Temple, were on a weeklong trip to San Jose, Costa Rica to help with some construction work at the church of KCBT missionary Greg Kedrovsky.  Our original plan had been to travel with this team for our move to Costa Rica, but the blessing of using Delta Skymiles to purchase all of our tickets required us to travel a week later on the day of their return.  Twelve members of this team had graciously volunteered to help us in our move to Costa Rica by each carrying a suitcase full of our stuff.  This was an huge blessing and allowed us to bring a total of 22 suitcases (12 with them, plus 10 of our own) to our new home in Costa Rica.  Not only did this save us a lot of money, it also provided the manpower to move that many pieces of luggage from one place to another. 

 

Jim and another member of the team were hurrying to catch their flight from Atlanta back to Kansas City, while we were hurrying to catch our flight from Atlanta to San Jose, Costa Rica.

 

So in that enormous airport filled with thousands of people, God saw fit to encourage us by crossing our path with some members of the very team that had been such a blessing to us.  We only had time to say hi and smile, but it was a bright spot in our trip at just the right time. 

 

Coincidence you say?  No, not coincidence, God’s providence.  God is so good to us, and He is always right on time with the way He meets our needs, big or small. 

 

We made it!!

2:00 am and smelling like we had carried more carry-on luggage than technically allowed through two airports and airplanes, we pulled up to the house that will be our home for the next two years in San Jose, Costa Rica.  Whew.

 

Our girls were exhausted.  We were exhausted.  But we made it without any trouble and no worse for wear.

 

The man that picked us up from the airport, Ronnie, is a nice guy and very helpful.  He has a big van and does a lot of driving for students at the school we are going to attend.  He already had the key to our house and helped us get the luggage inside.

 

After locking the outside gate, the inside gate, and the three locks on the front door, we settled into our beds and got some much needed sleep.

 

The next day we started going through the suitcases and trying to put things where they belong.  The house is every bit as good as the pictures, we are very pleased and grateful for it.

 

Thanks again for all of our prayers.  God blessed us with a great trip.  From the extremely friendly Delta ticketing agent that helped us check all of our heavy bags, to the Costa Rican customs that didn’t take even give a second look at the strange household items we were bringing in as tourists, God went before us and prepared the way.

 

Just like the Nation of Israel in Joshua chapter 3, as soon as we obeyed and stepped into the river of God’s plan, He has parted the waters and allowed us to go across on dry ground.  Praise God.

Only 16 Days Left!

Time's fun when your having flies.

 

It is hard for me to believe that in only 16 more days we will be moving to Costa Rica.  It has gone from seeming like it was ages away, to now being right at our feet.

 

God has been so faithful (as He always is) to open doors for us and provide for our every need.  We have our house rented, our van sold, and have gotten rid of most of the stuff we are not going to keep.  I am trying to start a new practice in my life beginning with this move: not keeping junk.

 

We are excited to get into our rented house in Costa Rica and get settled.  We will have a couple of weeks to rest before starting school, so we are grateful for that.  18 Suitcases.  That is what we need to fit our families' possessions into.  Really makes you evaluate what you need.

 

It is a surreal feeling to be at the church these days.  Another missionary told me about the "disconnect" that begins to occur several weeks before you depart.  It is something that is difficult to even describe with words, but very clear to those experiencing it.  It is not like people stop being friendly or talking to you or anything like that, it is just a sense that a separation has begun already.  They are going about their lives here in Kansas City, and they are letting us go to begin our new adventure in Costa Rica.  Not a negative thing, but definitely a thing.  Maybe I will talk more about this concept in my book about being a missionary.  :-)

 

 

Jalapeños, Squirrels, and a Lesson in Honesty

My wife has a green thumb, and mine has shades of green here and there, so we decided to grow some vegetable plants in pots in our backyard. A tomato plant, some cilantro, and one jalapeño pepper plant.

Mmmmm....fresh jalapeño peppers. I like them alot.

The pepper plant was the first to bloom and soon thereafter a small pepper started to form at the top of the plant. Excitedly I would check the pepper plant's progress per passing day. The bigger the pepper grew, the more I could imagine the fiery goodness it would add to some savoury dish. During a pepper progress check, my dream came to a tragic end. The pepper was gone.

Gone!! Who could have taken my precious pre-pubescent pepper? My mind scanned through the usual suspects: birds, squirrels, the next door neighbor. Squirrels. Squirrels. It had to have been the squirrels!! We have 987 of them living in our backyard. My wife agreed with my surmising, so immediately I began to devise a plan to properly protect and preserve my potted peppers.

Pellet gun, check. Wire mesh for protective pepper cage, check. Dogged determination to see the next juvenile jalapeño reach adulthood, check.

Now this whole pepper-stealing-squirrels saga had been played out in living color before my two lovely daughters, 4 and 2 years old. Several days after the crime had occurred, and before any thieving squirrel had lost it's life at my hand, my 4 year old daughter approached my wife immediately after waking from her afternoon nap.

Confession is cleansing to the soul they say, and my daughter did some cleansing. She plead guilty to picking the small pepper and throwing it in the grass. When asked what her motive was for pre-maturely ending the life of the pepper, she said, "It was squishy".

Of course we were very proud of her for admitting what she had done instead of letting the squirrels take the fall, and so she was encouraged accordingly.

We now have clearly established the boundaries for vegetable picking in our mini-garden, squishy or not.

Amends have been made with the representative from the nut-gatherers union and there is a new pepper developing on the pepper plant. Harmony has been restored. :-)

Confessions of a Coffee Snob

It's an aquired taste.

That's what people used to tell me about about coffee before I had ever tried it. Anything that smells as good as roasted coffee beans has to taste just as good right?

My first experience with coffee was a large styrofoam cup full of "silver tanker" coffee. Silver Tankers are the large silver pots that you find in churches filled with Folgers (if you are lucky...) or some other inexpensive grocery store brand. I tried a sip, made a grimmace at the bitter yuck in my mouth, and headed straight for the cream and sugar. Contrary to my efforts, copius amounts of cream and sugar added to the yuck coffee only made it taste like sweet creamy yuck. This memorable event took place sometime in 1994.

After that, I avoided coffee for the most part. Engaging only in the occasional cup socially at get-togethers. That all changed when I met the woman who is now my wife. While we were dating, she opened my eyes to a world of coffee I didn't know existed. Starbucks. Now I am not even talking about going to the cafes and ordering drinks, she just made some drip coffee from purchased starbucks beans. She persuaded me to try a cup. I couldn't believe my mouth! No rancid bitter after taste! No yuck! It tasted like it smelled!

And so began my journey into the world of good coffee. I wonder how many other people there are in the world that say they don't like coffee, whose only experience with the savory beverage is Silver Tanker Folgers?

A friend of mine who is a far bigger coffee snob than I am recently suggested I try drinking my coffee from a French Press. He said this is the way to truly enjoy the full flavor of the coffee bean. Initial reports are: delicious, much better, full bodied flavor.

Try a cup of the good stuff. But be careful, it could change your life... :-)