Sips From the Saucer

It’s early Sunday morning and I wake to her voice. She’s ready for church and has breakfast already made. The smell of gooey cinnamon rolls fills her home and I struggle to crawl out from under the handmade quilt on her bed. Her house is so safe, her bed so warm. Weekends at her house are what I live for.

I make my way to the small kitchen and she’s standing by the sink fixin’ a cup of coffee. She loves her morning coffee. She sits her cup inside the shallow saucer and carefully fills it up. She reaches for the milk and pours it out until creamy, steamy coffee overflows and pools in the saucer.

As I stand, I am eye level with the counter. My green eyes are fixed on the saucer. My blonde curly hair puffs up like a white dandelion ready to be blown out into the wind.  She takes up the saucer and pours the sweet contents into a cup specially for me. 

As I sip my sweet cup of “coffee” with my grandma I feel so proud. She knows exactly how to make me feel seen and loved. In a world that mostly feels scary and cold, where I feel alone and unworthy, this is where my heart is warmed and my tiny soul encouraged for the hard week ahead. Horrible memories of the last week melt away and I can sit in the happiness of her presence. I’m safe here. I’m safe with her. 

There’s something about sipping the contents of that saucer that will stay with me forever. I’ll always remember her grace and generosity. How she took those moments to share her treasured morning coffee with little ol’ me. Such a small gesture with such a profound impact. 

Years have passed since those days. I now have my own kids that stand eye level with my kitchen counter. My dandelion hair has turned darker and the puff has been trained out with one of my most beloved discoveries – the glory of a good flat iron.  

Each morning, and sometimes at night, I brew myself a cup of coffee and remember her. I think of how she poured out her saucer and shared it with me. Her overflow was a blessing to me. So then I think, what is overflowing from my life? What is spilling out of my cup and filling up the saucer that I have to share with my children, my husband, my friends, and all those around me? 

What am I taking the time to put in my cup? Is there even enough going in so that something can flow out? Am I too busy to share my saucer?

Grandma’s cups and saucers weren’t pretty, expensive china. They were mismatched and stained. A picture of the two of us who sat and drank coffee together. Diverse in age and dirtied by the effects of sin in us and on us; but, those stains are a story for another day. 

How beautiful the blessing that was possible because she was willing to overflow her cup and share her saucer. The simple, humble home that she shared with me went far beyond sipping the contents of her coffee cup saucer. More precious than the coffee she shared, was her faith and hope in Jesus.  

Thinking back, it never made sense to me why she overfilled her cup. She could have just as easily made a completely separate cup for me. But there was something about the closeness of mine overflowing out of hers that felt so personal and so very memorable. For her to share part of hers with me was more valuable, and I treasured it so much more. 

It all makes me think, am I trying to serve everyone their own separate cups? Do I ever let anyone feel the closeness of sharing from my saucer? Who needs to be seen? Who needs to be loved? Who’s heart needs to be warmed and their soul encouraged? 

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to share a cup of coffee with my grandma now. To talk to her and hear her encouraging words mixed with a little witty sarcasm; to look across the table and see her dressed in a Tweety Bird t-shirt with that smile on her face. What would it be like just to sip our cups together and celebrate all that Jesus has done? How would it feel for her to see my children and share one more piece of her famously delicious pound cake.

Her willingness to pour out her coffee-cup-saucer-more-milk-than-coffee coffee to the painfully broken and beautifully made little girl standing before her was an overwhelming and profound demonstration of her life as a whole. A life poured out completely and devotedly before the Lord. 

She fought the good fight, she finished her course and kept the faith. And, all along the way, she shared her saucer. Many are they who have benefited from her gracious generosity and selfless kindness. May her legacy of faith continue to live on in me and these blonde haired children who stand before me looking for sips from my saucer.

2 Timothy 4: 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.