The Importance of Cafe Au Lait

       My husband and I recently returned from France.  While France had not been on our list of “places to go”, we decided to make the most of it while we were there.  Our trip was both for pleasure and friends, as one of my life-long friends had decided to get married in the South of France!  Our trip was filled with many memorable times.  My husband and I saw the leaves changing from the vibrant greens of summer to the warm reds, yellows and browns of autumn.  We ate incredibly delicious food and met welcoming people.  However, one of my favorite activities throughout the whole trip was drinking “cafe au lait”: translation coffee with milk, in the morning.  This morning tradition is so simple, yet so telling of something deeper that I fail to do on a daily basis- focus on one thing only.

            Coffee in France is served in a cup with a saucer.  It is served black.  If you ask for “au lait” you get a small pitcher of warm milk to pour into your coffee.  It is meant to be tasted and enjoyed in a relaxed manner, not poured in a travel mug and slurped down while speeding off to work or school.  I’ve thought much about why that small, seemingly ordinary habit had such a profound impact on me.  Why does that memory outshine the memories of Notre Dame and majestic mountain ranges?   The answer I found is in Acts 2:46.

            Acts 2:40-47 in the New King James is titled “A Vital Church Grows”.    These verses tell of 3000 people who were saved and baptized.  The verses follow these believers who experienced great signs and wonders, who sold their possessions and lived as a large group.  We are told in verse 46 and the first part of verse 47 that they continued “daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people..”   The words simplicity and gladness shouted out to me when I read these verses.  John McArthur wrote about these verses saying, “The Jerusalem church was joyful because its single focus was on Christ.”  The Jerusalem church grew because they were solely focused on one thing- Christ.    When I was in France drinking my “cafe au lait” I, too, was singly focused.  I was able to enjoy, taste, and sit.  I didn’t have to rush or eat on the run unless I wanted to. 

            I realize that living together as a large group like the early Jerusalem church did is not really practical in 2008.  I’m not going to suggest that we jump on a bandwagon and sell all our possessions so that we can be singly focused on Jesus.  What I am going to suggest, however, is that despite our crazy schedules, we can focus on Jesus even in the midst of chaos.  My husband often times has to remind me to “do the next thing” rather than worry about the 12 things that follow “the next thing”.  I have become so adept at multi-tasking, that I have lost the art of focusing on one single thing.   If I can remember and live out Philippians 4:6-7 and call on Jesus name as I worry about the 12 other things I have to do, I can bring my focus back to that one person who really makes all the difference, Jesus.  He can keep me focused on the task, conversation, or situation that is right in front of me, then help me move to the next one.  In doing this, I am living simply.  I can become joyful because my focus is not on the many things I have to do, rather it is on the one thing I am doing. 

            There is a challenge in Acts 2:46 as well as a challenge in the practice of having “cafe au lait”: live simply.  Live with Jesus as the focus.  Realize that we don’t have to “do it all.”  We need to allow ourselves “cafe au lait” each day. 

          Four days after returning from France I went to the store and purchased a small pitcher.  I keep that pitcher next to my coffee maker.  Each morning I get up a little earlier and make my coffee.  I’ve gotten out what were once rarely used saucers and coffee cups (not travel mugs) and pour my “cafe au lait” and read my bible.  I may only get 10 minutes with this ritual, but I desire to live simply.  I desire to keep a single focus through my day.  So tomorrow morning, dust off unused coffee/tea cups and saucers and begin to live as the Jerusalem church in Acts 2 46-47 lived- simply with a single focus on Jesus.