“Calm down.” Jeremiah said over the phone “It is going to be okay. Everything is going to work out, so please take a step back, breathe, and calm down.”
Esther knew that everything would be okay one way or another, but something in her mind would not let her recognize that. Maybe it was the daunting to do list she had in front of her, the lack of sleep and hydration or maybe it was the fear that something would not be okay that was getting to her. What if her grades slipped and she lost her scholarship? What if she and her fiance did not find a place to live after the wedding? What if everything that was stressing her out was going to crash and burn and she would be left with nothing but a sense of constant disappointment in herself?
“Hey,” Jeremiah said, pulling Esther out of her spiral “Why don’t you take a quick break, and go get a coffee. I’ll put in the order for you, just promise that you will actually drink water today too.”
“You do not need to do that,” Esther said, “I should be fine without a latte.”
“Maybe so, but you kind of need a happy drink today.” Jeremiah said, “What will you have?”
“I would not turn down an iced banana bread latte,” Esther said, “I did wake up kind of craving that”
“I would not turn that down either, and I do not even like coffee.” Jeremiah said as he put in the order through the app on his phone “One banana bread latte with cold foam. It should be ready in about ten minutes.”
“Ok. Should I just drive down there and get it?” Esther asked.
“It’s a really nice day, I think you would enjoy the walk,” Jeremiah said, “Plus while you walk you can listen to that audiobook for class and feel a little more productive.”
“True.” Esther said, “Thanks honey, you know you do not have to get me coffee every time I am stressed, but I really do appreciate the thought.”
“I know,” Jeremiah said, “but today, it seems like you might need something to brighten your day a bit more.”
“You brighten my day just by picking up the phone,” Esther said, “but really, thank you, as much as I know I need water more than caffeine, it will make today a bit less intense.”
“That’s what I hoped,” Jeremiah said, “now you better get going, your coffee is going to be ready soon.”
“Right, I will call you when I get back,” Esther said “Thanks again honey, I love you.”
“I love you, too. Enjoy the coffee,” Jeremiah said, “Buh-bye.”
With that, Esther got up from her desk and started the walk to her favorite coffee shop. It was not the first time her fiance had ordered something for her on a hard day, but it was still a rare treat and unexpected surprise that really did brighten her day a bit more. As she walked to the coffee shop, she listened to her audiobook like Jeremiah suggested and took in the sunshine. It was not a long walk, by any means, about ten minutes from her dorm room. When she got to the coffee shop, her drink was ready on the pick up counter. She took a sip and turned to walk out the door. As she walked back out of the coffee shop, her friend Bruce walked in.
“Hey Bruce,” Esther said, stopping to chat briefly.
“Hey,” Bruce said, “what did you get?”
“Banana bread latte,” Esther said.
“They sell that here?” Bruce said. “I know what I’m getting now.”
“How’s Rose?” Esther asked.
“She’s doing good I think.” Bruce said, “I think I might have made her upset or insecure or something because she has been acting a little bit off since lunch.”
“Oh shoot,” Esther said, “are you guys doing okay?”
“Oh yeah, we are doing really good overall,” Bruce said, “I just was kind of unintentionally stupid today.”
“How so?” Esther asked.
“Well she’s probably told you about this date we’ve been planning for our anniversary right,” Bruce said.
“Yeah, she’s told me.” Esther said, “You guys are going to bake a pie together and then go swing dancing. She seems really excited about it.”
“Yeah, and so am I,” Bruce said “but when we were talking about it more and hashing out some of the details, she kept talking about how excited she was and I’m really excited too, but as we were talking, someone I used to know real well comes in and sits down with some friends.”
“And you noticed,” Esther said.
“It caught me a bit off guard.” Bruce said “And, since said person and I used to know each other and the reason we do not any more is kind of because of something stupid I did in my past, I spiraled into thinking about all the mistakes I made, and was distracted from my conversation with Rose.”
“Ah,” Esther said, “and you think she might have taken that as you wanting to go talk to the person from your past.”
“Yeah,” Bruce said “I mean I told her on my way out that I was sorry if I was distracted, but it was not because I did not want to talk to her, but because I kind of freaked out when I saw someone who reminded me of my mistakes.”
“How did she respond to that?” Esther asked.
“She said she understood and that it was okay, but I still feel bad. You would think that I would not care about the mistakes behind me when literally the greatest joy of my life is sitting right in front of me.”
“You would think,” Esther said “but that is not how our funny little minds work. The bad seems to always outweigh the good in our brains even though there are obviously a lot more blessings than anything else.”
“Yeah,” Bruce said. “And it kind of sucks that our minds tend to automatically focus on the bad.”
“Yeah,” Esther said, “Well anyways I should get back to campus.”
“Yeah, I have a meeting with a professor.” Bruce said “Enjoy your coffee.”
“You too. See you later.” Esther said.
Esther left the coffee shop and did not put in her headphones, but instead called Jeremiah.
“Hi honey, did you make it back already?” Jeremiah asked.
“No, but I wanted to call you.” Esther said.
“You sound happier. How’s the coffee?” Jeremiah asked.
“It was really good, thanks honey.” Esther said “And I am in a better mood, but it’s not fully because of the coffee.”
“Really? What is it then?” Jeremiah asked.
“I know I was stressed out about all the things that I do not have figured out and all the mistakes I could make,” Esther said, “but one of our friends just helped me realize that there are so many more blessings in my life right now than stressful things.”
“That is true.” Jeremiah said.
“Yeah,” Esther said, “I mean I am literally talking to you, my fiance, on a walk to get coffee on a beautiful day. That alone is already so much to be grateful for. And when I get back, I may have a lot to do, but a lot has already been done. Aside from the apartment, everything for next year has fallen into place, so I really have no reason to be anything but grateful because if God has already done so much in my life, why should I not trust that He will guide me through the stresses too?”
“That’s amazing,” Jeremiah said “I am glad you got the chance to take a break and see that everything will work out.”
“I am too.” Esther said, “thank you honey.”
