I love this phrase. I do. I absolutely love it. And lately, I have been using it a lot. I just have one confession:

I don't actually like coffee.

I really dislike it. I find it bitter and not all that great and while my friends have tried endlessly for me to give it another shot, nothing seems to work. I'll try a sip of my friends' coffees every time just to prove that I still don't like it. So why go get coffee when I don't even like it? Well, I'm not going to get coffee for the beverage. I'm there for the people, the atmosphere, the conversation.

This semester I was convicted by God to be 'intentional.' Now if you go to a small, private, Christian college you know exactly what this means. But for those who don't, I'll briefly explain. Being intentional with someone is pouring into each other's lives on a daily basis. It means that instead of just walking past them on your way to class, you stop yourself to ask about their day and care what they have to say. I write that last part on purpose because most of the time it is easy to say "Hi, how are you?" and the other person says "Good", and then you're on your way. But being intentional means that it's okay to not say "Good", but to say "Hey, you know I am actually really struggling" and have someone care that you say that! I have recently come in contact with a really awesome group of people that I know were hand-placed into my life. Thus, God nudged me saying to keep in contact with them.

So, I did what most Christians do and started asking people to grab coffee. I thought it was a good start because most people on college campuses love coffee, or maybe even tea. So when we got to the barista and my friends ordered some fancy-schmancy drink, I stuck to my ice cold water. They looked at me confused and I had to awkwardly explain that I don't actually like coffee but, in a way, it kind of broke the ice (pun completely intended) for our conversations.

I'll be honest, I was really nervous to ask some people to coffee. I didn't really know a lot of the people outside of my group and I'm not much of a small talk kind of person. I love to know the inner depths of people's thoughts and why they are the way they are and to hear about their life story. But sometimes, that is too much for coffee. By putting myself out there, I have had beautiful conversations about God and the way He has shown up in their lives that have motivated and challenged me in my faith. Because of a small phrase, I have seen many of my friendships flourish in the past couple months and it has been the biggest blessing for me.

So here is my challenge for you:

Ask someone to coffee with the intention of getting to know them better. Allow yourself to open up and dig deeper in friendship. And maybe, just maybe, order coffee, or tea, or water... or whatever your heart desires.