Seems like a few times each week I end up spending some time at the Caribou Coffee on Roosevelt Road in Glenn Ellyn. They’ve got free Wi-Fi, lot’s of seating, and (in my humble opinion) the best espresso in town. This coffee shop has become a great place to do homework from my Greek class. It’s often the place I come when I need to get a lot of work done quickly. It’s also my preferred location to do some sermon prep.

Aside from knowing the best places to sit, one of the benefits of being a regular has been getting to know other coffee shop regulars as well as the baristas (you know, the people who make your extra-hot, 4-shot, easy-whip, sugar-free mochalattechinoamundo… or whatever your beverage of choice is). On Monday I went to order my regular and two of my favorite baristas started a mock-argument about what beverage I wanted. Apparently I’m stuck in a rut because finally the manager asked me, “Have you ever tried a junior iced americano with one shot of white chocolate?” Since I didn’t know such a beverage even existed I just shook my head. “Oh my gosh!” she almost shouted. “I’m going to buy you one right now. Maybe it will make it into your regular rotation.” I felt a lot of pressure as I tasted my drink with the barisitas waiting for my reaction. Thankfully I really did like it. It might even make it into the rotation.

OK, this might sound kind of cheesy but that 3 minute interaction really made my day. And not because I got a free drink… though that didn’t hurt. I think it was the feeling of being a regular- being known- that was so nice. It also felt good to ask these folks about their weekend, and genuinely be interested in their answers. I learned that the manager is heading to Michigan in a couple of weeks with her family for some vacation time.

Maybe one of the reasons that I love being a regular at Caribou is that there aren’t too many places where I have that kind of interaction. Generally I’m in too much of a hurry or too preoccupied with my to-do list to really notice those around me. So I’ve been thinking about what might happen if everyone at Parkview picked one place to become a regular. The bowling alley. The basketball hoop in the driveway. The office cafeteria. The book club. The playground. What if each one of us had at least one place where we spent regular time with those outside of our church and who are potentially outside of relationship with Christ? What would happen if we just showed up on a regular basis?

Maybe we’ll be given a junior iced americano with one shot of white chocolate. And maybe we’ll make some new friends. And maybe… well, maybe we’ll just have to find out.