Coffee

Well I was over at the D'caffeinated Pickler and he is currently running The Clear Mug Awards. and I decided to nomintae myself for the category of "Best Story Of A Transformed Coffee Drinker" The following is my entry;
I would like to nominate myself (Nathan McCorkindale) for the "Best Story Of A Transformed Coffee Drinker" Like all good stories mine begins with a girl... well actually it starts before that. There was a time in my life when I worked in the Agriculture Industry and we worked many long hours. During the spring it wasn't uncommon to start working at 6 in the morning and then not get home until 11:30 at night. It was during this time that my dependency (I really don't like using that word... sounds too negative) for coffee developed. The problem was; I was still young and naive in the ways of coffee, and I would drink my Styrofoam cup with three sugars AND a few heaping spoonfuls of that disgusting white powdery stuff (I shudder to admit this) Well along came my third year at Bethany when into my life walked my “savior” (and the beautiful woman who is now my wife) who relentlessly MOCKED me for drinking my coffee like a girl. She said, "In MY family all the men drink their coffee black. Only the ladies put stuff in it." Well needless to say when I met her family I didn't want to be like a girl, so I began to drink it black… the way God meant for it to be. Of course, like overcoming any disgusting habit, there were times of relapse when I would go back to the old (or as I like to call it "sinful") ways of cream and sugar. But for love (and principle) I trained myself to drink black coffee. Today I am blessed to have such a great mentor in the art of drinking coffee, now at my monthly meetings with Jayson (Gil’s brother in law) he will sniff the coffee, take a taste, and pronounce, “This is a good brew!” and I (In awe like a child) will sniff mine and agree hoping that one day I too can ascend to the level of Coffee Guru like the D’Caffeinated Pickler and Jayson. Looking back at my coffee journey I shake my head in disgust at how I was so young and immature. All I can do is claim Hebrews 5:14 which says, "But black coffee is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Heb 5:14 TNNIV*)" There are just one more things I must say. One other person who greatly inspires me in the world of coffee is Martin Hamata who would literally make you cry if you spilt a drop of his coffee. This incredible love and dedication to each drop is truly awe inspiring.Coffee is like faith. As we travel the path there are many people who influence us, and one day we stop and look back and are amazed at how much you have changed since the first taste.
*The New Nearly Inspired Version (my own personal translation)