Stamp Card

Most coffee stands have stamp cards or punch cards. Each time you roll up and get a drink, you get your card stamped for each purchase. After so many, usually 10, you get a free drink. What a glorious day that is! I use my freebie when I don't have enough money to buy a drink. I would imagine alot of people do that.

What is really special is when you forget you have a freebie. The thought enters your head of having a delicious latte but alas, you have no money. A frown forms and sad music plays. Then you think, "I have a card!" The sun shines, birds sing and your all smiles again. Happy days, happy days.

The antagonizing part is from stamp 1 to stamp 10. Unless you are one of those that gets a drink every day, unlike me, it probably isn't a big deal. I get a drink on occasion. When I'm out and about and I see a stand. I only visit stands. Corporate coffee just isn't the same. Stands are personal, friendly, neighborly. Some are too friendly. It's a little un-nerving to order a coffee from a naked 19 year old. No bueno.

I digress.

It takes me awhile to fill a card. In someways, I have to work at it. Mostly because I'm tight. C'mon, at $5 a drink, that adds up. So, I need balance. To get a drink is an event. A special treat. Or, an excuse to get a stamp.

Life has it's stamp cards too. Especially if you have kids. The difference would be, you don't know when the free drink is coming. God gives you a card and holds the stamp. Sometimes, the stamps are doing a school project that you really have no idea what you are doing. Sometimes a stamp could be driving a kid here, then there, then back over here. Showing up for a school event unexpectedly. Praying with an unsaved co-worker. Inviting nieghbor kids to church. 

Stamps can also be very difficult. Standing up for Jesus at work. Enduring ridicule or jokes from classmates. Confronting a friend that has strayed only to get anger and rejection. Or when your kids think in their 3 or 5 years of adulthood, they, somehow, have gained more wisdom and knowedge than you. I'm not saying I'm smartest guy in the world or even on my street, but, I do know a thing or two about a thing or two. These occasions usually lead to arguments and/or silent treatments. Silent treatments are the worst. That's when you think, "Where is my free drink?!"

Last night I got my free drink. 

Keep doing what God wants you to do and get your stamps. When the time is right, God will give you your freebie. Birds will sing and the sun will shine. 

If you haven't got your free drink yet, maybe you aren't getting any stamps. What you done for God lately?