Lídia

When your ‘Coffee With….’ guest loves coffee as much as I do, you know it’s going to be an awesome multiple coffee session. Today’s guest and coffee lover is none other than “that writing girl from Instagram” as most people meeting her for the first time call her, but to me she is Lídia – the all-round awesome. We met at church (yes there are amazing people in church) and both served on a team to make Jesus famous. Watching Lídia fearlessly use her talents to spread God’s word and inspire so many is great to see. Her love for Jesus is truly amazing and she is a huge inspiration to many.

I made my way to Old Street to meet Lídia for our coffee with shoot. When I asked her to do the shoot, she only had one request; that we go to a coffee shop she hadn’t been to before. Considering her love for coffee I felt some pressure when selecting the shop. We agreed to meet in Old Street, but when I got there, she had already gone ahead to the coffee shop. I guess she couldn’t wait to check out the spot I had chosen. I made my way to the coffee destination – Ozone Coffee Roasters on Leonard St to find her waiting for me at a table. We exchanged greetings and quickly moved to seats with better lighting (got to get the right light for the Instagram likes, don’t judge me). We ordered our first round of coffees to warm (well in this case, to cool) the palate, a cold brew platter as we waited for another table with even better lighting. We began discussing serving in church (remember, we’re making Jesus famous), and how difficult it can be dealing with people in a Christian environment. As Christians, we are meant to love and live like Christ but putting this into practice can be difficult sometimes. People seem to have a way of testing your limits to the point where you want to quit, but when you see the impact your service has on others it makes it all worth it.

We finally spotted a table with better lighting, relocated and placed an order for two flat whites. While we waited for our second round of drinks, our conversation moved to social media. Lídia mentioned that she loves the fact that it has connected her with so many amazing people and allows people to share their talents with the world. We spoke about the good elements of sharing our work and the bad, touching on the frustration we both have felt in the past when people have taken our work and claimed it as theirs. As we were sharing our stories, Lídia blurted out “this is how God must feel when we take credit for something he has done or given us”. This reminded me that no matter what skill I have, it is God given and I shouldn’t boast in it.

Our drinks arrived and we got to work on the shots for the Instagram, joking about how funny we must look to the other people in the coffee shop. We looked to our right and saw another person doing the same (It turned out to be Emma Kate). We both burst into laughter and were glad we weren’t the only ones doing it.

Our conversation moved to the new season we are both in and how it is forcing us to give up the comfort of the boat and step out onto the water (biblical references out the wahzoo). We spoke about the doubts and fear you face when you are leave your comfort zone and the importance of fully trusting God and following the path He leads you on, even when you can’t see where He is leading you to. I pointed out to Lídia how much one of her Instagram posts resonated with me – http://instagram.com/p/rHhbHcHoTO/.  I often find myself dealing with the indecisiveness when taking a step into what I want, doubting if it is God’s plan for my life. I keep waiting for Him to spell it out like “Hey FJ, This is what I want you to do.” but what I have learnt and am still learning is that when your heart’s desires are in line with Gods’ path for your life, He starts closing the wrong doors and leads you down the path He wants. We both agreed that in this current season, He is definitely moving things the way he wants.

We finished our drinks and wrapped up our shoot then headed outside to shoot Lídia’s new project.

Check out Lídia’s work here.