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GPS Destination

Writer's picture: Alayna StifflerAlayna Stiffler


My feet hit the floor! The sliding door was open and the sunshine rays were in the room and the roar of the ocean was heard. My morning retreat was here. I woke up before 6am thinking there was a light on outside only to find it was the sun had risen before the 7:12am prediction and the sky was painted in many hues of color. Only God could have created this masterpiece again and my heart was full with His love for me, plus I was waking up to a day that I was going to pour out myself into catching up with blogging, writing and refilling myself.

Two and half hours later my feet hit the floor a second time with a destination in mind. Coffee! I knew there was a Starbucks in the area because I had been to it years ago while I was at a Women’s Retreat with my church and I had visited it several times during that trip.

I pulled out my clothes and realized that I had not packed beachwear, but work wear. What in the world was I thinking? Fortunately, I grabbed a comfy pair of shorts and a T-shirt to lounge around in the room in the evening while I am working. But when I packed, it was for work so I wasn’t thinking beyond my mission.

I decided to see how far the Starbucks would be when I searched on my Waze App. Awesome, there was one in walking distance just two blocks from where I was staying. That was my easy button. Overjoyed I was because I could get a cup of coffee and not have to drive for it. I put in my earbuds, held my phone in my hand and off I went in search of a coffee to start my day and get me into a rhythm. I walked my .2 miles and round the corner because it was right there and my nifty Waze App said “You have arrived at your destination.” I stopped, I looked, I turned around and looked and there was not a coffee shop in site, let alone a Starbucks. There was a hotel that may be serving Starbucks, but it was not a Starbucks and not a welcoming building that I would want to wonder into looking for Starbucks. I was mystified because my Waze App let me know I had arrived. Knowing that the nearest Starbucks was over two miles, I had two choices. Stop in defeat and go back to the hotel and drink the free coffee until 10:30 or walk to see if I could find another Starbucks. Waze said the next one was two miles away, but I no longer believed Waze. It had to be wrong. So off I walked and walked and walked until I was 14 blocks from my hotel only to venture to a sidewalk sign that welcomed me to try their coffee and crepes. At this point, Waze was telling me I was still a mile away from the Starbucks and I was a little parched by now and getting hungry.

I visited a tiny shop called Crepe Matters inside a small building housed with shops, all of which were closed. It was tucked in the back corner of the building with a few tables for out of the shop seating and a comfortable futon inside. The menu had a very small selection of savory and sweet crepes and a small coffee selection as well. Nothing sugar free on the coffee flavoring or decaf except their traditional brew. So I ordered an iced coffee with no expectations of having a rich flavor. Finally I had decided on a crepe omelet, with even less expectations even after the young cashier assured me their crepe omelets were fresh and delicious. I asked if they used grass fed or organic eggs and you could tell this young cashier had been saddled with a question of I have no idea what you mean. I decided to order in spite of what I prefer and watched them prepare my French pressed coffee and crepe omelet with real eggs.

Can I just say, OH WOW!!! They put the plate down and I immediately knew that it was at least two or three meals for me, plus it was an omelet inside of a crepe. Genius and that first bite was savory and it captured my tastebuds and I knew I had been duped by my limiting belief that it was not going to taste anything more than mediocre. It was the first and may be the only time that I will ever have a crepe omelet, but I certainly will longing wait until the next time I am on a retreat in the same area. By the way the French Press Coffee was just as good.

My GPS destination took me from the expected to the unexpected and what a treat it was because I would have ordered the same thing I always order from Starbucks, because it is what I am familiar with. This little crepe and coffee shop gave me a new taste of how to reach my goals. It helped me to see that your goals may be temporarily deflated in defeat when you are not going to where you want to be and even if you continue on the trek, you may need to stop and detour to try something new. If I had continued the last mile of walking to get the familiar, I would have never had the experience to try something different. What detour will you take today in your business?

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