Marriage: Life Lessons by Dr. Dave Currie

Everything You Really Need To Know, You Learn From Drinking An “Iced Capp”

Robert Fulghum is famous for his prose “Everything I really need to know I learned in kindergarten”and yes, his title inspired this one.

Let’s get context. I am not a coffee guy much to my wife’s lament. She longs for the time when we will sit, relax and visit with a coffee in hand. Face it: I HATE COFFEE. But this year’s 44^th anniversary gift to her was matching coffee mugs that read, “You make Me a Happy Camper” (see our article on Happy Camper Dating) with the promise that once a month I will actually sit down and have (not necessarily enjoy) a coffee with her. She was delighted.

So, with my hatred of coffee, what’s with the “Iced Capp” connection? Isn’t it coffee flavoured? Well, my daughter Jody got me hooked on Iced Capps about 4 years ago. While we were working together on a book, she said, “Dad, I think you’d like it! Come on, try one.” She’s the one who has more flavoured cream in her coffee than coffee itself! I tried it. I now admit, I have succumbed to a full-on addiction.

So now, I am an Iced Capp expert and as such, can speak to the lessons that can be readily learned. You may even want to pick one up to enjoy drinking it as you read to get the full effect. And no, I am not getting perks from endorsing a Tim Horton’s product. I only wish I was. And yes, I finished one as I wrote this article.

So here are some of the deepest spiritual truths in life as expressed through enjoying an Iced Capp.

1. Your Life Is Like An Iced Capp—It’s what’s inside that counts.

No one collect’s Iced Capp cups. These plastic containers are tossed into the recycling as soon as the last slurp has signaled the bottom. Regardless of how ornate or unique Tim Horton’s might choose to decorate its cups; change colors, add sparkles, adjust shape or whatever, it’s what’s inside that really matters. It’s the cold, refreshing Iced Capp taste, not the cup that makes the drink and draws you back for more.

In 1 Samuel 16:7 we read, “Man looks on the outside but God looks on the heart”.People might be impressed by the perfect presentation of your packaging—your outside appearance—but to God, it’s what’s inside that counts. We get more reinforcement of this truth in Proverbs 27:19, “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.” What’s inside is the real person. What’s in the well comes up in the bucket. What’s in the cup comes up in the straw.

Focus on the inside—your character not your container. Remember, the cup is eventually thrown away. Ask God to help you become a refreshing quality person inside.

2. Iced Capps Come In Many Flavours

At the time of writing this, I’ve been able to confirm at least 10 different types of Iced Capps. There’s the basic Iced Capp (my personal addiction still), theIced Capp Supreme, the Salted Caramel Iced Capp, the Mint Chocolate Iced Capp, the Vanilla Bean Iced Capp, the Hazelnut Iced Capp, the Chocolate Milk Iced Capp, the Iced Capp Light, the Oreo Cookie Iced Capp and the newest, the Twix flavoured Iced Capp. I am sure that Tim Horton’s R & D department will keep churning out new varieties in search for a fresh fan favourite to increase profit and market share.

People come in many flavours too. Each person is one of a kind. David, in Psalm 139:13-16, talks about how we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that God knew every detail about who we would be, both physical and dispositional attributes, from before we were even born. In Jeremiah 1:5 we read, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” You are uniquely created by God to be part of His plan and He doesn’t make junk.

Let me convince you. Even though at the moment I looked it up while writing this, there were 7,636,154,029 people in this world—and counting, you are still matchless. Let me explain. Take thumbprints to start with; you can be solely identified by the exclusive pattern on the ends of your fingertips. No one else in the 7.6 billion people in this world matches you. Or think about your eyes. I have had my eyes registered internationally through the Nexus program so that now, through a retinal scan, my irises are so unique, that they can identify me worldwide. Finally, we have all watched enough C.S.I. on TV to understand the power of a person’s DNA. These letters, short for deoxyribonucleic acid,have come to identify the unique and consistent structural map within in every molecule of your body. Your DNA is yours and yours ALONE.

Now if God would go to such lengths to make every person ever born completely and 100% exclusive, then doesn’t it make sense that He has a specific plan for your LIFE? After all, your life is far more important than your fingertips and eye colour. In Jeremiah 29:11 we read,  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”There are no accidents—no mistakes. God has a plan for YOU. You are a unique flavour—don’t spend your time trying to copy someone else. You have distinct gifts, abilities, family of origin, personality, capabilities, aptitudes, drives and passions. You have a unique place in life. A calling. A destiny. You are one of God’s many flavours! He has a purpose for you to fulfill. Accept who you are, whom God has created you to be and become all you can be.

3. Don’t Leave An Iced Capp Too Long

Iced Capps melt. Within in just over an hour if you don’t keep stirring and slurping, the drink soon separates, liquefies and gets warm. By 90 minutes or so, you are either drinking a sweet and lukewarm liquid or you are discarding what’s left.

This isn’t a problem exclusive to Iced Capps. A coke left sitting gets warm & flat. An ice cream cone unless attacked and enjoyed from the moment it’s scooped, soon starts breaking down and dripping all over your hands—start licking now! Batteries have a shelf life and go dead. Cheese gets moldy. Milk goes sour. So many things in life are on a clock. And as the Steve Miller Band once put it, “Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future.”

But centuries before the song came out in 1977, King David in Psalm 90:12 asked God to “Teach me to number my days alright that I may gain a heart of wisdom.”  We are to realize that we are not going to live forever so we need to use our time wisely.

In Canada, the current average age of death is 80 years for men and 84 years for women. For my age, if I hit the average, I have recently passed 75% of my life being over. I am not trying to be morbid; I am trying to be wise. And I don’t want you to live as if your life will never end.

Therefore embrace the term Carpe Diem, the Latin aphorism, as it grabs the concept I am after—“Seize the Day!” Make your life count. Don’t waste a day of your life.

Paul put it wisely in Ephesians 5:15-17, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Use every opportunity to make a difference. Drink life to the full. Grab your cup of life and suck it dry.

Like an Iced Capp, we are all on the clock. Don’t waste a day. Don’t leave it too long before you make the most out of your life. Slurp to the very bottom of your cup.

4. Ice Capps Are Meant To Be Shared

I’m not surprised when I walk into a room filled with my family and one of them reaches out to get a sip of my Iced Capp. It brings back fond memories of my High School years when the beverage of choice was the Slurpee. It was almost tradition when you entered a room that the then iced drink of preference was going to be passed around—in many cases—literally passed around. You may even hear the slurping sound before your drink got back to you.

At the core of this deep spiritual truth is your own selfishness. You can either share your life and give yourself away or you can withhold your life and not sacrifice your time and effort for others. For years I have taught teens and young adults, “you haven’t begun to live your life until you begin living your life for other people”. That’s the greatest sign of life maturity—others-centeredness.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:12, “Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you…” Empathize. Treat people like you want to be treated. And even more specific, Paul in Philippians 2:3,4 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility, consider others better than yourself. Not looking only on your own interests but also the interests of others.” Live your life refreshing others. Move beyond “Ingrown Eyeballs” and the ego-centrism where it’s all about ME. Put others needs before your own. Love, accept, encourage and help others as a way of life.

For a season, Larry (my 27-year accountability partner), and I challenged each other to encourage 3 people per day. We would actually push each other and keep score. The goal of building up 21 people per week is a lot of words of affirmation. It was a worthy and God-honouring practice. Jesus puts this idea of sharing your life with others succinctly when he said, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Don’t begrudgingly and sparsely share your life—give it away freely and fully.

5. Even Large Iced Capps Don’t Last

At Tim Horton’s, they have Iced Capps on tap! They are never-ending. They’re always there…well almost. On a number of occasions, the most recent in the Toronto airport 4 days ago, I got the horrific news, “Sorry our Iced Capp machine is not working right now.” I had been without my Iced Capp for 9 days and was so looking forward to a large one. Aaaaarrrgh… what’s a guy to do? Shallow insight I know but Iced Capps alone don’t and won’t satisfy forever.

If you haven’t realized it yet, you soon will. We all need something more in life for it to really make sense. Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher, mathematician and sometimes theologian said, “Inside the heart of every man is a God-shaped vacuum that only HE can fill.” Pascal really identified one of the core spiritual truths of life.

Jesus put it clearly. “Everyone who drinks this water (or Iced Capp) will be thirsty again,¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). Nothing refreshes and transforms a person like Jesus Himself. He is the living water and when you trust Him with your life He becomes the river of life inside. Go after the bottomless refreshing only available in Jesus Christ.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed it the one who takes refuge in Him” (Psalm 34:8). Blessed is the one who receives this everlasting life refreshing. If you’ve tasted Him, you’ll know what I mean.

I would love to hear from you on how much you have experienced these life lessons from drinking an Iced Capp. Connect with us here, through our website.

© Dr. Dave Currie – July 2018