Love One Another, One Cup at a Time
February 2026 | eat + drink
article by Maloree Murphy | photo by Lovely Hitchcock
Some places serve coffee. Others serve people. The best local shops do both.
A good local coffee shop does more than hand you a hot drink and a receipt. It gives you a familiar door to walk through when you need a place to go. Supporting your local coffee shops matters. Not because coffee is trendy or because we need another excuse to buy a latte. It matters because these shops are essential to the communities we live in.
Loving one another can look really simple. We can all agree that we have that one friend we keep meaning to text and say, “Want to grab coffee this week?” You meet at your favorite spot because it’s easy, and because nobody has to clean their house.
It can also be where your small group squeezes into a corner table and prays for each other, quietly, on a casual Tuesday.
Other days, it’s the place you go when you need to think. You bring a notebook, order something hot, and let your brain wander until the next idea shows up. Then suddenly you’re sketching out a business plan on a napkin, and you have sparked a new passion you didn’t know existed.
And sometimes you just need to grab your team and get out of the office. Coffee shops offer a safe place to talk about what you're building and what you want to leave behind. A cup of coffee in a friendly place can make those conversations feel possible, like you can see the bigger picture again.
Then there’s the most overlooked piece, the interaction at the counter. You don’t know what your barista’s morning has been like. You don’t know what the person behind you in line is carrying. You also don’t know what your simple kindness might do for someone who’s running on fumes. It can be the difference between someone feeling invisible and someone feeling seen.
I recently spoke with a barista, who told me about an anonymous letter from a customer she may never have known by name. The letter explained that the writer had planned to end their life that night, but a moment at the counter changed their trajectory. A barista noticed them and treated them with kindness at just the right time.
If you want a simple way to practice “love one another, one cup at a time,” start small. Choose local when you can. Purchase a gift card and include it in a thank-you note. Leave a kind review when a place treats you well. Tip if you’re able. Billings needs places where community can happen and where relationships can be rebuilt with a simple “How have you been?”
Originally printed in the February 2026 issue of Simply Local Magazine
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