Gift Giving Remediation

Six years ago today I first heard the word "biopsy"..... and life as I knew it would never be quite the same. That C word has a way of staying in my rear view in a way that hopefully helps me relate to others. This afternoon, friend Jerrie came over to share a bowl of soup and a needful chat. She lost her older sister, Juanita, to that dread disease while we were in Colorado and I wanted to be there for her.
But, she was there for me as well---and came bearing a gift.

A gift that was beautifully wrapped and filled with the best---chocolate-covered nuts.
Even the finishing touch blessed my "insides." A message that made me smile---a gift that took on a life of its own---an extra blessing for me.

Jerrie has a knack for gifting---genuine heartfelt gift-giving----wrapped in finery as well as love.

I need lessons. I could learn from her.

Dig to Discover

Spiritual Goal for 2015---Pleasing God.

Lots of digging required. Patience. Persistence. Protection. Fellowship, maybe. Relationship strengthened.

May I be as diligent to discover what pleases God as John Parker and Andrew are to discover fossils in the clay. 

Obviously, the appropriate tools are important when digging is required.

Sharing the pursuit also aids in the discovery.

I, too will need to "Look for it* as for silver and search for it as hidden treasure," (Prov. 2:2) For me, the "it" is the wisdom of knowing how to please God.

Digging deeper in His word will help me deepen my relationship with the Lord.

Gift Giving 101

Nothing warms a mother or grandmother's heart like a homemade/handmade gift---especially one that can be used daily. Just seeing it warms the heart of the recipient---that would be me!!

 Knitted warmth---of heart and yarn.

 A Lucy plate, similar to one I still have of her Daddy's...given with warm and sticky "hot chocolate kisses!" The best kind!

Created and given by son and signed by 5 little Texans....and the back is labeled "cuppa." Filled today with English Breakfast tea and sipped alongside a passel of boys.

All these gifts keep on giving----giving warmth for the neck, the tummy and the soul!

RESOLVED....

I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, apart from spiritual ones. Maybe I don't like the pressure or the failure factor. Possibly it's because I have difficulty "deciding" firmly on a course of action that involves a time deadline.

But....this year I said, "in the presence of family," I think I'll try to learn to use chopsticks in 2015.....so I don't embarrass all of y'all when we eat at an Asian restaurant.

Within "hours" daughter Molly had a "happy" for me.

Kaleidoscope Toys Salida, CO

"A little something to help you with your resolution," she said.

My real resolution should be that I learn to "listen to others" as closely as many of my friends and family members do........so that I can be a "thoughtful gift giver" as each of them are.  

WELCOME 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015---from SNOWY COLORADO!!!

TEA WITH THEE Finali-TEA: a farewell cuppa

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, (1 Timothy 1:12, NASB)

This year, "Tea with Thee" has been my way of sharing my quiet times with blog readers. Thine and Mine. He and me. I know a blog isn't typically seen as service or ministry but for me it was just that. 

From His hand to mine. His strength---because it was wearisome at times. He was faithful to keep me going.

Today, 12/31/14, is the end of that endeavor. 

It doesn't mean that I will quit having quiet times. It just means that folks will no longer be privy each day to all my foibles.

A year ago when I sensed God's prompts to blog daily, I began with a "way out" proposition, of sorts. "Lord, I will blog as long as I sense your leading." 

But God.....continued to provide THOTS (Trusting Him On This Subject), ideas, words, "tea words," verses, and WiFi, (many times "iffy, especially on trips") so......

....here I am 365 days later---sipping a cuppa finali-TEA. Farewell to daily "tea" blogs----hello to sporadic blogs of varying topics. 

It's been a year of stretching for me and I hope someday to edit the entries for a tea type book for my Lucy----so that she might know this--- her grandmother loved the Lord, loved her and loved tea!

Sharing Thee and tea with Lucy is this Shug's delight!

Commi-TEA-ment to Finishing Well

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

(2 TIMOTHY 4:7, ESV)

Finishing well. Faithfulness in the long haul. 

in previous verses of chapter 4, Paul had exhorted Timothy to preach the word, to endure all for the sake of the sake of the gospel. Paul, himself, had put his life's effort into completing the "course" which God had set before him and now his time for departure had come. (death) Paul left nothing undone. He remained committed to the faith.

Faithfulness: a long obedience in the same direction. (Cole Huffman)

No cuppa mediocri-TEA served by Paul. He chose a cuppa full commi-TEA-ment until the end. He had poured his life into Timothy---for the sake of the gospel.

What "tea" is in your cuppa faith? Mediocri-TEA or full commi-TEA-ment? Something to ponder in the New Year.

"Digni-TEA"

On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. (Psalm 22:11-12, ESV)

The importance of dignity was emphasized throughout the book, Unbroken, (Hillenbrand) as humiliation and shame continued to wear down the prisoners in the Japanese War camps. Dignity, with any semblance of respect as a human being, was what they needed. It came, albeit rarely, in a variety of unique ways, even thievery. Stolen food, namely sugar.

"And in a place predicated on degradation, stealing from the enemy won back the men's dignity." (p. 244)

Anytime a country espouses their sacred duty, as a leading superior race, to eradicate or enslave members of inferior ones, the first tactic is to take away the dignity, thus robbing them of emotional strength. (Ibid, p.43)

It has happened throughout history and is happening, as I type, to my friends in Ukraine, and families of my South Sudan church buddies. 

Thankfully, I finally "found" an uplifting book about WWII. Once Upon a Town. A work of non-fiction, it is a WORTHY read about the kindness of the towns folk in the small town of North Platte, Nebraska (12,000) and it began on Christmas Day 1941. Some folks called it a miracle! Troop trains stopped for only a 10 minute break, but all aboard were welcomed!

The numbers alone are staggering---enough to make one cry. 
Every day of the war--3,000 to 5,000 military personnel came through North Platte and were served food, drink and magazines by the towns people, from 5 am until the last train passed through after midnight. Not with government money but $$ from their own pockets---ration tickets and gardens.Toward the end of the war, that number grew to 8,000 a day, on as many as 23 separate troop trains. Six million soldiers passed through North Platte and all were greeted at the depot. (p.7)
This is their true story---a love story between a country and its sons. (p.8)
A story worth sharing.
Pic not loading--will try later.

Digni-TEA---a cuppa needed by all mankind.....and served with gratitude to GIs by North Platte residents as a way of honoring the brave and dedicated sons, wearing our nation's uniform.

SABBATH SNAPSHOT : author affini-TEA

This book review is a result of kinship.  Not quite consanguinity, but close. Consanguinity is the state of being from the same kinship through bloodline.
Garraway Refrow, a pseudonym for my great Aunt Anna Barr, is the author of Vivid Night. (1943) She was my great Aunt Ada Adams Mabry's sister-in-law,  to be confused with my Aunt Ada Mabry Adams, aka "Crazy Ada."
Thus affinity is the correct term for the connection---relationship by marriage or by ties other than those of blood relationality. Affinity is the reason for the book review---I want my "kids" to know this connection. I plan to share it with them with a cuppa affinity-TEA.

Actually, I had long forgotten about this book, which I received in my school-age years from my grandmother Gena Adams. She had a way of sending me books for every birthday. They arrived "wrapped" and sitting in the backseat of a cab----her chosen method of delivery. A little weird but unique and I still remember her method. The taxi driver would open the door, remove the gift and deposit the wrapped book on our front porch---as if the package had "life." In a way, books are like that---having a life that is different for each reader.

The book is behind glass, to keep pristine, now that I know my "relation" to the author. I like the idea of a "published" author being a part of my family tree, albeit by marriage.
However, I assume from the plot that my pious grandmother never read it. This very southern story revolves around a young woman and her child born "out of wed-lock."

"Vivian Knight, exquisite, cultured, American to the core, through the fighting blood of the Great Commander in Washington's army, and all the other armies American." (p. 54)
That sentence teems with a deep patriotism that Aunt Anna, aka "Stockade Annie" kept at the forefront of her own life as she ministered, until her dying days, to the soldiers of  Fort (Camp) Campbell, KY, which was built on the Mabry family land (1941). It is home to the only Air Assault division in the world. (101st airborne)

The story certainly reflects the "shame" of the time and the "home for unwed mothers" which would use the committee of "disposition of babies" to help the foundlings find homes. But it shines light on the love and devotion of this mother who strives to keep her baby at all costs.

A mother's cry can shake the throne of God, for the Son of a woman sits thereon. (p. 121)

When she loses her child, the pursuit of the privilege of motherhood begins and.......I don't want to spoil the story.....but I do like happy endings, and this one took a turn, which I found pleasing.

A Cuppa Almigh-TEA Providence

For unto us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7, NASB)

Not coincidences---but God-incidences. Providence. Son Buddy's recent sermon from Ruth chapter 2 reminded me to watch for "God's Providence" in my life. For me, seeing His hand often occurs in hindsight, so....I need to continually be alert as the "zeal of the Lord accomplishes His purpose" in my life and throughout His kingdom. What a trust builder that can become.

Sipping a cuppa almigh-TEA remembrance each day builds trust from the inside out.