A "cuppa"......

5/23/11........... to make the medicine go down> Actually the cuppa is the medicine. There are probably as many varieties (medicinal, soothing, boosting) of tea as people who drink it. For me, a tasty cup of a good strong, black hot tea from India’s Assam region seems to diminish the soreness in my throat. Plus, it soothes my taut neck and head region. Maybe that’s “all in my head” but it “feels” like it’s working.

I have noticed though that I seem to like my tea stronger as the years pass. My taste buds seem to demand more.
Is there an analogy there with tea drinking and scripture meditation? Shouldn’t I be on something stronger than just snippets here and there? Sometimes scripture does seem to be more intense and I have to go deeper to really drink fully from His word. But isn’t that what meditation is all about? The same verse can mean different things to each of us depending on where we are in our spiritual growth or what our circumstances or needs are right at that moment. That’s the beauty of scripture.

Grab a “cuppa” and sip as you read along and meditate on this passage----enjoy the words at face value or go deeper.

11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:11-13)

SPIRITUAL PLUCK

5/22/11 I have been “in a mood” lately---though not exactly one you would dance to. I feel stretched, tired, and the last three days physically ill with the “crud”---sinus drainage and a persistent cough that is robbing me of much needed sleep. So, quiet times/prayer times have been sketchy at best. If I continue to listen to these moods that are resulting from my physical condition, I’m going to lose my spiritual hold. My pluck. I don’t mean to beat myself up. But……pluck, that part of me that decides to “pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again,” as Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers dancingly demonstrated in old b & w movies, needs to be active. It’s called discipline.

Moods, at least mine, tend to be rooted in the physical part of my make-up. “Pluck” on the other hand is more of a spiritual/moral condition and is garnered through choice or as an act of my will. “Incarnate pluck” as Oswald Chambers dubs it. (MUFHH, May 21) is the strength that is ours when we abandon all to Him. Too often, my “moods” have me carefully mulling over how I’m going to “fix” things. Thoughtful concern (a euphemism for worry) over the practical details of my life can thwart the work of the Spirit within. “Incarnate pluck.”

I need to practice Matthew 6:25. “Take no thought of your own life,,,,,,,,,,” In my life that takes effort. Bringing every thought captive is hard work. It takes relinquishing. A continual effort not to listen to my “mood-induced” thoughts but to focus on hearing from Him.

Where’s your spiritual pluck? Are you making excuses like I am? Are you listening to the voice of reason or are you listening to the voice of the Spirit within. Maybe we both need to “pluck” up and allow God to control all those details that are so worrisome.

A time for everything.....

5/20/11 Tonight I attend Houston High’s graduation---a graduation of sorts for me as well. Retirement looms for me---yet, less than 3 months ago I had no idea that my final “work” season was upon me. Last Friday night we were discussing funeral arrangements for Larry’s mom. Three months prior we had no idea that stomach cancer would be her final season. Seasons come and seasons go. No where is this illustrated better than in God’s word.

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4)

Dying and mourning. Laughing and dancing. Season upon season. And now there will be a time for birthing. That baby bump makes me smile through all the tears of last week. A time to be born……………….A time for everything.

GLEANINGS from GRAVESIDE

5/19/11
The sextons replaced the sod, arranged the floral sprays atop the mound, and then gathered the gleanings. Flowers strewn by the wind picked up (by them) and put in the bronze vase secured to the headstone that sat just beneath the cross.

Leftovers. Flowers and thoughts---not morbid, just remembrances. Flowers of all sorts. Predominantly pink. (soft and gentle as both Mommar’s skin and her spirit) Roses Abounding... (Mommar always stopped to smell the roses, literally and figuratively, even when she lost her sense of smell......

White and yellow lilies, so often used to symbolize the restoration of the soul, were in abundance, (Mrs. “Lilies,” instead of Liles, the mispronouncing of her name through the years)

Stargazers, noted for their heavenly scent, are a great word picture for Mommar, who loved the open skies of JoAnn Road. White roses, a symbol of honor. She honored her loved ones as she served them throughout her life.

Our gleanings of these remembrances will continue to honor her.

E-TEAM

5/18/11

Most people know about A-Teams. They are NOT the benchwarmers or background folks. A-Teams are the ones front and center who go in and get the job done---they are the “get the glory” guys. Even the “A-Team” 80s TV show with Mr. T focused on using any method to get results. I’m sure A-Teams have their place.

I, however, will take my E-Team any day. My “E-Team” is made up of friends who are always there for me. My encouragers. These last few months they have been the ones who follow the Isaiah 35:3 verse to “encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.”

Much like the A-Team, they also get the job done---- but their focus is not for vain glory. Their focus is to serve. To do unto others---in word and deed.

My E-Team allows me to see God’s goodness through their acts of kindness. They enrich my life and fill my heart with gratitude.

Think of no other greatness but that of the soul, no other riches but those of the heart. John Quincy Adams (Project Wisdom, 5/18)

Whose E-Team are you on? Is there someone you need to encourage today? Encouragement from you will richly fill their heart.

EPITAPH of EXCELLENCE

5/17/11

Eulogies are best delivered by those who can draw from memories. That was very much reflected in yesterday’s funeral for Mommar when our son Buddy, her oldest grandson, was the funeral officiant. Though he had his own memories of her, he tapped into the memories of her 4 adult children. He asked each of them for words or word pictures that best described his/her mama. Though he talked to each separately there was a thread of praiseworthy words that each gave: loving, kind, gentle, quiet, & patient. Words worthy of an epitaph. As they gave funny examples of memories, each came back to descriptors of love and acceptance---even if she was having them go get break a “switch” from the hedge for her to use on their little behinds.

CONVICTION settled in my head and then moved to my heart. How grievous it is to think of one’s own eulogy in which words like harried, befuddled, busy but accomplishing little, or makes a list then loses a list could more easily be listed than patien†, gentle or kind.

Using words from Proverbs 31, Buddy showed how her lifestyle embodied many of the traits of the virtuous woman from scripture---not one who sought the limelight but one who worked more often behind the scenes as “she looked out for her household.”

How about your eulogy? What words would your children or other family members use to describe you?

The funeral was wrapped up as he gave us a vision of our Savior through the life of his grandmother. His Mommar. Pointing out her similar servant spirit to that written of Christ in Philippians 2:3-4. She showed an “attitude of humility valuing others above self, not looking to her own interests but to the interests of the others.”

Therefore her children (and grandchildren) rose & blessed her. (Proverbs 31:28) An Epitaph of Excellence---blessed by her children.

A FOND FAREWELL

5/16/11 Fond farewell---Is there such a thing? I guess there is if one is now saying good-by to the person with whom one has shared a fondness or love in the past. Mommar's funeral was a bi† of a fond farewell. Saying good-by, yet remembering and celebrating the life we shared with her.
The one thing I do know from this time of loss is that the Lord uses the love and support from family, friends, and members of the community of faith to make it all much easier on those who are grieving. I am so-o-o-o grateful for the refreshment (physical, spiritual and emotional) provided for the Liles clan during this time.

For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you,....(Philemon, verse 7)

This verse was printed on the memory card of Mary Black Liles, our Mommar.

royalTEA

5/12/11

I thought I would blog about "tea for 2" because I have some really good tea on my tea tray these days. But......I decided that more important than my quiet time tea was the relationship pursuant between the king and the "sipper." royalTEA!

These days so many of us feel beset by catastrophes. Overwhelming disasters. Droughts. Tornados. Floods. Memphis has made national news every night this week with the flooding and cresting of the mighty and very wide & muddy Mississippi. In my own life, I have added a certain amount of physical misery, a lot of uncertainty and the imminent loss of a loved one to those events. All of this made my morning "cuppa" a little bitter. But God...reminded me that I am His child. The King of Kings has called me His own. That makes me royalty of the highest sense. More than that, this kinship/relationship offers me hope. Hope is crucial.

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. (Isaiah 43:1)

Even if the memories of these last few weeks continue to "haunt" me for years to come, I know that these life lessons have been filtered through His loving hand. Therefore I have hope. And hope is what we all need. That and a good cup of hot tea--- a cuppa of Fortnum and Mason's Royal Blend, don't you think!

How do you dance?

5/11/11 How does one dance when decisions loom and clear direction is anything but clear? Today is "Weeping Wednesday" thus a time of confession. My confession was uppermost in my mind when I started my computer----confession of uncertainty, fear and a lack of trust. All of that spells u-n-b-e-l-i-e-f. I believe God, help thou my unbelief. (Mark 9:24) I had to ask the Lord to supply His strength and wisdom in these defects in my faith. A 12:45 am wake-up started the fears festering and relief seemed to be beyond my grasp. Relief must not have been the answer. Trust is the answer, but in the wee hours it was in short supply even as I tossed verses about in my head.
Part of the answer came when my computer opened up to GOOGLE. Today's animation showed dancers moving across the screen and that's when my anxiety cleared up. I just needed to once again get up and stretch out for the Lord & allow Him to lead me in this "new" dance. A dance that requires me to let go of a loved one not long for this world and hold on to His hand. The rest of the answer came when I talked to hubby and he told me he was coming home today.

Drug-induced meditation....

5/9/11.....is actually possible. I'm not talking about the 60s type LSD drugs here. Just pain meds (following a molar extraction) that make one "take to the bed" and be loopy. Maybe they've even had a greater effect because of the depressing, disheartening events of last week. Watching loved ones suffer has certainly upped the despair meter in my heart. It's painful.

But God....in the middle of my own "minor" pain, brought one of my favorite Psalms to mind and verses that I needed came back and bedside meditation was possible.

• ⁵For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock.
• ¹³I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.
• ¹⁴Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27, selected, NASB)

Drug-induced. God's word heals. It's the best medicine.