TEA WITH THEE : a TEA-sentation

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33, ESV)

TEA-sentation might be a bit of a s-t-r-e-t-c-h but what else would you call a presentation about taking tea as part of one's quiet time. He Cares, a special ministry of First Evangelical Church, is designed to meet the needs of our homebound seniors as well as giving care givers a break. As always, the "senior" audience, some who are younger than yours truly, was gracious as I sought to encourage them during their worship time.

TEA-sentation set-up

I'm sure that I left them with "tea" words whirring in their heads but hopefully they realized the importance of daily time with the Lord. Seeking Him first. Allowing Him to fill their "cuppa." Otherwise, the "world will fill their life's cuppa.

The world often pours out---stressors of anxi-TEA, feelings of inferiori-TEA, negativi-TEA and hoi-TEA, Toi-TEA attitudes of people who think that they are better than others.

The Lord pours out---chari-TEA (love) generosi-TEA, humili-TEA, integri-TEA, sensitivi-TEA, and sereni-TEA....to name a few.

Daily choices---cuppas brewed afresh---and served by the Lord are an encouraging way to start one's day. 

My encouragement came after the presentation when Charlie Martin told how Terry Parlow, my blind paralyzed friend, whom Charlie had assumed was too sick to attend, made an effort to come so he could hear, Dotsy. When the van lift would not work, his care giver "Miss Ronnie" pushed him in his wheelchair from his condo all the way to church. The distance isn't far UNLESS you're the one pushing big ole Terry in the wheelchair---"uphill" most of the way according to him.

I "puddled." 

I can't remember when I've been so encouraged. Isn't that so like God---we try to minister to others in His name BUT we are the ones who are truly blessed!

Fideli-TEA : a Cuppa hope

All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3, TLB)

Faith! Faith!! Faith!!! Hope! Hope!! Hope!!!
Faith from the latin fidere – to trust. Confidence or trust---for me it is a necessary facet of hope. 
The "what ifs" of a faithless life, breed worry and negate hope. Worry is the antithesis of hope---without faith there is no hope for a better tomorrow. 

People who have faith, have hope.  People who have hope, have faith.  Seemingly, a person cannot have one without the other. "One has to be faithful to be hopeful." (Cole Huffman, 11/9/14)

FAITH is defined as a belief which expresses confidence in the truth or veracity of someone. Even Wikipedia got it right this time. The One who is Truth is the bedrock of faith. In Him alone one can have confidence. The Lord Jesus Christ is that someone. In Him we have hope.

In Christ Alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song; this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,....

"Hope is only found in faith. Living hope is only available with belief in a risen God. (1Peter 1:13) Hope is like the "gold standard" of faith. Deep joy which transcends circumstances results from a "living hope reality."(notes from CH sermon, 11/914)

Fideli-TEA served in a cuppa hope is only available through a risen Lord.

Self-served Servili-TEA: a bitter cuppa

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: (1 Peter 4:10, ESV)

1 Peter 4:10 states an important aspect of ministry. Serving one another.

Yet, a recent conversation had my ears opened to words that were missing....only to be found in the verse that followed. I just had to look for it in order to share it with others.

Have you ever been so tired that even your bones are weary? Fatigue seeps in and permeates your entire body.

Is your service so intense that it is cutting you off from God----God who is your resource as well as your reason for ministry. 

Have you ever been so busy caring for God's household that you have neglected your own time with Him---the One who called you into ministry? (1 Timothy 1:12) In hurrying and scurrying to feed others, both physically and spiritually, have you forgotten to feed yourself? 

Often, one knows when her fire needs to be rekindled. But sometimes that truth has to be shown by an outsider.

One who sees her sister's cuppa service has turned into a cuppa servili-TEA needs to share the following verse from1 Peter 4:11. 

If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised. 

"I can not explain exactly  how we are able to receiver the power to serve and to endure through communion with God, but I know it is a fact." (Streams in the Desert, 11/9)

In love, point out how servili-TEA, "an excessive willingness to serve," more easily happens when one is attempting to continue to minister in her own strength. Help her replace her cuppa servili-TEA with a refreshing cuppa of His minis-TEA-ry which is served with His strength.
Encourage her to sip quietly with Him as once again she feeds herself with His Word and His Presence, which will strengthen her anew for His service.

Dis-TEA-ractions

But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. 

(Psalm 66:19, NASB)

"Prayer is waking up to the Presence of God no matter where I am or what I'm doing." (Benedictine monk, David Steindl) 

In God's Presence. It's my favorite way to wake-up---but sometimes it seems short-lived, as I begin to hear the daily distractions instead of hearing the Lord. His "gentle whisper" (1 Kings 19:12) seems to get fainter with each hour. God continues to direct  His voice to ears of love....but it takes steadfast love from His children to listen "intentionally", for even His faintest whispers.

And help me keep my mind on my prayers....and not on that TV show Daddy's watchin''
 or Billy jumpin' on the bed or whatever Jeffy is mumbling or...Family Circus, 9/4/10

Praises that today the Lord did hear my prayer amidst the extraneous noises----a prayer answered in spite of my cuppa dis-TEA-ractions. He listens---so should I!

But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Same verse, different version--NLT! 

SABBATH SNAPSHOT: beyond disibili-TEA

World War II is the backdrop for Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See. What a book! What a read!
I did NOT want to read one more book that dealt with war---too disturbing, too heavy, too horrific, too real!
But....this novel had me by page 7 ---"as the leaflets dropped"---"she could smell the ink."
Short chapters, some only 1-2 pages long, bounce back and forth between the two protagonists; a young blind girl, whose mind has a love of literature and dependence on her dad, who carefully instructs her in order to foster independence, along with the corresponding life of a young German lad, fascinated by science, but orphaned and living with his sister in a children's home. 
Hauntingly beautiful is how NYTimes review describes it. (4/28) 
Too much info would constitute a spoiler----just know that the author easily and skillfully weaves wartime training, Jules Verne, radio transmissions, museum treasures, a "Sea of Flames'" legendary curse, sabotaging neighbors, snails from the sea, and a sister's insight and conscience into a an intriguing World War II narrative.

Tho it's taken awhile to get through 534 pages, the setting created so much interest that I googled Saint-Malo---and if I were not so averse to the hassle and fears of foreign travel these days, I might put it on my bucket list, because thanks to Doerr, I feel as if I've been there and would like to see what remains.

I didn't like to read it at night because I wouldn't want to put it down......at the same time, it would "key me up" so I had trouble going to sleep. It's not totally absent of language and some vile situations but very,very few considering this was a "war" book. I thought it was a worthy read.

Op-TEA-mistic Cuppa

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 

(1 Timothy 2:1, ESV)

Some things just keep me "in the pink." "In the pink," as an idiom, can indicate good health---either physical or emotional. I would add spiritual as well, though the Free Dictionary does not include that aspect.

In 2009, I was sent to Texas to start my cancer journey with every "pink" goodie imaginable which was great for my emotional well being, from bedding and jammies to pink journals and a pink Bible--thanks to the generosity of my H2H Bible study group.

During my cancer surgeries prayer support from my community of faith kept me "in the pink" spiritually.....which spilled over into the physical aspect as well.

Some days a good start to my day can have me feeling "in the pink." A good night's sleep. Time with the Lord. A brisk cuppa. Even a crossword puzzle can seem to start my day with an "op-TEA-mistic cuppa.

But God....today has shown me that true hope (an op-TEA-mistic cuppa) comes from relying, with confidence, on His Word. Not my fluctuating feelings.
At times, when it has been difficult to start my day with optimism....for our nation, my friends and others who are in difficult, if not dire circumstances, I have to wholly cling to the "anchor" of His word, as I pray for others. Not trusting in what I "see" or feel, which I can be prone to do, but by placing my trust solely in His Word.
A cuppa op-TEA-mism is all the "warmer" for our soul, when our sight and feelings begin to fail and we allow our faith to refill our life's cup.

God's s-TEA-rength : an exercise

I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 

(Ephesians: 3:16, NET)

ABCs of God's strength were clear to me this morning as I sipped my cuppa Harney and Sons organic English Breakfast, a strong black tea, while looking for my exercise band.

ABCs---All 'Bout Core.

Core is the exercise world's buzzword these days. One can even find it digitally---as a hashtag, a YouTube video or in any other of the 24,300,000 google results.

But God....showed me as I stared into my cuppa "strong" tea that was giving me a needed physical lift, that soul strengthening comes from Him. His strength. His might. (Ephesians 6:10 & Philippians 4:13)

His strength is available for my inner person, my spiritual "core." 

I've moved up weight sizes as I've exercised regularly for physical core strength---tho it might not be evident to others who see a measly "3" weight in my right hand or or the "green band," not the lowest, but close. The fitness instructor seems to use the term, core work, to emphasis our "core" focal point--- regardless of what we're doing. She tries to take us to that level because strengthening of the core is essential.

Just like I need exercise along the lines of continued practice for my physical core, I need the continued spiritual practice of soul strengthening. It is essential. I must sit upright before Him as I seek His strength for each and every day He gives me. 

Consider Him. Seek Him. 

If not, I "grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:3)

All 'Bout Core comes from knowing All 'Bout Christ!

God's s-TEA-rength, a daily cuppa teamed with spiritual exercise of prayer and study, can strengthen one's core.....her very soul!

s-TEA-ped in wonder

Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north. 

(Job 37:9, KJV)

For sure there is a whirlwind at the grocery, at the slightest mention of the white stuff. No whirlwind yesterday. No "white" in today's forecast that I heard.

Of course not. Our almanacs and other trusty weather sources, like wooly bear caterpillars knew that cold temps, were coming out of the north, think Arctic blast and Polar Vortex--but....no snow, this far south, was mentioned.

Today is November 13. There is SNOW in Memphis.** Okay, so it was only a slight dusting. Not exactly steeped in it. But....for us in the mid-south, snow is SNOW! The only folks, whom  I actually know well, normally get snow this time of year, or sometimes earlier, are the Bradleys. They live in Massachusetts. It's clear today, in Ashburnham, with no precip and a sunny 47º.

So who's in charge here? I know. Do you?

My vote goes to the Lord, who is great in power and "hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds.."(Nahum 1:3) Even snowclouds!

Two morning cuppas filled with me-TEA-orology----one served by our resident meteorologist and one served by God. I chose God's----He knows.....the weatherman didn't. (except maybe in Alaska)

**Picture is for our "grands" from Texas to Brooklyn, NY--who have no snow---but cousin Owen does---at least a smidge!

Liber-TEA

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 

(1 Peter 2:16, ESV)

Yesterday's salute to Veterans in flag flying, concerts and "mattress" sales brought home to me the freedoms all enjoy because of sacrifice....freedom to worship, being chief among them. 

For me, the liberty I have found in the Lord, is so precious. How grateful I am to be able to declare it at home, to share it abroad and even proclaim it through this blog. 

Yet, some heartfelt suffering for others has recently had me wrapped in sadness. A bondage of sorts. Captive. I needed to be set free. Stuck in worry.

But God through His word came alongside as, "In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free." (Psalm 118:5) Not changing the situation or eliminating the grievous circumstance but by setting me free of worry----and allowing me to share that answer with others.
He has made me "free indeed." (John 8:3) Free in essence. Free on the inside.

Freedom of religion in America. Freedom in Christ.
How blessed we are to be able to sip from such a cuppa liber-TEA!

Nationali-TEA

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 
(2 Chronicles 7:14, NLT)

Veterans Day has businesses across our nation thanking our vets with deals, discounts and freebies. 

For us, non-business owners, maybe taking time to thank the ones we know and pray for peace and a petition for God to heal our "free" land for which they fought and are still fighting would be appropriate.

A cuppa nationali-TEA served with prayers of uni-TEA for our divided nation seems a fitting way to honor each of them.