Captivi-TEA

A cuppa captivi-TEA is needed if I'm to serve a little positivi-TEA to others. I have to live it before I can serve it.

Yea, yea, I know----tea blogs were for last year ----but cut me a little slack because "tea thinking" is a part of who I am. And a cuppa captivi-Tea is about one's thought life.

If I'm concerned about thinking positive thoughts about Memphis town, surely I can work on eliminating negative aspects about my self.

Replacement thinking. Sounds like something one would hear from a therapist's couch. Replacing my thoughts with His thoughts is from the "good book" not a psychology book. My thoughts are not His thoughts (Isaiah 55:8) so I need to "bring every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5) out of obedience to the Lord.

This week, partly in response to my husband's request to "quit being so hard on my wife," I have tried "replacement thinking."

• ADD Reality---Always Distracted Dotsy---(similar to my often "Ditsy" typo-label) Replacement Response---God knows me by my "real" name---(Exodus 33:17)

"Dotsy(s)" on the cuppa mark it as really mine! CF knew that!

--Reality (what I think)---It's so-o-o hard being me.

**Replacement Response--I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)

--Ineptness Reality---What I think when unable to conquer my PowerPoint for upcoming Exodus lesson.
**Replacement Response--God's power is made perfect in "my" weakness. Go God! (2 Corinthians 12:9)

--Most common self-inflicted diatribes---I haven't a clue and I can't remember squat.
**Replacement Response--To the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, (Ecclesiastes 2:26)

WHOOPS---how pitiful are those diatribes for one whose desire is to please Him---God gives wisdom to those who please Him. 

My "personal pursuit" for 2015 is to please GOD. I'd better bring that reminder front and center---a cuppa Captivi-TEA of thoughts and actions to please Him.

migh-TEA BIG cuppa

Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6, NIV)

Why blog? 

Maybe because it will have lasting value for my grandchildren. Tweets, Instagram and even FB seem more ephemeral. Tweets evaporate almost instantly and Instagram and FB too follow into an almost black hole within a month. I want my "grands" and great grands to know of my faith---after I'm long gone. A faith that anchors my soul.

Why blog daily? 

Certainly not to add more cobwebs to the "blogosphere." But God seemed to "compel me" to daily blogging this year.

Is blogging hard work? 

Yes......Though it's not as hard as building a temple would have been for Zerubbabel in the above verse, it's beyond my own strength. If my blogging is not Spirit led, it is rubbish with no lasting value. Often, I wonder if the time to quit is drawing nigh, especially when I don't "feel" His power and and the writing seems "toilsome." (Ecclesiastes 2:26) 

How does one know if her blogging pleases God?

The other day I asked myself the same question. And tho the "drop and plop" method is not spiritual, recently I did just that---finding 1 Corinthians 10:13 and a Harriet Beecher Stowe quote that I hope explains my purpose.

I did not write it. God wrote it. I merely did His dictation.

Stowe's writing coupled with God's word would be a "migh-TEA BIG cuppa to digest....but hopefully even my small blog is sincerely written in wholehearted service to the Lord in order to glorify Him.

Home Again, Home Again

8/10/12….The  minute I typed the title, this entry took a different turn. Echoes of the “olde”nursery rhyme filled my head.

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

Not counting my 2 early summer glorious trips to North Carolina and 10 days in Ukraine, I have trekked with hubby through 11 states since July 28. The latest trek was 2,468.7 miles. So…. home felt good. But…..the trip was also good----did I mention not one single bad meal along the way! From fancy to hearty. Even the Wisconsin cheddar cheese curds and Beechwood Cheese Co.’s Moraine Muenster on wonderful crispy crackers hit the spot for our “car” lunch. Of course we topped off all that salty with a little chocolate cheese fudge.

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil (Ecclesiastes 2:24)

Work became toil, and life offered drudgery and frustration after the fall, but to those who please God, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy (2:26). for God’s glory brings joyful satisfaction and fulfillment.

In my rationalization, those verses in Ecclesiastes came to mind. But God……reminded me that indeed He does provide good things for us to enjoy. I not only had gastronomic feasts on this trip, I had visual feast from God’s creation as well.

Now I have the “fat pig” syndrome of 5 extra pounds. (That would be on top of other recently acquired poundage.) So....... now that I’m home again I’m going to have to dance a few jigs to slow down all that “jiggety flesh” that was a result of a GREAT trip!