"locali-TEA"

Honor and majesty are [found] in His presence; strength and joy are [found] in His sanctuary. (1 Chronicles 16:27, Amplified)

Entering the psalms this year in a "fresh" way has added vitali-TEA to my times of prayer and scripture meditation.  Med-TEA-tation might be a bit of a stretch for a "tea" word, but it's what my "Tea with Thee" time has become. It's all about thinking through & pondering old favorite psalms in a new way with both a cuppa and my Bible close at hand. More of a heart connection. Tho, the prayer chair is still the location I'm drawn to for quiet times.  My locali-TEA of choice. My sanctuary, of sorts. I realize the true location is "in His Presence" (Psalm 16:11) and reading & praying thru the Psalms seems to propel me there more quickly. Scriptural focus helps me to be fully present.

The psalms have proven to be my sanctuary of prayer---a place where my heart is nourished. Where I can bring the realities of my life in to His throne room and cry out for help as the psalmist did. Fears. Doubts. Grief. Physical struggles.....knowing that He hears. (Psalm 34:17 & Psalm 116:1)

It's still a quiet time and yet in ways it's become a BIG adventure because God is there waiting to meet me right where I am---and I'm not always in a "pretty" place. But God....stirs my soul.

His word begins teaching me, once again, not to repress the emotions that are plaguing me. His word offers hope as well as comfort. Just read the psalms to see how often those words are used.
I just finished meeting God at my prayer chair with an open heart & a cuppa Harney and Sons Organic English Breakfast----a rich black tea brewed in a cup that evokes great memories of a favorite British locali-TEA---The Shop on the Corner in Royston, England.

Time with Him seems to carve out space in my soul, not only for more of Him but for prayer for others in my life as well.

His Presence---a locali-TEA we can always take with us.

"dain-TEA" love prints

...out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart  his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45, Amplified)

I would "amplify" that verse to include actions---because one's actions follow what one is thinking  (mind) and feeling (heart.) Proverbs 27:19 backs up my thought: "As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart."

In the Hebrew culture, the heart was the metaphor for the core of one's being. Center of one's personality. "It was a spiritual hub and life flowed from its orientation." (gods of war, p. 31)

If a heart is filled with love....it's love that flows forth. Love in words AND deeds.

Love can be shown in a variety of ways---but "hands on" love is the best. Being the hands and feet of God. Doing unto others. Serving with an overflow of the love of your heart....or if you are just two years old, making your dainty hands into a heart shape print for your grandarents' Valentine card, is the perfect expression.

Lucy's card was by me as I sipped my morning brew in a dain-TEA cup and opened my Bible to scriptures of love.

"hef-TEA cuppa"

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. (Colossians 3:12-13, NASB) 

"Born Loser" cartoon's character, Thornapple, shared his reliance on a cup of coffee to face his day, remarking, "I think I'm going to need a bigger cup." (Commercial Appeal, A8) Certainly there are days like that in everyone's life. 

However, we can easily fill our cups with harmful ingredients. This morning during my "Tea With Thee" time, I focused on the attributes of "blends" that I did NOT want in my cuppa. Greed, anger, malice, lying, abusive speech from my mouth. (Colossians 3:5-9) Those are dregs not needed. Yet, when one's body is tired, those characteristics can take center stage.

BUT GOD.....reminded me that love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

So.....fill me up Lord. More of Thee, less of me.

Sipping a hef-TEA cuppa of God's love. A great way to face each new day!

From Solemni-TEA to Gaie-TEA....

This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:23-24, NASB)

Solemn vows and joyous celebration are all part of a wedding celebration Gladness which is emphasized when two believers vow, "I do" and mean it. Congratulations to Abbie & Zac Diltz!

An A to Z (Abbie to Zac) wedding
which honored the one who is the Alpha and Omega. (Revelation 22:13)

Vows spoken in Driftwood, TX in the Texas Hill Country & "sealed with a kiss."

"The Bread and the Cup"
Celebrating the sacrament of communion for the first time as Mr. & Mrs.

The Happy Couple---even tho pic is clipped, the smiles say it all!!

Beginning the path to married life, paved with lots of prayer.... 

Happy parents of the groom. (Texas)

Equally happy parents of the bride. (N.H.)

The Texas Liles 

Beautiful pictorial way to save guests' comments

Barn dancing--groom with his mom.

Wedding dinner of delicious fajitas---just like on their first date. 

Smiling bride with her father-in-law

"Rejoicing and glad in this day which the Lord hath made"
77º and sunny for an outdoor wedding at Wildflower Barn---a perfect expression of God's goodness!

So many wonderful thoughts to ponder as I reviewed pictures and sipped my "Capital Tea" from the Tea Embassy, based in Austin, the capital of Texas.
Solemni-TEA, sweetened & blended with Gaie-TEA---a perfect cuppa for both a wedding and a marriage.

SABBATH SNAPSHOT: beau-TEA

2/16/14 Ah-h-h...the beauty of written dialogue. The language of ordinary people in the dialect of their own time and region.

I grew up with a touch of "Kentucky hick" as my "mother tongue." Maybe not pretty to some, but familiar to me. Comforting. It's where I learned, I "reck-in," not I suppose so. "Fixin' to" was another that still rolls off my tongue. Vowels were drawn out---pronounced for a slightly longer period of time than other folks required. The "widow woman" (redundant, I now know) down the way would "sit a spell" on her porch each day. You get the idea. 

Maybe that's why I was drawn to choose the book Song of the Cardinal (1903) to read. Or maybe because both hubby and I have an affinity for bird-watching, the cardinal being a fave of this Kentucky born gal.

Most likely it was chosen because the author, Gene Stratton-Porter wrote one of my all time favorite books, Keeper of the Bees, published in 1925, the year after her death. A real "keeper" for me on my bookshelf!
Song of the Cardinal has so much "good" written below the story line as it tells of how just a beautiful bird can make a difference in the life of someone who was aging and rheumatic and could hardly put his hand to the plough.

Check out Stratton-Porter's "good" as well as beau-TEAful dialect:

• "The Cardinal had opened the fountains of his soul; life took on a new colour and joy; while every work of God manifested a fresh and heretofore unappreciated loveliness. His very muscles seemed to relax, and new strength arouse to meet the demands of his uplifted spirit." (p. 103) 
• "An' if it hadn't a-compassed a matter o' breakin' your word, what 'ud want to kill the redbird for, anyhow? Who gives you the right to go 'round takin' such beauty an joy out of the world?" (p. 134) 
• "----all full o' life 'at you ain't got no mortal right to touch 'cos God made it, an' it's His!" (p. 135) "....but God knows 'at shootin' a redbird just to see the feathers fly isn't having dominion over anything; it's jest a-makin' a plumb beast o' yerself. (p. 136) 
• "I felt most too rheumaticky to tackle field work this spring until he come 'long, an' the fire o' his coat an' song got me warmed up as I ain't been in years. .....D'you ever stop to think how full this world is o' things to love, if your heart's jest big enough to let 'em in? We love to live for the beauty o' the things surroundin' us," (p. 138) 
• "To my mind, ain't no better way to love an' worship God, 'an to protect an' appreciate these fine gifts He's given for our joy an' use.....Worshippin'....."Getting the beauty from the sky, an' the trees, an' the grass, an' the water 'at God made, is nothin' but doin' HIm homage. Whole earths a sanctuary . You can worship from sky above to grass under foot."           Well said, Mrs. Geneva "Gene" Stratton-Porter! 

Taken through my kitchen window February 2014 

Not a book for everyone but the dialect was "sorta" familiar---comforting as in days of yore.

"uni-TEA"

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24, NASB)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN THE HILL COUNTRY OF TEXAS!
A cuppa fideli-TEA for two.

"La-TEA-tude"

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35, ESV)

God has given us choices in our walk with Him. He guides and encourages but He doesn't dictate.

He has given us la-TEA-tude---that freedom to choose how to act or what to do.

 IF the word "if" is translated καθώς ἠγάπησα then it can be taken as "seeing that," you love one another. To me it shows the choice made. In "my" words, the actions of love toward others is seen by man and God as actions of a disciple of God. (Dotsy THOTS, as I'm Trusting, Him, On This Subject)

The coordinates are there running north to south and east to west. (latitude and longitude) From God in heaven to us on earth. His love to us comes down and our love to him goes up and out. When it spreads out to others horizontally, the coordinate /intersection is at the "cross."

In my head I might have this wrong; in my heart, I have it right!

Some of my views as I gratefully sip my cuppa of la-TEA-tude with the Lord this morning.

Nif-TEA-Gif-TEA

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8, ETV)

So many advertisements this week are for perfect "love" gifts. Yet, what most folks really want is love itself. Those acts of love that express that deep feeling. Sometimes it's easier to buy a gift than to pass on love.

Actually, apart from God, the author of love, we can't do it----even on this love-proclaimed day, our actions speak louder than those Hallmark sentiments and bouquets of red roses. Share the love. Give of yourself. Pass it on.

 "Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay, love isn't love 'til you give it away," came to mind when I saw this tea store sign but "integri-TEA" had me google it. Two sources were given. I choose the older one. (Oscar Hammerstein II)

Heart shaped little cakes were baked in a pan given to me by Julie C.
I "passed on" to the Parlows--even the dog got one, by his own devices.
Sorry Tim, Edgar beat you to it!

"Sovereign-TEA"

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. (Psalm 103:19, NASB)

And what are the heavens but the creation of God's hand, illustrating God's sovereign majesty over our lives. From Psalms to Isaiah, readings have continued to remind me of God's sovereignty, especially in creation. (Isa. 40:12-28)

Our creator has supreme power and dominion over us and all our circumstances. In Jesus Lives, Sarah Young writes, as if the Lord Himself were speaking, "I am sovereign over the circumstances of your life, so there are always opportunities to be found in them. ...."

So many much of scripture tell us of God's sovereignty. So....why don't we live this truth----instead of trying to "control" life's circumstances on our own???

Calligrapher & photographer---my precious son-in-law, Corey---
 who reminded me of this important "TEA" word!

Our God reigns. Our God rules. 

God is in charge. Not me. 

How comforting that is this morning as I sip my cuppa sweetened with the knowledge of His sovereign-TEA!

"Integri-TEA"

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9, KJV)

There is more to writing than a really SHARP pencil and a high quality eraser. That's just my starting point, as I jot ideas on my "blue for blog" notepad. One of those is integrity. It's sort of a Christian blogger's "TEA-ology" gut check. "Integrity" brand is actually stamped on my #2 pencil.

• Check motives. Thy glory, not mine. 
• Check author. Thy words, not my words. 
• Check audience. Thee, not readers. 

Blogger's Prayer by Ann Voskamp (2010) summed it up well.
Yahweh, You alone are my God, not Google. Jesus, You alone are my Savior, not site meters, And Holy Spirit, You alone are my comforter, not comments.

Her prayer was the impetus for me trying to "do it right." Blog with integrity. It's why I cite when I know a reference and indicate unknown source as just that; a note from my marginalia, a memory scrap, or a jot on a scrap of paper used as a bookmark, etc.

Prayerful beginnings: Examine me, and probe my thoughts! (Psalm 139:23) Test me, Lord for my heart is deceitful in ways only you can know.

Integrity is a quality that I certainly need to keep "brewing" in all areas of my life, not just my blog----tho that's a good place to start with this morning's entry and my cuppa integri-TEA.

As I sit before the Lord today with my cuppa, may he reveal to me areas in my life where I need more of Thee and less of me.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)