Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Timers! It's so great to be with you again this week. I have a confession to start off our today's Tuesday Tea Time. Last week I was at camp & at camp it's not as easy to have morning tea as it is to have morning coffee. Now I will admit that I did not seek out a tea kettle. I guess I was looking for a bit of a change. However, when I had that first tea, at the end of the week, it was so so delicious.

Yes last week I was a coffee drinker, to some degree. The 1st° is that I am in denial & the 2nd° is that I started out with maybe a half a cup of coffee each day, but by the end of the week I was having a full cup of coffee to get my morning going The other piece was I never drink straight black coffee. I always add cream and sugar. Could I ever become a real coffee drinker?Perhaps, but not likely.

Knowing this & admitting this brings a different meaning to the phrase "camp changed me." Camp has changed me, but not just camp, also the Spirits presence in, through, & around my camping experiences in life. Camp is my happy place, camp is where my tribe is, camp is where nature grows wildly & stands out in beautiful new ways. Camp has brought me a week of drinking coffee & camp has brought me a sense of knowing my world a little bit more thoroughly.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday teatime friends! I'm coming to you a few days early sitting on my patio drinking a homemade iced chai. I'll be at camp today, when this is posted. But don't worry, I will enjoy Tuesday Tea Time at camp just as much as I would from home or work or wherever! And don't think that I'm so fancy that it's truly homemade chai. It is Tazo Chai that was on sale at Target, my favorite shop, and mixed with Meijer brand unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

I've had a lot on my mind as I think the whole world has these days. This last week has been unreal in many ways. I learned about the Orlando massacre during the prayers of the people in church on Sunday (6/12) morning. By late Monday morning, I learned about an unexpected death of a close family friend, that also happened between Saturday night and Sunday morning. then I believe it was maybe the next day that on the radio on the way to work that I heard about the little boy who was taken by an alligator at the Grand Floridian Resort at Disney World. One piece after another, weirdness and things completely out of our control popped up.

It seems that in the last year I have been reminded of how much is truly out of my control and all the people I know as well. Maybe I just don't know the right people! Kidding! I love the people I do know and in fact I was raised in such a family that I find myself feeling love, philía or brotherly of course, for people I don't know. The last year of life has been completely about things happening that nobody has any control over. We may point fingers at people or at inanimate object's but the reality is that life happens and sometimes it's hard and other times it's wonderful.

While life goes on, lift your chin, lower your shoulders, plant your feet on the ground & take a deep breath. This is where you are, right now & that is where you are for now. Be where you are, who you are & while it may be messy, know that you are loved right in your spot. You are you, & that is good.

Share this with others who need this love - ahem, everybody! - & know that love is greater than hate.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Time Friends! It's good to have you here safely, shining like a star with the tutu girl.

In the wake of the Orlando hate crime, I find myself rather speechless. Our gun laws have to change. We have to listen to each other's stories more intently & show respect to each other for the sheer fact that we're all trying to survive this world.

The Gospel lesson I preached on this past weekend was Luke 7:36 - 8:3. The main focus was the faith shared by the strange woman who was in a home where she was not welcomed. The Gospel news of the story is that it is not up to us to choose who is welcome in our world, but it is up to Jesus, our resurrected Lord & Savior. It is ours then to love like the strange woman, no matter who tells us "no," because Jesus tells us "yes."

So love as best you know how. We don't have to understand or see eye to eye, we just have to love.

We weep with those who weep. For Orlando, for Muslims, for LGBTQ, for individual families mourning tragic loss, we weep.

Because we love.

Love in action, being lived out as the verb that it is, will change this world.

In the words of artist Britta Gene, just love.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Good morning & happy Tuesday Tea Time!

Today as we enjoy our morning beverage I introduce you to the Britta Gene Art Tutu Girls. They're some of my favorite work because they have so much character. Their story is shared in poetry & there's always a touch of sparkle.

Their stories aren't always easy & that makes them very real. Their stories are often dream like & that makes them Britta Gene Art. Britta Gene just had her first art fair of the season last weekend & has a show at the Ft. Wayne airport in July, followed by another art fair.

Summer is a fun time for new opportunities. There's new teas & new festivals & new sunsets & new trails to be hiked. Hop on over to Britta Gene Art & contact her about her new pieces today!