Tuesday Tea Time!

This Tuesday Tea Time I don't have any recent funnies to share unfortunately. Last week was truly a unique week with one funny & crazy happening for the first three or four days. How often in life does that happen?!

The last couple of days have been chillier so still no sun-tea has been made. Not only has the chilly weather prevented making sun-tea, but the space in our fridge, or lack thereof has as well.

One thing Z & I do, when the rest of life seems totally chaotic, is eat well. This Mothering Day my family treated me with dark chocolate brownies with walnuts in them (my favorite simple dessert) & homemade pizza - using one friend's family dough recipe, another friend's marinara sauce recipe, & our own toppings of cheese, artichoke hearts, kale, & sun-dried tomatoes. SO tasty!

It was a great day with good reflection on what mother's day means. One friend - who has a baby that'll be 1.5 next month already - shared her idea of mother's day is not about her, but rather "My job is to recognize anyone who has shown mothering love reminiscent of the selfless sacrificial love of God."

What a beautiful spin on a "holiday" we have made so normalized & commercialized!

Sunday Snippits: Good, Bad, & Awesome!

GOOD: This past week started out with a trip to hoosierland where Z caught up with colleagues also in their first call of full time rostered ministry & I spent a few days visiting my parents & by chance a few other family members as well. I got to meet my cousin's wife & daughter for the first time ever & see my cousin himself for the first time in something like 11 years. It was also a true blessing to be able to spend some time with my Gma Dixie that wasn't totally occupied by a family wedding. We made our way back to the great North mid-week to throw ourselves into attempts to do some more work & get back to our regular grind. However, the nice weather is a bit of a welcomed distraction, so we're pacing ourselves. This mother's day I contribute my love for Disney & travel to my mom & give her a virtual boat that she can take any time she wants (you had to be with us to understand, sorry).

BAD: Knowing the prayers that are being said for the girls in  Nigeria that have been kidnapped to be rescued & not knowing what, if anything, exactly is being done to rescue those girls is bad. Also, knowing that stories like Captain Phillips is not the only one & that people feel the necessity to kidnap & yell incessantly & use extreme violence for power is bad & ugly. Love wins, even if it is tough love.

AWESOME: Having a table & chairs for our deck that once belonged to my Mammaw & Pappaw. On their cement patio it was painted white & if I remember right (this is going back quite a few years like to my single digits) the cushions were clad in beautiful green & orange & yellow flowers. Now the table & chairs are black & my mom & dad had the cushions redone to be blue. I have thought about painting the chairs some fun brighter colors, but as my brother pointed it out, it would be hard to paint over the black without more steps than just painting them black again. Many great memories have been made sitting around this table, even from my pre-teen & teen years on my childhood front porch & now no doubt many more will be made in MI.

WORD: The scripture that I hung onto this week in my inbox was 1st Peter 2:13-17 & Z & I just read 1st Tim in the last two days only to most likely move on to 2nd Tim tomorrow. And naturally I'm still reading my leisure books as well.

coming up: Lots of prep for Summer jobs & another conference, this time not that far away or for that long.