Tuesday Tea Time!

Grab your drink & a comfy seat, and together we'll enjoy our Tuesday Tea Time!

Together, we'll smile at the unpredictable Spring weather & hold tight in the comfort of a warm mug in our grips. Some say tea is a hug in a cup.

Together, we'll share highs & lows & ins & outs of life as of late.

Together, we'll be, you & me, with our mug of tea, warm in our souls.

Together, there'll be tea, for you & me.

Together.

Tuesday Tea Time!

 Hiya Tuesday Tea Timers!

What a wild ride of life over the past month, to say the least. Many of you have joined in the abundance of tea consuming & good life discussions that can do nothing other than deepen relationships. Thank you for being part of community. As my friend, colleague, & mentor Dr. Terri Elton, has said about me, I thrive on community. Being part of a community that works to exist for the sake of each other is key to many a persons, if not all, well being.

For now our space for Kaia is complete. In its current state, 1 month after her birth & death, it has almost the most decor it will have. Providing friends come forward with art they wanted to make for baby Kaia, those pieces will be added to her memory space. In a few months we'll bury her ashes, and in due time her future siblings will be gifted the use & play of the books, blankets, & Beatrix Potter stuffed animals. The pieces that will always be a part of her space in our home will be her name blocks, framed foot print piece, a glass cross from the funeral home, a ceramic angel from her Papau's pharmacy co-workers, a few knit pieces, and a gifted piece of art or two.

The pieces have come together for today. Our baby Kaia rests peacefully in our hearts & more literally in the heavens around us with God who holds us all together (despite our attempts to break apart) & even more literally in her small pearl urn on the cedar chest in our room. We drink our tea & move along one day at a time.

Sunday Snippets: One Word 365 ~ CREATE

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Easter Sunday is my favorite holiday. It is the story of resurrection & salvation that the world needs. It is the story of resurrection & salvation that I & my family need.

Death has been heavy as of late.

Monday, March 14 I was woken up with what turned out to be labor pains. At 9:33am Kaia Gene came into the world at only 23 weeks & 1 day old. I knew on the way to the hospital that it was not my sweet girl's time to show herself just yet. My womb dancer not only came breech naturally, she then succeeded to share life with us for a full 90min. This was just enough time to have her be baptized by myself & Z & leave her little 1lb 3.6oz print on my chest where she rested & on Z's arms. Our hearts had pieces stolen that day, but Kaia Gene deserved all the heart we could give her & more.

Wednesday, March 23 we woke up to a phone call from MN. We knew it was to say Z's dad had joined Kaia & many other saints gone before in heaven. We had been grieving this pending death for the better part of the past month. Cancer had reared its ugly head in February & the prognosis was never favorable. Z's final conversation with his dad was about shamrock shakes on St. Pattys day & dad got so excited about having his own shamrock shake, he hung up on Z! While we knew this phone call was coming, the real truth of his death doesn't quite seem real. It has brought a new quiet to the family.

Thursday, March 24 in conversation with my mom, she says, 'Oh yeah, today's the day for Zoey.' This meant that Zoey, the family dog of 12.5 years & my 'replacement' after leaving for college, was finally being put to rest. This was another expected phone call & awaited death. Zoey lived a good long life for being 50% Rottweiler. She is missed & has left her mark of drool even on Z's & my couch.

So what do you do when life stings at you repeatedly?

While we've had our days of weeping & pajama wearing all day long, we've continuously leaned into scripture, each other, prayer, & those who have been doing what they can to make sure we're eating & showering & other daily ins & outs.

We've found focus in the ways we've been forced to grow. Dad Nelson was 64 years old & his cancer has caused us a health awareness in the foods that we do & do not eat. Zoey was 50% Rottweiler & outlived her life expectancy by roughly 3 years. She was a big ol' loving puppy till her last breath. We all want to love & be loved like that. And baby Kaia, our much anticipated first child, taught us about strength. We never thought pregnancy was possible for us. Then Kaia came so fast, so early that I wasn't given any meds or even an I.V. Giving natural birth to a baby that hasn't even the chance to turn just yet (she was breech) without meds in 2016, is pretty phenomenal in my book.

We are beyond thankful for the prayers & words of support from people in all parts of life. The pieces all come together when you need them the most. We are thankful for the care packages, the engraved jewelry with Kaia's name, the scarf that each material was picked with purpose, and the phone calls. We love our communities & ask that you keep checking in & sending your support.

What we are most thankful for is the resurrection of Jesus that creates all of this life's purpose. It is through the ways that people have cared for us that we see Jesus' resurrected. It is through this resurrection that death is silenced & our family gone, from this world, have eternal life.

The tomb is empty! The dead has been raised! Alleluia! Praise be to God!

Tuesday Tea Time! One Word 365!

Art By Britta Gene Art

Happy New Year! It's that time again for a new One Word 365. In 2015 my word was heart, to remind me to live with my heart out for the world. To live with my heart open to vulnerability to build community to live a life of Spirit led hospitality with the Sparkle of day to day happenings.

This year, after some playing around with words & a prayer or two, my word is 'create.' I chose create, or it chose me, so as to focus on creating space, time, & overall Life Spirit Sparkle. Space for God to be the light that has overcome all darkness, time for myself & others, and to live more fully a life led by the Spirit & filled with Sparkle.

The choosing one word instead of a big ol' resolution has become a trend, but a pretty great one in my story. As I've been reading about more & more friends, colleagues, & groups choosing one word, I'm inspired by the ways others are using their one word. Some are using it for a focus in their continuing education, others as a way to think up, in, & out, & others so they don't have to live through another big resolution gone awry & never finished.

I encourage you to live by one word that helps you be a better version of who you want to be & who you are. Choose a word that makes you smile & gives a skip in your step & a light challenge in your day - only light bc some days are challenge enough.

Share your word in the comments!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya! This week Tuesday Tea Time is brought to you by Britta Gene from Britta Gene Art!!!

hello tuesday tea time readers. let me introduce myself. i am britta gene e. glass. artist, mother to the cutest little pixie, chai tea junkie (i have a serous love for it), picture book collector, lover of anything that sparkles, and dreamer of becoming a picture book illustrator. i feel very blessed to have been asked to help out with tuesday tea time and partner up in bringing you tea related art.

i am hoping this will help get my bum in gear to start writing again for my own blog. so lets begin with one of my favorite topics to talk about... children's picture books!

every night with my little pixie, before bed, we read a few books.  among our vast picture book collection is one perfect tea cup shaped board book about tea time and bunnies.

"Bunnies for Tea" by kate stone tells a story of three bunnies who dress in fancy hats, pearls, and gloves for their tea time.
events start off as they should, pouring tea and adding sugar.  as one little bunny takes a sip out of her tea cup she topples in fancy hat and all. but all is well when her bunny friends bring out cookies and scones for everyone to snack on.

with her watercolor illustration and a little added sparkle, kate stone creates a perfect book to read with your little ones at bedtime or tea time!

thank you again for letting my into your tea time world. happy tea time!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hey! It's Tuesday! Let's have some Tea Time!

I'm uber excited this Tuesday Tea Time to bring you something new!

If you're an avid follower you've possibly seen these tea cups before. These aren't just any tea cups, but they are now the tea cups for the month of October. Not only that, they are the tea cups created by my sister BGeG at Britta Gene Art.

Britta & I have been friends since birth. We can blame our mothers who have the same story for this wonderful piece of our lives. I've shared with you on here how Britta's family used to have mother - daughter teas & how much fun we all had growing up with tea. The tea fun is still true to this day!

Just recently Britta called to tell me she had an idea for my blog & her artwork. While I had hit a bit of a lull in my blogging & her wanting some motivation to do one new piece a month - if not more - she thought up the idea that if she did a piece of Tuesday Tea Time art for me once a month, that could be my art for my entries that month. She told me to think about it, so I did & I fell in love with the idea. 

When you visit Britta Gene's website you'll see that she's a mum of her little ladybug Ella Scott. That's where her blogging adventure ended. Britta's art includes words, but not in the same way mine has always included them. She adds the color & I add the words & voila, we have a Tuesday Tea Time entry with a lot of character!

Britta doesn't have an Etsy shop just yet, but she does keep an active Instagram account & contact information is on her website, so if you're interested in more of her work she'd be glad to hear from you. She's got more tea cups & coffee cups & tutu girls & spoons & fish & & &. Her work adds a touch of whimsy into reality & always exudes her love for the imagination to soar freely.

This week enjoy your tea & check out Britta Gene Art!

Sunday Snippets: good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: It's May! The Lusty Month of May! I wait all year to share this music & the time is finally here. As much as I love a good piece of music - I've never seen the full musical it comes from - I love getting lost in the woods too. That is, I love getting lost in the woods when there is a clear path to follow. This past week during a few days away we got to spend some time getting lost in the woods of Pokagon State Park not too far away from where I grew up. I absolutely loved finding these old tree stumps & finding the new pieces of life making their way through the forest with Spring warmth in the air. It was even warm enough to wear sandals!

BAD: Do I need to point it out? The country of Nepal is picking up the pieces they're able to recover after earthquake. Baltimore is trying to pick up the pieces after complete riots. And the world is full of broken people. At this past week's retreat we heard about a study regarding Flourishing in Ministry & it was quite evident what a true challenge this was for many people.

AWESOME: Maybe the challenge of flourishing isn't all bad, but simply real. We came home later in the week & I found a random chunk of sidewalk chalk on our back patio. It makes me wonder who was on our back patio & what they were going to draw before being scared off. I think this summer I will have to get some sidewalk chalk!

WORD: "The Bloom Comes From Abiding, From Letting the Root Do What It Does."

coming up: Lots of #LifeSpiritSparkle with the #LustyMonthofMay!!!

Sunday Snippits:good, bad, & awesome!

GOOD: It's March! My Mammaw always said the first words out of your mouth on the first day of each month should be "white rabbit" for good luck. So silly, but fun to try & remember to let those be the first words of today. While I am aching for Spring, the sunshine has been absolutely blinding & so bright it makes the mind see creation's beauty even when we don't want to. Ah, the power of the Spirit at work! This past week had a couple of fun surprises. One being a 2 hour long catch up session with family & sharing hopes of future travels to see each other. Another is unexpected gifts celebrating my call as Diaconal Minister months after the fact. A surprise box from family friends showed up on our doorstep the other day & naturally I thought it had come to the wrong house as I couldn't find our last name - let alone either of our first names - on it anywhere. Thankfully a card came separately the same day explaining that the gift was coming. So I opened it up & put my new monogrammed canvas tote bag to work immediately.

BAD: A friend who I worked with this past summer is doing research on homesickness - specifically while at camp - & while I have worked with a number of youth & adults who have dealt with homesickness while on overnights or trips to great places like camp, this is such a foreign concept to me. There have been times throughout my travels that I would journal, "maybe I'm homesick," but even in the pieces of time I've been moved by my emotions to journal this, it is almost always a fleeting thing for me. So it's not that the friend is doing the research that is bad - not at all, I find it rather intriguing - it's that homesickness is one of the few things that pops up in my line of work with those I work with & I simply feel at a loss of how to take care of them.

AWESOME: Something somewhere out there inspires us though, to keep creating & keep dancing because as Kid President shared the other day, we gotta! 'You gotta keep creating! You gotta keep dancing!' Just two nights ago I was blown away by the ways in which those I led a 'End Hunger' themed lock-in for middle schoolers showed up & shared their wealth of knowledge & questions & ideas of how to be the church & end hunger. No matter how much sleep we didn't get, or the youth that didn't come, or the ideas that you think of after the fact that would've made part of something that was shared that much more cool...you gotta keep creating, you gotta keep dancing! The 2015 Middle Ground Ministry (Middle School Ministry) End Hunger Lock-In was great thanks to many people, especially all who shared in the event leading up to the night & throughout the night (& no doubt the bit of cleaning up that had to still be done after we left yesterday morning).

WORD: Professor of Preaching & Professor Emeritus of Homiletics at Luther Seminary wrote in a commentary piece at Working Preacher for today's scripture (Mark 8:31-38), "The “theology of the cross” or “to deny oneself” does not mean a contrived kind of humility. We do not follow Jesus by demeaning ourselves. We are called upon to do the very best we can with the talents and abilities God has given us. To “deny oneself” means to keep one’s priorities in harmony with what Jesus told us in the two “great commandments” -- love God and love your neighbor (Mark 12:28-31)."

coming up: More bulletin board work & connecting with awesome people for awesome things like simply saying hi & other awesome things like Practice Discipleship & the ELCA Youth Gathering.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Happy Tuesday Tea Time! Today I'm enjoying the crisp Fall weather & bright colors that decorate the land.

One feature of living where I do that I always miss from other cities & countries is riding from here to there on a train. There's something mildly majestic about train rides no matter the conditions of the train. There's also a great sense of adventure that is simply part of traveling.

Adventures take my imagination on traveling ride of sorts & this produces my pieces of story telling, poetry, & doodles.

What perks your creative juices?!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Happy Tuesday Tea Time! The last two days have been great for many cups of warm tea due to this never ending snow.

A week from now Z & I will be on our way to adventures in Paris. Excitement & thrill do not even begin to describe how happy travel & adventure make me. It's a major bonus to be able to take this trip with my best friend.

Nearing another year of life celebration, I am often taken aback by the people that I'm connected to in life. Today I was reminded by my colleague & friend TS that people other than my mother & mother-in-law really do read my blog. This is a good thing & a humbling thing.

I write as part of my daily goal of being creative. I write to inspire joy & love. Last year, totally ready to be done with another degree, I spun my words for my thesis in a poetic & creative writing sort of way. While I love education in all its forms, I do not do the "heady professor" talk well. Instead I exude a lot of energy & excitement around certain topics & overwhelm people. I have a lot to share, just ask me!

Why should it be a surprise that others read my blog? Well, for example, TS & I don't really know each other. We were at seminary at the same time & have mutual friends, but have only ever been in the same social setting maybe two or three times. Maybe I should listen to my own words from last week & not judge myself for the impact that I have on people or the impact they may have on me. Take a risk!

Sometime in my 20s I realized how relationships truly come & go in life. I knew this earlier in life, but had plenty of examples by my mid-20s. Thankfully social media allows me to stay ever more connected than most people think we need to be. However, here we are, sharing tea, & life & hopefully some spirit & sparkle!