Tuesday Tea Time!

Kaia Gene

March 14, 2016 9:33a - 11:07a

Beautiful & pure new life

You graced us

With your tiny breathes

Your long feet

Your potential height

Your daddy's nose

Baptized with ice cold water

Holy in the moment 

& the Word of God

The Spirit present

May you dance

& dance

With the saints

Gone before

Always loved

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Time!

In the last week I have been processing one significant life change. While it has nothing to do with baby Frieda, of course it makes me wonder about her future.

Last week Youth Encounter (YE) announced their closing. This was not a huge surprise, but just as a beloved spot such as camp is hard to let go of, so is an organization that provided those spots all over the world.

I grew up with YE ministries. I learned about church, love, friendship, adventure, missions, & following a Spirit led call through my experiences. I went to my first youth quake in the fifth grade & was hooked by the Spirit. I then attended my first Congress turned Construction Zone (aka Zone) as a 9th grader & when I went off to college I volunteered at all the events nearby that I could. It was only natural to apply for a year of volunteer ministry to follow my college graduation. And when you survived nearly a full year of living in intentional community, why not apply for a second year?!

And we can't forget being introduced to great opportunities such as Side by Side (SxS) Global Missions & Spoke Folk (SF). I signed up for SxS in September 2001. I told my parents I was going to Kenya in 2002 & that'd I'd be 18, so they couldn't tell me no. Possibly not the best approach, but it's what was done. So when I returned from a month of travels to & from Kenya, I blindly signed up for SF. It took one SF tour to have me hooked. I was always trying to recruit others to do SF with me. In fact some of my CAP fam couldn't believe when I said I hadn't toured in a year or more.

Now it's been 14yrs since SxS, 8yrs since SF, 8yrs since Mosaic, & 7yrs since New Dawn. After finishing my year with New Dawn in Fall '09 I started seminary & started a new phase of life. Time slipped by & I have volunteered & worked temp jobs for YE as I was offered & able. In fact I was working for YE right before my current call.

Saturday night I attended my last piece of a YE event. I saw friends I hadn't seen in years & trust the Spirit will bring us together again. I was hit by all these pieces of ministry that have helped get me to where I am today. Then I was hit by the fact that it was my first & last chance to share YE, in that way, with baby Frieda. Frieda will no doubt have her own story, but she will also have one of the largest extended families one could imagine. No matter where I go, there are connections of friends who pick up right where we are & I trust they will offer that same YE family welcome to baby Frieda as she builds her own adventure.

Thank you YE for being such a powerful presence for the church over the last 51 years. I'm beyond blessed to have known your ministry & to take it with me through the years to come.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Time!

Today I come to you 3.5 teas in for the day. One to start the day, 0.5 in my Arnold Palmer at lunch, & a 2 bag oops to end the day. If decaf drinks aren't truly 100% caffeine free, what does it mean when you accidentally (or purposely) use 2 tea bags instead of 1?!

That's life though, filled with surprise of all sorts! I was multitasking & went to remove my tea bag to find & remove two tea bags. Double the plum green tea! 

After the last week of family matters, crazy travels, work, & the health of both my dad & Z's dad & our growing families (we have a new niece!) this 2 tea bag at once crazy seems pretty normal. All these pieces of life plus gray late winter weather & continual snow fall & the whole pregnancy piece have me wiped out!

To pick myself up I drink more tea & water, but really it's all about pace & balance. I think I've written before about not feeling guilty when Tuesday Tea Time happens late, so today toss your self inflicted guilt aside & enjoy an evening tea. 

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Timers!

Today we come to you with the fun news that baby Nelson can now be referred to as Frieda! Disclaimer, Frieda will not be her name, but it's a fun nickname till she's born. That's right, we're having a girl!

We truly had ourselves convinced that it was a Jimminy, but only based off of logic that wasn't all that logical. And yes, Jimminy is another baby nickname we use, inspired by Friends.

While many a person has said 'oh th pink you will have!' It strikes me as rather presuming. There is so much about our baby girl that she will decide & that may even mean someday she becomes a he. Yes, I know that's radical, but let's stop shoving the societal expectations in our baby's faces before they're born!

Don't get me wrong, my favorite color is purple. I also really like dark pink, greens, blues, oranges, yellows. What a second, I think I like the whole rainbow & then some!

I expect my baby will learn to love the rainbow of her world just as well. And we love her & her rainbow too. No matter what.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time is here again!

Lately I've been drinking a lot of tea in lieu of the bitter colder than articles that catch  weather & the cough I can't seem to kick to the curb. It warms the soul & the throat.

I finally read that one Still Steeping article I've been saving for weeks, if not a few months now about why tea is a religion & coffee isn't. Anybody else do that with articles that catch their attention but aren't pertinent to their day to day life? I'm certain I'm not alone.

So why is tea a religion & coffe isn't? I urge you to read the article, but here's my takeaways. Coffee brewers are always trying new things (also good for religions) & tea is highly based on traditions (& so are many a religion. This was the catch for me bc I appreciate tradition, but it's important to make new (try new) tradition.

Like I said, read the article, but know that by being part of Tuesday Tea Times, you are participating in the religion of tea & we are part of an ancient world of traditions that build a beautiful community of tea love.

Tuesday Tea Time!

  Hello Tuesday Tea Time followers!

After a few days away in sunny southern CA, I am adjusting back to the February chill in pure MI. 

The last week has been another incredible experience at my 4th ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza. I connected with friends from my past, strengthened relationships that were still fairly new before the trip, & made many new connections. It is a privilege to be part of such a wonderful group of leaders from across the country that work in a large variety of ways for the sake of God's love being shared with children, youth, young adults, & adult ministry. 

This event is a time of Spiritual & Relational Renewal. It is a time to be in community, continuing my education around topics that are important to my personal context (there's something for every context) in ministry. You can't ask for much better continuing education than that, if you ask me! 

I took part in conversations around the event's theme of Wonder regarding the rite of confirmation, self care, gender knowledge & appropriate respectful language, mental health realities in ministry leadership, & community college campus ministry. That is only to name a few of course. The few days of the "E" are so jam packed with two to three & sometimes four things or more to choose from attending at any given time. The speakers are profound, vulnerable, beautiful people that know how to share life, God, & laughter. There was even a magician who taught us all a "simple" trick that I couldn't do again when I went to show Z!

Seminary professors, synod staff, bishops, rostered leaders, college faculty & staff, plus a slew of other people acknowledge this event as the one event for those of us who work in children, youth, & family ministries to attend each year. It is a time to reflect on your personal leadership & expand your knowledge & renew your spirit.

I'm already looking forward to #ext17 in Louisville, KY. Hope to see many of you there! For one more thing to check out, check out OMG Center for a great place to wonder about God & life.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya Tuesday Tea Timers!

So much excitement in the air this week! Over 600 leaders of youth ministry are headed to the annual ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza this year in CA. It's February & a leap year. And Britta Gene Art has given their website a facelift that looks fabulous!

So this week you have three simple tasks.

First, if you're not a user or follower of hashtags, figure them out. And if you are new to hashtags or well seasoned in their creation, follow & join in the conversations from #ext16 to join in with the Extravaganza wherever you are!

Second, enjoy this unique quirky short leap year month & be sure to celebrate all of the babies who were or will be born on the 29th. Hats off to you leap year babies!

And check out Britta Gene Art at http://www.brittagene.com to top off the excitement of February. If you're feeling the excitement contact Britta Gene about purchasing a piece of her work for your Valentine, even if that Valentine is yourself!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Good morning Tuesday Tea Time!

While sipping a thermos full of sweet plum green tea the other day, sitting by a fire, in a very busy ski lodge, I couldn't help but think about the water I had used to make my tea earlier that day.

If you haven't heard, there's a water crisis. Sure this has been a global issue for years, decades of fen, but most recently it's come close to home in Flint, MI. It seems rather timely & Sprit lead that one of the big movements with this last Summer's ELCA Youth Gathering was the 'Walk for Water' challenge.

Daily, around the world, there are hundreds of thousands of people that walk miles upon miles to get clean water. At the gathering there was a simulation that youth & adults could get an idea about what it's like to walk the miles with not just the empty containers, but the very heavy filled containers. Cool, right?

The question now is how can we help raise not simply awareness to our communities & government, but to help the people of Flint in their need? This is such a desperate need that it will take years to fix. And sadly some of the fall out of Flint's lead heavy, aged rusty pipes, & who knows what else, filled water has cost some people their lives. The city knew about this problem for some time before calling for help, which doesn't help the public frustration with it all.

If you'd like to help support the people of Flint through water filters that filter out all the yuck, or through funds to go to local churches who want to be safe water locations, but now need to have all their internal piping redone, please visit this link to learn how to help. And to cover our bases, write a note to MI government.

Change must happen internally so it can be shared externally. We can make a difference & we need to make a difference. So let the water flow & the tea be pure.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello Tuesday Tea Time!

This week I get to share our exciting, yet surprising even to us, news of our expecting baby Nelson early this coming summer!

As one friend joked, 'that's what happens when ya have too much downtime!' 

We have been so on the go since we found out though it's hard to see straight some days! 

Now my collection of caffeine free tea comes in extra handy. Not to mention the inches of snow we've had lately that make a nice cup of hot tea extra nice at any point in the day, making good use of my tea collection. 

Surprise doesn't even quite wrap this experience up for us, but it's the best surprise we could've asked for to end an incredibly chaotic weird year. So today raise your cup to baby Nelson & ridiculous amazing God blessed surprises!

Tuesday Tea Time!

It's Tuesday Tea Time & Hot Tea month!

Hot tea always helps me to slow down, even if only for a moment. Many mornings I don't take my first sip of my hot tea till I'm on my way to work & some days not till I've gotten into my office & set things down. While I have no problem, especially as a young adult, fully living into the fast paced world that is 2016, I find it often stressful & anxiety provoking to stay in this fast pace 24/7.

Thankfully hot tea & snowy roads slow me down. In fact in lieu of this past weekends snow storm, I found it quite enjoyable driving slowly to work & sipping my tea. Now if only I were as skilled as the British Police in the Minions movie & could pour myself a nice tea cup full of tea from a pretty tea pot, while driving down the road!

This week while you speed through each day, stop for a half a day or more & let the day speed by you. Enjoy a hot cup of tea & breath deep, celebrating yourself right where you are.

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!!!

Good Morning from the MI Gathering 2015!!! Follow #MIgath15 for more awesome pieces from the gathering.

On day 3 of the gathering, I am treating myself to possibly the chai latte of the year! What makes it so great? They purposefully charged me the price of a coffee refill. If you know your coffee shops, you know black coffee or a simple hot tea is the cheapest drink available & lattes are a few dollars more.

If you've ever been to a youth event you know there are late nights & early mornings & days filled with lots of different activities. By day 3, as a tea drinker, I need my tea to taste like tea. So while I always pack my tea bags & most often use the hotel room coffee maker for my morning tea, this morning a treat was in order for my jump start.

Today may your tea taste like tea & a treat to you!

Tuesday Tea a Time!

Happy week of celebration!

It's the most wonderful celebration to end the year. A king is being born, by a radical unmarried teen. She's barely even in her teen years & claims this is the Christ child brought to her womb by the Holy Spirit.

Sounds like a crazy wild & cool enough story to want to celebrate, no matter what you believe!

So may your celebrations be merry & filled with your favorites, fit for a king.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Oh hello Tuesday Tea Time friends!

That first warm sip of tea is a check-in. A check-in to the day. A check-in of the day. A self check.

Does anybody else experience this?

There are pieces that ground us. Pieces that remind us to breath deep, smile, & do your best.

These pieces are pretty powerful pieces of us. 

These pieces are us. These pieces remind us that we are alive & the world is buzzing with a few million other pieces.

Grab tight to the pieces that make you whole & check-in, smile at yourself & the world. Even when the world is weird, it needs your smile. Even when you are weird, you need your smile & so do the rest of us.

Ah, tea & your powerful pieces life. Enjoy!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya Tuesday Tea Time friends!

This past week has been filled with many a good travel mug or mug of tea on the go. I had a few good chances in the evening to truly enjoy a warm mug of relaxing mint or sleepy time teas.

The best tea time was a surprise tea party at work! While I didn't think the congregation could do more to welcome me, walking into the fellowship hall for the start of confirmation - we have lunch together first - a couple of youth (B & K) were asking me what my favorite teas are & then if I'm ready for my surprise.

I was totally surprised by a lovely tea party with scones, triangle sandwiches, cherry pie, & lots of fun tea to choose from. They even gifted me with a new tea cup & saucer for my office!

May your Tuesday Tea Time be as enjoyable as tea with new friends!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Holy Tuesday Tea Time!

I'm coming to you late today as it was my first day at my new job. It was a great day with many warm welcomes & unpacking & figuring out a few calendar items as December is a very busy month in the church worker's calendar.

As people continue to ask about our trip to Japan, the best part was simply being with family we hadn't seen in a very long time (aside from FaceTime). We got to see some really great things & admire God's creation. One of my favorite days really was the day we walked nearly 13 miles.

That particular day we took the train to walk to a temple, then took the train to walk around the imperial gardens, then took a train to walk around an area of Tokyo we had yet to adventure. Then we hit a wall & rested in a shopping mall because we were going on a food tour that night.

When you sign up for a food tour in Tokyo you may imagine things like raw fish. I know that's what we were prepared to have. Instead we walked through back alleys that we would've never gone down on our own to a fabulous little place were locals often go after work. Everything was grilled in front of us as we were seated "at the bar" & enjoyed skewers of vegetables & meat & seafood. Then we walked to get a traditional Japanese sweet. And then we went for more food. The last meal was a meal that we grilled at our tables. It was a mix of some form of lettuce, fish roe (though there were other combinations with other meats), a few other vegetables, & a broth. It essentially reminded us of a dish of hash. The best part was when Z awed the natives with his skills trying the dessert rolls. It was essentially a Japanese crepe with fruit & red bean.

Then we made our way back to our hotel. And that was the day we walked & walked & didn't loose our feet!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time, a chance to slow down & breathe deep.

This sort of self-care is necessary when every time you turn on the tv, radio, smartphone, social media of any sort there is another massacre large or small somewhere in someone's life.

In the midst of the world-wide chaos, I choose peace & love. Panic is not worth my time, nor yours, & there is not much many of us can do other than sign petitions, speak out, & pray. If there are things like prayer vigils or peace acts to show up for, we can show up. We can show up in the name of love & peace.

Sure there are things & people I don't like in life, but it is not worth dwelling on those things or I quickly become those things. Often the things we don't like about somebody else & speak outwardly about is really just about ourselves. Life is short & each day is a blessing, so live it large with love & peace.

Some times love is tough love, but it can still be recognized as love. And before loving others we need to know how to love ourselves, so love yourself a little extra today with tea - a warm hug in a cup.

Peace & Love.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya Tuesday Tea Timers!

I'm back from all my really big adventures & now just onto another new big adventure or two.

A HUGE thank you to those who filled in while I was gone. If you haven't checked them out, do so! Timothy Siburg blogs weekly - on valuable topics such as stewardship, leadership, & vocation - Britta Gene is an active artist with a heart for poetry (this month's photo - look at todays photo - is her photography work), & Lacey is a doula with a passion for living fully.

I'm so thankful for these friends in my life that live literally from one side of the country to the next. My heart is full by their sharing of their stories & by the amazing things that I got to add to my story while having these friends fill in on Tuesday Tea Time.

I hope you all found it refreshing to have some different voices present!

Coming up on Tuesday Tea Times will be some sharing of my adventures - like the day we walked nearly 13 miles in one day - & I'm sure some new things too.

We saw & experienced some really wonderful things while traveling the world, but mostly it was a time to visit family & hang out & rest. The biggest piece for me was officially being offered a new call & accepting it. So we're in a time of moving yet again.

May you warm drink - because the days have been quite chilly - warm your hands & your soul & keep you breathing deep with me as we go one day at a time.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hello everyone! Lacey Bauer here, filling in for Julia!  I'm an old friend, hard working entrepreneur, doula extraordinaire, passionate memory maker, and tea lover to the extreme.

For those that don't know me, I have a pure fascination with books & literature. I have a degree in English literature and find that when I get my hands on those bound pages, I get deeply lost in the story woven in front of me. It's not often these days that I have the time to sink deep into my favorite chair, cuddle up with my favorite mug and sip on that delicious tea, absorbing the words that lay before me.  But today, I made time to wander to a book store and add to my collection. I took home a variety of books; entrepreneurial, inspirational, and fictional.  Some are practical for growing my business, and some for pure enjoyment.

It was hard to make that time; to dedicate a morning to the things I love outside of my career. Sometimes I beat myself up over indulging in these outings.  "But you have more important things to do, Lacey." This time, I looked inward and remembered self care.  I remembered what it means to find the things I love most and to breathe them in and simply enjoy. So I made the time, wandered the aisles of that book store, and came home to my favorite chair, my beautiful teal hand made mug from a dear friend, and sipped on that smooth cup of chamomile lemon tea.

My encouragement for you this week is to think about the things you love(d) most and whether or not you're making the time in your busy life to do them. But always do them with that warm cup of tea.

My recommendation this week? A cherry almond black tea.  It always hits the spot.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Greetings, and Happy Tuesday Tea Time!

I’m happy to be sharing this tea time with you, filling in for my friend Julia again. To reintroduce myself, I’m Timothy, and I most often blog here. Last week I introduced myself with a bit more detail to you and told you a little about my wife Allison's and my story. I also told you about how I love questions. 

This week in the spirit of Tuesday Tea Time, as a place to take a few moments to sit and reflect while sipping on your favorite tea or hot beverage of choice, here’s your question:

Where do you dream about traveling and visiting?

I love to travel. I also love to take some time to dream and imagine. Maybe there's no better time to do this than when taking a moment to be still and relax with your favorite hot beverage. 

In thinking about traveling, Allison and I have been married just over five years and have not yet gone on a honeymoon. That's probably what I have been dreaming and imagining most about lately, at least when it comes to travel. 

I imagine there would probably be a nice warm beach, lots of sunshine (something there's less and less around this time of year with the end of daylight saving's time and the shorter days of fall), and just a good chance for Allison and I to explore a new place, to experience some new culture and cuisine, and to be on a new and exciting adventure together. 

Where are you dreaming about today? 

Thanks again to Britta Gene's art for the beautiful picture, and to Julia for letting me fill in for her on the blog.