Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya Tuesday Tea Time Friends!

We've come to another important milestone in our year. Z and I, and others, remembered our original due date for baby Kaia Gene this past Sunday July 10. July 10 is also our oldest nieces birthday & our a very good friend MBR's birthday. This July 10 we also said goodbye to a youth who will be moving to a new state in the next few days. This July 10 we both went to work & preached the good news in various ways. Z preached as a preacher & I is a Diaconal Minister, serving youth ministry. This July 10 marked a significant milestone in our year even amidst the usual Sunday happenings.

After the usual Sunday lounging we hopped in the car & drove to meet up with good friends for dinner. These friends are not friends that we see very often due to distance, but friends that there's a piece of home in our friendship. LK & I have been friends since our first semester at CAP, nearly 14 years ago. The Spirit led us in similar ways for several years as we both figured we shouldn't stick with our original choice of study at CAP & switched to religious studies. Then beyond CAP we both went on to serve 2 years with YE & that's when RK entered our lives. Let's just say, not only do they have the same last name now, but 2 adorable & energetic little ones (a 3rd on the way) & therefore LK & RK got to know each other much faster & in a different way than RK & I did. They are a delightful couple to have spent part of such a unique day in our year with them.

It was like meeting with a piece of home to have dinner with them. We caught up on life in the here & now & remembered life from long ago. Our connections through college days, Youth Encounter days, all our world travels & calls to ministry keep us connected. These pieces keep us at home with each other. Being we met on our original due date & their third wee one growing (due in November) we connected through hopes for our families & funny stories of the growth of all life. They left, trying to make it back to be with their extended family - all together for an annual family gathering nearby - so that they could help with putting the 7 youngest to bed.

You can't make these pieces of life happen. They just do & for that simple piece, I give thanks. Today's Tuesday Tea Time is dedicated to the milestones & the delightful pieces of life that just are.

Tuesday Tea Time!

 Hello Tuesday Tea Timers!!!

Happy July! I hope y'all had a great holiday weekend. Even if you found yourself outside the USA, I hope you're enjoying this beautiful time of the year.

This week is a very busy week with the National Cherry Festival going on near by. I give thanks to all who have helped with the parking lot youth ministry fundraiser & look forward to the days of service in our community coming up later this week. We'll be helping Habitat for Humanity one day & participating in an area clean up another day.

While I'm in the throes of summer work busyness, I still take my time for tea on Tuesdays. I love this photo by Britta Gene Art for this month. It makes me want to be relaxing in that chair with a good cup of tea. This rocking chair is buried deep in some of the woods outside my hometown. It's a quiet & peaceful place. It is a lovely place made by lovely people.

Enjoy you're tea time today & if you're as active as me this week, be sure to stop & savor the tea time today & whenever you need it.

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.

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 Timers!

You knew I couldn't stay away for long, right? I love to write, especially on Tuesdays with Tea! Creative writing is one small piece of self care that I can give myself. My 6th grade teacher should be so proud!

Lately the question that seems to popping up is "What is going on?!"

In the moment, which is where I need to be, I'm drinking tea, enjoying a slow morning after doing some chores & yoga. I'm sitting in a rather empty house & mentally prepping for the chores of cleaning & organizing that need done today so that we may play tomorrow.

All of that seems pretty common except for one piece. If you don't know we're moving or any of the reasons why, I'm guessing you're wondering why I'm sitting in a fairly empty house.

The skinny....our time in Chebooboo has come to a close. There are many pieces that brought this time together much quicker than we ever anticipated. The main reasons being that Z needed to seek further medical attention to care for his depression & PTSD. Naturally people have wondered where we are headed next & the answer is into a time of transition & limbo as we discern our future. We are being taken care of by a combination of family, friends, & colleagues.

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matt 6:34 The Message

Right now, the Spirit has been present in my life through granting peace that surpasses my understanding. Peace has been granted that gives me level thinking & communicating to get things done & remember how to take care of myself & my family in the midst of fairly chaotic times. Right now God keeps showing up in #heartfinds everywhere I go, reminding me that I'm not alone.

Right now I'm enjoying my Wonderland Tea & the lovely photo of BgEG's hoosier honey!

One Word 365: heart

My heart, a fragile strength inside me.

My heart, sometimes, though not often, on my sleeve.

My heart, faded in pieces, yet beaming all together.

My heart, always room to grow into new tomorrows.

My heart, the pieces of my heart.

Some times typing or saying the same word so many times makes me second guess my spelling or pronunciation. Heart is not only my One Word 365 word for 2015, it is part of my motto. Though, living with my "heart out" has not been much of a challenge. I've come to find I may be a bit of a bleeding heart sort of person. I give life all my heart as it is too precious of a gift to treat it any other way.

My heart has been made happy by the genuine person asking "how are you?" & patiently waiting for a reply. While they may have already jumped to conclusions of how they think I should be, it is only fair to give me my voice & let me answer - as is everybody's right for their own heart story. So thank you to those who ask & patiently wait for my heart story.

My heart has been made loopy, heavy, & relieved by my recent story. The loopy is no wonder when things have been heavy yet relieving all at the same time as of late. Ah, breathe in the pieces of life transitions!

We move forward day by day with our "Head Up. Heart out. Move to the Beat." motto helping to shape each day.

Tuesday Tea Time!

Oh Tuesday Tea Time, you are my favorite!

Aren't these bird feeders great?!

I'm not a big fan of birds, as y'all may know, but I'm a big fan of the out of doors & think this is such a fun way to repurpose old tea kettles. In fact, many of these tea kettles might not even be that old. The maker of these bird feeders said it gets harder each year to find tea kettles with lids that are tight enough to secure everything. I imagine if the lid was too lose, animals might try to get inside & potentially be trapped.

In the hullabaloo of life I did not make it to the art festival during the second day to purchase one of these bird feeders, but that is more than alright.

Some times life is so silly & crazy we have to just enjoy things in the moment. And the art of capturing the moment through photos makes that moment last for as long as we need or want.

Enjoy this moment for the sake of it being a moment making up the pieces of your day & of course don't forget that touch of tea that'll make it even sweeter!

Tuesday Tea Time!

One of the beauties of living in Pure Michigan - especially up North - is there isn't a single day that isn't good for a campfire. There also isn't a single day that isn't good for a warm cup of tea & we all know that's like a hug in a cup!

Some days are more suited for outside fire-pit fires & others for indoors fireplace fires. The chillier temps & rain on Memorial Day meant an indoor fireplace fire was in order.

Cuddled up by the fire with MG - who's a tad bruised this week recovering from playing with her big dog friends - & my Bubba tumbler of Topsy Turvy Tea Party Tea, I bring you this Tuesday Tea Time!

Today's image brings a smile to my heart knowing the conversations & moments that happen around the table that this little teapot decorates. It's owner proudly stated this past week the "He's (referring to her husband) not a tea snob, but I AM!" We come by this honestly. Though, as much as my mom loves buying me tea & all the accessories, she herself is not much of a tea drinker. BGeG, her mom, & I all are though! Our days start with a good cup of tea, are refreshed in the early afternoon with a second - possibly a third by this point depending on the day - cup, & often end with a final cup. We know the steeping times we prefer for each kind of tea & to some degree the temperature the water needs to be to best suit the different types of tea. BGeG & I even shared our tea bags making two cups of good tea - one for each of us - this past week.

It's a heart smile, heart find, heart warming kinda connection to be able to share a tea bag!

So who wants to come for tea on the porch - after the roof is redone - & share a Tuesday Tea Time?

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!!!

Friday Favorites!

Today being Good Friday & barely warm enough to wear shoes that I could show off the tp of my foot & therefore tattoo, I gladly did just that. But today my tattoo struck my story a bit different.

After studying a semester in Scotland I felt drawn to my second tattoo, but it would be three years before I entered that tattoo parlor in WI. I had decided even before leaving Scotland that this Celtic knot would be a symbol of my faith carrying me through the most freeing experience of my life up to that point. The dots, that represent the nails placed into Jesus' at his crucifixion, were a last minute decision.

Why would I want such a reminder? Because the promise of life, symbolized within the knot, is what is lived out by the cross & the nails that carry us to the empty tomb.

Good Friday it is!

Tuesday Tea Time!

Hiya Tuesday Tea Timers!

Check out these fabulously 'English' tea pots!

Something tells me that not many people in England actually own teapots like this unless they collect teapots. You can possibly guess that this photo was taken in a store due to the lineup & multitude of the teapots.

Isn't it funny the items country themed stores sell that represents an entire country? 

Yet again remembering my time in Scotland several years ago, the one thing my friends & I could come up with that was uniquely from the United States was a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. However I don't see stores selling pb&j sandwiches except for maybe at stores like American Spoon. American Spoon is more distinctly Michigan & that is just a piece of the USA.

All these pieces make up a people & people have stories that make up a country. Some of these story pieces are more often shared than others & then we get crazy themed teapots representing an entire country of people & their stories.

Crazy! But as Alice Kingsley said, "...You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are!"