Extra in The Ordinary

Blessing # 593: Tea Time with my Girls !! Tea Time!!!!! (or the idea of it) I learned about Tea Time at my Aunt Wanda's funeral earlier this year. Several of her children and grandchildren brought up the tea times she had with them as their fondest memories with her. She used that time to talk to them about the Bible and guide them in Biblical principles and encourage them. Her funeral was a sad day, and I didn't expect to walk away with a treasure that would bless me and my family, but God works in mysterious ways.  Ok, so now the question is, what is Tea Time, and why do we do it? Tea time is quality mother daughter time when I put down the chore list (and my phone), and all of the other distractions of life, and I focus on the most important little treasures in my life. My baby girls.  We do tea time every Saturday at 5 pm. We have some sort of warm fruity tea (I'll add green tea if they are anxious or tired, or maybe chamomile if they are bouncing of...

This week a family at our church lost their 15 month old baby boy, baby Henry, and so today I'd like to start out by saying my heart goes out to them, and I think I've prayed for them at least 3 times today already. Their loss causes all of us to recalibrate, stop for a moment and ask ourselves, what are we doing here? If life can be so short, how are we redeeming the time to make every second count? What's the point? How can God allow such pain and loss? This past summer I read a book, Heaven is for Real, and today I'm so glad to have that story under my belt. It's a story about a little boy who has an experience during a traumatic surgery, and afterwards (about a year later) he starts gradually telling his parents about seeing Jesus. Then he starts to tell them about heaven and the others he saw there, including his miscaried sister he never knew about. Now, I don't claim to know if that little boy really went to heaven or not, but the book gave me chills. I...

Ya know what's hard for me? Stillness. I can't sit still through a movie. I can't sit still for a long meal. I just can't be still. I need to be moving, working, or at least writing and thinking. Right now I'm washing the clothes, washing the dishes, and cooking oatmeal bars in the oven while I write this. Being still and alone is really hard for me. I'm bad at still. Do you struggle with this, too? Do you try to plan the grocery list while making cookies while reading that book? Are you looking at this on your phone while driving or walking? (yikes if you are driving please check back later!!) Well, I know in this fast paced world we live in, God wants us to occasionally slow down and just sit still. That's the only way we can experience His peace and the recalibration we need from remembering that HE is GOD. (blessed be HIS name!).  This morning in my Bible reading God called me out like He always does with just the thing I needed to hear. Psalm 46: ...