A Teatime with my girls and sweet friend, Phyllis, right outside Beatrix Potter's house on a rainy English afternoon--unforgettable! Brings back sweet memories.
A cold snowy day, perfect for a little fruit, muffins and tea a la Clarkson by the fireplace. Today, I am in the mountains and it is snowing. I just had a cup of tea with Clay as we planned for ministry and messages we wanted to craft for years to come--and I am sure the tea helped inspire us.
Just now, I am also packing my bags to go see several of my sweet ones in the UK. I am so excited and like a little girl with butterflies in my tummy. As I ponder being with them there and how many times all over the world I have had beautiful moments with friends and loved ones over a cup of tea, another a warm memory comes to mind. (With hopes I will be making more sweet memories over tea in the next couple of weeks.) Enjoy! And don't forget to listen to this week's podcast. I hope it will inspire you to make time for your beloved people who are dear to your heart.
Here it is:
Last Thursday morning might be one of my best memories for a long time. Sarah and I, in our jammies and crazy bed hair, sat close on a couch, drinking a hot cup of tea in real china cups and talked, shared dreams, looked at articles together in a magazine we both loved, admired a book she found at a second hand book store, and felt totally at ease in the comfort of our safe and close friendship. Amidst sipping our hot liquid gold, with candles lit and she and I just talked and giggled uncontrollably and shared our thoughts and ideas for almost an hour. She got my computer and played a favorite song for me that meant something to her, that she had listened to at midnight the night before.
She shared her devotional book with me as I couldn't find mine, and I relished in her inspiring reflections about a passage in Matthew that caught my heart. My 60 year old self has learned to love the worlds of my children and these times have given me a window to their hearts.
I do not expect them to conform to me--I let them be who they are at this season of life and I have adjusted my own age expectations to enjoy and really delight in who they are at every stage. It has brought me much pleasure. But I had to give up a little of my selfish self to enter their world. And so did God, and became Jesus.
As with all of my children, though, Sarah does not respond to the same kind of mothering as the others did. I had to study her and observe her to find out what was in her heart--her personality, what spoke love to her and how to fill her heart's cup so that I could reach her heart with a love for Jesus, what put her off and what drew her near.
Discipleship is always an issue of relationship. It is not about curriculum, church attendance, rules, indoctrination, but always about reaching the heart.
I look back and see how different it was with all the kids.
I remember when Nathan was a little boy, and often challenging the boundaries, I had to study him. He was a little of a mystery as my other two had been more compliant and I thought that it was because I was such a great mother. Then God gave me Nathan and I realized I needed a different way of mothering.
One night when Clay had taken the older two to church and left Nathan home with me because he had a cold, I sat wearily in an overstuffed chair and said, "Hey, you want to climb into the chair with me?'
I remember he snuggled in and then began to talk. He talked for 45 minutes without stopping, as long as I said, "Really?" or "Oh!" or how funny!" After he had talked for almost an hour, he said, "I love you, mom!" And then he jumped out of the chair and went to play. He was 5 years old.
I was pondering this event--him sitting still for this long and talking and talking and talking, and suddenly it dawned on me--"He is an extravert and he needs people, activity and wants to talk and be heard."
So, I learned the way to Nathan's heart was spending time alone with him, listening to him--his dreams, his thoughts, his ideas, his feelings. As long as I made alone time with him, he would listen to me and try to obey.
Same with Joy. If she felt lost in the crowd, she would get louder, perform, call attention to herself. And then if I went to her room or sat on the porch and sipped lemonade or made a special tea time in my room just for her, she would talk and talk and talk. And then her heart would be open.
Now, Joel would just withdraw and be grumpy or get irritated. He was not a "mis-behaver"! But if I made personal time with him away from the group, he would bubble over with talking to me--he was an introvert, just like Sarah. Neither of them would compete openly with the others for heart time, but I had to assume they needed it and then carve a planned time in the midst of my busy schedule and make it happen. This opened the window of their heart to develop a great, strong, deep friendship.
Each child responded differently and I had to figure out what they liked and what communicated personal love to them, and then I saw their little and big hearts opened. And as it happens, I found that Clay did not want to compete with the kids and I had to learn to get time with just us, so I could hear him and know what was going on. If I did not create the time for us, it would never happen.
Now, I had 4 children, homeschooled, traveled with Clay and spoke and had a ministry and wrote books. So, it was not easy to carve out this time. I did not have this time every season of life--sometimes illness, company, outside activities and commitments got in the way. But when I observed Jesus's influence on his disciples and saw how he spent time personally with them, away from the crowds, and affirmed them uniquely for their personality--(John, the disciple Jesus loved; Peter, the rock; Thomas, a man in whom there is no guile.") I began to realize that each of us wants to be defined by God's unique personality that he created, and to be validated for who we really are in a personal way.
When I would plan my week, because my sweet ones were a priority, and I believed that this was the way to win their hearts for the Lord, I would plan in "little dates". I looked for it in the busy moments and tucked them in here and there. When they were little we were always a gang together, but I would look for ways to snuggle them in my room all by themselves. (Yes, my children shared rooms and that kept them from being lonely, but still they needed mama, sympathy time.)
I kept cookie dough balls or fruit, nuts and cheese chunks available all the time and when my radar told me that someone was not doing well or was angry or having problems, I would have a private, 15 mintue "Tea time" with them, just to talk and take emotional temperature.
I found when they were teenagers, because I had invested "me" time with them, I was always the go to person for them when they had secrets, fears, problems. And Clay and I would have times in our bedroom, behind closed doors when we would counsel and talk. As teens, I would take my boys out, by themselves, for breakfast every week or two, just to keep the channels of conversations going. For Sarah, it was a Saturday morning walk and coffee at a French cafe, for almost 8 years, and for Joy, it was breakfast alone in her room or mine at least once a week, away from all the teens.
Must off to my day, as the tea kettle is whistling and calling my name. But this time, I will celebrate a one woman tea time and reflect on all the sweet memories made on the spur of the moment with four who have now become my cherished best friends.
