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Today I am on my couch, sick, feverish, shaking, aching, still coughing like a smoker. It comes and goes—mostly comes. This is my third week. Evidently, I am not an unusual case. Joy brought me chicken soup, Joel made tea and gave medicine. Sarah's littles made me cards. Life! More fun facts about tea time discipleship today on my podcast.
A cold snowy day, before I came back to Oxford, brought to mind a cherished memory. I just brewed a cup of tea for Sarah and me. We, in our jammies, crazy bed hair, made a forever memory. We sat close on a couch, drinking out of real china cups, talked, shared dreams, looked at articles together in a magazine we both loved, admired a book she found at a second-hand store, and felt totally at ease in the comfort of our safe, close friendship. Amidst sipping our hot liquid gold, with candles lit, she and I just talked, giggled uncontrollably, shared our thoughts and ideas for almost an hour. She took 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. I relished in her inspiring reflections about a passage in Matthew that caught my heart. My 69-year-old self has learned to love the worlds of my children. These times have given me a window to their souls.
I do not expect them to conform to me—I let them be who they are at this season of life, I have adjusted my own age expectations to enjoy, 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, who became Jesus.
Through Tea Time Discipleship, repeated over many years, we became the deepest of friends. It is a tool, a holding place for creating relationships, a hopeful expectation that “Mama wants to spend time with me, we shall be friends.”
Tell me how you shared tea with someone last week. Many stories are coming in about how you took the challenge last week & served someone tea. I talk about it today on my podcast—fabulous ideas. Leave a comment about how you hope to serve someone tea this week. Just a cup today.
