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This morning I am sitting sipping in my Colorado home, praying for you, my friends. I was remembering a stretching da today and it set me to praying for you.
Often, as we pour out our lives, serve meals, train and instruct little souls, bring order to our homes again and again, we do not even know just how needy we are, just how much we need to soak up some unexpected love, words of affirmation, and to be honored by a listening ear ready to give encouragement.
Crawling out of bed one morning, I was already weary and in deep need of my morning brew. As I walked from my bedroom to the kitchen, tension grew. Clay was concerned about our finances. Pressure!
One of my teens was teary-eyed about a circumstance with a friend. More pressure. The other teen was grumpy. My third child was particularly loud, chasing the dog. My little one kept tapping on my leg to ask me to sit with her in her closet to play "beanie babies." This, before I had my first sip. I was spent to my toes. A little cloud began forming around my heart. I wondered if anything I did mattered. Many times I felt discouraged along the way. Perhaps you do, too.
That day, a friend invited me to her house for a cup of tea. She said, "Come in and sit for a while and let's be friends." They were the best words I had heard in months. I entered her home where candles lit, music was playing softly, a small cinnamon bun and a cup of tea waiting for me. I didn't know how much I needed kindness and sympathy. It was a soothing balm to my sore heart. After an hour of pouring out my stress and being loved back, hope slowly filled my heart. She saved my emotional life that day and helped me to keep going. And did so many times over years.
Teatime Discipleship, my phrase for personal, generous hospitality, is about the serving and cherishing one friend offers another. We link arms, to say, "I am here for you" in a world that is draining and isolating.
This week, could you offer "just one cup" to someone in need of encouragement and in doing so, you have done it unto Jesus.
Today on my podcast, At Home with Sally, I share one of my favorite stories from my book, Well Lived. Enjoy.