Tea Time Tuesday: Flourish!

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“Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.”

-Samuel Johnson

“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” -Hebrews 10:36

As I sit once again in my living room, as I have done thousands of times before (candles lit, music playing, sipping tea, and Bible in hand), I am thinking about all the times I have sat in this very place pouring out my heart, worship, and requests to God. This place is familiar to me, my own personal altar, meeting with my familiar, loving God.

Today, my prayers are for my various children, big demands on the lives of several of them. “Lord, please lead them in wisdom. Please give them strength.” Then, Clay and me: “Lord lead us with wisdom in regards to decisions for the ministry.”

Life is a long story for most of us. The sum of what we have accomplished when we go to see Jesus face to face is not measured by one deed, or one act of faith. It is measured by years of love growing, compassion stretching, perseverance under trials, and faith in the darkness, practiced over and over. When we add up a life of faithfulness in serving God, accumulating maturity, grace, knowledge, wisdom, failure, forgiveness, and compassion—it is thousands of moments of choosing to practice persevering, one moment at a time.

But it is only in making those small choices, when no one else can see, that we find ourselves progressing on the path of the righteous.

On today’s Tea Time Tuesday podcast episode:

Composer: Ralph Von Williams

Food: Ham and Swiss cheese Croissant with Bechamel Sauce & a touch of honey

Book: Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil Frankweiler

Principles of Life that Create Human Flourishing:

Time with family or friends outside the house 2x a week

*Faith: A Belief in a benevolent God, and way to organize the universe, life, purpose, truth

*Multiple times in nature each week--immersing oneself in Physical Beauty

*Physical: Healthy food, exercise, sleep

*Fun and recreation regularly, A break from work and responsibility

*Mental stimulation or growth regularly

*Expected Rhythms and routines to organize life (stability)

*A positive sense of self & accomplishment

Buy your copy of Teatime Discipleship today!

It is Inevitable that Some Days, Rain Will Fall

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It is inevitable that some days, rain will fall. It is an unavoidable part of nature. So is life, some days are dreary and stormy.

A friend of mine was talking with me lately over coffee. She was feeling down, desperate, depressed. Feelings of failure and “I don’t think I am going to be able to do this life,” had troubled her as she saw day to day of caring for children/home through the next relentless years. We all feel this way sometimes. Caring for children, mentoring them at home, protecting them from culture, providing for their needs… every day they need to eat, wear reasonably clean clothes, and have a need for love. Training and attention are not for the faint of heart! It is undeniably hard and it was for me, too.

Often, I get letters that say, “It must have been easier for you.” No, it wasn’t. I had many “rainy” days. When I asked my friend her source of discouragement, she had been reading different people on the internet that were so engaged and idealistic in their articles and goals, it made this tired mama feel she would never be able to accomplish what she needed to do.

The internet can make all of us feel inadequate, but is not our ultimate judge—God is for us, and has compassion and sympathy. He knows your limitations and understands your story. Please God, not others. One of the most important areas for graceful endurance in motherhood is to be yourself, accept the limitations of your own story, and decide that who you are is exactly who your children need you to be. There is no perfect home, no perfect mama, no perfect children. Rainy days will come, but the way you handle them will determine your ability to keep going forward.

  1. Give yourself grace. Decide to like who God made you.

  2. Some days are made for escape: go out for a drive. Order fast food—it doesn’t even have to be organic. Do something fun.

  3. Don’t make important decisions when you are down. Get sleep. Make decisions when you are sane/emotionally stable.

  4. Meet with a friend who gets your life. Take a break.

Tomorrow on Tea Time Tuesday, I will address more. Be blessed today, my friends. You are loved.

Get your copy of Teatime Discipleship and take a break!

Mamas Need Beauty

I am overwhelmed by the kind, generous posts all of you, my friends, have been putting up for my new book, Tea Time Discipleship. I am grateful. I pray it will comfort, encourage, give peace and rest to your weary souls. I wish I could invite youto my home for, quiet, talking and friendship.

Today, I was remembering a special moment in time that spoke deeply to my heart. Mamas give, love, serve, work, read, feed, comfort over and over again. Often, we work to emptiness before we know it. It had been a season of drain. I felt so alone, unseen.

One of my adult children was sitting talking to me out on our “meeting bench”. Somehow the subject of my worst miscarriage years before came up. I was 13 weeks pregnant, and suddenly, violently I began to hemorrhage. An ambulance eventually came, hustled me to the hospital because they were afraid for my life. I was in and out of consciousness because of blood loss over hours.

I was so anemic that I was placed on bedrest for 6 weeks. But, my father became deathly ill. I had to be pushed in a wheelchair onto the plane that took me to his eventual deathbed in the hospital. I had two very sad deaths to grieve. I haven’t even thought about it from an adult point of view until tonight.

As my child listened, a hush came. “Mama, I don’t think I ever realized what mothers do—you still had to love us, take care of us. But there was no one to take care of you! I love you mama. I’m sorry you were so alone.”

I sat in the stillness, alone, looking back wondering how I made it. A half hour later, my child reappeared. “Mama, I know that beauty comforts you. Come with me.”

There in my little study was a vase of spring tulips, a hot cup of tea and a candle and a kiss on the cheek. “I did this because I appreciate the ways you have given to us through the years. I wanted to give a little something to you.”

Mamas need beauty. As I was thinking about this memory, I wanted to give 2 of you a book to give to your mama for Mother’s day. Maybe the beauty of Tea Time Discipleship will bring a little bit of peace to her.

Just leave a comment below. I hope this as a “Happy Mother’s Day Book” it will encourage many mamas.

TeaTime Discipleship


Victoria Magazine Giveaway & A Great Big Celebration!

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Woohoo! Today I’m releasing Teatime Discipleship into the world. I am so honored that Harvest House would give me the opportunity to do a full-color, photographic book with so much beauty, inside and out. I wanted to give beauty into the world of my audience. And of course, I am always so happy when the launch date comes—it is a little like giving birth to a baby.

One of my interviewers told me that they thought this book was my very own sort of Victoria Magazine because it is so beautiful! What a compliment it was. As you know, Victoria has been a favorite magazine since Sarah was a teenager. We would secretly make a cup of tea and sneak into my bedroom on an afternoon and go through Victoria and read out loud to one another. What a legacy of beauty, inspiration, and friendship we built over those years.

Today to celebrate, we are giving away 3 one year subscriptions to Victoria Magazine. Isn’t that fun?!

To Enter on Instagram or Facebook:

  • Follow Victoria magazine

  • Follow me

  • Leave a comment on either my post or Victoria Magazine’s post—or both and be entered multiple times to win.

Today, on Tea Time Tuesday, I have some very fun and special quotes and stories about people who learned the secret of steadfastness in their ideals. My favorite scones and combinations, music, and more.

I pray that this book will refresh you in your ideals and give you a sense of why bringing rhythms of grace regularly into your life will help you keep steadfast in your meaningful work of mentoring, loving, serving and praying for those in your personal life and story.

Be sure to share this giveaway with your friends today. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. And follow my stories where we have another giveaway and several fun podcasts. Get your own copy of Teatime Discipleship today. Thanks a zillion billion!

Be blessed my friends.

Tea Time Tuesday: God's View of Hospitality

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Tea Time Tuesday

“The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved. It's about declaring your table a safe zone, a place of warmth and nourishment.”

Shawna Nyquist

This morning I am sitting sipping in my Colorado home, praying for you, my friends. Life is made up of many “stretching” days. I was remembering one today and it set me to praying for you.

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. Have you ever felt that way?

My friend invited me to her house to meet her for a cup of tea. I entered her home, she had candles lit, music playing, a small cinnamon bun and a cup of tea waiting for me. I didn't know I needed kindness and sympathy. It was like a soothing balm to my sore heart. After an hour of pouring out my heart and being loved back, hope slowly filled my heart. She saved my emotional life that day and helped me to keep going. 

Teatime Discipleship is about the hospitality one friend offers another, to 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.

More on today’s podcast:

Music: Horizon is acoustic piano Gabriel Saban

How many times are meals mentioned in scripture? How many times did Jesus eat with someone? 

God's heart for biblical hospitality. 

Get your copy of Teatime Discipleship!

Mentoring with Grace

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From the very beginning of their time together, Jesus called his disciples to a life apart from the crowd. He called them to great purpose, meaning, promising to make them “fishers of men.” Even before that, He called them into relationship with Himself. He extended the grace of His fellowship, His companionship, His love, His instruction. He was patient, encouraging, loving, forgiving. His relationship with them was built on a foundation of intimate friendship. He gave them the gift of Himself. Then He asked them to pass along that gift to the world.

We see this more clearly as Jesus' relationship with the disciples progressed. He wanted them to be His representatives on earth, to tell everyone the gospel of the kingdom of his Father. But He wanted them to do it through His strength, grace, given in love—not through their own force or legalism.

As mothers, we are called to take this lesson of grace to heart. Like Jesus, we are to draw our children to a life apart from the rest of the crowd. Each of us is designed by God to whisper His words to the hearts of our children so they will feel the call of God in their own lives to become “fishers of men.” Yet, we must always remember that our children will never be perfect. Each of them needs for us, like Jesus, to extend to him or her the gift of constant love, grace, and forgiveness as they grow little by little. And we can only do this by relying continually on the grace of our own relationship with the Lord.

Since the beginning of our ministry, Clay and I have felt a passion to teach, inspire, and encourage parents over the world to understand their biblically significant role, the importance of mentoring their children to know and love Christ. It is the intent of our books, conferences, and podcasts. We could never have done it without the most wonderful team of like-minded people who companion us in this task. Many of our co-workers are spread over the world. Many are in cyberspace and our membership. I am grateful to God for each of you who shares these messages. Today, my national team shares their passion about our message, our commitment, what we have learned along the way. May you be encouraged.

Cultivating Peace in the Trenches of Motherhood

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Right in the middle of Jesus loving, teaching, encouraging, training his disciples, they embark on crossing the familiar lake where they have lived all of their lives. Suddenly a life-threatening storm overtakes them.

What could Jesus possibly be thinking? Does he want to lose all of his disciples at once? Is he trying to discourage them? After all, they gave their whole lives to follow Him. Really, now this? Is this any way to treat those who are following you? Sometimes the "whaps" on our lives feel personal, invasive, like too much.

Have you ever felt that way? The reality of being in the trenches of motherhood can seem too much at times: I have cooked and washed dishes. I have lost years of sleep. I have loved, served, given. Does it matter? Now, this? Another storm? Another problem? The relentlessness of life is about to drown me.

"Do you not care that we are perishing, Lord?" This is the question that we, like the disciples, have on our hearts. Just when we have the ideals of our lives in place, we have defined what the Kingdom of home is, and we determine to commit to creating our homes as a place where the life of Christ will flourish, storms and battles begin to overtake us. We feel that we may be overcome: “I can’t create space for ‘Teatime Discipleship.’ It is frivolous. I can’t add one more ideal!”

My contention is that if you want to last through the battles, not give up hope, you cannot ignore your need for regular refreshment, rest to maintain peace.

Weariness & discouragement signifies you are engaged in the battle. These are signs of exhaustion, not success or failure. How you respond will determine the outcome. Often, people have said, "Well, I am glad Sally has ideals, but that is not what my life looks like. I don't even know how to get there."

My life was a constant swirl of ideals, reality, grace and storm, walking in faith, & railing against heaven.

Lyndsey Mimnagh, #treehouseschoolhouse, joins me today today to find some answers to bring peace to the trenches of life. And be encouraged in the trenches through Teatime Discipleship. Order your copy today.

Tea Time Tuesday: Aging Gracefully and With Vision

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"Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old,"

says Job 12:12

Tea Time Tuesday

Life is a long-distance run, a marathon. When I was young, I did not realize that the legacy of my life would be over a lifetime, faithfulness through so many decades of seasons. Single years where I wondered if I would be married. Early marriage and babies that I had never been prepared for and didn’t know what to expect. The golden years of childhood, the hormones and pushing back of teen years as children strain towards adulthood, self-actualizing of young adults and straining towards finding footing in a problematic, expensive, and challenging world, grandchildren. Add to this, moves, hospitalizations, church splits, great joys, and family intimacy that makes us all “Clarksons” in the most satisfying ways. Faith stretched, marriage partnership learned over time—soooo much.

Today, I will open what scripture says about aging graciously, living faithfully through all seasons. If you have a vision for being steadfast into old age, you have an intrinsic strength to make it through all the years and seasons. Ponder your life through all the seasons, friends, and know you are living your story you will tell to generations.

Last week, many asked me to show you my travel kit with my tin can. You can see in my photo. Tea, teacup, sugar, spoon, chocolates, and a scarf for decorating the table.

A lot to share with you today. Food! A hero to emulate, some goals to make, and little tidbits from my life.

I hope you enjoy my podcast. Be sure to order your copy of Tea Time Discipleship—it is like a warm, cozy tea time Tuesday with me over stories, recipes, and Biblical encouragement.

My tea quote:

“A great idea should always be left to steep like loose tea leaves in a teapot for a while to make sure that the tea will be strong enough and the idea truly is a great one.” -Phoebe Stone

How can one steep ideas, form an excellent self over time?


Building a Legacy of Faith Takes Relentless Forbearance

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“The giants of faith all had one thing in common: neither victory or success, but passion.”

-Phillip Yancy

I couldn’t put my finger on it. There was something deep inside that changed. I felt supported, strengthened, hopeful.

As it happens, I decided spur of the moment last week to visit a dear friend of mine who encouraged me in life, my faith, and served me tea and love over years. She gave me courage to keep going forward in my walk of faith. Phyllis is her name. She is 83 and still, she talks of the Lord, His love, His preciousness.

As I was sitting with her, a knock came to her front door. A dear friend of both of us walked in unexpectedly. We 3 had not been together for years. It was Linda, our mutual friend, who served God for 60 years, about to celebrate her 80th birthday. All of us had lived in Vienna.

Phyllis’s husband directed the ministry to communist countries in Europe for 15 years for the Navigators, a real hero of faith. She served by his side, taught, hosted literally hundreds of people in her home.

Jody, Linda’s husband, was the head of Biblical Education by Extension, a movement of 150 people who traveled into Communist countries to train believers to become pastors to start churches. I had known them for decades. Linda wrote books, spoke, discipled, hosted. Somehow seeing them together, remembering what they had done, quietly, with little worldly notice, that they sacrificed, how they still cultivated love and passion for God, went deep into my soul. It lifted me up. I was in the company of spiritual giants. Their faithfulness through many hard years gave me courage.

I remembered the verse:

“Therefore, my beloved brothers & sisters, be firm, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Cor. 15:58)

Life is a marathon. Keep your legacy going. My friends, never give up, never give in. Your labor is not in vain. You matter. Stay steadfast. God sees you, He cares for your life. I pray you and I may be firm, and immovable now during this time in history. I could see how much the faith, and faithfulness of my friends mattered.

Godly friends sustain, hold us!

May you and I be that to one another. Praying for you today. Enjoy my new podcast episode and be sure to order your copy of Teatime Discipleship.





What Does It Mean To Make Disciples?

“Go into the world and make disciples of all nations.”

Matthew 28: 19

“When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, the workers are few."

Matthew 9

What does it mean to make disciples? It was my primary goal with my children. Disciplemaking is drawing others to become followers of Christ, to pass on a love for their God, to teach them His ways, to show them His purposes, to guide them in wisdom. 

Many women have told me they wish someone would disciple them—mentor them with wisdom through their seasons of life, help them, give wisdom. 

Where have all the disciplers gone? Those who could come alongside and help, give comfort and sympathy through the hard passages of life, those who can lead us closer to God and to know how to grow spiritually intimate with Him?

Jesus is a God who has had compassion for his beloved children through all generations. He sees that they are harassed, helpless, lost, lonely. It seems a fitting definition of many at this time in history—living harassed by life, by news, by finances, pressures. And feeling helpless to know what to do. 

Do you feel like this? Do you know anyone who feels like this?

Jesus asks us, His children, his committed followers, to be the ones who would give his love, show compassion, teach his ways, and give leadership to those who long for help. 

Discipleship has been what my life has been about for almost 50 years, to come alongside those who are yearning for friendship, help, a way forward in their Christian life, because He is my Lord and love. 

Women tell me all the time that it is rare to find someone to mentor them. 

This is why I wrote this Teatime Discipleship. It is why I do podcasts, blog posts, and speak at conferences. Because I want to please the heart of Jesus and help fulfill his calling on earth, and I love helping women. 

If you want to learn more about discipleship, mentoring your children, growing in Christ, helping others, finding spiritual friends, then I think you will be encouraged by Teatime Discipleship. Order your copy today.