Time for Tea?

What if we didn't have paper or styrofoam cups for our to-go beverages and we had to stop for a minute to sip, think, and rest as we drank from a ceramic cup that couldn't hurry away with us into our busyness? Other countries have time for tea...but, it really is not about the tea or the crumpets :)  it's more about having a breather in the middle of the day and fellowship with others.

REST....we are starving for it.

Brad and I are currently attending a conference called The Gathering and it has been such a wonderful experience so far (only one day...but, it feels like a lot was packed in).  As with other conferences I have attended, I am sure it will take me a little while to process the things I have heard and experienced and allow God to make those things into something tangible for our life and/or the life of our church.  Last time we attended a conference together we came home and started the process of adoption :)  We have had some great times of worship, heard from wonderful speakers, and tonight, we had an opportunity to make our way through prayer stations...that was very powerful!!!....definitely something I would love for Village Hope Church to experience.

There have been a few topics covered...mostly involving developing a healthy student ministry by first helping parents to understand and embrace their responsibility of primary discipler of their children....very challenging!  So much of the discussion comes back to us needing to prioritize what is important to us and slow down enough for our children to absolutely know we are accessible and engaged in all aspects of their lives.  Technology gives us so many advantages to multi-task, but sometimes in our multi-tasking lives we lose the personal touch we desperately need to be using to bless our children.  I almost think we need to retrain ourselves to be single-minded.  Someone suggested today that in order to do that we should find something in nature to appreciate...like the beauty of a sunrise, the simplicity of focusing on ONE THING at a time and praising God for that.  Remember the moments of discovery as a child where everything that was new was so thrilling?  Over time we learn to take things for granted...I guess the colors fade for us and things just look gray or something.... and we need to get back to seeing them as vividly as we did when we were kids....seeing them through a lens of joy and adventure as we realize it has all been created for us to enjoy and experience AND...the creator is still creating it for us as we walk through it AND....He is making so much of it just for us that if we don't see Him through it all we must be blind....AND I know that was a very bad run on sentence AND I am not even sorry!  I'll stop now because I have started into major processing mode and I should not take you through all that with me....there would be way too many run on sentences :)

So, Brad is actually sitting right here and I said..."how should I bring this back around to the topic of tea?"  not that I always have to have a theme...but, really I do.  So he said, "Tell them it will impact them for eterni-TEA"...he is sooooo helpful :)  I wish I could tell you all the ways I have been impressed with his trip planning abilities, but I am still looking for the first way...oh, there it...nope....false alarm.   JUST KIDDING! Despite the issues I have had with the lodging and trying to get over the stomach flu or whatever I had, my husband is brilliant in finding the cheapest place to stay in Chicago...$49 a night...I didn't think that was even possible.  I am going to focus on that ONE THING and be thankful :)  I am so glad I was able to come...I love sharing times like these with Brad.