:: Tuesday's Tea With Me ::

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Maybe it was the arrival of Valentine's Day, but I have been thinking about love lately. I have come to note two wheels on the wagon of love. One is storing up, and the other is pouring out. I tend to be a giver. I am always pouring out. But when and under what circumstance should we be storing up. Guarding our limited resource to pour out. When are we casting pearls to swine as the saying goes?


Here are a couple of verses I was pondering yesterday:

"Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
He bustles about, but only in vain;
he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it."

- Psalm 39:6

"Whoever loves money never has money enough;whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. 

As good increase, so do those who consume them.And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? 

The sleep of the laborer is sweet,whether he eats little or much,But the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:wealth hoarded to the harm if its owner. 

Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him. More over, wen God give any man wealth and possessions and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--- this is a gift go God. 

A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity... I say that a stillborn child is better off than he."

- Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

I know the bible speak often about those who withhold love. Who are stingy and never pour their love out. Those who seem heartless and cold, bestowing no forgiveness no mercy. Willing to sacrifice nothing that would truly cost them.

But what about those of us, who pour ourselves out like prostitutes giving precious emotional wealth. Tossing it to anyone who is a taker, anyone willing to be needy. Is this love? Or is this emotional prostitution? Perhaps we don't give our bodies, but are we not giving something that is also priceless and limited? If it is limited, which we are, is it not of a high value?

My goal this year is to love with concentration. For the love that flows from my heart to be concentrated. Pressed down, shaken together, and rich. I am realizing that this requires two wheels to roll out. Both pouring out, but also a storing up, a guarding what is precious and valuable in the eyes of God.

Pride

"Lose your pride over someone you love. But don't lose someone you love over your pride."

:: Tuesday's Tea With Me ::

Doesn't this look like the perfect home to be invited over for tea? I saw this gem in the middle of a very unassuming neighborhood and was just delighted by its charm. Let's pretend we're on a porch swing watching some crazy lady pull up with a camera a take a picture. 


The weather has been rather warm. Perhaps we should have some lemonade instead? Help yourself the picker is in the fridge. 


So this week I have been taking a little poll. I have been trying to define the word "honor." I realized on my way to church last week that I don't really have a very good understanding of this word. I'm trying to wrap my mind around what it looks like in verb form. The following is what I was able to come up with so far... and admittedly it's not much. I'm not sure I really understand honor at all. 


Honor is doing something for someone, even though you don't have to. Which is different from slavery. It is a willful choice to do what is asked, despite your knowledge that you are free not to.


Any additional thoughts?

As a man thinketh... so is he.

"The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty.

Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts. Who does not measure his beliefs and where he places his trust. When one makes his or her thoughts pure, they no longer desire impure food. 

Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thought by which it is impressed and habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it." 

- As A Man Thinketh by: James Allen

I have recently been thinking. I am finding that I think A LOT.  But have have been giving particular attention to the effects of my thought life upon my body, upon my circumstances, upon my level of inner peace, and upon my relationships. Boy. What you think about really effects your whole world. How then can I gain discipline over my thoughts? How then can I train my mind?


I believe that trust is one major component. If our thoughts are a ship, than what we trust in is the anchor. Rather than sailing aimlessly about, I want to evaluate where my thoughts and visions are anchored before I set sail on the vast oceans of my mind.


In what do you trust? Where to you place your faith? In your family? In your self? In your job? How about your savings account or investments? And perhaps another question for some of you is, "How do I identify where I am placing my trust?"

Girl of the Limberlost

When I was young my mom used to order these G rated videos from I have no idea where. But they were good wholesome movies with lovely stories and lessons within.

There was one that I especially loved and I would watch it over and over. It was called "The Girl of the Limberlost." It is the story of a young girl who loves the forest. She finds a refuge in the shade of age old oaks and soft green mosses. A tangible safety and solitude within.

So today I was Jenna of the Limberlost.