From the book Taking time for tea

Just sitting down to read some more of my new tea book and already have to share something from the book. When we give tea the time and care it deserves, it returns to us all it's infinite gifts. Each cup is a rapturous prayer no words can describe.
Everyone should have a quiet place to relax with their cup of tea. Mine would be in a room filled with books, teapots and teacups. It would have lots of light or sunshine flowing in the room and overlooking a lake.
Give yourself 10 minutes a day with tea. Tea and ten. Doing this is essential to your well being and health. Include a devotion during that time. I have to say I can't do without my tea each day. It is a ritual for me. Yes, I have a passion for tea and it has been good to me.
Ancient proverb- The path to heaven passes through a teapot.
In good times, tea is celebratory; in bad times it is amazingly comforting. When we are surrounded by friends and enjoying a hot pot of tea it all seems more special. That is why I would so love to have a tea retreat home. It would be very inviting and loving to others.
Enjoy your tea and ten each day. Blessings.

Good Friends Sip Together Book

Such a cute book! Here is a sampling of the book.
Pekoe's Tea Blessing- Dear Lord,I thank you for your grace and for this lovely day. I thank you for each special friend- Lord, bless each one, I pray. And Lord, I ask You'd bless our time, and bless our sharing, too- Please bless our food and bless our tea-Bless all we say and do. Amen

Country Tea Parties

From the book-  Did you know that Orange pekoe, is not a variety or a blend but a term that designates size of the tea leaf?
Tea leaves release their flavor in water- the hotter the water, the faster the tea steeps.  Brewing with boiling water takes 5 minutes , sun tea can take an hour, and refrigerator tea takes several hours. 
Remember green and white tea you do not use boiling water but about 175 degree water and steep for about 2-3 minutes.  If longer tea can become bitter.  Black tea you boil water and steep for 4-5 minutes.
When using a screw-together tea ball, fill it only halfway, loose tea expands severalfold when it steeps.
Store sugar cubes for tea in a jar with whole cloves or cinnamon sticks.  They will absorb the spicy fragrance.

For large tea parties, prepare a strong tea concentrate ahead of time; Use 4 teabags or 4 tsp. loose tea per one cup of boiling water; steep 2 minutes, then strain; leave at room temperature.  During the party keep a large kettle of water simmering on the stove.  For each serving, add 1/2 cup hot water to 1/8 cup concentrate.

A Laura Ashley Tea at Home

From the book Tea-Time at the Inn

If you have a chiming clock, place it where your guests can hear it easily and begin tea-time on the hour.
Create an English garden atmosphere with lots of mini-pring tablecloths and napkins.
Serve tea from a pretty ceramic watering can.
Add a fresh flower arrangement to every tea table.
Leave coffee table books about England in view.
Place scones into a pottery flower pot lined with small-print fabric.

Enjoy your tea with friends and Jesus!  Stir a tablespoon of a favorite fruit preserve into a cup of hot brewed tea.
Traveling TEA with Jesus

The "Yes" Prayer

The "Yes " Prayer


With praise for all you are, Lord
and thanks for all you bless;
Lord, grant these ten petitions
With your eternal Yes:
Please show me that you're there
When I can't see your face;
Send troubled souls my way
Their wounds I will erase.
Let me see with your eyes
My mind with your thoughts fill;
But more than wisdom give me
The strength to do your will.
Bless me with abundance
Then put me to the test;
Gladly will I give you
Much more than I possess.
Send me your tranquility
In troubled times and calm;
With loving arms sustain me
Through suffering and harm.
Forgive me for my sins
Though legion they may be;
When death and evil triumph,
Bring good from tragedy.
But most of all reveal
The meaning of my life
The purpose of my glories
The reasons for my strife
My destiny in Heaven
No tears to flow again
My God please grant me all;
In Christ our Lord,
Amen

Heard of the book The Teashop Girls?

I came across a book today titled The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaeffer.  Check it out.  Maybe a mother/daughter book to read over tea or enjoy with a mother/daughter ea bookclub?

Enjoy!

365 quotes for a friend

I wrote just a bit ago about my day and that I felt blessed todaywith new friends.  I was just getting ready for bed and I decided I would look at my 365 Favorite quotes for Friends and see what the message was for today. God's timing is perfect .  This is what it said.
Dear Father,
Thank You for watching over us, for meeting all our needs, I am forever grateful for the times You place friends in my life just when I need them most.  Amen.

Thank  you all for being a friend and even to those who may not even read this I pray that somehow they know how they touched my life today over tea.

Sleep well my friends

Jesus

Jesus is the one and only qualifications for the promises of God from Breaking the Cycle

Completeness

True completeness comes from the sense of who you are, not from what you possess or what you can accomplish.  From the book Breaking the Cycle

The Holiness of God

"If God is holy at all, if God has an ounce of justice in His character, indeed if God exists as God, how could He possibly be anything else but angry with us? We violate His holiness; we insult His justice; we make light of His grace. These things can hardly please Him." ~ R. C. Sproul (The Holiness of God)
Very good book to read!

A Friend in the Storm

I become a facebook friend with this author and wanted to share her book. It looks great!