Friday Afternoon Tea Time

Just needed a little extra tea break this afternoon. Won't you join me? 

Some days are just like that, you know?  Most summer days I am content with my morning hot cup of Lipton regular black tea at breakfast. (although for this afternoon tea I chose Twining's Lady Grey Tea, because this is an extra special tea time).

Just a note: the glass tray that this tea set is sitting on has one of my favorite passages of Scripture written all around the edges:

Galatians 5:22-23  NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

(A good reminder for us at any time)

And speaking of "fruit", 

I usually have 1/2 glass unsweetened iced tea combined with 1/2 glass of ice-cold unsweetened cranberry juice with my lunch. Very refreshing! You should try it!  Make sure it's the 100% juice, with no sugar added! It's a good source of vitamin C, and a whole cup of fruit. It's also very good for the urinary tract, which for ladies of most of our ages out there, that's crucial.

That's my PSA for this post. LOL.  When I find something that works for me, I like to pass it along, just in case you wanted to know about that!

And isn't that what tea time is supposed to be all about? Sitting down together with a friend (or friends), and sharing our hearts with one another? I look at our blogging like that.  It's a time of sitting down with dear friends and sharing whatever is on our hearts and minds, encouraging one another in our faith, lifting each other up when one is down or feeling alone. Sometimes we just talk about silly things or funny stuff that is going on around us...and then other times we pour out our hearts and let it all hang out. That's what friends are for.  To help share each other's burdens, and to be there during the good times as well.

It's also what Jesus said He is there for; He said in Matthew 11:28-30

28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls. 

30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Isn't that a comforting thought? Jesus wants to carry our burdens for us. He wants us to come to Him, and find rest for our souls. He promises that His "yoke is easy, and (His) burden is light." When I picture a "Yoke", I think of this:

It is usually used to guide two oxen together, so that they will be able to walk together and not pull away each to his own way.  That is what I think about when I picture taking up the yoke of Jesus...I picture Him walking with me, helping to carry the load, as well as keeping me in line and guiding me into the best possible direction I should go.  I also picture Him carrying the heaviest part of the load on His shoulders. He does that for me, willingly and lovingly, because He knows how weak I am on my own.

And again, I thank Him for doing this for me, and also for you. And together, with Jesus, we can carry one another's burdens and not feel so alone or weighed down from the heavy loads of our lives.

You don't have to carry it alone...and neither do I! 

We've got Jesus on our team!

And now on to some other things from around the home front:

Ever since Hurricane Debby blew through here a couple of weeks ago, we haven't seen much of the neighborhood kitty, "Blackie", who up until the storm would sleep on the comfortable cushioned chairs of our covered back porch every day and/or night.  The last time I saw him he was out there that night, curled up in a black ball on some old rugs.  Come morning, he was no where to be seen.  We thought we saw him at a distance a few times, but he never came back to our porch. Not sure if something scared him that night during the storm, or what happened, but at any rate, he didn't seem to want to come back here.  And then, just the other evening I stepped out onto the front deck to bring in our flag for the night, and I looked over at my little wicker plant stand, and there he was!

Just as lazy and handsome as you please, sleeping on the shelf of the wicker plant stand!

At first he wouldn't even look at me, like either he was embarrassed to be caught out there, or maybe he was mad at me for something! 

Maybe he got wind of the fact that this OTHER black and white Tuxedo kitty cat was lounging around on our back porch while he was gone!  

I didn't invite him there...he just showed up one evening and acted like he owned the place for a while, and then he was gone again...

He does look rather comfortable, doesn't he?

He was watching either some lizard or mole or birds or something out there in the yard:

And then he saw me looking at him through the glass door:

That was the last look Mr. Tuxedo gave us before he departed for parts unknown:

Anyway, back to "Blackie", 

I don't know, but I spoke lovingly to him and told him how happy I was to see him again...

And pretty soon he turned his eyes my way and looked at me as if he was unhappy that I woken him up from his nap! LOL.

However, in a moment he stretched himself out and got down from his perch and came over to me and rubbed my legs and let me know that he still loved me and I told him that I still loved him, and then he went over to the front of the deck 

and decided to watch the neighborhood activities from that vantage point.

And that's the last I've seen of him for a few days.  Neighborhood Cats sure can be fickle! LOL.

Thankfully there is a kind neighbor who feeds him. Not sure about the Tuxedo cat. He may belong to someone.

Oh, the Sand Hill Crane family still flies in and out every so often:

This was this afternoon! They were actually putting on quite a show for us!

And I know some of you may be wondering what's happening with the new house that's going in next door?  Yeah, I've been wondering too. Not a thing has happened over there since the hurricane. I think whoever is supposed to be setting it up must have gotten behind in their schedule, and we haven't seen hide nor hair of them in about 3 weeks.  

And then today this happened:

Not just one, but two big dump truck loads of more dirt arrived.  They still haven't covered up the huge septic/drain field that was installed over a month ago.  They still haven't finished putting the two sections of the manufactured home together, but they brought more dirt!

And none too soon. You can see how black the sky was behind there...yes, about the time the truck was finished dumping his load, the skies opened up and dumped their load of heavy rain on top of it all!

And now this is what it looks like out there on Still Waters Pond:

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tea time together this afternoon (and now it is evening).  I feel refreshed, just like you have actually been here chatting with me. Maybe it is because we are sitting here beside "Still Waters Pond"...

"He leads me beside the still waters.

 He restores my soul;"

and just maybe Jesus has been here with us, lifting our heavy burdens and giving us "rest for our souls". 

Matthew 18:20 NKJV

"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, 

I am there in the midst of them.”

 Yeah, just maybe He has...

Thank you for sharing this tea time with me. I hope you will come again soon! Have a pleasant rest of your evening and weekend ahead.