When I want to reach a heart that enters my home — and get mine in the right place, too — I’ve discovered that a cup of tea {and a lot of prayer} paves the way to amazing connections.
Yes, it is my cup of hope, a cup of tea philosophy.
And it all started with a story that I’m sharing over at The Better Mom.
But to give you the nitty-gritty details about my tea philosophy and how I go about using it, let me explain:
I have a rustic looking basket that is about 12 inches long by 6 inches wide and 4 inches deep with a handle across the center. Like I said, it is a simple basket, but it is packed full of tea bags and individual hot chocolate packets of every variety. It certainly makes hospitality a cinch, for all I need to do is grab it from my cabinet instead of fumbling with a dozen different boxes of tea and cans of hot chocolate.
Any time a soul walks through my doors, whether it is my own kids coming home from school on a cold winter day, the teenage girls who pop in for ETC Mentoring or a one-on-one conversation, or friends showing up for our book club Bible study or a baby shower, the tea basket takes it place on the kitchen counter.
I must confess, however, that this basket wasn’t my idea. When I moved into a dorm with 20 teenage girls, an older and wiser women handed me my first tea basket with the instruction to have a hot pot of water on at all times. She especially urged me to serve tea when I was also dishing out discipline consequences. Brilliant move, I tell you!
And that what I am sharing about at The Better Mom, so come on over...