A cup of tea, a cookie, and you

Ezekiel 47: 12
" Fruit trees of all kinds grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing. "


Lord knows I could use some good fruit around here, I'm going to get some of those fruit trees from Ezekiel. I love my family so much, but the bad fruit (impatience, unkindness, harshness, no self-control...) we toss around at each other is so discouraging. I think it's particularly frustrating because we have a higher calling, an example in Christ to follow. We certainly should know better. That is why seeking God daily and refueling your spirit fruit (see fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23) is so important. God doesn't make any bad fruit. When we don't use the good fruit He so abundantly gives us, it turns. Our lack of seeking, praising, praying, rejoicing, and fellowship in the Lord robs us of the bumper crop of fruit He gives us freely. Lord, I pray you bear much fruit in me today. The living water that flows from your sanctuary refreshes me. I need to drink from it daily so I can serve your good fruit to those around me. Amen.

Notice the reference to the leaves in the Bible verse above? It refers to tea that was brewed for healing purposes. God doesn't let anything go to waste. No piece of fruit or leaf will be left unused. I love the medicinal qualities of tea. Since I was a child, a hot cup of  tea seemed to be the comfort I needed when I was ill, had a tummy ache, sore throat or even just a needed a calm ,warm end to my day. I am definitely not a tea snob, however. I shared a tea recipe a few months ago here. I made a similar batch of that last week and really enjoyed having a hot cup of tea in the afternoon. There are lots of great teas out there, I love me a chai tea latte every now and then, and I really miss my favorite tea (Garry's Famous Spiced Iced/Hot Tea) from Garry's Grill in Severna Park. I used to buy it by the gallon when I was expecting baby #6! The great thing about tea is that it's great cold too (coffee is too, but I digress).  I think the British have it right, Afternoon Tea, is a great idea. Now, go and have a nice cup of tea and bear fruit with one another. It's Biblical!!

You've gotta have a little somethin', somethin' with a cup of tea!
These are my grandmother's butter cookies.
 I added green food color and put the dough in my
cookie press for some festive shamrock cookies.

Click here for this spiced tea recipe.
It's number 3 in my list of 7.

Enjoy your Wednesday!!