A Cup of Tea for the Heart

…and the livin’ is busy.  Romance jumpin’ and the schedules are high.  Oh…..your life is rich and the future’s good lookin’.  So hush busy babies, don’t you sigh.” 

Hmmmmm….maybe Rita and I should sing this more often.  This has been one busy, glorious, exciting, prayfully blessed year…and it is only a little past half over.

 Rita’s son is getting married in 10 days.  And, as is usual with life, if things could get in the way to make life a little more challenging, they have.  I know some think that all we do is work on books and all the multitude of things that go along with it…wrong!  Our lives were full even before we were lead into that exciting venture by the Lord. But we truly believe He knows the right time for everything.  Sometimes I question His faith in me and my abilities but that is when it is time to turn to Him and say, “Guide me, Lord, and I will follow.” 

 I have read a quote that says that: “If the Lord leads you to it, He will lead you through it.”  I like that because I truly believe that He will be with us every step of the way – through everything – IF we choose for Him to be the center of our lives.  That means everything to me.

 So….it’s summer time and the livin’ is busy…but it is good and it is blessed and we will rejoice in the Lord in all things. 

          “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

                                                         Psalm 118.24

When you are facing a tough time in your life, which recipe do you reach for? We are working on a collection of ‘Tough Times’ recipes to go with our newest book, “Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough Women Do.” If you will share your favorites with us we would love to to share them with others. Please send them to articles@teafortheheart.com. If you will include your name, city and state, we will let others know which special recipe is yours. And, yes, you can share more than one. Can’t wait to try them!! Thanks ever so much….

Sometimes trying to ‘get to know’ and ‘keep up with’ lots of old and new friends on Facebook and Twitter is almost overwhelming, but it certainly is filled with great fun and blessings, too! Social Media is just one more realm where I wish I could clone myself to keep up with it all, or at least have more hours in my day.

On Twitter today I noticed a blog post from a new friend that sounded interesting, so I went to read it. It was such a great story that I decided I just had to share it with you. The story is The Shoe Shine Glory, written by Michael K. Reynolds on his blog site — Real Life. Real God. Enjoy his blog post here: http://www.michaelkreynolds.com/?p=123

It will brighten your day….and might just change your life!

           I just had lunch at Inspiration’s Tea Room in Edmond, OK.  It is a beautiful place with excellent food and a peaceful atmosphere – even though it is usually very busy.  I got to visit – briefly – with my daughter who is the kitchen manager and then with the owner, Tamara Rhoads, who shared some wonderful ideas.

         This was the first time I had a chance to share the A Cup of Tea for the Heart story with Tamara.  She was so excited and as she began to give me new ideas…we all got goosebumps…again!! 

          She told me how wonderful some of our new product ideas are and suggested yet another book title…something on the order of “He Heals My Brokenness.”  She said that she definitely would write for that one and she knew of many others who would want to share their healing stories as well 

         I told her about the “My New World” book and her comment was how very, very needed that book would be.  On her street alone there are four women who have moved here from another country. 

        The Lord is touching so many lives in such a unique way through this series of books and they are not even out yet!  I constantly go back to one of my favorite scriptures:  Isaiah 40:31 “…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”   I know in my heart that even though the ideas are flying at us like the wings of eagles, that we will not grow weary because He is with us.  He is our strength.

…He’ll bring you through it.

Have you heard that before? Maybe you are like me, and this quote has brought you much hope in challenging times. It is a comforting saying, but perhaps a bit incomplete. In reality, God promises to provide all we need to ‘make it through’ whatever He brings us to, but it is up to us to use what He provides. We might say God will provide the rowboat and the oars, but the rowing is up to us!

That is really what the books in the A Cup of Tea for the Heart series are all about — God providing through others (friends you never knew) some of the elements (advice) needed for readers to ‘make it through’ the tough times, unexpected changes, new seasons, embarrassing moments, celebrations, re-locations, etc., of life. Each advice-filled story article is written by a woman of faith who has ‘been there’ or is ‘currently there’ — and has gained some wisdom from personal experience or the experience of others. What a blessing that the Lord has laid it on each writer’s heart to share what they’ve learned …. blessing friends they may never know!

We continue to be in awe of the Lord’s blessings as He provides incredibly touching stories through very special women who love Him. To read of the richness of his blessings over and over is such an encouragment and truly awe-inspiring. As you read through the stories in the near future, you’ll definitely be reminded that God is good! All the time! We can’t wait for you to get your hands on these!!

I am sitting here looking at the new cup that Rita and I just had printed with our logo on it and remembering the fun we had this afternoon over iced tea and a detailed review of what I experienced at the ICRS (International Christian Retail Stores) convention in St. Louis last week.  (Of course, Rita was taking a “staycation” and lounging in the sun while I was walking and working!  )

            I had an opportunity to meet so many interesting people.  My brain was buzzing with ideas the whole time I was gone and all the way home.  It is so much fun to share hour after hour with massively creative people and just cling onto their ideas and look at their creations. 

One author I met had seen and fallen in love with an antique car that had been painted bright orange with red flames on the front.  She took inpiration from that car and ran with it, and now has a whole series of children’s books based on the car.  And — she had the car at the convention!  That was a real attention-getter for sure!

So many of the product wholesalers were people who had designed and created their own products and companies.  They were excited about our project and our logo and were so willing to share some great ideas for our new book series.  I could hardly wait to get home and share them with Rita!

There were long time authors such as Joyce Myers there, and new ones such a Laura Bower.  I simply could not read or walk fast enough to keep up with all that was happening. 

Some of the new Christian movies that are coming out look terrific and I wanted to stay and watch them all – but alas – I promised Robert to get back to the hotel in time for him to get to the St. Louis Cardinal’s game each night.

I think you will be seeing evidence and hearing about the things we learned this past week for a very long time.  Education is a wonderful thing!  And what an amazing blessing that the Lord provided the opportunity for me to attend this ‘by invitation only’ conference through some book review work I do!  Wow — watching as the Lord weaves together pieces from different seasons of life often leaves me awestruck….and gives me goosebumps! 

Hey friends — just a real quick note to say hello, and to let you know we WILL be back to blogging a bit more regularly soon….we hope!

Last Monday we DID finalize and sign the contract for Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough Women Do. Wooohooooo!! And then we both had some special family celebration times we needed to attend to. Quickly we had to kick it into gear again to ‘reformat’ the manuscript to get it ready for final submission. That submission happens tomorrow!

So…just wanted you to know that Tate Publishing is going to be an amazing partner, and the first book of the series will be in their hands TOMORROW!!!

We continue to marvel at the way God has worked on this project, and has blasted it forward at warp speed! Thanks for your continued friendship and prayers for this project that, just over 3 months ago, had not even crossed our minds.

Hey — would you love to see some excerpts from the upcoming books?? Sign up for Joy Thoughts For the Heart! We share excerpts and more!

            As you may be aware, Rita and I began brainstorming about a book full of heartfelt advice and stories from Christian women for Christian women on March 17, 2010…93 days ago.  We felt so strongly that the Lord wanted us to do this project, and from the very beginning it has been as though He was just pulling us along — at a very fast pace!

            What a trip!!  We had so much to learn in addition to just putting a book together…that was the easy part.  We sent out emails and facebook notes and posts to a few friends and asked them to share the info with their friends, and the stories started pouring in.  By June 1^st almost 100 MARVELOUS stories had been submitted by 75+ contributors, ages 19 to 100.  The Lord was leading people to write.  Several of the writers even told us that they had not really meant to write but woke up one morning and felt compelled to tell their story and share the wise and helpful advice they’d learned along the way.

            Before long we saw that this was to be a big project as not only stories began to come in but also frequent requests for the book .  And we quickly realized that this was not going to be “a” book but a series of books titled “A Cup of Tea for the Heart.” 

            With much to learn about the rapidly changing publishing industry and the fast paced social media trends, we went to school…conferences, teleseminars, research materials, Q & A sessions with experts, and lots of trial and error.  Since that time we have put together a logo for the series, a Facebook account and we are on Twitter.  We are meeting so many new friends through all these avenues!   

            We interviewed and were interviewed by multiple agents and publishers and today turned into our “Chocolate” day…we received a formal contract from one of the top 10 publishers in the nation!  This contract is for our first book:  “Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough Women Do.”  We actually received the first version of this contract a week ago, but spent this week learning more from the publisher, and received this second version of the contract today!  Wooohoooo!!    We celebrated with a Molten Chocolate Cake from Chili’s.   Life is just too short to skip the chocolate and we are not going to miss out!!

            God is good and, Lord willing, we will continue to follow His lead.  We cherish your prayers for this journey and would love to read your stories!  We are so thankful to those sweet women who have already shared their stories and advice for the blessing of others, and we look forward to so many more!  Check out the ‘Share Your Advice’ tab to see how you can participate!

It is no doubt that one of my greatest challenges has been the lesson of patience and it is surely being tried this week.  

In many ways, Rita and I are so much alike that we often joke that we are just working out of one brain.  She will send me an email suggesting an idea and I get it about the time I have sent her one with the same idea.   We both think very fast – sometimes to the frustration of our husbands and children – and we both work very fast.  Soooooo when things get bogged down in the process, it is frustration city in our houses.  That pretty well describes this week.

When I was so seriously ill eleven years ago, I would get very frustrated at the slowness with which my body was responding to the treatments for recovery.  I was in isolation for six months and then in a very protected environment for about the same length of time.  I wanted out and I wanted my life back to normal.  I didn’t get that “wish” but I did learn at lot about the Lord and His plans. 

Reading through the Christmas ads that year I saw a clock with the exact words that I needed to read each and every day.   My precious hubby went down and got that clock for me and I still keep it very near for the reminder that it provides me.  It says: “God’s timing is always perfect.”  Need I say more????  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and when we follow His lead we are always on the right path.  (John 14:6)

Tomorrow is another glorious day and if the Lord is willing,  I will get to enjoy it here on earth.  I pledge to try to be patient and watch for His perfect timing.  I will also try to remember that the Lord made this day and that I am to rejoice and be glad in it.  (Psalm 118:24)  What a blessing!

Who knows, I may get this lesson yet!

When I mentioned Noah last night in my blog post, I sure didn’t know we were going to have such an amazing day of flooding in Edmond and the whole Oklahoma City area today!! How crazy!! Wow. It has been a pretty rough day in these parts! Our hearts and prayers go out to all those families who have been and are dealing with damage and devastation from all this rain today! It looks like we got around 11 inches in about 4 hours here at the house. Thankfully we don’t live near a creek!!

A bummer for Donna and me today was the fact that all this flooding changed our schedule a bit for A Cup of Tea for the Heart. We were scheduled to meet with a publisher early this afternoon, but the flooding was massive and streets were closed all over the city — so, we rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon. We were disappointed, of course, but still so excited to be moving forward at this amazing pace!! Our hope and prayer is to make some final decisions tomorrow after this meeting, for both Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough Women Do, and Donna’s other new book, How to Get and Keep a Job. You can read more about that book by following links under “About” and “About Donna.”

Oh! If you didn’t read about Noah yet, be sure to check out the blog post from yesterday!