A Cup of Tea for the Heart

There were many times during our son’s illness that things would happen and if not for a silent prayer, I would not have gotten through them.  About three weeks after his first chemo treatment, he took a shower one morning, and handfuls of hair came out and were clinging around the drain in the shower and the remaining hair covered his face, chest, and back.  I was close to tears and mentally pleaded with God to please help me through this and not break down in front of my son.  After stepping out of the shower, he looked into the bathroom mirror, laughed and said, “Look! I’m a werewolf!” Lesson learned: children handle adversities much better than we grown-ups do!

(An excerpt from “Accepting The Unacceptable” by Delores Jackson in Tough Times Don’t Last ~ Tough Women Do….to be released Spring 2011 ~ the first in the A Cup of Tea For The Heart series.)

New Year’s Eve….a traditional time to take pause and focus on the blessings of the past year. What a fabulous tradition! We love to do a blessing count often, but the New Year’s Eve count is extra special this year. What a rich journey of blessing this has been!!

YOU are right at the top of the count this year! It’s true! We’ve ‘met’ so many new friends in various ways through this adventure in 2010, plus we’ve been blessed to build long-time friendships even deeper through this journey. What a joy! And it was all totally unexpected at this point last year!

We just can’t hold back, so as a little ‘thank you’ at the close of 2010, on Facebook we are sharing a couple of quotes about counting blessings from the soon-to-be released Tough Times Don’t Last ~ Tough Women Do. We generally only share these quotes through our Joy Thoughts emails, but simply have to share a couple on our Facebook page …just for today. Make sure you have signed up for and read our Joy Thoughts every week!! That is where we regularly share some great tidbits of wisdom, encouragement, and advice from our writers. And if you haven’t connected with us on Facebook yet, today is the day!!

Thanks for all the ways you’ve blessed us in 2010!!

♥ ♥ Have an AMAZING 2011!! ♥ ♥

Has life always gone as planned for you…..or have you had some major changes of plans along the way? Maybe a change or two you’d never have chosen has come your way, and perhaps even changed your life direction or dreams. Did you learn anything from the change of plans — from dealing with it, living through it, seeing the blessings in it? Do you figure you’d have some wisdom to share about the whole experience?

Now is your chance to share! Our next book is titled Plans Are Made To Be Changed, and our Editing Committee has recommended that we get a dozen or so more submissions for it. Your ‘change of plans’ story could possibly be chosen for publication, and then your life experience and wisdom gained could bless thousands of readers. Pretty cool!!

You’ll have to be quick, though — we are on a tight schedule. The absolute deadline for submission will be January 31. Earlier will be better.

Do consider sharing your story!! This is such a great way to bless others! You certainly don’t have to be a ‘writer’ to share your story!! Just tell your story in your own words, in your own style. We are simply looking for heartfelt stories with the blessing of advice, written by and for women of faith.

To submit your story:
1) Click on the guidelines tab to get details for writing and submitting.
2) Contact us at articles@teafortheheart.com to let us know you are sharing your story. This way we can keep in touch with you for updates, etc.
3) Prepare your story in simple journaling/blogging style, or whatever is comfortable to you.
4) Submit your story and bio by January 31, 2011 to articles@teafortheheart.com (check the ‘guidelines’ tab for all the details)

We can’t wait to read YOUR story!!

P.S. ~ If you know a woman of faith that might have a powerful story to share, please invite her to check out this opportunity and information!

I’ll confess….blogging is just not my forte!! I so admire those folks who do it on a regular basis, fitting blogging in to their already very busy schedule. I just haven’t mastered that yet. I’ll keep trying!

BUT — it is way past time for a book update, and we are so excited to share with you that we’ve received the Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough Women Do manuscript back from the publisher today for FINAL copy editing!! How exciting is that!?!?!?!

So, what does this mean? Well, it means that amazing progress continues and we are still ON TRACK to have this book ‘in hand’ sometime in early spring — hopefully March! That will mean just one year from ‘idea’ to ‘book’. Wow. The Lord has been working mightily in this project!

Oh me, this continues to be so incredibly exciting!!! We’ve got FORTY writers in this book, and you are going to be so blessed by each one of them!! The youngest is 19, and the oldest is 101!! Needless to say, there is going to be a lot of variety in the stories and the advice given!! We do believe you’ll love it!!

The second book in the series is already well underway, but there are many more to come! Check out the ‘guidelines’ page, and consider sharing your story through A Cup of Tea for the Heart! This is a great way to bless many with the lessons you’ve learned along the way.

Stay tuned for more news…..and tell your friends!!

Got the Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough Women Do manuscript back from the publisher today for our mid-term editing/approval! Can you imagine how exciting this is???? EEEeekkkk!! We soooooo cannot wait for you to have the opportunity to get this book into your hands!! ♥

You and all your friends are going to love it!! What an AMAZING blessing that so many faith-filled women are feeling called to share life experience wisdom in order to bless others!! Wow. This truly is amazing!! The stories are just so powerful…helpful…indescribable. ♥

I spent a weekend recently with aunts, uncles, and cousins I had not seen in twelve years.  It was wonderful.  These people care about me.  They are my roots.  They know who I am and where I came from.  They know the why of the me that is deep down inside.

Things are to be used  They have their time and place.  When their time and place are gone they no longer matter.  What really matters in the long run is people.  The people who share our lives.  The people who share our heritage.  The people who share our earth.

That’s what life is all about — caring for each other.

…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.