TeaCup Living Muses

On dark and dreary days holding on to a teaCup and sipping the brown brew, quiets my spirit and warms my soul.

In the quiet moments of holding the teaCup in my hands, I begin to pour out prayers in an informal conversation to the King of kings.

As I envision Him on His throne next to His Majestic Father, I know He is pausing with me for He leans forward to listen not only to my words but to my heart as well.

The times spent in those moments are truly filled with time, encouragement, acceptance in Christ’s uplifting presence.

Though my surroundings may be dark and dreary, I’m renewed from going to the Light that sits on the throne of my life.

Why do I wait for dark and dreary days for such intimate moments that are available every day?
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A cracked pot lets the Light of the Lord

            show through if it is filled with stories

                        of the great and glorious things

                                    He has done.

A cracked cup has leaked out

            the love of the Lord

                        one drop at a time.

The saucer is there to catch

            the love and keep the

                        believer comfortable

                                    and unscalded.

A teaCup is a container to hold-

            a great treasure to behold-

but if not used to strengthen and renew
then what use is it other than to collect dust?

The joy is in the name that reminds us of its true value…

a teaCup 
meaning being in 
Christ's uplifting presence
sharing the message of His amazing grace.

                                               

                     Uplifting Blessings,

Carolyn 

Let God be exalted.      Psalm 70:4

Christian Communicators a Cup Full of Blessings

Thirty ladies are in for a tasty treat while enjoying an afternoon tea being served by the chefs at The Cove in the mountains of North Carolina. This tea time treat is one of the highlights served with the Christian Communicators Conference where ladies are coming from across the nation to be educated, validated and launched in their speaking ministries.

Vonda Skelton and I are co-directing the third Christian Communicators conference at the Billy Graham Training Center where the participants will have sessions in

·           discovering their ministry focus and mission

·           taking their presentation skills to the next level with drama, music, props and humor

·           developing and managing forms, paperwork, and marketing

·           adding professional polish and poise beyond the platform

·           moving forward in their speaking ministry by breaking through barriers and hitting goals.

The afternoon tea is where the ladies will be applying business etiquette and social graces that will be taught the day before. Application is the transformational difference.

As professional speakers, our manners make us or break us. Manners make others feel comfortable being around us. Manners make way for additional moments when others will listen to us talk about the grace and Gospel of God. Manners Matter is only one of the topics being shared to help women take their ministry to the next level.

In my years of training as an etiquette and international protocol consultant, I heard a repeated story of a queen who had a dinner guest who picked up their finger bowl and drank from it. To save her uneducated guest embarrassment, the queen lifted her finger bowl and sipped too. I refer to the royal lady as the Queen of Grace and Kindness.

No finger bowls will be present at the Christian Communicators’ tea table. However, the table will be topped with savories, scones, sweets, and tasty teas.

Only two more spaces are available. If you would like a sampling of what else is offered at the CC conference visit our website at www.ChristianCommunicators.com.

Uplifting blessings,

Carolyn

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. ~ 2 Corinthians 13:14

A Pause in Prayer

"Leave the Irresparable Past in His Hands,

and step out into the Irrsistible Future with Him. "

~ Oswald Chambers

My Utmost for His Highest

December 31st

Dear God,

Heal me from my yesterdays.
Prepare me for my tomorrows.
Yet walk with me in all of my todays.

You've called me to teach.
You've provided the platform.
You've made the plan.

Here I am to use in fulfilling Your purpose.
Fill this mission with Your uplifting presence.
Make me a capable lamb.

Amen.

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A new year is dawning.

New beginnings are starting.

May 2012 be a year full of answered prayers

and Christ's uplifting blessings for you,

dear friend.

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Because I love the Lord Jesus Christ, I feed and care for His flock with a teacup as an outreach tool by giving others time, encouragement, and acceptance in Christ's uplifting presence.

My scripture verse for 2012 is from Ephesians 6:10,

"Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power."

What verse have you choosen to live by in 2012?

Your comments are treasures.

Happy New Year.

Christmas Blessing over TeaCups

Tea parties at Christmas time are a peaceful delight and Christ Jesus is the heartbeat of the season.

Last Christmas, I hosted a Birthday Jesus Celebration Tea. The menu was simple with a birthday cake, brownies, cream cheese wreath cookies, Scandinavian almond cake, and hot cinnamon apple slices. The ladies and I balanced our tasty treats while setting in a circle in the living room; each one shared a specific gift we received that year from Christ. This simple activity laced our lives together in an unforgettable experience.

This year has been full of house guests, preparations for conferences, speaking engagements, times with family and friends along with meeting writing deadlines. In the light of my busyness, I did not have time to plan a tea party of my own to honor God’s greatest gift for us, His beloved Son.

I was blessed to be asked by friend to speak at her Christmas tea for the ladies in her neighborhood. My friend introduced me to Christmas Gatherings where one person hosts a party while a speaker shares the message of the giver, the gift, and the receiver. Check out the details at http://www.christmasgatherings.com/

My wish during this special season is to be with each one of you and visit over a teacup and a tasty treat. Since this isn’t possible, I want to do the next best thing - sharing this simple Scandinavian almond cake recipe with you.

Enjoy!

Scandinavian Almond Cake

1 ¼ cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. pure almond extract
2/3 cup milk
1 ¼ cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1 stick butter, melted
¼ cup sliced almonds, opt.
powered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a long narrow baking dish or bunt pan with cooking spray and dust with flour. Set aside.

Beat together sugar, egg, almond extract, and milk until smooth. Add flour, baking powder, and melted butter to sugar mixture. Mix well.

Sprinkle sliced almonds on the bottom of greased and floured pan. Pour batter over the almonds. Place in heated oven. Bake 45 to 55 minutes until golden.

Remove cake from pan two or three minutes being removed from oven onto a wire rack to cool. Dust cake with powdered sugar before serving.

Options: Serve with fruit and whip cream or vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.

~

May Christ’s uplifting presence be with you throughout the New Year.

For to us a child is born…And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
~ Isaiah 9:6-7

Savoring the Silence

Life has been like boiling water the last few months. Creating a new Web site for Christian Communicators with my partner Vonda Skelton, along with hosting a week at the Christian Communicators conference, has left little energy for posting here. Forgive me, dear friends.

Like a teabag steeping in steamy water, I gave my all to refresh others. But now, I’ve had time to pause, to brew a cup of delight, and savor the silence at the Good Shepherd’s feet.

There’s no greater place to pause with a teaCup in hand than in silence. Remember my meaning for teaCup? It means enjoying time, encouragement, acceptance in Christ’s uplifting presence.

After rejoicing in having had the opportunity to feed Christ’s sheep through teaching etiquette, purpose boarding, writing purpose statements, and how to break-through barriers. I’m savoring silence over a teaCup and thinking of you.

What is it that I can serve you in these posts?

I’m not one who likes to chatter with pen and ink or typing on a blank screen. Writing on purpose to fill a need, a want, or a desire requested of me is more my style. What information or story may I serve you?

At a formal tea there are three main food types:

Savories – finger sandwiches
Sweet breads – scones, muffins, and simple loaves
Sweet treats – cakes, petit fours, and candies

My goal is to serve three main areas of information for you dear guest. However to bring you what you want, I need know what to bring to you.

What type of information would you like to bite into about etiquette?
What substantial teaching would fill your needs in adding professional polish?
What tasty treat in story telling would you like to hear about situations and relationships in the home, workplace, or community?

The boiling water in my life has cold down. The silence was refreshing. Now I await your comment on what you would like to be served through TeaCup Living postings.

Uplifting blessings, dear friends.

A Book Junky in the Making

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Being a book junky causes me to do strange things, such as keeping an extra plastic grocery bag or two stashed in my car, so I can smuggle in books along with groceries is one of the crazy things I do. This is premeditated deception so I can feed my fix.

There are books hidden in the pantry, in the guest room drawers, and in plain sight displaced in fancy bathroom baskets. My husband says I have enough as he see the eight bookcases are over stuffed and I'm trying to cram in one more.

How can one have to many books? Each book is a friend...an author who has taken time to tell a story or share information? Who can have too many entertaining and teaching friends? A book is a part of a person held between a front and back cover.

The best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) thing I've done as a book junky is to give our youngest grandson a taste of this addition by taking him to a booksigning afternoon tea!

With his special challenges, I didn't know how wise this outing would be. Taking any eight year old boy to a formal tea was a risk.

But a local book store called Fiction Addition had a perfect set up downtown at a renowned cafe' for tea and manners tutoring for young kids. They served grilled cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut in small bite size shapes for savories. Lined baskets filled with waved potato chips with salad tongs replaced sweet breads and scones. The mini cupcakes with icing crowning their tops were offered by our host, Ms. Jill Hendrix on a beautiful plate. Punch and hot chocolate filled the tea cups. The menu was perfect for the girls and boys too. They gobbled it all up. They applied the manners the author taught before eating and drinking began.

What a delight it was to see our grandson dab his mouth a few times as he was taught; but, still leaving the chocolate mustache behind. The long linen covered table held over twenty kids, moms and grandmothers. No loud noises, all dressed in their best, and the art of conversation did out shined the rest.

Our grandson became hooked on his new book when the author read her story about a dragon and a princess on a quest to find good manners. Before leaving, the author wrote a personalized note in the front of Luke's book.

A new book junky in the making, this book junky does some good things too.

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Do you have a special book you can remember that became your special friend or changed your life? Share the title with me, please. I've created a new space for another bookcase...a junky can never have enough treasured friends.

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Photo: baby pix PHOTOGRAPHY
http://www.babypixphotography.com/

The book: A Quest for Good Manners by Karin Lefranc
www.amazon.com/Quest-Good-Manners-Karin-Lefranc/dp/0983045909/ref=sr_1_?ie=UTF8&qid=1313160690&sr=8-1

The book store: Fiction Addiction
www.fiction-addiction.com/

Whistle Stop

Life has been a boiling tea kettle.

The kettle seems to be screaming for my attention with loud whistles for me to stop.

House guest for three weeks, emails piled as high as a fireman's extended latter, articles to write and customized programs to create; each a ministry with focused needs. The "doing" needs to be done. It's the "being" that causes me to pour the water into the kettle and turn on the fire.

However, I love the bubbling roar and shieking bluster. Why? Because the rush means to pull the tea kettle away from the flame and pour the hot liquid over awaiting tealeaves in a porcelain tea pot then to pause in the wait while allowing steeping to change my pace.

Teatime takes me out of my routine to pause, to pray, to praise, or just be in Christ's presence. It's a time for me to pour out appreciation to the One who give me strength. Pausing and steeping at His feet brings change in me.

The "doing" will wait for me to get things done. The "being" will renew me while reminding me to live what I teach. The hot water of life and taking time to be in His presence makes for a tasty brew that addes flavor to my serve in what He's called me to do.

When God turns up the fire and my life begings to boil and I begin to be an annoying whistle, I know He's planning to lift me up to pour me out to fill up another cold soul that is before me as a house guest, an email friend, or a guest in the audience. Life can be empty if the tea kettle doesn't whistle for me to stop, steep and be in Christ's uplifting presence.

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What causes you to pause when life seems like a boiling tea kettle?

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The best tea kettle I have found is an electric one I picked up at CostCo.