No tea today, just thoughts...

Sometimes I get very depressed by my classes this semester at Faulkner. Some of which are… Coping with Loss and Grief, Family Violence, Intro to World Missions, and Cultural Anthropology. Some of these sound like they would be okay to sit through, I thought so too. It's a given that the first two are going to be pretty rough. I knew that going into it. What surprised me was how much I would cry through the other two. We watch a video in World Missions class about children in other countries that needed help (clothes, money, homes, medical care). There are two things that you can talk about that will without fail make me cry, neglected children and neglected elderly. It was hard to sit through.

Cultural Anthropology has been a nightmare in more then one way. My teacher has two or three papers due every week, this alone would not be so bad, but evolutionist writes the papers and it's not hard to tell what they believe. The book that we are working in has the same feel to it. If someone were to read a student's notes in this class they would think that we were all believers of it. I find ways of putting God into all my papers that I write for this class. I don't think I could keep it up if I didn't. My teacher does write notes of encouragement on my papers, which keeps me thinking positive about the class. 

 There is so much that I would love to do for the Lord and His work. I want so much to be able to make a difference for someone, to be of some use to others.
Looking back at Freshman year I found a note that I had written to a friend. I talked about not wanting to listen to all of my other friends who were telling me to become a counselor. I said I would "never" do that. I didn't think that I could handle it. I look back and laugh at it now. It still surprises me how different God's plans tend to be from mine. I wish I had come to school already knowing that it was what I needed to do, but I'm glad that I went through the growing that I did to get there. All in all I know that these classes are going to be helpful to me in my career and in my Christian walk. I feel very blessed to be able to come to Faulkner and study counseling. I love my parents for seeing the need to send me and being able to have me so far away from them. I have grown a lot here, and many prayers have been answered here. "God is good, all the time."

Sugar Plum Tea

This week I have been working on writing a paper for "Women of the Word" on purity. When most people think about purity we think about virginity and saving our self for marriage, but purity is something much deeper then that. It's a matter of the heart. It's in how we dress, speak, and it even is reflected in our thoughts. I once heard it said that the outward appearance reflects the inward heart of a person. I believe that to be true. It is fairly easy for someone to dress modestly and not be pure in thoughts, but it's impossible for someone to dress immodestly and have the kind of pure heart that God desires of us. Does God expect us to not dress up then, and to play down our looks? I don't think so. I believe that God likes it when a woman will try and look her best. The Proverbs 31 woman clothed herself in purple fine linen. Ester adorned herself before going before the king and God is even mentioned as adorning His bride Israel.

Anyway, that was just a few thoughts that have come to mind while working on this paper. :)

Tonight I'm drinking Sugar Plum Tea. It is pretty much amazing. My wonderful Grandmother gave this tea to me before I left home over Christmas break. That might be part of the reason why I like it so much. I miss her tons. When I was little everyone said that I looked like her. I took pride in that, because I wanted to be just like her. She is so sweet and kind hearted to all those she meets. She is a truly beautiful Christian lady. I love her with all my heart.

Blueberry Tea

Well I'm sitting in kitchen waiting for three cute little faces to walk through my door. Marley, the youngest of the gang has the ability to make you want to give her everything her little heart desires...which of course I can't. Hayes the middles loves to find new things to get into and has something new and exciting to tell me about his life every time he sees me. Then you have Carson, the old soul. He makes sure that the other two are minding what I tell them and is always ready to lend me a helping hand with whatever task I should have come up. I get to see these wonderful kids often during the week when their mom has class. I love how sweet and innocent little kids can be. I often find myself thinking about how Jesus said we must become like a child to inter into the Kingdom. I start to notice how often I fall short. I'm so blessed to have such beautiful little examples in my life.

Okay, so not being able to have caffeine now or chocolate has put a damper on my taste testing the past few weeks...but I do have a new one for the week! Blueberry Green Tea. I like it a lot! Blueberries have always been one of my favorite fruits growing up, but we never ate them that much they were like a special treat every now and then. I don't know who thought up putting it in tea, but it works well. It just might be my second favorite tea. On a side note, I have tried Candy Cain Lane Tea. It is a holiday special thing. And I'm proud to say that I love it even more then just plain peppermint tea. But I feel like they are too similar for that to count anyway. It's pretty good though, you should try it.

Chai Tea

Well, I know that you all have been waiting to hear if Travis and Heather were having a boy or girl…..I guess I should let you all know that they are having a wonderful, God made…baby, who just happens to be a girl. Riley Lynn Yarborough. We are all looking forward to meeting the wonderful blessing that God has given to Heather and Travis, Lord willing in May. I’m going to put up the video of how they told the family soon. It was pretty cute.

We had a small mini Christmas today with some of our family from out of town. My Aunt, Uncle and Cousins came to spend some time with us. I hope that we all leave still on good terms because one of the gifts I gave to the kids was tablets that you can put in your bath water to change it different colors. It’s more of a favorite of the kids, I’m not sure if it’s a gift that their parents are going to enjoy.  J

It has been really good to be home right now. I love getting to relax and not have to worry about school or work, and I can go to bed before midnight if I would like. Not that I have done that yet. We all tend to stay up really late talking. The other night the kids had me tell them a story off the top of my head to put them to sleep. It must have been too good for a bed time story though, because the only thing they could do was laugh the whole time and they didn’t want a quick end to the story….I finally finished by 12:30am and handed the story telling off to Zachary and he had them asleep in no time. I think I should work on my bedtime routine with the kids before I try that again. J  

My Grandma and Aunt Teresa saw my blog and when I came home I had tons of teas waiting for me on the kitchen table. This morning I tried Chai tea. It was really good. I think I almost like it as much as the peppermint tea. I think it has cinnamon in it. That was just one of the many spices that you can taste. I will give this one a nine out of ten… mint tea being a ten. J  

                                             The Kids enjoyed taking funny photos

                                                        Our silly Willey

Pretty Emmie

                               Emily and Will In their new hats that Aunt Tammy Made them

                                 Travis getting practice with Kelby a friend of the family

                                            First baby girl dress for Riley :)

Papa Bear putting up Riley's first Christmas ornament

Sleepy Time Tea

The time I am putting in at the Hisey house has been very eventful. The other day we went on a boy scout walk around down town Savannah, Georgia. It took us all around looking at the different religious sites around town. It was a grand total of 6 miles and it took us about 5 hours to complete the whole thing. I don't mind though, because I got some history lessons, and a boy scout  patch for doing it. I also got to see some beautiful old houses and pet some Clydesdale horses. They had a little part of down town that looked like a Christmas village and was super cute! All in all it was a good day. :)
 


Tonight, I'm drinking Sleepy Time Tea. with honey. I would say that the name is fitting. I'm falling asleep as I am writing this. It has lemon grass in it. I think I may be imagining this, but I sometimes think that I taste a grassy taste in it. I think this one is okay, not my favorite though. Mint tea is still safe and sound in it's number one spot. I might drink this on days that I'm having a hard time falling asleep.

Have a good night!
          Indy




 

Peppermint Tea

 It's my first time staying in Georgia! I'm spending some time with the Hisey family before I go home for break from school. It has been crazy cold here and I got to see snow on the cars for the first time this winter. There is going to be some good times at the Hisey house this week and I will let you know the happenings as they come.

Tonight I'm going to drink a nice cup of mint tea before I climb into bed. It somehow has a way of making life seem so relaxed and peaceful. When I drink it I think of home and the holidays. 
As a bonus for all you wondering about the title... I have decided that all this winter break, I am going to try different kinds of teas, coffees, and hot chocolates, blog about them, and might just tell you which ones are good and which ones I won't pick up again. Peppermint tea is my all time favorite; I wonder if it will still be at the end. You are more then welcome to try them right along with me.

May God bless you and keep you,
India