Sweet Tea, The Pea & Me

I have been thirsty since February. For the first time in my life, I’m fasting for Lent. For whatever reason, I felt the need to give up something this year, to make a kind of sacrifice for spiritual growth. I tried to think of something that would be a sacrifice for me…caffeine? Not really a sacrifice for me personally. Chocolate? That would be tough, but I try not to keep any chocolate in the house, so it wouldn’t be a huge temptation. I decided to give up tea. I must admit that tea is my vice. The sweet elixir I look forward to each morning…usually in the form of steaming English Breakfast Tea. As I’m sipping my morning cup of tea, I’m boiling water to brew my daily pitcher of sweet tea. (I’m a Kentucky girl, what can I say?) During the day I devour glass upon glass of icy cold sweet tea. At night, I switch to Chai Tea Lattes.
I find it odd that I am literally thirsty all the time. You would think water could quench my thirst as well as tea. But even though I gulp down water, I am still aching for more to drink. I’m never completely satisfied.
A few weeks ago, the Pea was looking through her Sunday School papers…which she keeps piled on her bedside table. She found a booklet she’d constructed called Jesus Makes A Choice. The premise was Jesus’ choice to use scripture (God’s Word) to ward off temptation in the wilderness. The Pea skipped down the stairs with her book to share with me. (“Mamma, we’re gonna have a little review…” says my child theologian.) The left hand side of each page lists what Satan said to tempt Jesus, and hidden under a paper flap on the right hand side of each page is Jesus’ scriptural reply to thwart the Devil. My daughter’s timing is perfect (God’s timing?) as Lent reminds us of this 40 day time frame when Jesus was in the wilderness, fasting, and being tempted (to no avail) by Satan.
Knowing Jesus has been without food for weeks and weeks, the Devil says: “Command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” (The Pea tells me Jesus’ scriptural reply and flips up the flap to reveal that she is correct. Her eyebrows arch as if to say, “Now YOU review this so that you, too, can make good choices). Jesus answered, “It is written ‘One does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” This is a scripture verse from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 8:3.
I’ve committed this verse to memory and pondered it often during the past month. Fasting from tea, my thirst has not been quenched. But I have sought to quench my spiritual thirst by exploring the Bible – the Word of God--, deeper, on a daily basis. Yesterday I came across the story of the woman at the well. Jesus asked for a drink of water from the Samaritan (Jews rarely associated with Samaritans, whom they deemed “unclean.” No doubt the woman was shocked Jesus would even speak to her, much less ask for some water.) Jesus goes on to talk about living water, He tells her, “Everyone who drinks from this (well) water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
I am counting the days until Easter, when I will be able to drink tea again, when I will be able to quench my thirst after the 40 day sacrifice. During this time I’ve prepared my heart for a celebration of the ultimate sacrifice: Jesus – who was within sin – executed on the cross, taking the blame for my sins, so that I might live forever with God. On Easter we celebrate His rising from the dead to be with God, his Father, in heaven.
Blessings as we dive into Holy Week.
Or as The Pea would say, “Love ya, mean it!”

In Which The Bug And The Pea Wallow In The Mud

The Bug and the Pea are wallowing in the mud. Literally. Granddad built a lovely garden down the left side of our backyard. The raised garden is rectangular in shape, about 20 feet long, two feet wide, one foot deep. Stones border the edges and a rich mixture of top soil, mulch and fertilizer fill the garden beyond capacity. We have yet to plant vegetables for the season. Thus, when warm weather surprised us this week, the not-yet-planted garden became quite the playground.
In all fairness, they did begin with the right equipment. Shovels, rakes, gardening gloves. The Bug and the Pea donned snow boots (hand-me-downs with the price tags still intact) in hopes of keeping their worn, torn $10 Wal-Mart sneakers “clean.” But after a bit of burrowing, the gardening gloves came off. The shovels were traded for dirty-fingernailed-digging hands. And the fun really began.
The front of the garden borders a fence gate, and beyond the gate is the water spigot. The Bug and the Pea decided the dirt wasn’t quite moist enough and remedied the situation promptly by filling various plastic containers (procured from my kitchen cabinets…) with water from the spigot. As if 40 square feet of unadulterated mud was not enough, the Bug began digging a new hole beside the gate. A kind of holding tank, as it were, for the storage of mud-pies.
And, of course, what is fun for two little ones is even more fun with six. Enter children from the neighborhood. Quite a collection of mud-balls (picture meatballs, but inedible) has accumulated in the burgeoning ditch beside the fence gate.
But, you ask, hasn’t it been raining in Kentucky? Not a problem. This is where the ever trusty umbrella comes in handy. The children are masters at creating an umbrella shelter, practically cancelling the need to come indoors during a light shower.
We are beginning the season where a trail of mud will continually adorn my floor. I keep a broom, my Swiffer, the vacuum cleaner handy. And of course I stock up on laundry detergent and stain removers. In our home, the sign of a great day: needing to hose the kiddos off before they come inside, to be promptly washed in the tub…sometimes twice.
Speaking of which, it’s time to fill the bath…almost bedtime for two delightfully giggly mud wallowers…

Pirate Pea And The Sword-Fight-Balloon-Tennis-Match

Today, the Bug tromped off to school, however, the Pea has been quarantined for 24 hours due to Strep Throat. I must selfishly admit it was nice to have some quiet play time with my littlest one. Even as I type, my elbow is resting on the quilt also known as the roof of her Fort. The quilt is strung out between the arm rest of the couch, the computer desk chair (which the Pea managed to move while I wasn’t looking) the piano bench, and a tall basket. Blankets cover the floor beneath the quilt, along with juice boxes. She made a bit of a window where I was allowed to deliver several requisite items…a sliced kiwi, a baby doll, some handwritten “mail” (I was instructed to roll the letter up like a Bible Scroll).
We brought down baby dolls and played house, although that didn’t last long…”Mom, you don’t play dolls as good as Sissy. I guess I’m just used to her voice telling the dolls what to do next…”
We played some board games and I may have kind of sort of let her win one time I could have won. After cleaning up the games, I loaded some clothes in the wash. When I returned to the living room, Pirate Pea awaited me.
In the few moments I was busy, she had trotted upstairs and donned a pirate vest, black leggings, black bandana, pirate hat. On her shoulder perched a stuffed parrot and she was carrying the inflatable Pirates of the Caribbean Sword (of Happy Meals past…) Her other hand held a single yellow balloon… origin unknown. Pirate Pea convinced me the ship on which we were sailing was an educational vessel. One which taught exclusively: Tennis. (OK) She immediately challenged me to a game of Pirate-Sword Fight-Balloon-Tennis in which we bat the balloon back and forth with our inflatable swords. The multi-colored parrot sat where the “net” would be….if we had a tennis net… and acted as a tiny referee. Call me crazy, but it was actually quite fun. As the Pea tends to do, she changed the rules as we went along to suit her, “If the balloon touches the wall, you lose a point! If the balloon touches the ground, you lose a point! I know I hit the balloon toward the couch, but I don’t lose a point for that!”
All was well until our trusty yellow balloon popped. I went up to the attic in hopes of retrieving another balloon. I searched our gift wrapping supplies (and decided our attic really needs to be straightened up) to no avail. Not to be thwarted, when Daddy arrived home, I popped over to the grocery for a bag of balloons.
Pirate Pea was much relieved to see the bag of one hundred assorted balloons. Mommy was not so relieved to participate in the inflating of one hundred said assorted balloons. Nevertheless, it was a delightful day – as far as quarantined days can be – and I see much Pirate-Sword-Fight-Balloon-Tennis in our immediate future.

The Hard Knock Life...or Goodbye Broadway

I'm almost finished with first grade. Warm weather's on the way, but it's not the blistering heat of Kentucky summer yet. The window is open -- well, both windows-- the one that overlooks the neighbor's carport and the one that opens out to the back yard. The breeze is flowing and I can smell flowers from next door..from that huge tree that hangs over the fence.
My little blue record player spins a well-worn ANNIE album. I can hear the needle as it scratches the grooves and I lift it up to place it on the right groove for "It's A Hard Knock Life." Hairbrush in hand, I am a DIVA. I am Annie -- not really Annie -- but a Broadway star portraying the spunky, red-headed orphan.
I was just relaying this memory to the Bug and the Pea. On warm afternoons such as today, it's easy to shoo them outside. Chalk drawings designated roads, stop signs, streets...and the girls were driving (biking) around their little town. The Bug tells me some local actors came to school presenting the musical, "ANNIE." The Pea tries to remember some songs, "Mommy they sing about getting kicked and there's a guy named Rooster!"
I burst out into song,"Maybe far away...or maybe real nearby..." Blank stares.
I continue, "Lucky me, Lucky me, look at what I'm drippin' with...liiiiiiittttle girls." Blank stares.
Perhaps this one? "You're never fully dressed without a smile!" I feel compelled to dance around the driveway, but I refrain myself.
"You're poor as a mouse, I'm richer than Midas!" Nothing.
Come on girls, I say, don't you recognize the Annie songs?
To which they reply, "Sure Mom. We were just waiting for you to stop singing so we could get back to our playing..."
And with that, all Tony award aspirations vanished into thin...chalk dust filled...air...