Jesus Likes You.

We all know Jesus loves us, right? I mean we sang it in Sunday school so it must be true. While I know Jesus loves me sometimes I worry that he doesn’t really like me. I have people in my life whom I love but don’t particularly like. I love them because God asks me to love them, not out of my own volition.

With this in mind, it’s easy to suppose that Jesus is sitting up in his gorgeous throne rolling his eyes at me every time I forget to make my bed in the morning. I envision Jesus sighing heavily and reluctantly saying, “Yah, I love that crazy girl down there, but jeeze, I wish she’d be less annoying.”

This (on top of probably being heretical on many levels) is craziness on my part!

My friends like me. My family likes me. If they can find something worth liking in me, how much more will God? In Matthew he talks about the good gifts of a father. If a father, wicked as he is, can give his child good gifts, how much more will God, Father of all, give good gifts to his children? The same principle goes for Jesus’ joy in us.

Far from the picture of Jesus stuffily sitting upon his throne, eating bon bons, and watching us on a video monitor, Jesus is actually an active participator with us in our lives through the Holy Spirit. He abides with us.

Jewish tradition has always referred to life with God as a walk. He is the guide. He is the way. He leads us on straight, narrow paths. He is with us, step for step.

The good things others like in me are things Jesus likes too! That makes me so happy. It gladdens my heart when someone says something nice about me. If my friends, who are presumably just as self-obsessed and awful as I am, can love and like me then the God of love must love and like me infinitely more.  I just want to jump out of my seat and hug and kiss him, it makes me so happy!

He likes the way we bite our lips. He likes the thoughts of our heart that we tell no one but him. He likes every wrinkle, scar, and roll on your body. He likes the smile no one else is there to see. He likes the joke you make up in your mind but had no one to tell it to. He LIKES you!

Jesus doesn’t love you out of obligation. He created you and your personality. He loves (and likes) all of you for you.

 

Tea Time

Sorry I haven’t written in a few weeks: it was a mixture of not feeling particularly inspired and being super busy! Or maybe it was being super busy and not having time to become particularly inspired.

Anyways, I’m glad to see you again.

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite things in the world: tea.

It is a little luxury that I indulge in everyday…sometimes two or three times a day. C.S. Lewis once said:

“You can never get at cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me”

Oh, what a wise man! I must confess, I first became obsessed with tea as a fifteen year old in love with Jane Austen. The idea of partaking in the delicate little ritual Elizabeth and Darcy delighted in every day, was so enchanting to me. The only problem was I didn’t really like the taste of tea. Oh what is a girl to do? It was long past the days where I could put water in my little tea set and pretend I was grown up and refined…

That was my sad state of affairs…that is, until I went to Victoria, B.C. My mom took me to the elegant Empress Hotel for high tea and our butler of sorts prepared the hot dark liquid, with a few cubes of white sugar, and a splash of sweet cream. The mixture was so delicious and soothing. The aroma so ancient and exotic. I was hooked.

In the years since, I have slowly let up on the sugar, switched to milk instead of heavy cream, and started experimenting with the plethora of tea choices out there. I now have a whole drawer filled with teas to fit my every mood.

Tea is more than tea, though. Pouring, smelling, warming, filling. It is a way of life. An escape from life. I take my tea (in a pretty little cup of course), pick up a book, and revel in the stillness. The English knew what they were doing when they made tea a part of their everyday lives…

Thanks for reading and go have a cup of tea!

My Favorite Teas:
Harney and Sons- Paris Blend
Harney and Sons- Vanilla Comoro
Bombay Market
Vanilla Chai