A well planned event...that ended with a dance

It is always such a treat to be with these cuties and Monday was extra special!  Lia had planned a special day for us - a "Grandma and Me Tea Party".  Anna was invited to join us since it is not a good idea to leave an almost three year old to their own devices!  And you certainly can not trust a five year old and a seven year old to "watch" their little sister.  The idea came from this book that I had gifted to Lia.....

For anyone not familiar with American Girl, they have quite the cult following and most girls between the ages of 4 and 12 are familiar with these much sought after dolls, clothes, accessories and books, as well as craft items and much more......well you get the idea.  There are giant magazines filled with items that always seem to appear on our girl's wish lists.  This is a really cute book, filled with ideas and things to do for a girl and her Grandma.  Lia decided that this was the week for our special day.  

We started with a special tea party that included various snacks.  Anna's favorite part of the party was pouring the "tea" (which was actually water).  Over the course of the morning she filled (and drank) that tea pot full of water more times than I could count.  Needless to say, she got more than her daily recommended water intake.  The party continued with a very complicated dance routine (this is Lia's 8th year of dance classes) that I tried my best to follow.  At the end of this dance time I had several things that I had discovered....... 1.  I am not a dancer   2.  I am pretty much out of shape   3.  Even the stuff that looked easy was really hard for me   4.  I should probably be doing this kind of thing more often.  

The girls had a great time.  They actually had me video their dance presentations and invited Ellie and Zeke to be the audience.  Zeke believes that the audience should be constantly cheering and shouting (which, of course, is really fun for a five year old boy).  Anna was able to do a very long dance routine all by herself.  It is amazing how quickly she picks up the dance moves from her sisters.  I suspect she will be a dancer also.  I was quite happy to be part of the audience and rest on the sofa by this time.  

What a wonderful, refreshing time this was for me!  Lia had made this very special plan and had everything all set up and ready to go.  How can you not just feel special when someone goes to all this trouble for you?  The best part is how much fun we had spending time together.  I am so thankful for Gwen and Tim's decision to home school the kids.  Instead of just a few short minutes before the bus on the day I am there, we have the entire morning.  This time together is so precious to me.  

Time together - just being together - doing the small things.  I needed this time.  What a reminder it was for me of the call that I have been hearing from Jesus over the last months.  All he wants is for us to spend some time with him.  He asks us to come like little children and just be with him.  It doesn't have to be a only on Sunday morning while seated in a church.  As a matter of fact, I think that Jesus is so much more desiring that we just invite him into our homes for a little tea party!  For so many years my "quiet times" were actually just forced minutes squeezed into my day for a short devotional from a book, followed by a list of my prayer concerns.  Now don't get me wrong here.  There is nothing wrong with this routine.  The problem was that I never really invited Jesus to join me in it!  Some how I had missed this really important step!  My tea party with Lia reminded me that I need to remember to set aside this precious "face to face" time with Jesus.  It might include a devotional or a bible story.  But just imagine how differently you might read that passage if you had Jesus sitting next to you on the couch.  He wants to be with us.  To eat with us - yes to have tea with us!  Even pretend tea!  And I know that he would want to dance with each of us also.  One of my favorite songs is  Dance With Me by Paul Wilbur.  

I expected that Monday would be one of those really tense days because of the election on Tuesday.  There was so much heavy stuff no matter where you looked.  I actually was thinking on Sunday how nice it would be to just skip Monday and Tuesday and go directly to Wednesday when it would be over.  Thanks to Lia, I was reminded again, that all I needed was a tea party to lighten my mood.  A dance and yes, some face to face time with Jesus.  My Monday and Tuesday were calm and peace filled days.    

If you are feeling done in by the stress of the world, your life or your situation, I encourage you to have some tea with Jesus.  And be sure and listen to that song and have a dance with Jesus.   

Thank you Jesus for knowing exactly what we need each day.  Thank you for Lia and her desire to just spend time with me.  Holy Spirit remind all of us how much we need time with Jesus.  Thank you for the faith of little children.  Amen