Summer Iced Tea

Iced tea is another thing I love about summer!  Oh, and a grammar lesson for you--it's iced tea, not ice tea.  Tea that is iced.  Like iced coffee.  Look it up.  Don't worry; I still love you.  :)

Here's something else you may not have known.  I'm not a teetotaler.  I may drink a glass of wine, or a mixed drink, simply for the pleasure of it.

Honor the Lord from your wealth

And from the first of all your produce;

So your barns will be filled with plenty

And your vats will overflow with new wine.

My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord

Or loathe His reproof,

Proverbs 3:9-11 NASB

Okay, that's just a snippet.  God has given us all things to enjoy, and this is one of them.  While I'm not going to defend my stance here (though I'll happily share with you my beliefs), I'm simply going to share a recipe I developed.

Just one more thing.  If you come to my house and I offer you iced tea, don't worry.  It's not spiked.  Because I love you.  :)

Here's the recipe.

Summer Iced Tea
Yield:  One half-gallon pitcher of summertime refreshment.

4 cups cold filtered water
6 tea bags (I use 4 black + 2 flavored, peach or cherry or something fruity)
1/4 to 1/3 cup cane juice crystals (or white sugar)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup triple sec

In a medium covered saucepan, bring the water to a boil.  Once it boils, turn it down to a simmer, place the tea bags in the water, put the lid back on, and simmer 15 minutes.

At the end of the 15 minutes, remove the tea bags, gently squeezing the excess tea out of each and back into the saucepan.  Stir in the sugar until dissolved.  This mixture is your tea concentrate.

To a half-gallon pitcher, add enough ice to fill about 2/3 full (don't worry about being exact here).  Now add the lime juice and triple sec to the saucepan, give it a quick stir, and carefully pour this tea mixture into the pitcher over the ice.  Using a spoon that fits into the pitcher, stir the iced tea to mix everything well.  Much of the ice will melt; that's okay, since the tea was in concentrate form.

You can pour the iced tea immediately into a glass and enjoy.  Keeps in the fridge, though I can't tell you how long it should last since our half-gallon pitcher is usually done in two or three days!  There is very little alcohol in this; it's just a beautifully flavored summertime drink.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,

And vegetation for the labor of man,

So that he may bring forth food from the earth,

And wine which makes man’s heart glad,

So that he may make his face glisten with oil,

And food which sustains man’s heart.

The trees of the Lord drink their fill,

The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,

Psalm 104:14-16 NASB

Back to life,
Christine

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Tea Talk -- Content With What You Have

Welcome to my home for Ruth's Tea Talk!

Sit and share a cup of tea with me as we encourage each other in the Lord.

To participate, click on Ruth's button above.

I'm having...a glass of iced tea once again.  It's just a little warmer and nicer out, and this may be my last glass of iced tea for a while.  I'm so glad I had lemons in the fridge!  My glass is a garage-sale find for 20 cents, and it feels nice in my grip.  I took this photo a week or so ago, right after I canned a small batch of jalapeños and homemade salsa.

I'm feeling...good after feeling a little "icky" last week.  I guess hormonal changes are normal at this stage of life!

On my mind...is helping Danny get his driver's license.  I'm getting worn down accompanying him to school three days a week.  At least I get concentrated time with Thomas (he goes with me) while he gets his schoolwork done, plus I have a little time while waiting, so I can read or work on my schedule.  Here's a shot from last week's college time.  What fun to be sitting with Thomas and see Lori's son Bryan walk by.  We had a great time chatting together before he had to go to class.

I leave you with...a quote taken from the book, Organized Simplicity, that you see in the above photo.  I have much to ponder about further simplifying my life!

We don't need to increase our goods

nearly as much as we need to scale down our wants.

Not wanting something is as good as possessing it.

Donald Horban

And a "corresponding" quote from my favorite book:

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money,

being content with what you have; for He Himself has said,

"I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5 NASB

Variegated beard-tongue in my front yard garden

Back to life,
Christine

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Tea Talk -- Come to Me

Welcome to my home for Ruth's Tea Talk!

Sit and share a cup of tea with me as we encourage each other in the Lord.

To participate, click on Ruth's button above.

I'm having...iced tea with lemon on this hot, humid day.  I'm sitting in my special spot, trying to stay cool and wondering what happened to our two weeks of fantastic weather.  HHH (Chicago term = hazy, hot, + humid) reared its head today, and will be here for our garage sale tomorrow, too.  Figures.  *crosses eyes*

I'm feeling...good physically, overwhelmed mentally with everything that I can't get done as usual.  Why?  I ask myself.  Argh.  It's so frustrating to have everything organized, know what I'm supposed to be doing, and life's schedule throws everything into this whirlwind I'm supposed to be able to handle.  More on that following...

On my mind...the above issue, obviously.  I tend to slow down during those humid summer days, but I need anything but a slow-down right now!  Garage sale this weekend with two other dear families, an all-day Labor Day cookout to prepare for and attend (which will be fun, it's just the crazy prep part), then SCHOOL officially on Tuesday.  I've been spending my days trekking to various college campuses with Danny, while trying to get things done (sure wish I had a laptop).  And poor Thomas is stuck doing whatever schoolwork he can without me at home.  He needs a computer to watch his math DVDs, and I don't have our history curriculum yet, or Biology lessons sorted out yet.  I hate to do all this on Sunday afternoon, but it looks like that's the only time I'll have to "get it all done."  Sigh.

I leave you with...well, it's more for me than for you.  I'm so sorry about this crazy post!  I guess you now get to see me all unglued and coming apart at the seams.  I'm being all Martha right now, running around trying to figure out how to do it all.  But the Lord's calming hand of mercy touches my heart, and I know He has it all under control.  I leave it with Him.

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,

and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.

For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30 NASB

Back to life,
Christine

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Tea Talk -- Carried Away

Welcome to my home for Ruth's Tea Talk!

Sit and share a cup of tea with me as we encourage each other in the Lord.

To participate, click on Ruth's button above.

I'm having...iced tea with lemon; I'm using my blue goblet.  I'm sitting on my bench in my back yard garden today, enjoying the remaining summer.

I'm feeling...[insert normal response:  fine].  Oh!  I have something different to report here:  I'm excited, sad, a little worried and/or nervous, and happy all at the same time.  Because...

On Monday, my dear sons Jacob (20) and Danny (18) got in the car...

Jacob (right), and Danny (left)

...backed out of the driveway...

...and drove off to college:

They came back later, of course.  Joliet Junior College is just half an hour away.  But they were gone all morning and my house was quiet with just Joseph, Thomas, and I.  I've always said--take one child away, and the noise level declines dramatically.  But having two gone results in a different feel altogether.  This is what it's like when they start to fly away.  I'm glad this learning-to-fly business is happening bit by bit.  :)

On my mind...is a photo shoot I'm going to do tomorrow night for a young Marine recently returned from Afghanistan.  Having married a Navy man, I have experienced a flood of memories as I think about the people in the military, and especially their willing sacrifice as they serve their country.

I leave you with...this passage of Scripture and a thought:

When Jesus came into Peter's home,

He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.

He touched her hand, and the fever left her;

and she got up and waited on Him.

When evening came,

they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed;

and He cast out the spirits with a word,

and healed all who were ill.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES

AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.

Matthew 8:14-17

In our family devotions, the question arose:  Why did Matthew reference the Scripture in Isaiah (chapter 54), which usually generally refers to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross?  And an interesting idea arose in response:  maybe Jesus healed in the physical sense to show the people that He would also heal in the spiritual sense.  After all, He spoke in parables so that the people could understand the spiritual idea behind the physical illustration.  By healing someone physically, He proved that He had the power to heal us spiritually.  He demonstrated this concept later in Scripture (the very next chapter of Matthew) when He forgave someone's sins first, then healed his physical body (cast out demons) afterward.

I am truly thankful that He can physically heal--I have felt His healing touch in my own body at various times.  But I am also truly thankful that He has healed me spiritually.  I am washed clean.  I am whole.  I am His.

Back to life,
Christine

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Tea Talk -- There Your Heart will Be

Welcome to my home for Ruth's Tea Talk!

Sit and share a cup of tea with me as we encourage each other in the Lord.

To participate, click on Ruth's button above.

At the patio table, with the vegetable garden beyond

I'm having...iced tea in my blue goblet with ice and a slice of fresh lemon.  Today I'm enjoying my iced tea in my back yard, in my special spot.

 

I apologize in advance for all the pictures!  Part of my special spot is pretty, and the rest--an unfinished sun-but-it's-now-shade garden--is a curving hill of various weeds.  My pretty Smith & Hawken bench sits in the shade under a scrub maple tree.  One day, this garden will become the focus of a summer project, and it will become an even more special spot!  But for now it sits, waiting for me to sit as well, take a breath, and relax.

I'm feeling...good even throughout another busy week.  And I'm feeling good even after being in my hot kitchen yesterday for almost five hours canning tomatoes.  I now have 21 more pints (plus 8 last week) of diced tomatoes to put up for winter, and that makes me very happy.

On my mind...is getting ready for the guys' college life to start up next week, and our car schedule--who is driving the car when and where, and with whom!  It is a crazy hectic schedule when you divide one car by three people.  I'm glad Thomas isn't driving yet...

I leave you with...a passage of Scripture we talked about in our family devotions last night.  Very timely, I think, in light of all the chaos that is happening in our natural world, in the economy, and with the moral fiber of our country.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,

where moth and rust destroy,

and where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where neither moth nor rust destroys,

and where thieves to not break in or steal;

for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21 NASB

Back to life,
Christine

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Tea Talk -- Bless the LORD!

Welcome to my home for Ruth's Tea Talk!

Sit and share a cup of tea with me as we encourage each other in the Lord.

To participate, click on Ruth's button above.

I'm having...iced tea!  I finally took some photos of my iced tea goblet.  We had a whole set of these pretty blue glass goblets, then one by one they crashed and shattered.  There are two goblets left, and Fernando and I use them on a daily basis.

I'm feeling...good today.   I was exhausted all day Tuesday, I think because of lack of sleep.  On Wednesday, I visited my chiropractor and the adjustment really helped.  My back had been fine except for when I moved certain ways--then it let me know it was hurting!  But it's feeling better today, praise the Lord.

On my mind...is the upcoming semester of college for Jacob (20) and Danny (18).  This will be Jacob's last semester, and he'll receive his A.A.S. in Law Enforcement in December.   He has a few different opportunities in the works, so we'll wait and see where he goes.  This is Danny's very first full-time semester at college, and I keep asking the Lord to prepare him for the rigors of college life.   I know that he'll buckle down and work hard and do well, but the initial shock may be pretty big.  So I pray.

Also on my mind is my new school year with Thomas.   I need to buckle down myself, organizing and getting lesson plans in place.  I've been longing for cooler weather, since it has been so hot this summer, but along with cooler weather comes school and more work for me.  I can't believe summer is almost over.  It'll be a very special and interesting year, with just Thomas and I.

I leave you with...praise for the Lord who is merciful.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And forget none of His benefits;

Who pardons all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases;

Who redeems your life from the pit,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Psalm 103:1-5 NASB

Russian sage in my front yard rock garden

Back to life,
Christine

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