Life with Sally

Life is a marathon. Keep your legacy going. My friends, never give up, never give in. Your labor is not in vain. You matter.

Don't we all need the world to go away for just a few? So, take time today for a cuppa and close the world out in your mind and breathe in peace.

I wrestled with my faith over years, but in doing so, I came to a deeper understanding of this fallen world, the nature of evil, that God's light was stronger than the darkness, that we are all heading to a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Often, people ask what drew our family close, that built a common legacy of ideals, the foundation that made all of us writers, and cultivated the kind of faith that lives in all of us today. Our souls were shaped by the daily rhythms of gathering, eating meals together, sharing in deep fellowship as a regular habit.

We must not give in to the dark side, that creates the cacophony to blot out all of the alluring, heavenly music of His voice, words. May God grant us ears to hear, hearts to listen.

Today, I have so many fun subjects on Tea Time Tuesday. Of course music for this season of Lent, food from Mary Barry, who used to be on The Great British Bakeoff, and so much more.

No two families are alike. No two children are alike. They develop at different times, have different fingerprints, differing personalities, different looks and DNA—God made them to be unique. And He did not intend for us to worry if we were doing enough at every stage of life.

Every once in a while, I feel like God kisses me on my cheek and brings along an angel friend just when I need one. Leah and I have similar hearts—we love beauty, our families, education, art, eating and drinking tea, the Lord, writing, publishing and so much more.

Today's Tea Time Tuesday is lots of fun. Be sure to share a cuppa something wonderful with someone in your life who would enjoy a few moments of pure pleasure, relaxation and with friendship and peace.

Do you ever feel like a child? Not knowing where you are going or what you are doing? This is how many have felt throughout history—lost, confused, not sure of what is ahead or if we are capable enough to live the life we have been called to. Throughout scripture, we see that some of the most faithful heroes of faith felt lost along the way.

If only you could come sit with me and sip a golden cup of tea. I would ask you questions and hope to be of encouragement to you. We would talk about everything in the world, share thoughts and dreams, fears and failures, and give one another joy in time well-spent.

As we seek to influence the thinking, faith, love of our children, it will be as we do the work of serving, over and over again, of exercising thoughtful, kind deeds, thousands of times, one moment at a time.

I have been one of the richest women in the world because of the sweet fellowship and deep friendships I have experienced. This is what my new book Teatime Discipleship is all about—creating a place where people can become friends, grow in faith, find support and encouragement.

Through teatime discipleship, repeated over many years, my children and I became the deepest of friends. It is a tool, a holding place for creating relationships, a hopeful expectation that, "Mama wants to spend time with me, we shall be friends."

We were not a perfect family, we had conflict through seasons, but unchanging love was the holding foundation of our home culture.

Deep friendships and connected relationships happen best when intentional encouragement is planned and given on a regular basis.

Something that seems to be true of my own life, the longer I live: "Life is a long lesson in humility." (JM Barrie) Oh, to be openhearted to be like Jesus—that is my prayer.

God is my hope when I am out of control. He is my prayer-answerer when I am beyond my own strength. I live practicing joy because He is my audience and I want to rest in Him because He wants to be my adequacy.

This week, I am on a quest for delight—for myself and my people. We all need some moments to put away darkness and to invest in beauty, fun, celebration. Determine that this will be a week when you bring joy, beauty, delight to yourself and your beloveds.

I had no idea what motherhood would cost me in time, heart, work, creativity, love, instruction and so much more. And yet, I am old enough, seasoned through the many years to be able to say it is the most profound work I have ever undertaken—to shape real human beings in faith, virtue and purpose in life over days, months, years and decades.

This is a marathon of a life for most of us, but with every step, I come to see the loving, gracious compassion and sympathy of God at work. Most issues take longer than I want them to take—God rarely seems in a hurry. Yet, He companions us each step. Sip your tea or coffee with me today and rest in His generous love.

In a study about gentleness recently, I found no less than 8 Biblical writers that place gentleness at the core of their call to righteousness. Today's podcast is about these leaders and what they wrote. God grant us gentleness.

Lots of fun on Tea Time Tuesday today!

As I look back, I am sometimes amazed at the ways God has led, lessons learned, souls were shaped, faith grew. It all started when I made a quiet commitment to Him.

Whether you are single, married, working outside your home, or a stay-at-home mom, you are called by the heart of Jesus to give of yourself to others.

Today, I review the disastrous storm in which Paul found himself and other passengers who were scared. He teaches us about how to rally others to courage and faith.

There is no one right way to live life in a home. No one size of routine or rules or order fits all. Homes with young children will be quite different from a single-adult home. Elderly adults will order their lives by different life rituals than will young marrieds or students. But the more carefully we plan our days, the better our homes will provide us with freedom and enjoyment as well as purpose and accomplishment.

Many years ago, I began the habit at the beginning of the new year to declutter my heart and soul.

Pondering Mary, one of my favorite role models, I speak today of what was in her heart when God says, "Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you."

When Jesus said, "whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward," I'm quite sure He also had in mind "whoever gives a steaming cup of tea!"

Faith requires a listening heart. God is so willing to use normal people—who are listening, willing to obey. What risk will you take, by faith, to live a story that others will tell for generations to come?

Today, my forever friend, Jacqui and I speak of friend formation, and tell of our intentional and purpose driven fun times and how it has shaped us. Such fun. Hope it encourages you.

Nothing quite prepared me, as an untrained young woman, to know how to bear all of the stresses we would face by being a family. And yet, I had been taught to seek God's word, to pray and to obey and live in wisdom.

This week, I am asking myself what I need to do to prepare my heart to be present to my people, ready to serve and to determine not to give into the weariness or demands.

In my life as a mom, there have been countless times, I felt like I was not accomplishing anything productive from day to day. Five scriptures have been especially helpful to me when I am overwhelmed.

To me, Thanksgiving is the entry way to preparing my heart to be filled and renewed with a love for Christ. I need child-like excitement and gratitude to fill my heart again, so that I might bring light into my year ahead.

Giving thanks starts with a humble heart, one that does not demand but receives the gifts of everyday moments with joy. A grateful heart sees the fingerprints of God in normal every day circumstances, a lens through which we see life, people, simple pleasures as a gift.

When we read in the Word, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good," this is a call out of passivity to action, to engaging, to spreading the moral excellence through each aspect of our lives that God has called us to. Today, I discuss what that has meant to me lately. I hope it will encourage you.

Stories have the power to change and inspire us in ways nothing else does. I hope you'll join us in this journey of bringing a good story to life that just might be the thing to help a world in need.

I have come to realize that embracing God's call to the duties of motherhood doesn't diminish my abilities to use my gifts, strength, and training, but fulfills a part of God's design.

What if someone could read your thoughts—would you like what they see? Worship the Lord Your God with all of your mind, we are told. I call it "minding your mind" because thinking, learning, understanding, creating—so many things we do with our minds, are to be a focus of our worship of God. Worshipping God with our mind requires a focus, intentionality, effort, a plan.

What if someone could read your thoughts—would you like what they see? Worship the Lord Your God with all of your mind, we are told. I call it "minding your mind" because thinking, learning, understanding, creating—so many things we do with our minds, are to be a focus of our worship of God. Worshipping God with our mind requires a focus, intentionality, effort, a plan.

Whatever season you find yourself in is eventually going to pass. God is aware of your season and He will give you wisdom, strength, grace to walk through the seasons with Him by your side to provide you with insight and understanding into the ways he is working in the world.

When the places inside home are intentionally crafted, these seasons can become the places where memories can be shaped and stored forever.

There are many gifts of aging, gaining experience. It comes from waiting, learning, storing up experience and understanding.

As I watch the leaves rain softly to the ground, and the colors give their last bit of glory before disappearing into a pile on the ground, I am reminded that my own life is reflecting seasons. I want to take advantage of this time to its fullest that I may have been a good soldier in this battle between darkness and light and left a bit of the glory and light I have known.

Freedom in a biblical sense means: emancipation, the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. We do not have to be slaves to our shame, our failures, our weakness. We have been emancipated, let out of guilty land, because of His work.

Today, Giving Your Words is officially out in the world. Many of you have asked Clay to join me in an interview about our book. So today, we have a special podcast for you about how Giving Your Words came about—from his perspective.

Our hope is that parents all over the world will become even more skillful at leaving their children a legacy of words and messages giving hope, foundational faith, unconditional love.

Today I speak of choral music, tastes of French food, adventures in a flower farm cafe, the best bread, finding light in the darkest clouds of life, Jacqui adventures, and more.