Cousin It and a Rainbow at the Tea Room

Now that would be a title for a children's book, huh? These three items aren't really connected but the title sounded fun in my head so I thought I'd just go with that!


COUSIN IT - Bob got me the coolest birthday present - as usual. After days of pleading with me to give him an idea, he came up with this. It's a tiki hut for our back porch to replace the bowing umbrella! And the extra fun part is that it folds up like a tent to be stored in the dining room where I have affectionately named it Cousin It. I think it bears a striking resemblance. Don't you?

The rainbow picture below isn't as good as I'd hoped but it gives me a chance to tell you about how we saw it which allows us to tell you a little bit about Jason, the other guitarist/vocalist in the summer ICC band. He was coming over for practice and he came running into the house saying RAINBOW, RAINBOW and led us out onto the deck. And there it was. He so wanted to share it with us that he ran up into the house without his guitar. That's a good way to describe Jason. He's just so passionate and he so wants to share his love of Christ. He's crazy and we love him - and his family.

And the Tea Room. Last Saturday my awesome friend Carrie took me for a surprise birthday trip. She had asked for a Saturday morning at Christmas and we just couldn't get it together then. She never did tell me what was in store. She's quite a secret keeper. So we finally rescheduled for Saturday morning for a belated birthday and I headed up to her house. We wove through some back roads and ended up at this cute little house past Seven Fields. Carrie and I were served tea promptly at the 11am bell in a beautifully Victorian setting at a place called The Johnstone House. It was so pretty and feminine and they do treat you like a Queen. The food was delicious and the tea was a real treat. It was just an awesome gift and such a great thing to share between friends. She is such a blessing to work beside and an amazing friend.

These three things are pretty unrelated but they do remind me that I am richly blessed with people in my life that love me. Love me even when I'm not lovable. It's no wonder that the best friends I have in my life - whether old or new or family are the ones with Christ in the center. Some days all I can do is wonder how He does it - and why. I'm so grateful.