When we arrived, the house felt so warm and inviting, with all the special touches and decorating she had done. The table was set for each of us with our very own china tea cups and plates. Hot tea was ready for us to sip as we got busy with the activity that she had planned for us to do while we were waiting for everyone to arrive.
At each of our places, we had a lovely "schedule" that she had created for the different activities she had planned for us.
The first activity we did was to draw a name, and then we were to create a card for the person whose name we had drawn. It was a fun game, because we were then to give the card to the person we had created it for "secretly" so they wouldn't know who had made the card. However, when I received my card, I knew exactly who it was from - my daughter! We just had a few minutes to make the cards, and I was quite impressed with the card my daughter created for me.
I brought a couple of desserts - some chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate peanut butter balls.
R's sisters brought some apple turnovers to share as well.
R used her grandmother's china for us to enjoy our hot tea!
A ladies tea is never complete without a nice salad!
A peek at the beautiful china dessert plates...
The table setting...
Lunch is served! Oh how yummy it all was! The whole wheat pizza was scrumptious, as was the salad and queso dip. We all enjoyed the lovely meal together, with lots of laughs and good memories!
After lunch, R had asked her mother and I to share some thoughts about marriage, love and such, being as Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and part of the reason for our special day together. Both R's mother and I shared many of the same thoughts, and even used the same scriptures as we spoke. In fact, each of us even had the same basic thought that we shared - although with different illustrations. We both shared how we had come to realize personally how the relationship between Christ and the church is so similar to the husband/wife relationship, and the many parallels between Christ and the church that can also be made between the husband/wife relationship.
I chose to begin sharing my thoughts with the verse in Amos 3:3 that says "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" When making the choice of who to live the rest of your life with, it is very important that in order for two to walk together that they be agreed. The best way to do this is to parallel your relationship with your spouse as to how it relates to Christ and the church, found in Ephesians 5:22-33.
R's mother also used Ephesians 5 to share her thoughts and experiences with marriage and how a good marriage usually closely resembles the relationship between Christ and the church. She shared experiences in her marriage, and life that were encouraging to all of us. She also shared the differences between the hearts of two of David's wives, Abigail and Michal, and how the tender heart of Abigail spared her life, while the sarcastic hardened heart of Michal caused her to become barren for the rest of her life. We were reminded of the importance of keeping our spirits gentle and humble before the Lord.
The last activity R had us to do was to write a letter to Jesus, and to tell the Lord just how much he meant to us, as we sipped another cup of hot tea. She played some soft music, and provided pen, paper and an envelope to put the letter in. It was a very quiet, special time as we quietly wrote to the Lord our thankfulness, love and appreciation to Him.
We ran out of time to get to the massages that she had planned for us and we were all sad about that! However, R promised she would put it early on the schedule for the next time we get together!
It was such a wonderful time that we spent, with lots of fun, great laughs, stories, and insight. We were sad to see the time pass so quickly, as work called some of us away. It was a lovely way to get together with other ladies, and to share that time together with a very sweet spirit of the Lord present with us. R says she has plans for more of these kind of gatherings in the future, and I for one, certainly can't wait to do this again! She and her husband are expecting their first child any day now, and so we have tentatively planned for another event in March, depending on the arrival of little Abigail, who we all can't wait to meet!
Thank you R for planning and putting together this very lovely day for us, and we certainly look forward to another one!!!
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