If we met for tea | Vol.8

It’s the second Monday of the month again and I’m joining with Erin and the blogging ladies for our online tea/coffee date.

 

 

If we met for tea I’d look at you with an exhausted smile. I’m two weeks into my teaching block and I’m still getting used to being so busy. In some ways, I love the work. It is a great class, they’re very sweet and they’re getting to know me now. Having my kids smile when they see me, and greet me on the playground is beautiful! But it’s so much more work than I’m used to. It’s so much planning and assessment – meaning I have to stay back after school hours most days and do catch-up work at home. It’s demanding and on-going, and on top of that I’ve had a cold this week. There have been a few moments already when I’ve just been weary and completely over it. On the most part, though, I do enjoy having my own class.

 

If we met for tea I’d ask you for some tips on balancing housekeeping and full time work. Earlier this year, I got so little work that I was essentially a full-time housewife. And as the year progressed, I had more work, but a few days each week at home too. Maybe I’m too traditional for my own good, but my heart does lean towards the home-maker role. Cleaning and cooking and creating a warm, welcoming home. If I have a balance of housewife days and teaching days, then I generally feel happy, so full-time work is a challenge in that way too. When it comes to cooking and cleaning, we’re just scraping by. Thankfully, my husband is great with helping out. I don’t think it’s wrong for women to work full-time outside of the home, but I don’t think it’s for me in the long term.

 

If we met for tea I’d tell you that I’ve been reading Jeremiah for the last month and I’m only now starting to get something from it. The first chapters have been so heavy going, full of sin and judgement. I don’t like to admit that I didn’t enjoy reading the Bible, but it was really difficult to get through. But once I reached around chapter 30, the tone shifted and hope broke through. These chapters are about the restoration of God’s people. They’re in exile because of their sin, but God is so merciful and compassionate, he promises to keep loving them and to bring them back to their land. He even promises to transform their hearts so they can love him. And now I look at it, those first chapters establishing just how sinful the people were makes this grace shine even brighter.

 

If we met for tea I’d wear a floral dress with a light cardigan. It’s spring now, and the weather has been lovely – averaging in the early 20s (in the 70s for my Fahrenheit friends). I adore winter weather and am sad to see it go, but spring is beautiful too. The nights are still cold and the days full of gentle sunshine, so it’s a good time of year. If it stayed like this for months and months, that would be fine with me. The only thing is, the weather warming is a promise that it’s going to get so much hotter. I like spring, but I cannot deal with the extreme heat of summer. There’s a verse in Jeremiah, though, that says the righteous person does not fear when heat comes. It’s meant to be symbolic, but it’s literal for me too. So, I’ll just enjoy the gentle sunshine while it’s here and pray the heat holds off for a little longer.

 

What would you say if we met for tea?