Sun-Tea

I have the most amazing friends. And really they're more than friends, because they are my sisters in Christ.

"For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother." Matthew 12:50

When you fully enter into a relationship with God you become part of the family, the whole body of believers across the world! People sacrifice for you, they enter into life with you, they walk with you through trials and rejoicings, they remain your friends regardless of what you do, they forgive and love unconditionally. Think you want this? You do, trust me! Give your life to Jesus, enter in, he's waiting for you. We are too :)

Bianca drove down here for a couple of days, hence the lack of posts all week. We had the most amazing time ever. We had a lunch together when she arrived on Wednesday and she prayed so simply, "Lord, increase our time together." And WOW did he answer that one! That first day we did so many things, most specially we had dinner with James, his mom, Maureen and his sister, Emily. We love them all so dearly and were blessed by that surprise get together.

Bianca got even more of what she had asked for by being able to really connect with people while she was here and share quality time, what we believe Jesus is all about. The person, their life, what is going on in their heart. Look at His ministry, He's always healing the person, dealing with the depths of one's heart. And though he would have loved to be besties with everyone of us, which he is now :) He had to choose only 12 because we have to be able to have the time and emotional resources to devote to each other. If he couldn't do it, why do we think we can? He modeled this life for us: deep, honest, vulnerable relationships, this is where a lot of the fruit of our life comes from.

After Bianca and I nearly died from our 16 mile run, yes 16 miles, but no we enjoyed it and God was definitely with us, ask B about that, Lindsay came over and we enjoyed a timeless afternoon of sun tea and Jesus talk. I think three or so hours went by before we realized we had places to be and people to see. But that is so how it is meant to be.

God and His people are amazing. Need love? Healing? Someone to just listen to you? Find His people, it shouldn't be too hard, especially if you ask Him to lead you to them.

Now, for the sun tea. Even with little sun this summer we have really gotten into this whole sun tea thing. It's so easy and tea is an excellent drink choice for your health. Herbal teas can have therapeutic benefits, for example Ginger is great for digestion and so is peppermint while chamomile and lavender help relieve stress and promote relaxation. Green tea is high in antioxidants, those little buggers that help fight off damage from free radicals which could possibly lead to cancer. You can make sun tea with any tea you like. My absolute favorite: Good Earth Original Sweet and Spicy! 3 tea bags to 2 quarts water is perfect. The brand pictured is from Whole Foods, Davidons's White Raspberry and is also excellent.

To make Sun-Tea:
1) Fill a large pitcher with filtered water, doesn't really matter if it's warm or cold, neutral temperature is the best though.
2) Choose you tea, now I would recommend 3 tea bags to 2 quarts if the tea is generally strong, like black tea or even green. Herbal teas may need 4. This is where you need to experiment a bit, my advice always go stronger because you can water down.
3) Place in the sun for a whole day.
4) Pour over ice and enjoy. You can sweeten with stevia or agave if necessary. We added some Chocolate Mint leaves to ours in the picture above.
5) Keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Hope you had a great week too.
<3 Dani