Category: Tea Time with Mandy
-
Tea Time with Mandy: Twenty Years in the Making
It has been a little over two months since I last sat down to write, and in some ways it feels as though an entire lifetime has passed in that short space of time. There have been seasons when writing came easily to me, when I could sit down with a cup of tea and…
-
Tea Time with Mandy: The Quiet Between Words
The room was quiet, but not peaceful. It was the kind of quiet that settles in slowly, almost unnoticed at first, until you realize it is not absence… but restraint. Three of us sat at the small round table near the window, the late afternoon light stretching long across the polished wood floor. The tea…
-
Tea Time with Mandy: Trusting God With the Outcome
Before we begin, let’s slow the moment. Put the kettle on and make yourself a cozy cup of tea. I recommend Twinings Orange & Cinnamon Spice, mixed with a bit of English Breakfast for warmth and a gentle lift. If you can, slice a piece of warm lemon cake or prepare a small snack, then…
-
Tea Time with Mandy: When the House Is Quiet Again
There is a moment that comes after obedience that no one prepares you for. It arrives once the work is finished. Once the doors have closed. Once the car is finally empty again and the lists are folded away. It comes when the adrenaline wears off and the house, which only hours before was full…
-
Tea Time with Mandy: Five Loaves, Two Fish, and a Midnight Knock
I didn’t write Peace in the Storm last week, and I want to tell you why. It wasn’t because the storm passed. Nor because the message no longer mattered. But because sometimes peace looks less like stillness and more like obedience that costs you sleep. Christmas morning found my family and I tired in a…
-
Tea Time with Mandy: When Avoidance Looks Like Strength
Elizabeth Hunt had learned that grief did not always arrive with warning. At times it settled into her body before she had time to prepare, like those moments in the driver’s seat when the door was closed and the world waited just beyond reach. Her hands would rest on the steering wheel, fingers tightening just…
-
Tea Time with Mandy: A Pause in the Middle of the City
There are places in New York City where the noise does not disappear, but it changes character. Where urgency loosens its grip just enough to remind you that you are allowed to pause. Sant Ambroeus is one of those places. Outside, the city presses forward—crowds folding into one another beneath towering buildings, voices rising and…
-
Tea Time with Mandy: The Empty Chair
Sarah hadn’t felt much of anything for a long time. The house was quiet that December afternoon—too quiet, the kind of quiet that grief lays over a home like a heavy blanket. Lights from the Christmas tree glowed softly across the dining room walls, yet nothing in the room felt warm. It had been over…
-
Tea Time with Mandy: The Emerald Chandelier Tea Room
The Taste and See That the Lord Is Good Series. Part I There are moments when God invites us to slow down long enough to notice His goodness again. Stepping into The Emerald Chandelier Tea Room in Griffin, Georgia, felt like stepping into one of those moments. The morning sunlight filtered through floral draperies as…
