Michele Huey's Blog: God, Me, and a Cup of Tea, page 20

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

For we walk by faith, not by sight. —2 Corinthians 5:7 RSV

Years ago I took a leap of faith and resigned from my full-time job—a year after I first sensed God nudging me to do so.

For that year I wrestled. How did I know it was God’s voice I heard—and not echoes of my own desires? And how on earth, if I quit, would we make ends meet?

I believed God was able to provide—it says so right in the Bible: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). But it’s easier to believe a verse like that after the fact. And there’s a difference between “is able” and “will.”

This is where the rubber met the road.

After much prayer, I submitted my letter of resignation—and immediately the yearlong wrestling match ceased, and the tension evaporated. My shoulders felt as though a massive weight had been lifted. Why did I wait so long?

But my decision was tested—in an area where I least expected and cared most about. Three months after I received my last paycheck, my husband began a round of medical tests. This is a man who, in thirty years, took perhaps fifteen days off work due to sickness. And here we were, facing the unknown—in health, in job performance and hence employability, and in our future. Add to that all the missed work hours due to doctors’ appointments and medical tests that reflected in his paycheck.

God will provide, I told myself even when, in the spring, we received several past-due notices.

 “Wait until our income tax refund comes in,” I promised them all.I knew we could catch up because we got a bigger refund since my income had decreased. By May we were all caught up.

God continued to meet our needs. Editing jobs came just when the property taxes were due or the heating oil was low. The grant money our son received for college increased. More opportunities for freelance writing and speaking came. A change in our health insurance policy provided better benefits, including dental and vision—we both desperately need new eyeglasses—without additional cost for us.

I learned more than to trust God, more than what it means to be sure of what I hope for and certain of what I don’t see (Hebrews 11:1), more than how God blesses obedience. I learned to wait on God. Patience (ugh!) was cultivated in my impatient soul. And this, perhaps, was the most important lesson of all.

As I look back on that year, I don’t see lack. I see God’s provision, protection, and presence. He truly is able to take care of all my needs, able to handle anything that comes along, able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), able to mold me into what He wants me to be (Philippians 1:6).

Are you sensing God’s nudging? Don’t be afraid to step out in faith because, you see, where the rubber meets the road is where God will be.

Dear God, You are just awesome! Amen.

Read and reflect on Lamentations 3:21–26 and Philippians 4:6–7.

From God, Me, & a Cup of Tea: 101 devotional readings to savor during your time with God © 2017 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

Footlogs and Phobias

Crossing one of the footlogs on the Kephart Prong hiking trail in the Smoky Mountains National Park

 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—Where does my help come from? —Psalm 121:1 NIV

One of the trails my husband and I hiked on our camping trip to the Great Smoky Mountains was the Kephart Prong Trail. Littered with golden leaves, it wound through the forest two miles up a mountain along a gurgling creek and several waterfalls to a hiking shelter near the summit.

The trail crossed the creek at several places—four to be exact. Bridge number one was a nice one-lane footbridge constructed of wooden planks with a log railing on one side. I crossed it no problem.

Then we got to the second bridge, but it wasn’t called a bridge—it was called a “footlog”—a split log about 25 feet long spanning the creek 10 feet below. It, also, had a log railing on one side only, which, in places, arched away from the bridge.

I’ve always had a fear of heights. When I was nine, my father had to peel me off the second landing of a fire tower because I was screaming and clinging to the steel grate in terror. I never overcome my acrophobia.

On the first bridge I was fine. I felt secure on the wooden planks. But stepping on a narrow log with moss growing on it was another story.

While my sweet hubby was too busy taking pictures of this historic event to be of any help should I fall into the rushing stream below and knock myself out on a rock, I focused on a point on the log about three feet in front of me, put one hiking boot in front of the other, used my walking stick for balance, and counted my steps aloud. And, of course, ignored Shutterbug behind me.

Then we came to the second footlog—green with moss, gray with age and missing chunks of wood—scarier than the first one. Using my focus and counting technique and ignoring the fear, I made it across, even though the couple behind us turned back when the woman refused to cross it.

The third footlog looked newer, like it had just been built. It should have been a piece of cake by now, but I was still scared.  

I wasn’t any less afraid crossing the footlogs on the return trip as I had been going up.

But I learned something. I didn’t overcome my fear—I walked through it.

We all set out on a trail called life. It goes up and down, winds over rocky and smooth terrain. Along the way we encounter our fears.

But we don’t have to turn back. We don’t have to overcome our fear, either—indeed, sometimes you can’t. But by taking one step at a time, focusing on what’s just ahead, using God’s Word for balance, and having faith in what’s at the end of your journey, you can walk through it.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? From You, Father God, the maker of the mountains and my guide through this hike called life. Amen.

Read and reflect on Psalm 121.

From God, Me, and a Cup of Tea: 101 devotional readings to savor during your time with God, © 2017 Michele Huey. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

My Many Mothers

Read and reflect on Titus 2:1,3–5

            …they can train the younger women…. – Titus 2:4 (NIV)

Today is Mother’s Day, the day we honor those women who carried us in their bodies, gave birth to us in pain, hauled us around on their hips, kissed our booboos, cheered for us when we were losing, stood up to the bullies, welcomed our friends (even the ones she knew were dirty rats), protected us when we thought we didn’t need protected, disciplined us when we defied them, sought us when we strayed, released us when we were ready, prayed for us constantly, and loved us unflinchingly even when we were mean, rotten, nasty, and cruel.

They glimpsed in us what we couldn’t recognize, and nurtured the kernel of talent no one else saw. Our dreams became their dreams, and, come hell or high water, they would see to it that we had every opportunity to make them come true. When we fell, they picked us up, dusted us off, and sent us on our way again. Sometimes we thought they were being mean and unreasonable, but when we became parents ourselves, we began to understand.

I have spiritual mothers, too—those older, more experienced women who nurtured me on my faith journey. Who, by their example, taught me what it means to be a Christian woman.           

Mary

Mary took me under her wing when I was but a babe in Christ. Her invitation to a Christian Women’s Club luncheon led to Bible studies, service, and Christian friendships that I treasure to this day, over 40 years later.           

Joan

Joan (pronounced “Jo-ann”) opened her home—a hive of activity with five daughters—for a Bible study, where I found room to grow. Her words, “I learned to hold the panic in,” were my stay when my husband carried in our five-year-old son wrapped in a sheet, blood streaming from his head. That day I learned not only to “hold the panic in,” but also that cuts to the scalp bleed profusely because of all the hair follicles.           

Caroline

Caroline’s love of life poured from her generous, servant heart. “If the Lord came today,” she said once, giggling, “I’d tell him I can’t go. I’ve got too much to do!”         

Louise (with hubby Carl)

Louise’s unquenchable zest for life, unflinching faith, and passion for God fueled a life of tireless service. Just remembering her constant smile and hearty laughter blesses me and encourages me to keep on keeping on.     

Dorothy

And, finally, Dorothy. A woman whose love for God, life of prayer, undaunted faith, and kind heart drew me to her like a parched traveler to a fresh mountain stream. When she was diagnosed with advanced cancer, I despaired until I heard what she said: “Don’t give up on me!” What faith!

To paraphrase John Donne, “No woman is an island.” Our lives are an ongoing stream in the course of time, one life touching another, touching another, touching another, on and on, until time is no more.

Whose life has touched yours? Whose life is yours touching?

Thank you, Lord, for the women whose lives have blessed mine. May I, in turn, touch others’ lives for You. Amen.

(C) 2007 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

True to Plumb

I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people.  —Amos 7:8 NKJV

“An army of the world’s top climatologists agree: manmade global warming is a fraud.”

I clicked the link to read the article then Googled the subject. A whole slew of articles popped up addressing the topic, some claiming manmade global warming is a scam, others insisting climate warming is, indeed, due to human activities.

Who to believe?

It’s like the “eggs are bad/good for you” debate. It seems for every theory, there’s an opposing one. Both sides use scientific studies to back their claims.

But theories change, don’t they?

I don’t know about you, but I want to build my life on something that doesn’t change.

What doesn’t change?

Truth.

But how do we know what’s true and what’s false? What basis do we use?

Me, I use the Bible.

There are those, I know, who don’t believe the Bible is God’s Word or that it’s relevant to us today. It’s like the global warming controversy and the debate over whether a certain food is good or bad for the human body. We look at the argument on both sides and choose.

I choose to believe the Bible is the Word of God and use it as the rock upon which I build my life-house.

Why?

First, because the Bible shows us our Creator’s standards. Like a plumb line. When a wall is built to standard and is straight, it’s said to be “true to plumb.” If it isn’t, it’s “out of plumb.”

“You can’t please everyone, so you’ve got to please yourself,” sang the late Rick Nelson in his hit song “Garden Party.” That might sound like a good philosophy, but think about it: What would the world be like if each person’s main focus was to please himself first, and “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25)? We’d be out of plumb.

Second, the Bible, unlike man’s theories, is enduring. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever (Isaiah 40:8). “Forever, O LORD, Thy word is firmly fixed in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89). I want a life based on something that isn’t fickle, something that won’t change with every new study or theory.

Third, because God’s Word is enlightening, “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). It gives me guidance, wisdom and knowledge. It lights my way in a world that’s getting darker and darker, clearing up the confusion that often besets me as I travel life’s road.

Fourth, because God’s Word is effective. God Himself said His Word will not return to Him void but will accomplish all that He desires for it to accomplish (Isaiah 55:10–11). It’s living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword and penetrates to the hidden places in our beings—our thoughts and attitudes (Hebrews 4:12)—the very places that need changed and cleansed.

 And finally (not finally really, but finally for the sake of brevity—I have only so many column inches here), God’s Word teaches us what is true and to do what is right. It makes us realize what’s wrong with our lives and how to correct it (2 Timothy 3:16).

Either we’re “out of plumb” or “true to plumb.”

Which are you?

 Help me, O Lord, to be true to plumb. Amen.

Read and reflect on Amos 7:7–15 and Luke 6:46–49.

From God, Me, & a Cup of Tea: 101 devotional readings to savor during your time with God, © 2017 Michele Huey. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Travelin’ Together

If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.  —Romans 12:18 RSV

Our forty-seven-year marriage has survived rearing three kids, building a do-it-yourself house, changing jobs, and losing both sets of parents. But nothing challenges my husband’s and my relationship more than a road trip together.

Dean does the driving and watching traffic and road conditions while I read the map and road signs, letting him know where the exits and the rest areas are. While he depends on me to play the role of navigator, he doesn’t appreciate it when I help him drive, such as pointing to the car ahead and shouting, “BRAKE! BRAKE!”  Or flinching or gasping when it looks as though a tractor-trailer is too close.

If I want my marriage intact at the end of the trip, it’s better, when my navigating skills aren’t needed, to keep my nose in a book or magazine and not on the speedometer or traffic. After nearly five decades, I’m still learning that “he who keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble” (Proverbs 21:23), and that a soft answer does diffuse a tense situation (Proverbs 15:1).

Still, I fight attitudes and feelings that could easily put us on the wrong road—Selfish Street—that leads only to the town of Heartache.

“Make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification,” Paul wrote in the first century in the book of Romans. Those words are especially needed in the home, where I long to let my hair down. It’s hard being nice all day. Sometimes I don’t want to be nice. I don’t want to say the words or do the thing that makes for peace. I want to be mean, to retaliate when someone hurts me, to have the last word. But I know such actions lead only to more strife.

“As far as it depends on you” means I’m responsible, not for what my husband says and does, but for my own actions and reactions. It means keeping quiet when he tries a new route to see if it will save time but it adds more instead. It means biting my tongue and saying something positive through missed exits, wrong turns, crying kids, slow pokes, drivers, and time-consuming detours.

“It’s better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife,” Solomon wrote in Proverbs 21:19. I don’t want to be a wife whose nagging is “like a constant dripping on a rainy day” (Proverbs 27:15). I’d rather be the wife of Proverbs 31, who brings her husband good, not harm, all the days of her life (verse 12).

Lord, help me to be the wife my husband needs so that he can be all You plan for him to be. Enable me to be a true helpmeet. Amen.

Read and reflect on Romans 12:9–18.

From God, Me, & a Cup of Tea: 101 devotional readings to savor during your time with God © 2017 Michele Huey. All rights reserved. Image by Mindz from Pixabay

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

For the LORD gives wisdom . . . he holds victory in store for the upright. – Proverbs 2:6, 7 NIV

I love baseball!

I often think how guidelines to playing the game translate into wise counsel for living life victoriously. Here, in no particular order and listed as they came to me, is some of the advice I heard my husband give my son during our baseball years:

Keep alert. Be ready for that ball to come to you. Anticipate the next play. The same is true in life. Much comes bouncing, flying straight at you when you least expect it. “Stay alert,” the apostle Peter wrote, “keep a firm grip on the faith” (1 Peter 5:8 The Message).Listen to your coach. Know the signs and heed them. He’s the coach for a reason—he knows more than you about the game and he sees what you, in your position on the field, can’t. He wants you to overcome the opponent and come out on top. In life, “trust in the LORD and do good,” (Psalm 37:3), for in heeding Him “there is great reward” (Psalm 19:11). (Don’t forget Isaiah 55:8–9.)Back up your pitcher. Support your team members. I remember the wife of David’s Little League coach cheering for the team to “talk it up out there.” The coach didn’t want silence on the field—he wanted to hear them encouraging each other. And don’t expect the pitcher to do it all. No matter how well he’s pitching, he needs some run support from the rest of the team if they want to win the game. “Encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).Bad calls are part of the game. There’s nothing you can do about them. Arguing, whining, and letting it affect your attitude the rest of the game won’t help you or the rest of the team. Shrug it off. Life isn’t fair, either. Forget what’s behind you and press on to what’s ahead (Philippians 3:13–14).Rain delays are part of the game, too. Sometimes you find yourself in a waiting period. You can’t stop the rain, but you can use the time to practice patience. (Psalm 37:7, Isaiah 40:31)You win some, and you lose some. Cut your losses, learn from them, and don’t let your wins get to your head. Instead, work on your weaknesses and don’t let pride nullify what strengths you have. (Proverbs 16:18).Training is necessary, painful, and stretches you beyond your limits. But it also builds strength and character. The difficult things you face in life are the training ground God uses shape you into the person He wants you to be. (1 Corinthians 9:24–29)Put on your game face. Attitude can make or break you. Like the renowned catcher Yogi Bera said, “Ninety percent of the game is half-mental.” So it is in life—what you think, what goes through your mind day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute—can be the determining factor in winning or losing, in overcoming or succumbing.  (Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8–9)You can do a lot on two outs. “The game isn’t over until it’s over” (Yogi Bera). Or in the words of the late Winston Churchill: “Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.” And in the words of St. Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

 Help me, Lord, be to wise enough to heed Your guidelines. Amen.

Read and reflect on Proverbs 2:1–11.

From God, Me, & a Cup of Tea: 101 devotional readings to savor during your time with God, © 2017 Michele Huey. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Tracking Number

Image by Jan Alexander from Pixabay

The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. —Psalm 121:8 NIV

The verdict was in: My old laptop couldn’t be fixed. My computer guy tried—ordered an internal jack to replace the bad one that was causing the screen to flicker and a too-frequent-for-comfort loss of power. But he couldn’t get into the computer to replace it.

In the days preceding the verdict, I’d prayed about the decision whether to buy a new laptop or repair the old one. I pored through Consumer Reports and visited the websites of companies making the models that were my top choices. I’d pretty much made up my mind which laptop would suit my needs and pocketbook. So when a little “chat with a representative” window popped up, I clicked on it.

I told the rep I needed it no later than Friday. It was Monday. I was scheduled to fly to Colorado Springs the following week for a writing stint, and I needed the laptop in time to set it up and get somewhat used to it before I left.

“No problem,” he wrote. “I’ll schedule it for expedited shipping at no extra cost.”

So I ordered it—a nice, sleek laptop that was half the size and bulk of the old one. And I had enough money left over to buy a much-needed all-in-one printer.

In the confirmation email the company sent me was a tracking number—by clicking on it, I could follow my order en route from the distribution facility across the country to my home. And that’s what I did.

From Tuesday to Thursday, I watched the laptop’s progress from Carlsbad, California, to San Diego to Indianapolis to Pittsburgh to Johnstown to my home. I even had a pretty good idea the hour it would come. I sat by the front window most of the day waiting. When it arrived, I did one big happy dance.

Similarly, God watches our progress from birth to death. We’re all “special orders” to Him. Each of us is the apple of His eye (Ps. 17:8)—beloved, precious, and honored (Isaiah 43:4). Some of us are on an expedited route and will arrive home sooner than others. But most of us, I daresay, are going home by way of ground shipment, which will take longer and will have more “parking spots” and bumps along the way.

Our Heavenly Father knows every stone, every pothole, every mountain and valley, every river that must be crossed. But better yet, he does the “happy dance” when we finally arrive on the doorstep of our eternal home.

Dear God, You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in Your Book. How precious it is, Lord, to realize that You are thinking of me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day Your thoughts turn towards me. And when I wake in the morning, You are still thinking of me! (Psalm 139:16–18 LB) Awesome! Thank You. Amen.

Read and reflect on Psalm 121.

Additional Scripture to savor: Psalm 139, 1 Peter 3:12, Jeremiah 24:6, 2 Chronicles 16:9

From God, Me, & a Cup of Tea: 101 devotional readings to savor during your time with God © 2017 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

The Deathbed Perspective, Part 3: Keeping the Faith

Read and reflect on 2 Timothy 4:6–8; Psalm 121; Hebrews 11.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. – 2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)

Today we look at the final phrase of Paul’s deathbed words to the young pastor Timothy: I have kept the faith.

What does it mean “to keep the faith”?

When I hear the word “keeper,” I think of a zookeeper, someone who’s charged with guarding and caring for the animals. I also think of God Almighty, who is my keeper. He protects me, guards me, helps me, watches over me, and preserves me (Psalm 121).

Another definition of “keeper” is “someone or something you want to hang on to, keep, not throw away or lose” (my definition). I knew my husband was a keeper the night I met him.

No matter the meaning, though, it takes work—time and effort—to be a keeper, to consistently guard, properly care for, hang on to something or someone for a lifetime.

Now let’s look at the word “faith.” According to the Bible, “faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it” (Hebrews 11:1 NCV). “Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses” (Amplified).

Faith, to a Christian, is not just believing that God exists, but believing God is everything His Word says He is. It’s believing the promises we read in His Word and taking them personally. It’s believing God without a doubt—or in spite of it—when the world around us believes only in tangible things.

Now put those two words together: “keep” plus “faith.” Keep the faith. How, exactly, do we keep the faith?

By clinging to it in the storms, the silence, and the successes of life.

Let’s look at those times:

First, keep the faith through the storm. The Gospels record the times Jesus calmed the storm—and His disciples in the process.

But He doesn’t always calm your storms, does He? What do you do then? Lose your faith? Shake your fist in Heaven’s face? Stop believing He cares for you or that He even exists?

God knows there are times you must go through the storm—to grow, to learn, to become the person He’s molding you into. Like the words of the song, “sometimes He calms the storm, and sometimes He calms me.” Faith is believing during the deep, dark times when the storms are raging all around, that He’ll never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), that He’s with you always (Matthew 28:20), even if you don’t sense His presence. Faith is not feelings. Remember Zephaniah 3:16–17.

Second, keep the faith in the silence—God’s silence, that is. When your prayers go unanswered, when you feel alone and abandoned. Believe that God will answer in His time, His way, and always for the best. God’s silence doesn’t mean He’s not with you. Keep a journal of your prayers and when and how God answers. You’ll be amazed when you look back and see He was there all the time.

And finally, keep the faith in success—when things are going your way. We tend to forget God then, don’t we? We spit up a quick “thank you” and then enjoy our success as if it were all our doing.

Fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith, Pilgrim, for a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8) with your name awaits you at the finish line.

 Dear God, help me to guard, protect, and preserve my faith. Help me to both keep and be a keeper of the faith. Amen.

From God, Me, & a Cup of Tea: 101 devotional readings to savor during your time with God © 2017 Michele Huey. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Jesus’ Cross

The Deathbed Perspective, Part 2: Running the Race

Read and reflect on 2 Timothy 4:6–8; Hebrews 12:1–3.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. – 2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)

Last week, I began a three-part series called “The Deathbed Perspective.”

The apostle Paul wrote his second letter to the young pastor Timothy from a deathbed perspective. He was in his last days on earth and penned the words we’re focusing on in this series: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

But those aren’t just words to die by—they’re words to live by.

This week we’re going to look at the second part of that verse: I have finished the race.

I’ve always admired runners for their coordination and grace, which I never possessed, even when I was young and much lighter. Although I don’t run, I do understand what Paul is referring to and why he compares living the life of faith to running a race.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews best describes how to run this race in chapter 12, verses 1–3.

First, throw off everything that hinders, or, as the New Living Translation phrases it, “strip off everything that slows us down.” Ever try to run with a pack on your back? Or with clunky boots instead of running shoes?

Sin hinders. Sin trips us up midstride. Unforgiveness, holding grudges, anger, jealousy, envy, resentment, pride, being judgmental . . . the list goes on. Each unconfessed sin is like a rock in a pack on your back. So confess it to God, ask forgiveness, ask Him to pluck from your heart and mind, and fling it off!

Second, run with perseverance. Remember, the race we run is not a sprint—it’s a marathon. To persevere, we need fortitude—strength, courage, resilience, stamina, grit, determination, and endurance. At the start of a race, these qualities are in abundant supply, but as we run, they dwindle.

When the race of life is getting too much for me, I’ve learned I can slow my pace or stop and rest a while. Sometimes we need that time to lie down in green pastures, beside quiet waters to restore our souls (Psalm 23:2, 3). Replenishing that which was spent in the run is a good idea, too. Runners feed their bodies carbohydrates to give them energy. Spiritually, we feed ourselves on God’s Word—His promises—and reminders of how He’s come through for us in the past.

The third way we persist in the race is to keep our eyes on the finish line: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

While I’ve never run a race, I have hiked a mile up a mountain and another mile back down (neither was easy, believe me). Toward the end, every muscle in my body screamed with fatigue. Every pore oozed sweat. I just wanted my husband to pick me up and carry me the rest of the way.

I finished the hike by putting one aching foot in front of the other and imagining my reward when I got back to the camper—a long, hot shower; clean clothes; and a soft seat by the campfire (with a good book).

For the joy at His finish line—the salvation of our souls—Jesus endured the cross and was given a throne of honor in heaven. I haven’t endured such shame and pain as He did. Few in this life of faith will.

But the joy we have waiting for us at the finish line, is “exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

So keep your eyes on the prize, pilgrim, put one foot in front of the other. Someday you’ll reach the finish line and rejoice.

Dear God, give me the strength, courage, and fortitude I need to run the race of life. Amen.

NOTE: Next week, we’ll look at the third part of that verse: “I have kept the faith.”

From God, Me, & a Cup of Tea: 101 devotional readings to savor during your time with God © 2017 Michele Huey. All rights reserved. Images courtesy of Pixabay.