Thursday, July 19, 2007

A Cup of Tea


I got this recipe from a 4 year old girl and her mother while I was on internship. I wanted to save it in its original form. I had never had Indian Tea before, and thought it was delicious! Now everyone knows it is "chai."


The girl's mother told me, at one time, that her little daughter liked to play that she was Diane. I felt a little proud -- and not a little curious. Just what did she do when she played "Diane"? "Well," the mother answered, "she says she's you, but she's still pretty much herself!" That brought me down a couple of notches.


Later in the year, however, I had the opportunity to preside at a baptism: her baby brother. Sometime later, her mother told me -- "Now she does something when she says she is you. She baptizes her doll babies!"


Whew!


As a pastor, I sometimes do a lot of different things -- some things they never taught me in seminary. Like vacuuming water off the church basement floor. Cheering for the local girls basketball team when they go to the state playoff. Baking cookies with 6 ninth graders. Having indian tea with a 4 year old.


If I ever forget what's important, though, I'll remember the little girl who gave me the Indian tea -- and baptized her dolls, pretending that she was me.

5 comments:

Hot Cup Lutheran said...

hee hee... just when we get to the point that we wonder if anybody's paying attention anymore God blesses us with these rare & beautiful moments!

more cows than people said...

how precious. thank you for sharing. still love your blog.

Unknown said...

Oh how sweet. And may we never forget what is important....

Unknown said...

Oh yes, I wanted to say, I have in my reading list the book you have on your sidebar you are now reading, Three Cups of Tea. Now if I can finish the ones I am working on presently.

Jan said...

What an image to remember! Thank you for sharing. I like picturing that little girl being you, especially baptizing her babies. The recipe is wonderful.

I, too, have "Three Cups of Tea" thanks to you--I'll be reading it next month when I go on vacation.