I painted quotes and poems on my bedroom wall as a teenager. I wanted to be surrounded by words that would elevate my heart. At the head of my bed on the yellow wall, I painted a large bit of Tennyson’s Ulysses in cottage blue.
This is a part of it:
“Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Autumn Ember Tea
One of the things we deeply need in this season is a quiet, steady kind of courage… the kind that settles in with our daily rhythms, anchoring us in the healing work of our creative homemaking, tending our family atmosphere, and nurturing the energy of the humans in our care.
I wasn’t always one for hot drinks, but over time, I’ve come to love the warmth of tea and cacao/maca blends. They invite me to pause, and help me gather myself again.
Here’s a nice fall herbal tea for you to make this week. You might want to pair it with the beautiful cookbook my children have created. I highly recommend every treat in the entire book. I was a taste-tester. Hard job, for sure, but someone’s got to do it. 🙂
A Show Recommendation
We have very much enjoyed watching House of David. Talk about courage. I loved the script, and the soundtrack is stunning… a wonderful telling of an epic tale. We’re all facing giants these days, so this will inspire you.
Remembering Courage
This Remembrance Day we honour all the brave ones who have stood in the face of evil with steadfast courage throughout our human story. To truly honour them, however, we must recognize the battles humanity faces now against those who manufacture conflict, profit from chaos, and cloak oppression in the language of safety. These are the powers and principalities at work in the world.
We are called to stand firm against the darkness of the adversary, in both its quiet and brazen forms. The battle now is for hearts, minds, and the very meaning of what it is to be human. As parents and stewards of the next generation, our task is to cultivate freedom within our homes, rooted deeply in truth, so that our children may grow up anchored to Jesus, the one who showed us that Love has already won.
My Book About Courageous Love
November is a season for slowing down and reading stuff while you are cozy on the couch drinking your tea. The Covenant Code is a book I wrote that invites you back into the heart of the courageous love that Jesus modeled.
This book is about the radical, pursuing love of Christ who gave everything to restore his beloved (you!). His covenant was a rescue mission for humanity, a call to intimacy, and a bold invitation to live fully known and deeply loved.
As the world grows noisier, draw back to the quiet strength of the most important relationship in your life.
Want to know more about it? Read this. Or interested in getting a copy? Go here.
Baby Steps
None of us have stood in this threshold before. One age is dissolving while another takes form, and it’s happening not just out there in the world, but inside of us. Structures are shifting, our familiar systems are unraveling, and the illusion of certainty is being peeled back layer by layer.
We are not being asked to sprint into the unknown, we are being invited to take one conscious, grounded step at a time.
Sometimes all we have are “baby steps” (thank you What About Bob), and that’s enough. We do what is given to us to do today, what we know in our spirit, what we can carry in this moment, and we release the rest.
Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)
I think of my little one-year-old, Portia Sol, learning to walk. Her steps aren’t filled with panic or pressure. They’re wobbly, but alive with discovery. There’s no striving in her. No self-judgment at all. She is wildly trusting of her process.
Just movement.
Curiosity.
Trust.
And every day, her footsteps fall a little steadier.
That same courage, the quiet, cellular kind that moves forward without needing all the answers, lives in us too.
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
-C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters