Encouraging Your Family’s Dreams...at Tuesday Tea

 
Welcome to another morning tea time chat!  I’m SOooo pleased that you’ve dropped by. :o)  Do grab a pretty cup..or a handy one..and pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee. I’d love to have you join us today! If you’d like to show off your pretty tea things, just link up at the bottom of this post. I’ll be sure to drop by soon to visit. :o)   

 Today I’d like to chat about one of the most important roles that a wife and/or mother plays…The Family Cheerleader. I think it comes naturally for we women to encourage our family members in the pursuit of their dreams.

My mother was always my biggest fan! Years ago, I went to the county spelling bee confidently armed with a ‘good luck’ hanky (made of white fabric and covered with shamrocks) and green necklace (homemade by mom) and the assurance that she would be sitting on the front row rooting for me.  :o) PS. You're the best, Mom!

 And she was the one beaming next to me, when I went to our country's bi-centennial poetry contest in fourth grade too. By then I had written many poems. How special it was to share that anxious and enthralling moment when we heard them announce that I’d won first place! with my poem, On that Dark and Dreary Night (recreating Paul Revere's lonely ride).  There were many such moments…and all are cherished memories with Mom by my side.

'Nanamom' on the right

To this day, she finds ways to cheer me on in my creative pursuits.  (She's my most faithful reader!) She’s also rooting for my three sisters, and our many children. She’s the family expert on all of our likes, dislikes, and passions. Is it any wonder that we adore her?   If it hadn’t come naturally to me, I still believe I would have been my family’s cheerleader just by the sheer force of her loving example.  That’s what mothers do.

 

The best way to become your family’s cheerleader, is to figure out what they are good at..at a very young age.  For some of my kids this was an easy task. For some, I had to dig really deep! I wrote all about that on this post, “Discerning Your Children’s Natural Gifts”.  Once you understand their giftings, you can help equip them so that they can begin pursuing those things. 

For my oldest, Matthew, it was flying gliders (no engine in the plane!) and languages.

He’s now a Russian/Pashtu translator for the Marines.

     

For my next son, Andrew, it was a gift for nurturing…which started a never ending procession of pets and babysitting jobs. He wants to be a counselor for autistic children and is pursuing a degree in Psychology. Picture at left with a friend's baby and at right with his OWN cutie pie!

   

  Rebekah wanted to be a homemaker..and adores horses. She rode for years. She bought her own horse last year and designs her own clothes! 

          

Jacob with sister,  Rebekah at Right to Life Banquet

(Jacob won first place in the oratory contest held a couple of weeks ago.)

Jacob..has always loved adventure. He’s writing Catacomb Tales  as we speak. He’s always been sort of ‘armed and dangerous’ :o). He also loves to tell stories and talk…I had to learn to listen..ALOT! Just this week, he spoke before 200 people giving a speech at the Montgomery County Right to Life banquet.  He’s a preacher at heart. He was magnetic..and charismatic. The politician who stood up to speak after him seemed almost at a loss for words.

Afterwards, Jacob told me that he finally knew public speaking was his gift…he just doesn’t know yet where it will lead him. After driving him all over the country for speech and debate tournaments, his real dream is finally beginning to emerge. (Inside, I was secretly dancing a little jig!!)

   

Christian, our youngest, is a gifted musician... and he loves to sing…. and he loves to play sports… and take unusual photos. We have been having a lot of heart to heart talks about what direction he wants to pursue. Tim's teaching him to program...because he loves that too! Most likely, next year will see us buying a better camera and driving from choir rehearsals to classical guitar lessons…with an occasional sports days with friends thrown in. It’s ‘his’ turn at last! :o)

And Dear Hubby was not to be left out either!  After years of Tim paying for the kids’ lessons and driving them all over the place, I decided it was his turn. I secretly bought him a cello for Christmas the year before last. You can read about it here. 

I saved my money from sewing jobs to pay for not only the cello, but also five months of private lessons. I wish you could’ve seen his face when we brought out that cello! He ADORES classical music and plays the piano fairly well..but his dream..was to play the cello.    

Me? Well, my biggest dream came true when Tim paid to have my music CD produced and recorded. It’s called, “Let Your Children Dream”.  :o)

We don’t have a lot of money..but what we have…we have spent not on nice furniture or beautiful clothes or sporty cars..though the Lord has given us some of that. NO, we’ve spent it on the dreams of our children..so they can be all that “God has called them’ to be.

We can all be cheerleaders! 

One thing I want most to do, as a blogger, is to cheer you on as you pursue your dreams too!I know not everyone has a mom like mine. I CARE about YOU--really! If you need a cheerleader…well, I hope I can be that for you now and then.  :o)

How about you? Are you the family cheerleader?

I’d love to hear your story too…

I want to thank all of you who left comments on last week’s Tuesday tea post and all of my new tea drinking friends who linked up their tea parties'. It was so fun visiting your lovely blogs..and homes.  Your tea table settings were so lovely!

Natasha’s children taking tea in London, England

I so enjoyed Natasha’s post about tea times she and her family have celebrated around the world. She has posted some really lovely posts about tea time at her blog 5 minutes Just for Me.

And Wanda Lee and her friend Pam just blew me away! They’ve been hosting parties forever! Last week was their 72nd Tuesday Tea party! I was so blessed by Wanda’s sweet comments last week. I feel like such a newbie with these tea party queens! For some amazing tablescapes, you really must drop by their lovely linky party at The Plumed Pen.

Want to join in the fun? Just link up here..and drop be sure to visit all the sweet ladies who link up to see some lovely tea sets and posts.  Thanks again Rayanne for starting this lovely tea party tradition at Comin’ Home! Sure loved her fabulous photos from last week!

Linking with all of these lovely parties!

BTNOP Tablescape Thursdays

Raising Homemakers Homemaking Link up

Lady Katherine's Tea Time Tuesday

The Plumed Pen's  Tea for Two

Rose Chintz Tea Time Tuesday

Martha's Favorite Teacup Tuesday
Wanda Lee's Teapot And Tea Things Tuesday
Pam's Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday

A Delightsome Life: A Return to Loveliness

By the way, I'm linking with a really creative and unique party today at Jaime Ridler Studios. Her party is called Wishcasting Wednesday and it's there to share your dreams and wishes...seemed perfect for today's topic!