“Now, that’s the tea!” I have often heard these words spoken by my two teenage daughters. At first, I thought they were referring to the letter, “t.” Then, I asked its meaning, and one explained, “You know, It’s finding out the whole story.” To me, tea is a fancy word for gossip. You can apparently “spill tea,” ”get tea,” or “give tea.” The Urban Dictionary explains that this slang comes from the southern culture of women who gathered in the afternoon to drink tea and gossip.

So if you find yourself in a conversation when others say, “That’s the tea!” what would you do?

• Do you respond by “spilling tea,” especially if someone confided something? Is it wise to repeat this to others?
• Do you “get tea” by joining in a conversation where others are talking about someone, or do you walk away?
• Do you “give tea” by starting gossip based on something heard, yet unsure of its truth?

My grandparents just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Seventy years! My husband and I are celebrating seven years, and that seems like a long time. I cannot imagine 10 times as long!

But more impressively than being married for that long is that they have served God side by side since before getting married. As far as I know, they never swayed in their service to the Lord. Such a wonderful example for us all to follow.

Marriage takes work. We can't just sit back and expect it to be like in the movies, with the honeymoon stage all the time. We need to communicate with our spouse when something is bothering us. We need to participate in the marriage, planning dates, checking in throughout the day, showing attention.

I love how God reveals things to us in so many different ways. Last month, God kept reminding me of how He can make the impossible possible. I would see things on TV, hear them on the Christian radio station in the car, through messages at church, or the Bible verse of the day on my TCOJC app. I felt like it was everywhere.

What was He telling me? What did He want me to do? He was reminding me of what He can do and how I need to trust Him. I did have something I had been praying about. He was sending me little reminders. I prayed. I fasted. I trusted Him.

On Tuesday, I told you about how my youngest son screams — and how it quickly brings me to the end of my mommy rope.

Today is about you. Is there something in your life that gets on your last nerve? This is something bigger than a pet peeve, something that grinds deeper. It triggers an emotional response that's anchored below the surface. It really gets to you.

You may feel a little like the writer of Psalm 42:5, asking, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?"

Like the psalmist, I often want to know why. Why does this thing get under my skin so easily? Why does it so quickly bring me to tears? Why am I left feeling unsettled even after I "handle it"?

My youngest child is going through a screaming phase. This isn't the pterodactyl thing that many babies do. He's over 2 years old (and he can totally use words) but he screams a lot. He keeps things interesting by mixing in whining and crying with the screaming just in case I get bored.

There are many reasons for the screaming.

• Tell him no, and he screams in anger, frustration, and disappointment.
• Give him a command he doesn't like, and he screams in defiance.
• He's sick with a cold, so bring on the screams of discomfort.
• He's got a crumb on his finger from lunch and it won't come off. WHAAAAAAA!!!!

My mom told me a story about a really amazing experience. When she was little, a sister in the Niles Branch, Ohio, had a husband, a brother in the church, who was very sick. He went to the hospital, and he passed away while he was there. However, the sister was not in the mood to grieve. In fact, she would not let nurses and doctors take her husband to the morgue until the ministry from her church came to pray for him. Two ministers from the Niles Branch, Brother Russell and Brother Joe, went to the hospital to pray for this brother who had been passed away for some time. Under the hands of the ministry and by God's grace, the brother was brought back to life to the astonishment of the doctors, and he lived for many more years with his wife as a testimony to God's power.

Now, what could I gather about this sister's faith? Was she wanting the ministry to come see if they could perhaps bring her husband back to life, or do I think she was fully confident in what would happen? I am certain she had no doubt, that she 100 percent expected this to occur, and, more importantly, she knew it would.

Dear Anxiety,

I get it. You want all of my attention. Every last drop. You want to talk to me and be with me every second of every day. Well, that’s cute. And I’m flattered. But can a girl get some space?

Ever since I met you back in my awkward high school days, you haven’t left me alone. You’re always showing up uninvited, stealing the spotlight, getting all dramatic for nothing. And I know you’re used to the easily persuaded, flimsy little girl who always gave in without a fight. But, times have changed. And so have I.

God has given all of us free will. This means every day we have hundreds of choices to make.

Some choices are obvious, like should I eat something because I am hungry? Should I wash my hands after going to the bathroom? Should I brush my teeth? What should I wear today?

Other choices might take more thought and have more of an impact.

Grace. Mercy. Love. Sounds like a recipe that’s needed in forgiveness, right? It's impossible to go through life and not have our feelings hurt. It doesn’t just end when we become an adult, either. I have found that the sting hurts just as much now that I'm a grown woman as when I was a kid.

I have someone in my life, a dear, close friend of mine, who hasn’t spoken to me in a year. I don’t know why, but God does. And you know what? I may never know the reason why, and I have to be OK with that.

Lightning McQueen "matchbox" car.

Legos made into a train.

These are just a couple of the toys that our son, Rocco, falls asleep holding in his hands at night. Almost every evening, he makes SURE that he is holding tightly onto something that is important to him as he goes to sleep. And also he makes SURE that he immediately has them close by as he starts the first moments of his day. He will literally wake up and ask to find them if during the night they get lost in the sheets. I saw this the other day and thought ... there is a lesson in this!

Today's article is another installment in Brother P.'s column, "Lessons From the Nursing Home."

One of the funniest situations that I have ever dealt with while working in a nursing home had to do with a lady who had broken her forearm. (No, she did not break her humerus!) She had fallen and broken her forearm while drunk, which is not usually a reason for a nursing home admission. However, her physician knew that she had a problem with alcohol and could end up further injuring herself if sent home. So, he casted her arm (wrist up to just above the elbow) and sent her to the nursing home.

If you're anything like me, you don't handle chaos well. My first instinct in the midst of chaos? Freak out. Next? Tell people I'm freaking out. Then, take things into my own hands. "Woman up." Power through. (Or at least try.) If you're nodding in agreeance, you know none of this really works.

Why, when I have the most high God on my side do I try to control chaos myself? God says, "Be still and know." But let me tell ya, not my forte. I don't have a long attention span. I'm not patient. And sitting still is like, my least favorite thing. On top of that, bad as it sounds, sometimes I have a hard time believing that what I don't think is possible, really is with Him.

Have you ever been to a sporting event or other venue where a group of people are gathered doing something together? Everyone is watching or participating together, and there's an energy about it. Sometimes that energy can be good, but other times it can be downright evil.

I've seen it happen a few times, personally. Everyone is excited and happy, and then something goes wrong; maybe like a blatant penalty that doesn't get called in a playoff game. The next thing you know, everyone is livid and hateful. The crowd hurls insults at the target, with some making threats. It feeds off itself and gets worse and worse. It's so easy to get caught up in it. Even good Christian people who normally would never think of acting in a belligerent way can become part of the angry mob.

Sometimes I wonder what we must look like to the Lord going about our day-to-day life. Does He care when I’m making a run to Target? Is He interested in my Starbucks order? What about when I have the piano tuned at church? Maybe…

Somehow He manages to have time for the biggest of big and the smallest of small. How He does this, I truly cannot fathom. But, besides being omnipotent and omniscient, He also finds a way to be omnipresent, too. So I’d argue that, in some way, yes, He does care when you make that stop at the grocery store or treat yourself to a haircut. (He did want us to experience joy, right?) He sees our good days and bad — and is always there no matter what.

If I had to imagine what God was saying from His throne as He looks down on us, I think it would go something like this:

“Only thing we have to fear is fear itself” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

I fear a lot of stuff, but I usually don’t feel like I’m fearing fear. I fear heights, sickness, the unknown — you know what I’m talking about. Insert your fear; we’ve all got them. When I find myself getting fearful, I get careful, protective, and my lizard brain (fight or flight) kicks in. My decisions are hasty, and my judgments are quick.

“And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:30-31)

WHAT???