From Paint by Numbers to Masterpiece

Every December, I have the glorious and satisfying privilege of acknowledging the support that is offered annually to our little enterprise called My Cup of Tea.  Signing each message of thanks is a reminder of what makes our mission so special.  Over fourteen years of concentration on loving our neighbors in Orange Mound, our experiment has amassed a collective team strength, a trusted reputation, and a shared hope for the future of each of our ladies and the ladies who will join us.

                Originally, when all of this began, my hope was to elevate and redirect the women toward independence and disengage them from the capricious government subsidies upon which they depend.   I thought financial independence would be easy.  I didn’t fully appreciate how fragile things can be for women juggling endless demands on time, transportation, and utilities, with bills piling up faster than income can flow in.

 With reserve, I have never known the absence of what is essential - the means to meet my needs, a way to move through the world, or a place of warmth or shelter.  I say this not as a point of pride, but with a humble awareness that this is a profound grace, not a given.

Originally, I wrongly envisioned mutual authentic friendship with each Orange Mound woman who crossed our front doorstep into employment.   Managing her finances would be solved in two clicks, and our team’s hospitality and personal magnetism would fill the vacuum of friendship and trust.   Earning the dollars for personal essentials by working at the tea company, I thought, would be dignifying, edifying, and ease our employees into self-sufficiency.  Prosperity was not the goal, but the means to instill confidence and a creative, rooted life.

                I read multiple books, prayed, sought advisors, and plunged into a foreign culture and community with a vision to paint hope with flat brushes and primary colors. The shallows in which I soon stood showed me I was painting by the numbers. The canvas soaked up every drop of paint and initiative. In time, the Light touched it, and gradually a remarkable original masterpiece appeared.  It was not at all related to the one I had envisioned.  The freedom and art of foregoing a step-by-step approach to success was less about following a plan and more about witnessing God’s vision come to life.  Something organic and quite beautiful, and indescribable, has evolved.

                The Bible tells the reader at least four hundred times to go to the poor, give to the poor, pray for the poor, defend the poor, protect them, sacrifice for them, and present unconditional love for the poor as central to faithful living.  Jesus’ life on earth and teachings elevate this responsibility. How we treat the vulnerable is directly tied to our relationship with God.  In essence, acting justly, mercifully, and without reservation is the requirement. (Micah 6:8)

                The late Tim Keller, pastor and theologian, answered one of my questions, “Why the poor and why four hundred times?"  Why not old women and men? Why not specific people groups, children, or the lost?  Keller says, “We give to the poor because they can’t reciprocate.”  It mirrors the Gospel.  We model the need, and the Lord models the way we should do it.

In truth, we are the poor, and we cannot earn grace or reciprocate the immeasurable gift we have received. Undeserving and once impossibly anchored in sorrow and futility, we who have been born again are given the irrefutable reality that we are fully known and fully loved.  Our needs are met and our future outweighs the present.  Everything sad and bad will be undone one day.

We serve the ladies from the unshakable place of a never ceasing wellspring that pours into our hearts through the Holy Spirit and out into the broken and raw landscape of Orange Mound. The My Cup of Tea administrators, volunteers, and you, who are our supporters, are conduits of His living water reviving and reimagining the future for our beloved women, both for now, and for Eternity.

Thank you for standing with us.  Your support is a measurable blessing now, and with more ladies in view, the rewards for you are without measure, and the masterpiece is priceless.