Ice cubes on a 95 degree afternoon in June.

Drink up, buttercup, the cool cubes clinking in your glass aren’t going to last long.

The sad part is, the vast majority of us are so busy being busy that we don’t even notice the fleeting moment of the ice cubes.

By the time we do sit down to enjoy, the cubes are long since melted and we drink diluted sweet tea.

The worst offense of all though, is that we believe the lie that we’re meant to drink diluted sweet tea. That the diluted sweet tea is the big prize of our busyness.

I once heard a story about an orphan in Africa who was adopted by an American family. She had slept on a dirt floor her entire life. When she was brought into the new home, her parents introduced the orphan to her room with fresh paint, beautiful clothes hung in the closet, plethora of toys and…new bed. The parents tucked her in that first evening and when they checked on her in the middle of the night, they found her sleeping on the floor. When asked the next morning why she didn’t stay in her new, cushy bed, she simply replied, “I’ve only ever slept on the floor so I assumed that would be more comfortable.”

Let’s stop believing that the floor is more comfortable because that’s what the world says will make us happy. Let’s take the time to enjoy the ice cubes in our sweet tea.

Cheers!

“Peachy” Lime Iced Tea

Ingredients:

6 cups water
6 black tea bags
1 cup pear juice
Juice of 1 small lime
2 cups ice

Directions:

1. Bring water to boil, remove heat and add tea bags. Allow to seep for 10 minutes.
2. Remove tea bags and add pear and lime juice.
3. Pour over ice and allow to cool in refrigerator until completely chilled.
4. Serve over ice.

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”