Some of the most important conversations of my life have happened over tea and pastries. Not in meetings. Not in scheduled talks. But at a small table, with a warm cup between us, when neither of us was in a hurry to be anywhere else.
There is something about tea that softens people. Maybe it is the warmth. Maybe it is the slowness. Maybe it is simply that sitting down together says, without words, 'I have time for you.' And in that unhurried space, the heart begins to speak things it would never say in a rush.
Over tea, I have heard my husband share worries he could not name at the end of a long day. Over tea, my children have asked questions they were too afraid to ask in the car. Over tea, a friend once poured out a grief she had carried alone for months. The pastries were just an excuse. The tea was just a reason. The real gift was the time.
We live in a world that has forgotten how to sit still. We schedule everything except the things that matter most. But love does not thrive on appointments. It thrives on the unplanned hour, the lingering cup, the conversation that runs long because no one wants it to end.
So put the kettle on. Pull out the pastries. Invite someone you love to stay a while. You never know what God will teach you over a cup of tea — but I can promise you this: the best conversations of your life are still waiting to happen at a table where no one is in a hurry.
With love, Auntie Mina