My Cup of Tea

Today we went to visit my brother-in-law’s family in Canton, about an hour south of here. They have a pool and it was forcasted to be sweltering hot. Seemed like a good day for a visit.

While Dom frolicked with the nephews in the pool, Bella and I retreated to the air-conditioned cool of the living room (I haven’t bought a swimsuit yet this summer and anyway she can’t yet take the sun and the heat nor enjoy the cool of the pool). There I was entertained by the relentless chattering my three year old niece, Catherine, who preferred Auntie’s company (and the new baby) to the rowdy play of her older brothers, uncle and father.

But before Catherine came in I’d lost myself in the book my thoughtful sister-in-law provided for me, in case I’d not brought one to read while nursing. (and, I must confess, I read quite a bit while half-listening to Catherine’s monologue)

Though I had brought a book with me and a good one at that (Chesterton’s The Flying Inn, more about which later), I forsook it at once in favor of the book Patti lent me, My Cup of Tea: Musings of a Catholic Mom by Danielle Bean. Ever since I discovered Danielle’s blog I’ve wanted to read this book. But that discovery coincided with the job loss and so we’ve been on a buying freeze.

I knew I’d like the book because I loved the first chapter that she previews on her site and because I love the slice of life stories on her blog. And I was right. I devoured about half of hte book this afternoon and now really can’t wait to buy it. Gulping books is a bad habit of mine and this is a book that deserves to be sipped and savored. This is the kind of book I look forward to returning to it at leisure again and again for refreshing draughts because not only does it amuse and entertain, it also nourishes the spiritual life with meditations on the vocation of motherhood and the spirituality of the domestic church.