Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Silver Boxes and Scripture Tea

Recently I met with several ladies from my church for an evening  of fun and fellowship.  As soon as I walked into the room and saw the tables draped with silver cloths and small boxes wrapped in silver paper, it was apparent we were going to talk about Florence Littauer's book, Silver Boxes - The Gift of Encouragement, in some way.   The evening brought back such wonderful memories I decided to blog about it.


The book is an excellent resource on encouraging one another with uplifting words, because in reality our words either build up or tear down the people to whom they're spoken.

 
The book, available on Amazon.com, has an enduring message as  indicated by the review dates of 1997 through 2011.  [The book itself was copyrighted in 1989.] And  of 30 reviews, written by both women and men,  23  gave it five stars.   The book is based on Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
My mind drifted back to October 1999 when I coordinated a "Silver Boxes" theme dinner for a group of ladies.

At each place setting was a silver wrapped package containing a silver trinket box for each lady to take home as a reminder that every word spoken to someone should be like a "verbal present" - a silver box with a bow on top!

The feathers on the tablescape were to show the similarities between feathers in the wind, and unretrievable spoken words.

Carrying out the "Silver Boxes" theme in the Fellowship Hall.

I first saw Scripture Tea at the local Christian book store, but I order it directly from  Scripture Tea  by the case [wholesale], so I  have plenty on hand to give away.  The tea is available in green, white or black tea, caffeinated or decaffeinated.  What could be more encouraging than seeing an inspirational scripture verse dangling from the tea bag tag in a teacup stating: "I will never leave you or forsake you."  [Hebrews 13:5]   Cracker Barrel carries Scripture Tea's counterpart - "Promise Tea," [packaged by the same company] with the lyrics to Gaither inspirational songs printed on the tea bag tag.

A box of Scripture Tea is always included in every "Encouragement" or "Bereavement" basket that ladies at church are recipients of.

God's Word [the Bible] is His "Silver Box" to us!



5 comments:

  1. How nice! I especially liked this: ". . . because in reality our words either build up or tear down the people to whom they're spoken." So true! I will definitely have to look for this book. A friend who works at Cracker Barrel recently bought me a box of apricot Scripture tea, and I've really been enjoying that, as well.

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  2. Hello,
    the table decoration looks really precious with all the silver. Thank you for sharing.
    best greetings, Johanna

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  3. What a lovely post today! I remember that book from years ago, and that is a terrific theme for a ministry tea. I also like the baskets your church gives--I'll bet they greatly touch the recipients!

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  4. What a lovely theme. I also like your basket with the tea. When I was growing up our church had a Friendship basket that was passed around the church. I think a box of tea in the basket would have been perfect.

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  5. I have really enjoyed this post. The book I am not familiar with but most definitely with the message it delivers. My mother always said if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all; good words to live by.
    Also, I believe this is a wonderful theme for a tea gathering that I will consider to have with my friends.
    Judith

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