Photo - on the front of the Esther Mae's Southern Sweet Peach Tea Candle is a photo of my mom by the new brick planter my Dad had just built in the summer of 1972. My mom planted it with beautiful flowers. She loved gardening. Growing up in the south...she was an iced tea expert too. We always had sweet tea around our house.
Sweet Tea, Sweet Words…’I Reckon’
By Shelly Thompson
I am forever grateful that God sent an amazing candlemaker into my path who has helped create a line of candles that tell the story of a generation of women in my 5th Street neighborhood who loved sitting on the porch, gardening, afternoon coffee time, and were like family. They would show up in curlers or a hot mess bun, but on 5th Street, these ladies always gathered, usually carrying something they had baked wrapped in foil. There was nothing fancy about these women. But they had hearts of gold. When my aunts from the South would show up for a few days each summer...they just mixed right in the group as if they too lived on 5th Street. Our candles all have a story behind them. This is the back story of Esther Mae's Southern Sweet Peach Tea.
In case you’ve never been south in the United States…they like their tea SWEET, y’all. I mean really, really sweet, like sugar literally coats the bottom of the glass type of sweet. I am not sure if southern sweet tea actually quenches thirst, or if that’s why there’s a pitcher of tea on every porch in all photos taken in southern states. Perhaps all of that sugar only makes them more thirsty…and chatty…
There were no chattier women then my aunts when they came to visit. My mom’s family was ‘born and raised’ in the south and those southern belles loved them some sweet tea in the afternoons on the old back porch on 5th Street. Their conversations continually accentuated by ‘y’all’, ‘sugar’, ‘bless her heart’, ‘she was fixin’ to’, ‘I reckon’, ‘druthers’, and one I didn’t understand for years…‘madder than a wet hen’. I didn’t understand half of what they said, but I did get called ‘sugar’ a lot when they visited. I often wondered who Carter was and why he needed so many pills! But I knew he did because they would say often say, ‘More than Carter’s got pills’…poor Carter!
Their words to each other were sweet. Living in separate states they didn’t get together often. When they did it was always special. I often wondered if they had lived closer to each other, if the afternoons of sipping tea and talking southern slang, laughing, and truly soaking in life on the back porch, would have been such treasured times.
When I see a glass of tea I often think of those afternoons. Their kindness, generosity, and love towards each other was beautiful. They showed us the gentle heart and words of a Warrior. Those southern belle’s unforgettable example of precious and sweet words slowly sipped down with sweet tea are still a fond memory. While the sugary tea may not have quenched their thirst, the sweet words quenched their hearts desire as they enjoyed God’s gift of priceless time together.
Sweet friend - Is God asking you to be a gentle Warrior on behalf of someone else? Has God placed someone in your heart that could use some sweet fellowship? An elderly relative, a widow, a new mom, a grandchild, a family member or friend? The Lord loves it when Warriors use sweet words that encourage and draw others closer to Him. Get your calendar and make a ‘sweet tea’ date with someone the Lord places on your heart. ‘I reckon, sugar, y’all will have a great time!’
My mom (Esther Mae) and aunts have each went home to be with the Lord. I have no doubt that their just as chatty as ever in paradise…and while they may continue to use most of their southern slang, I am sure they’ve quit fussing over their friend Carter and his pills…their minds are set on the things of heaven. They don’t have a worry in the universe, sugar!
Instruction Manual How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103
*This is edited and adapted from the book by Shelly Thompson 'Heart of a Warrior' - A Legacy of Faith. You can learn more about this forty day devotional by clicking here.
By Shelly Thompson
I am forever grateful that God sent an amazing candlemaker into my path who has helped create a line of candles that tell the story of a generation of women in my 5th Street neighborhood who loved sitting on the porch, gardening, afternoon coffee time, and were like family. They would show up in curlers or a hot mess bun, but on 5th Street, these ladies always gathered, usually carrying something they had baked wrapped in foil. There was nothing fancy about these women. But they had hearts of gold. When my aunts from the South would show up for a few days each summer...they just mixed right in the group as if they too lived on 5th Street. Our candles all have a story behind them. This is the back story of Esther Mae's Southern Sweet Peach Tea.
In case you’ve never been south in the United States…they like their tea SWEET, y’all. I mean really, really sweet, like sugar literally coats the bottom of the glass type of sweet. I am not sure if southern sweet tea actually quenches thirst, or if that’s why there’s a pitcher of tea on every porch in all photos taken in southern states. Perhaps all of that sugar only makes them more thirsty…and chatty…
There were no chattier women then my aunts when they came to visit. My mom’s family was ‘born and raised’ in the south and those southern belles loved them some sweet tea in the afternoons on the old back porch on 5th Street. Their conversations continually accentuated by ‘y’all’, ‘sugar’, ‘bless her heart’, ‘she was fixin’ to’, ‘I reckon’, ‘druthers’, and one I didn’t understand for years…‘madder than a wet hen’. I didn’t understand half of what they said, but I did get called ‘sugar’ a lot when they visited. I often wondered who Carter was and why he needed so many pills! But I knew he did because they would say often say, ‘More than Carter’s got pills’…poor Carter!
Their words to each other were sweet. Living in separate states they didn’t get together often. When they did it was always special. I often wondered if they had lived closer to each other, if the afternoons of sipping tea and talking southern slang, laughing, and truly soaking in life on the back porch, would have been such treasured times.
When I see a glass of tea I often think of those afternoons. Their kindness, generosity, and love towards each other was beautiful. They showed us the gentle heart and words of a Warrior. Those southern belle’s unforgettable example of precious and sweet words slowly sipped down with sweet tea are still a fond memory. While the sugary tea may not have quenched their thirst, the sweet words quenched their hearts desire as they enjoyed God’s gift of priceless time together.
Sweet friend - Is God asking you to be a gentle Warrior on behalf of someone else? Has God placed someone in your heart that could use some sweet fellowship? An elderly relative, a widow, a new mom, a grandchild, a family member or friend? The Lord loves it when Warriors use sweet words that encourage and draw others closer to Him. Get your calendar and make a ‘sweet tea’ date with someone the Lord places on your heart. ‘I reckon, sugar, y’all will have a great time!’
My mom (Esther Mae) and aunts have each went home to be with the Lord. I have no doubt that their just as chatty as ever in paradise…and while they may continue to use most of their southern slang, I am sure they’ve quit fussing over their friend Carter and his pills…their minds are set on the things of heaven. They don’t have a worry in the universe, sugar!
Instruction Manual How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103
*This is edited and adapted from the book by Shelly Thompson 'Heart of a Warrior' - A Legacy of Faith. You can learn more about this forty day devotional by clicking here.