A Fun Little History Lesson

So, one Saturday morning, the girls and I were out looking for garage sales.  We love to find bargains!  We had visited a few and had not really found anything we couldn't live without, but we drove on to the last one on our list.  We almost didn't stop.  It appeared that there really wasn't too much there, and from what we could see from the car window, there wasn't much "girl stuff".  However, we did stop, and ended up with a fun little history lesson for our effort.

Sitting on a table full of tools and other unrelated items, we found a beautiful little treasure.

 

 

At first glance, we thought we had come across some gorgeous little tea cups.

 

Then we noticed this.

 

 

What?!?  We had never seen any tea cups like this.  After talking with the seller (who explained that he helped with estate sales, hence the odd assortment of findings at his sale) he told us that these were actually moustache cups.  A tea cup--but with an extra feature.  His explanation was pretty much what wikipedia had to say, so here it is.

 

Moustaches flourished throughout the Victorian era. Oftentimes, moustache wax was applied to the moustache to keep it nice and stiff, with every hair in place. And therein lay a problem that cropped up when steaming hot cups of tea or coffee were carried up to the mouth for sipping: the steam melted the wax and sent it right into the cup. Another problem soon became apparent. Sipping hot tea or coffee, moustaches also often became stained. Finally, Harvey Adams, an innovative Englishman, in 1860 came up with an unusual invention, "the moustache cup". The latter had a ledge, called a moustache guard, across the cup. The ledge had one semicircular opening against the side of the cup. The pampered moustache then rested safe and dry on the guard while sipping a hot beverage through the opening.

(Another source also mentioned that melting moustache wax in the tea was enough to send the women present into a swoon, so evidently, this little feature was much needed!)

For school this year, we have been studying the Victorian era, so this was a timely find! Of course, my students needed to test it out...

Perfect!

Missions Weekend

 

 

This past weekend, we were invited to attend First Baptist Church of Plant City's mission conference.  The theme was about being obedient and there were wonderful speakers throughout the days.  We had never visited this church before so we were blessed to make lots of new friends not just from Plant City, but from around the globe as well.  I think that is always my favorite part-meeting new people and learning about the passions that God has placed on their hearts.  From churches in NY, San Francisco and Miami to people ministering in some of the roughest parts of the world.  Although the times often seem dark,  it is always refreshing to be reminded of the love and grace and power of God and learn how He is very much at work!

After our weekend in Plant City, we met with a group from First Baptist of Bradenton, and joined them on our tour of the Wycliffe Discovery Center in Orlando.

                            

We always love the opportunity to share about Bible Translation and the ministry to which God has called us.  It is amazing to think that in the short time we have been with Wycliffe, over 700 new language projects have been started!  Our God is an awesome God!

A Time to Reconnect with Colleagues and Culture

                                       

 

Recently our family was able to be part of a wonderful program (sponsored by Wycliffe) for missionaries reentering US culture from overseas.  Wycliffe Connection provides training in various areas, but more importantly, it is a wonderful way to connect with other missionaries from overseas.

 

 

We enjoyed our time in Orlando and we able to participate with several colleagues we worked with in Tanzania. Anissa and Ariana were in the kids programs that were led by a couple who are experienced in youth ministry (and who we had met during our time in Virginia!)

 

 

Another  highlight was seeing the beautiful art work in the Wycliffe headquarters—we discovered  that much of it was painted by our friend, Michael Harrar, who we worked with in Tanzania. :)

 It was great to remember we are all part of a team seeking to help communities bring transformation to their lives and communities. Now that is worth living for!