The Colley House » Priorities

A Mother’s Day Card Challenge

Posted by Web Admin | Posted on 07-05-2012

Tags: Parenting, Priorities, Relationships, Thankfulness

I got a Mother’s Day card a few days early this year. But it has encouraged me over and over during the past week. In fact, it was such a blessing to me that I wanted to share it with you.

The front of the card said “Is it true that all daughters become their mothers?” Then I opened it and read this: “I sure hope so. Happy Mother’s Day.”

I have gotten a card much like this from my daughter every year (only Hannah’s are usually pretty funny and a bit sarcastic–I love them!). What is different about this card is that it was not from either of my children. At the bottom of this card was this closing greeting:

To my spiritual mother in Christ–
I’m so thankful for all you have taught me!
Love,
Amber Gilreath

Now, I am humbled by this because while there are lots of worthy spiritual mothers, I’m so flawed–daily flawed–that I have a tough time being the example to my own kids that I want to be, much less to those who could be looking to me from other biological families. The point is, Amber is looking–to me, to ladies in her congregation, to her sweet mother-in-law–for strength and teaching and encouragement. Older women in the body have never had a greater Titus 2:3-5 burden than we do today. There has never been a greater need to strengthen and guide younger women than we find in our churches right now. When I think about the sin they daily face in work places, the cultural expectations to disrespect their husbands and neglect their children, the barrage of materialism and the constant pull of worldliness, I feel for their spirits, worry about their souls, and fear for their children. I know God has challenged older women of 2012 in a very practical way in Titus 2. We are part of the answer to the problems of the kingdom in our day. So why are we falling down on this job of teaching younger women?

I think there are several reasons. One is that, although we are faithful women, we feel unworthy and unqualified to teach. Secondly, we sometimes feel our advice or guidance is not enlisted or welcomed by younger women. Thirdly, we are not the faithful older women described in Titus 2:3 (holy, not false accusers, etc…); thus we truly are unqualified to be teachers.

Whatever the reason for our failure, I hope to challenge older readers to do better at fulfilling Titus 2. While the command to teach does not require us to be public speakers, it does require us to be teachers. It is required–not suggested– and the nature of the teaching is outlined specifically. Truth is, I don’t get to choose whether or not I teach, no matter the difficulty involved, and I don’t get to choose what I teach. It’s all there. Even more sobering, God specifies a dire consequence of our failing to teach. The Word of God will be blasphemed.

I know I have often failed at teaching the “good things.” I have often failed at even living the “good things.” But Amber made me want to try harder. She made me want to encourage others to try harder. So I am sending a card like the one Amber sent to me to an older woman in my life who has impacted me to be a better wife and mother. I hope you will, too. In some small way, we could bless our congregations for their future generations if we could each encourage one older woman to stay the course of teaching the younger women.

The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becomes holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed (Titus 2:3-5).

Not so Saint-ly

Posted by Web Admin | Posted on 12-03-2012

Category : Bless Your Heart

Tags: "In the news", Honesty, Priorities, Society

Let me be the first to admit my ineptitude about sports–both in knowledge of most sports and, most certainly, in skill in any sport. But every now and then, when my son is in for a visit, I catch a blurb here and there from ESPN’s Colin Cowherd. I think he’s big on the Patriots–maybe Tom Brady, in particular; he’s not a fan of undefeated college football teams who failed to put any decent opponents in their schedules, and I’m pretty sure he has some sort of whacky divisions about deceased male movie stars going on right now. That’s about the extent of my Cowherd knowledge except for his unsettling story about the Saints last week. It seems that, even after having been warned by the NFL commissioner, some of the players continued to pay each other off for purposely injuring certain members of the opposing team (i.e.”I’ll pay you a thousand dollars if you hit ________hard enough to have him carried off the field on a stretcher.”)

“After the NFL made its investigation public Friday, former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams admitted to running a bounty pool of up to $50,000 during the past three seasons, rewarding players for knocking targeted opponents out of games,” according to ESPN (espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/7660902).

What was disturbing to me as I listened was both that this unconscionable bounty pool existed and the public reaction to this injury for pay. I listened, in disbelief, as I heard fans call in and say “ This kind of thing is nothing new. It’s just part of the sport of professional football,” or “That’s why American’s love pro football; violence is just a part of the excitement of the game,” or “Why do we have to suddenly punish the Saints when we’ve been looking the other way on these kinds of locker room pay-offs for years?”

I know I’m just an empty-nest mom, coming off of twenty-eight years of making sure everyone was playing fair and no one was getting hurt, but give me a break! Am I really living in a country where people, who are smart enough to dial in and talk on a national radio show, see nothing wrong with paying one another to purposefully injure other human beings in order to win a football game?

This has got to be a least a microcosm of the kind of violence that called down the wrath of God in the days of Noah:

“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen.6:11).

A pool of funds, especially designated for distribution among those who physically hurt opposing teammates, is pretty corrupt. The defense of these paid injuries by many fans of the sport shows a national propensity for anesthetization to the black nature of human violence.

The account of Noah was one of the first that I, as a child, heard from the Holy Pages. I remember wondering what kind of violence was occurring in the days of Noah. Were people beating up on each other with their fists or were they using sharp objects to wound and kill each other? And why? Why did people want to hurt each other in Noah’s day? I’m sure it had something to do with personal gain back then, too.

As I grew older and began to teach teens and ladies from the account of Noah, I often wondered how to most practically take lessons from the account of the violence of Noah’s day. After all, most of the women in my Bible classes would never consider hitting anyone, much less seriously injuring or killing anyone. When speaking about violence, I might have mentioned the horrors of abortion or the tragedy of child abuse. Still, for most of us, those examples are from the worlds of women in vastly different circumstances from our own. I know there are exceptions, but most of us, are just not perpetrators of violence.

But here we are. We do live in a country where the guys who play in the NFL make millions. And millions of Americans are enthusiastic fans of the game. I’ll wager (okay, not wager, but venture to say) that many of you readers have little boys who love NFL football and wear somebody’s number on a jersey. It’s a huge national pleasure and that’s okay. But members of an NFL team have admitted operating a bounty pool for the purpose of injuring opponents and the NFL is planning to levy some sanctions? If you ask me, the Saints should have their franchise pulled yesterday and be forced into the annals of once great NFL teams. Football is a sport. Here’s the definition of sport:

An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Did you get the purpose of a sport? It’s just entertainment. Yet, here we are…raising our kids in a society that very nearly worships at the stadium or in front of ESPN and bows down before the latest and greatest quarterback. It’s difficult for me to fathom that articulate worshippers have been led in the frenzied congregation to the point of verbally excusing and even supporting their icons in pay-per-view for pay-per-violence. But moms, mark it down: We’d better start early to teach our children that sports are merely entertainment forms and all entertainment is optional. We’d better make sure they know that sports are a distant second or third to spiritual activities when scheduling conflicts arise. We’d better let them see us using sports as opportunities to evangelize and to learn the value of fair play rather than sacrificing our values for the win at all costs. We can use the examples that come around each week– from the atrocity of the Saints’ behavior, to the common abuse of steroids, to the ethical issues surrounding recruiting, to the simple lessons of sportsmanship on the Little League field–to teach our kids some very practical lessons about life and godliness, or we can let those issues teach our kids that sports trump the spiritual. But we had better get ready for some dialog with our kids about sports and the relative unimportance of the games, because the devil really wants your kids to worship at the altar of some false god–and the idol of football is about as good to him as any other. I hope your family and mine can have fun at the stadium, the diamond, the court, the field or the rink without spiritual compromise. If we can’t, we should stay away.

“And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire” (Matthew 18:9).

Spiritually Blonde Moms

Posted by Web Admin | Posted on 27-02-2012

Category : Bless Your Heart

Tags: Parenting, Priorities, Tongue, worldliness

As I travel around and speak for various ladies seminars, I am extremely blessed to meet moms of all ages who share with me nuggets of wisdom gleaned from years of experience combined with time in the Word. My home and children have been richer as a result of this fellowship and sharing. There have been a few memorable occasions, though, when women have opened their mouths and something really senseless has issued forth. I think these ridiculous observations from mothers have helped me as much or more than the statements of wisdom. When people fail to study His word and make practical applications in their families, spiritual stupidity ensues. In the presence of women who seem to be clueless about spiritual priorities and biblical motherhood, the wisdom of my God and the peace that is mine when I apply his truth in my family is glaring. I am immediately humbled in this situation and thankful that I do not have to rely on my own resourcefulness or wisdom in motherhood. This parent is grateful to have a Parent who is infinitely resourceful and wise and who has revealed His plan for my home. And it’s all in a book I can carry in my purse. What a blessing! I’ve chosen a few real “gems” from my list of The Most Stupid Mom Statements I’ve Ever Heard to share below. Read them and weep!

“Well, there is that one thing…”
I was speaking at a ladies seminar one afternoon on the topic of Keeping our Families from Worldliness. After my presentation, a sixty-something lady came up to the front of the room, expressed her appreciation for the lecture, and then went on to say how very blessed she and her husband had been in their family. Her children had all reached adult-hood and they had never caused a single minute’s problem for her and her husband. They were now raising beautiful children of their own, maintaining a close relationship with the grandparents and actively leading in their careers and communities. I told her how proud I was for her and just sort of incidentally asked where those young families live and worship. She told me the communities in which they live and then I pursued the second question, since I had some knowledge of one of those communities. “Which congregation do they attend?” I asked.

“Well, there is that one thing,” she responded. “None of my children are faithful to the Lord.”

So many responses would have been appropriate at this juncture, but I was speechless. I was so amazed at the casual way she interjected that tragic statement about the spiritual depravity of her family that I was at a loss for words. The dropping of my jaw and an “I’m so sorry,” was about all I could manage. I wanted to say, “Lady, that is the only one thing that matters,” or “Ma’am, did you realize that all of your children are living their lives in utter and complete failure?!” Paul talked about one thing that was important. He said “…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind me and reaching forward to those things that are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13,14).”

Jesus told Martha that one thing was needful and that Mary had chosen that one thing (Luke 10:42). Perhaps He said it best, though, when He said, “What doth it profit a man if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

I wish I didn’t have to work…
I drove up to a fabulous house in a high-end neighborhood where I would be staying while speaking in the area. I walked through beautifully decorated rooms, past an entertainment center and shelves of videos. I said hello to two well-dressed young children and went upstairs to the beautiful guest room where I would be sleeping. The next morning when I awoke, I peered out the window at a fenced, park-like backyard complete with a full-scale playground. I went downstairs for some orange juice and began to converse at the kitchen bar with my hostess. Somehow in the conversation we got on the subject of stressed and busy lifestyles. In this context came the unbelievable statement I hear so often: “I wish I didn’t have to work, so I could stay home and raise my children.”

Now I’ve heard many variations of this statement. Kids have said it to me like this: “My mom would like to stay home with me, but she says if she stays home, we can’t have our pool…or new house…or whatever goes in the blank.”

There is a way to get past this amazingly materialistic mentality. Go on a mission trip to Zambia or Argentina. Listen to children talk about digging in fields for rats to eat or spend a couple of weeks where there are no adequate sewage systems, no hot water and goat head is listed on the entrée list at eating establishments. I could go on, but the point is all too obvious. We are so rich in America that we’ve come to include the “posh” in our lists of basic necessities. Our children are often bringing us shame, because they have grown up in worlds of instant gratification; worlds void of guidance and nurture. “A child left to himself brings his mother shame (Prov.29:15).” We, like that rich young ruler, will continue to reap sorrow when we allow our possessions to own us rather than the other way around.

“He went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (Matt. 19:22)

“We like to save our ‘no’s.”
I was sitting in a close friend’s kitchen when I decided to ask her if she was concerned about some of the entertainment choices her thirteen year old was making. The media choices of this kid were definitely uncharacteristic of the godly values of his parents. The answer: “We don’t like these choices, but we like to save our ‘no’s for the big things. We feel if we say no all the time, then our prohibitions will be less effective when it comes to some big issue like sex or drugs.”

Practicing the ‘no’s with seemingly small matters is the way kids catch on to the fact that “no” means “no”. It’s the way they assimilate the information that Mom and Dad care enough about them to monitor, direct and guard them, even when it requires time and attention to detail. In short, keeping a watch over the small things and demanding compliance in them is the only way to insure respect when it matters most. Saving our ‘no’s as parents will yield a big bunch of saved-up ‘no’s when our kids need them most, but saved-up ‘no’s, like old kitchen spices, have lost their potency. Kids need practice with restrictions. They have to listen when you say “Stay on the sidewalk,” so later they will listen when you say, “Stay away from drugs.” This constant listening practice is essential for ultimate spiritual success. “Cease listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge” (Proverbs 19:27).

The list goes on. I’d love to have space to comment on the absurdity of statements like “ I wish my thirteen year old would ______________, but I have asked her and she just says ‘no’.” (Is she sleeping under your roof and eating at your table?! ) Another unbelievable one is “Okay, so she is having sex. Let’s get some birth control,” or the frequent “We let our kids go to the dances,” or “see all the movies with their friends,” or “wear the current fashions” (or whatever compromising activity it may be). “After all, we don’t want them to grow up thinking Christianity is a burden.” (Never mind the fact that Jesus called discipleship a yoke and a burden [Matt.11:29,30]).

Parenting is not for the weak. Giving birth, changing diapers, feeding and clothing are all the easy parts. The real challenge is to consistently place the ammunition of respect for the Will of God into the hearts of little people who will soon face the Goliaths of worldliness and corruption that plague our society. We cannot raise our children on permissive fences in which we give the nod to Christianity while we let them enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season (Heb.11:25). They will inevitably fall on the wrong side of that fence and the short season of pleasure will turn to years of the wretched heartache of sin. God empowers us through His Providence and His Word. But we must be diligent parents (Deut.6:6,7), attending to the details of the day to day obstacles the devil places in our paths. Successful parenting is never an accident.

Relatively Speaking…

Posted by Web Admin | Posted on 04-07-2011

Category : Bless Your Heart

Tags: Blessings, Priorities

Relatively speaking, yesterday just wasn’t so good. Before you go thinking I’m ungrateful, let me say I know I am drowning in blessings every single day. But, still, some days just seem a little problem fraught. Yesterday, the wedding plans (my daughter’s getting married) just didn’t fall together like I thought they would. The post office was closed when I got there. Two eggs were broken in my refrigerator drawer. Something was wrong with the scanner in my line at the Dollar General. And then I took my husband, who was quickly getting sicker and sicker, to Urgent Care and he was diagnosed with Lyme disease. (You know, you get it from a tick bite and it feels forevermore like the flu.)

This morning wasn’t much better as I got ready for worship. My husband was too ill to go with me. My son was loading his SUV to go to camp right after worship. Massive piles of wedding stuff he was delivering for me to relatives who would be at camp and camp supplies were on the loading dock as we readied for worship. We were stepping around big piles of laundry, some still with the distinctive smell of Ukraine and that mission was accomplished a week- and-a-half ago. (I hate when he finishes the jet lag before I finish the laundry.) My daughter woke us up at 4:30 so she could drive across two states to surprise her fiancé and hear him preach (in a state that’s in an unfortunately different time zone). My house looked like a cyclone had hit it (still does) because I was determined to have my daughter’s birthday party last night even after the Urgent Care visit. (I filled prescriptions, served supper, baked the cookie cake, decorated it, had the party, and made a pirate costume for my son to wear at some camp shindig…all after the evening Urgent Care visit.) After all that, who had time or energy to clean up all the messes involved in it all? So it was a messy-stressy Sunday morning. My kitchen clock stopped and cruelly fooled me into thinking I had plenty of time. Then, late getting into my car, I was overwhelmed by the smell of gasoline. Glancing in the rearview mirror. I saw that my husband had loaded a generator and a gas can in the back of my SUV for some reason. I knew I’d need to take the curves a little slower. By the time I got there, I was sprinting down the hallway to make it inside the auditorium before they closed the doors to the foyer. (They will open them for you, but don’t you just hate being officially late for church?)

I made it. I was a stressed out, panting, hormonal mess, but I was there! Once inside I paused in the back of the auditorium to catch my breath. Then I saw Clare coming toward me. Clare is the sweet girl with whom I’ve been privileged to study the Bible for the past few weeks. Clare saw me walk in and made a beeline for me. I thought, “I guess something’s up and Clare is going to have to cancel tonight’s study.”

And then the lights came on in my world. Clare said, “I’m ready.” I looked a little puzzled, I think, and she continued…. “I’m ready…to be baptized.” And, suddenly, it was all good. I suddenly became oblivious to any of those tiny irritants. Nothing was wrong in my world. God had just given me the amazing opportunity to go to one of our good elders and tell him this great news. Then I was blessed to witness as my son, who was filling the pulpit for his ailing father, ask Clare if she believes that Jesus is God’s Son. I heard her confession. It was wonderfully clear and unfaltering. I got to walk her back to the baptistery and help her down the steps into the water. I got to watch Caleb baptize her in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I got to be the first to hug this new sister as she came out of the water. Nothing but nothing was wrong in my world.

I love how God sometimes slaps me providentially in the face with his goodness. Just when I start to let tiny problems dominate my thoughts…just when I’m getting in the mood for a meltdown…just when I’m worried about a dirty house or a cluttered room, God shows me a soul He can cleanse and a life He can de-clutter! And suddenly, nothing else matters.

This morning a soul contacted the blood of Christ (Romans 6:3,4). As I stood beside the water, I realized that, I was reverently standing about as close to the cross as you get in this lifetime. This morning a soul put on Christ, the Son of God (Gal. 3:27). This morning, Clare’s name was written in the Book of Life (Rev. 3:5) in the Hand of God, Himself. This morning, as I hugged Clare, angels in heaven rejoiced right along with me. This morning, something I was doing back there in that little baptistery area with Caleb and Clare and my friend, Lynn and our good elder, Arnold—something we were doing in that old building on Evangel Drive— was affecting eternity.

Now what was all that about laundry and broken eggs and pirates and the post office? I can’t remember.

Mary and Martha: Lessons for Your Busy Day, Part 4

Posted by Web Admin | Posted on 04-04-2011

Category : Bless Your Heart

Tags: Bible Study, Priorities, Women

A Lesson about Priorities

Priorities. The inescapable lesson of Mary and Martha is priorities. It’s not just found in the “Martha, Martha” part of their story either. From the moment we meet them in the little house in Bethany until we see Mary selflessly pouring the spikenard on Jesus feet and wiping them with her own hair, we are learning about priorities. Mary got it right in Luke 10. Nothing is so important as hearing and obeying the Words of the Savior. Nothing is so important as being at His feet. Nothing is so important as knowing His will for my life.

We must notice that Martha was doing a good thing. Fixing the meal for the Savior was selfless. It was an act of service. But it wasn’t the better thing of the two immediate choices. So many times, that’s my dilemma today. There are just too many good things to do. But the lesson Jesus taught all future generations while Mary sat at his feet is too pointed for us to miss. Nothing of a material nature should become more pressing to me than being at His feet. There are obvious ways that I see folks playing Martha today. Sometimes when I go to speak at a ladies day, fifteen women will leave the auditorium somewhere near the beginning of my last lesson to go to the fellowship hall to prepare for the lunch that follows. These are the Marthas. I once knew a lady who, on a particular Sunday of each month prepared a big meal in her home for the preacher’s family. Each month on this prescribed day, she just stayed home from Bible class to finish preparing the meal. She was a Martha. I know Martha parents who occasionally can be found at ball tournaments rather than the gospel meetings of their local congregations. I know busy Moms who have time to make sure all homework for school is done each evening, but who send their kids to Bible classes without having learned the memory verse and woefully unprepared. They are Martha moms. I know families who make sure all the vacation reservations are made well in advance and they have tickets and maps and confirmation numbers, but yet they arrive at their vacation destinations and then think, “I wonder if there’s a congregation here,” or “Oops! We have these tickets to the big game on Wednesday night!” These are Martha families.

What if God had taken from Martha the distraction that plagued her on the day Jesus was sitting in her living room? I mean, what if she turned around and suddenly there was no food in her kitchen over which to fret? What if God took from us the healthy legs of the children who run the bases at the ballfield during the gospel meeting? Or what if he just took my children from me since so often it’s the kids’ activities that seem to be more important than worship? What if he took their healthy minds that so often require that schoolwork take the place of the study of His Will for their lives? What if he took away the funding that allows us to go on vacations? What if he suddenly just stripped away every good thing so that I might have time for the better thing?

I hope this puts it in perspective for you. When I realize that so often it’s the very blessings of a merciful Father that I use as excuses to neglect Him; it’s the most precious of His gifts that keep me from His house of praise; it’s His bounty that distracts me–then I cannot help but put it all aside and sit at His feet.

Martha was “careful and troubled about many things.” Perhaps she didn’t even take the time to think about just how troubled she was and about just how many things she was troubled. We call it stress. We call it lots of pressure. We know the kind of day. We know it all too well. The next time I find myself struggling to “fit it all in” or frustrated because no one seems to know or care how much I have to do, much less help me to get it done, let me, like Mary make a conscious choice. (Remember, Mary chose the better part.) Let me sit down at His feet, with an open Bible and a heart turned heavenward. Let me thank Him for the material blessings that really are the ingredients of what I call stress. Let me ask Him to help me take these very blessings and dedicate them fully to His glory. Let me pray for wisdom to see the eternal through the material. Let me even pray that He will take from me any distraction that I would allow to get in my way of heaven. (Moms, it’s really hard to let our kids’ activities come before our service to God if we’re praying like this!) Let me truly choose the better part.

Remember, the better part was about to get even better. The one at whose feet she was sitting was soon to rock this little town of Bethany by calling Lazarus out of the tomb. The better part will only get better for us, too. Sit at His feet while you anticipate. He’s still able to open graves. And that’s the best part of all.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Posted by Web Admin | Posted on 17-12-2010

Category : Bless Your Heart

Tags: Joy, Priorities, Service

It’s not too late. Tune up (actually, vocal talent is quite unnecessary), grab your coffeemaker, a few packets of cocoa, a few people and a few Styrofoam cups, and take a cup of cheer to those in your congregation who may be experiencing a gladness deficit this holiday season.

For the young professionals group at West Huntsville it was about eight stops. A couple of them are recently widowed, one has terminal cancer, one is a recent convert, and one is a young boy who recently lost contact with his father. But the main beneficiaries were those of us who were singing, choreographing (not dancing, for sure =) the twelve days of Christmas, and bringing on the cheer. We, somehow in the process of belting out the blessings, found them ourselves; the blessings, that is,– in those yards, on those porches and in those little living rooms and apartments.

Here’s the recipe. Just have everybody bring some small item…a tube of lotion, a piece of fruit, a Bible workbook, or a pretty cupcake. Have someone map out the stops and call ahead to verify that people will be home. Have someone else bring sheet music–or at least lyrics–to any less familiar songs you plan to sing. Find folks at one of your stops who don’t mind you plugging in the coffee urn and serving up the cocoa. Then get going.

Be prepared. You will see a lot of genuine smiles, some emotional–even tearful–recipients, and you will hear laughter; sometimes uncontrollable laughter. Your gratitude for the amazing blessings in your life will be renewed at the end of each visit as you bow your head with people…all with different needs, yet all needing the same Thing.

Now, this doesn’t have to be a six-hour escapade, as ours was. (This group has to include eating out together in every activity. Maybe that’s why I love them so much!) It can just be two or three stops. It doesn’t have to involve lots of people. Sometimes the sweetest of the season’s songs are those from little families with children in training for service (…and what a great Family Bible Time project…a way to teach your kids as you are “walking by the way” Deut. 6:4).

So there’s the recipe for the joy. On our little tour, I brought along a batch of chai tea mix to go along with the cocoa. It was a hit, so I’ve included the recipe for that, too. Now, go spread the cheer!

“And we urge you,… encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” I Thess. 5:14)

Best Chai Ever!

1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Directions
In a large bowl, combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, sugar and instant tea. Stir in ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup at a time, until mixture is the consistency of fine powder.

To serve: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons chai tea mixture into a mug of hot water.

(But I do not do the blender thing. I just mix it up really good. That blender thing sent dust all over my house and made me cough! =)