Transcript

Erin Davis: Welcome back to the Women of the Bible podcast. You’re listening to Season 2: Esther, and this is Episode 4. We’re working our way through the book of Esther, and I’m joined by some sweet friends of mine. Betsy’s been a friend of mine for a long time; Dr. Venessa and I are new friends, and we have something in common: we all love hot tea!

So, ladies, I’m going to let you introduce yourselves to the women who are listening and tell us your favorite hot tea, what you like in your hot tea. Have you got a favorite mug? Everything we need to know about your hot tea habit I want you to share with us. So, Dr. Venessa, we’ll start with you while I take a sip of my . . . I’m drinking Earl Gray this morning.

Dr. Venessa Ellen: Okay. My name is Venessa Ellen, and I’m out of Houston Texas, and I’m a pastor’s wife. My husband pastors a church down there, Community of Faith Bible Church. I have many hats. I teach at a Bible college. But in terms of tea . . . I like good old-fashioned mango tea, any kind of fruity tea with lots and lots of raw honey. 

Erin: What’s raw honey versus regular honey?

Dr. Venessa: Meaning it hasn’t been filtered and processed and messed with; straight out of the comb, that’s right! Yeah!

Erin: Straight from the bees! Alright, that sounds pretty good! How about you Betsy?

Betsy Gómez: I like chamomile tea.

Erin: You do? Does it make you sleepy?

Betsy: Yes! I like all those sleepytime-time type of teas. I like fruity teas for the day, too, because I’m not a coffee person. I think I have coffee in my veins already. So I can’t do coffee, because I go crazy! So I like fruity teas, but I enjoy those kinds of teas that kind of relax me and helps me calm down a little.

Erin: Not me, I can’t do those sleepytime teas. I have no trouble falling asleep! With sleepytime tea, I’m out! But I like all kinds of teas. My favorite kind of tea is (how do you say that brand) T-Z-O? 

Dr. Venessa and Betsy: “Tazo.”

Erin: TZO Awake. That’s my favorite kind of tea. It’s so-o-o good! And I just like it straight . . . straight tea.

Betsy: No honey? I like honey

Erin: I’ll take honey, but if there’s no honey I’ll just drink it regular. I like it with milk in it, kind of the British way.

Betsy: That’s new for me! I saw a friend dripping honey in her tea, and I was like, “What are you doing?” 

She was like, “Oh, that’s a thing!” 

I’m like, “Oh, okay. I think I need to get used to that!”

Erin: Well, we didn’t come here to talk about tea, although we could clearly talk about tea for awhile. We are here to talk about the book of Esther. We are just friends walking through a Bible study. We’re walking through the study Esther:Trusting God’s Plan, and we’re inviting women to walk through this study with us.

I’ve said it before: my life has been so impacted by opening the Bible with women . . . and with men, but particularly with grabbing friends—like-minded women—and opening the Bible. And that’s what we’re doing here on the Women of the Bible podcast. We hope that you have women in your world that you’re doing that with, but if not, let us be your virtual Bible study group.

We’ve made to session 4, which takes us to chapter 4 in the book of Esther. And what happens here in Esther 4 is that Esther agrees to intervene on the behalf of the Jews. And if you would …