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Ready for Christmas
Christmas is quickly approaching. As a child, I adored the holiday season. It seemed so magical. And food was everywhere. I remember my great-grandmother starting her baking campaign. You know I was all for it. The deep freezer would be covered with delicious cakes. Out would come the bowls of oranges and nuts. The fancy white Christmas tree would make its debut. We were ready for Christmas. As I got older, Christmas changed. My brother started the tradition of praying before we opened our presents. He would tell Jesus happy birthday, and then we would indulge in ripping paper off the presents like mad men. We would go to Christmas…
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Who Would Imagine a King?
My church had our Christmas Cantata Wednesday night, and it was beautiful. The choir was dressed in all white. They were intent on singing praises to our King. And sing, they did. However, the standout musical moment came when a teeny tiny girl entered center stage. She was so small that you could barely see her face above the poinsettias that lined the front of the altar. A recording of “Who Would Imagine a King?” began to play, and she sang along with the recording. Once she was all cued up, the recording faded away, and it was just her and the pianist. When I say she sang this song…
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God Allowed
God allowed a little girl to be molested for years. She didn’t tell anyone or ask for help. It was her secret shame. Eventually, she told her mother, but the damage had been done. She was forever scarred and broken. I’m that little girl. God allowed me to make one horrible decision after the other. To be honest, I didn’t even realize how much molestation changed my life course. I’m very guarded with my feelings and my friendship. There is an impressive gate set around my heart that has strict orders to keep most people out. To keep them away from the real me. God allowed me to spiral into…
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Faith and Fumes
Bible Study Cousin asked me if I bought any Bath & Body Works candles on the day of their big sale. She knows I love Bath & Body Works. I shop the semi-annual sale in December and June faithfully. I actually kind of have a Bath & Body Works store in my house that my family members always want to shop at for free.99. Like, I have sooooo much product. My reply to her was that I’m existing on faith and fumes. When she asked me that question, I had a total of -$4 in my bank account. Well in the one bank account that I don’t touch. And that’s…
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Ruth Graves Wakefield
Ruth Wakefield was in a hurry one day. She was known for making amazing chocolate butter drop cookies. The recipe was not one that could be completed in a hurry really, because chocolate squares had to be melted. After melting the squares, she would then have to pour the melted chocolate into the batter before baking the cookies. Ruth had to make a choice. She decided to just break the chocolate squares in chunks and place them into the batter. Hot is hot, so the chocolate would melt on its own accord. She was wrong. When she pulled the cookies out of the oven, the chocolate remained in its chunks. …
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Out of the Box
I didn’t want to put a Christmas tree in my house, because I have a cat now. Fitz loves anything that dangles. And he loves to climb. He climbs up his cat tower. He leaps onto my table and couches. He bats the cords on the blinds to watch them swing. Christmas trees are great for climbing, and they have all of the dangling objects. Nope…no Christmas tree this year. We have the tendency to put people in a box. Again, when I say we, I’m talking about me. I often think people don’t have the capacity to change. I don’t expect much from people or of people. I’m guarded.…
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Fumble
I can’t remember if I shared this before, but I have visual perception issues. I’m using fancy words to tell you that what I see in the mirror is not what I see in pictures. In the mirror, I’m not bad looking. I love my body shape, and I’m cute in the face. But baby, when I see pictures of myself, I get slapped back into reality. And that’s a curse, because I love pictures. I like documenting my life in film (or digitally nowadays). Looking back at my life gives me joy. I like seeing young Sareta in her 20’s with her friends. Or even elementary school sassy pants…
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Yes
Sometimes a song that I haven’t thought of in forever will pop into my head. Am I the only person that happens to? I was traveling back home, and Shekinah Glory Ministry’s song, “Yes,” began to play in a loop in my mind. If you’ve never heard it, go to YouTube and play it. Spoiler alert: The choir’s only line is “yes.” I take that back. At times, they do echo the soloist. The soloist does ad lib throughout the song, but she spends a lot of time saying “yes” as well. Some of her lines were really permeating to me. For instance, “Will your heart and soul say yes? …
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Help My Unbelief
Fasting….ugggh. I kept getting the message that I needed to fast from various sources. You can tell from the opening line of this blog that I wasn’t there yet in my thinking. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I have a serious love relationship with food. I use it to celebrate, to socialize, to soothe, to comfort, and to be a companion when I’m bored. So, the thought of turning over my plate was ludicrous…until. Until life just kept hitting. And didn’t seem to be getting any better. I was doing okay but that wasn’t good enough. I wanted more. I wanted the…
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Wheels Up
I hadn’t flown in the last 8 years. So much has changed since I was a frequent flier. First, let’s talk about security. Maybe we were on a red alert day, but I had a tough time getting through. Since the last time that I flew, they have implemented the total body scanners. I got in the scanner and assumed the position…feet spread wide and hands in the air. I came out, and the lady said I needed to go through again. She instructed me to pull my pants all the way up to my crotch and really spread my legs apart. Side bar: I’ve lost some weight recently, and…
