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Rise Up But Stay Humble
Our journey through the book of Nehemiah has been right on time in my life. At one point in time, the Christian streets were ablaze with the prayer of Jabez. We wanted God to enlarge our territories. We wanted all that He had for us, but there is a problem. Some of us cannot handle increase. When we are elevated, we start talking out of the side of our necks. We forget where we came from. Nehemiah has moved from prayer to promise. God provided Nehemiah what he asked for and then some. Sunday’s sermon reminded us that while we should rise up to the call that God has placed…
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Outrageous October Obliterated
Outrageous October marched out much the way that it marched in. Bible Study Mama and I committed to walking 4 miles each day for the first seven days of the month. Now, that tested and tried us, but we finished that goal. We were halfway to reaching our goal of walking sixty miles in the month of October. You would think that the rest of the miles would have come easily. Well, you thought wrong. The other twenty-four days remaining in the month were full of challenges. This proved to be the busiest month that I have had in 2020. My schedule was jam packed. Although I lean towards the…
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Fix Your Faith
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then my facial expressions are worth 10,000 words. When I think something, it is written all over my face. Wearing face masks has not only helped slow the spread of COVID-19, it has also helped disguise my true thoughts about many situations. Well, at least when I am in public places. See, the trouble with wearing masks all the time is that I have gotten used to being carried away with my facial expressions. I have spent months wearing my feelings on my face and no one has been the wiser. Well, except for the fact that I have had 800 million Zoom…
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Adulting 101
Adulting is not for the faint of heart. See, in my mind, I was grown long before I was actually a grown adult. If you were a fly on the wall around eighteen-year-old Sareta, you would hear some interesting thoughts and opinions. Baby when I graduated high school and went off to college, you could NOT tell me that I was not an adult. So what if I did not pay for my own things? The high school diploma was my ticket for entrance into adult life. Clearly, I had lots to learn. My first semester in college was glorious. Do not tell my mama, but I stayed up all…
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By Our Love
Love. You cannot turn on the radio without hearing a song about it. One of the songs that echo in my ears from my childhood church says, “We are one in the Spirit. We are one in the Lord. We are one in the Spirit. We are one in the Lord. And we pray that all unity may one day be restored. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love. Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” I remember singing this song while playing outside. It had a catchy tune that was great for my skipping. At that time, I could not even begin to comprehend the…
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An Acquired Taste
Did ya’ll know that kids grow, change, and mature? They learn new information constantly. Do not laugh at me. I mean, I KNEW that about kids, but I forgot to apply that knowledge. Sweet Baby called me a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to schedule a sleepover. It was long overdue, so I gave her the go-ahead. We set a date and got ready to party. Sleep over day arrived. We partied hard. Watched a movie. Painted a pumpkin. Chit chatted about life. She devoted much of her time to loving on Fitz, my cat. He finally gave up and allowed her to love on him without complaint. We…
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Rise Up and Fight Through It
We have reached week four of our journey with Nehemiah. A man who is not a pastor or a priest. He is not a bishop or a prophet. He is a man who was dedicated to the call of God on his life. I do not know about you, but every sermon speaks to a tender place in my heart. They challenge me to do better and be better. You already know that Sunday’s sermon was no exception to this trend. Nehemiah 4 lands us in the middle of this reconstruction of the walls. We have moved beyond prayer to action. Each family is tending to their section. They are…
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Set The Pace
Good morning! Good afternoon! Good evening! Whatever time of the day that you are reading this, I hope that you are in good spirits. That your mind is clear and that your heart is overflowing with love. If they are not, I understand. I certainly have spent my fair share of days in the dooms and glooms. Days where situations that were out of my control affected my mood. However, I have realized that I have more power than I think. Saturday morning was cold. COLD! Do you hear me? Although Bible Study Mama and I have been getting out in nature on Saturday mornings for our walks, the forecasted…
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Make It Count
Early voting began on Monday in Arkansas. On that first day, people stood in line for hours. They were excited to have the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to vote. I did not join the masses on Monday, but I was excited to place my vote on Thursday right after work. I just barely slid in before the after-work crowd. I am always surprised when I meet people that do not vote. Although I am well into my thirties, I vividly remember our Civil Rights Movement unit from the second grade. As a child, I was dumbfounded to discover that Black America had to fight for their right to…
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Self-Care or Self-ish?
Now let’s have a little talk with Jesus. Tell Him all about our troubles. He will hear our faintest cry and answer by and by. His answer would likely be that we need to practice more self-care. I know, I know. Saints and aint’s get put off by topics that seem too “woo woo.” The saints are disturbed because the phrase “self-care” does not appear in the King James Version of the Bible that they live by. The aint’s are disturbed because they are tired of the focus on mental health. They would rather just go along to get along. Enough with all this self-care business. Good thing I am…
