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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Trauma.  An icky subject that people do not like to talk about. Maybe because they do not realize that they have been impacted by the trauma in their lives.  2019 was a big turning point in my life.  Instead of just carrying my trauma around, I really started to dive into my core issues.  I put on a wetsuit and googles and got right in the face of the issues that dwell right below the surface.  Although they lived right below the surface, trust me when I say that they were really difficult to drag back to shore. The more work that I put in to being a healthier and…

Perspective is so important.  Sweet Baby was explaining one of her games to me.  She proudly proclaimed, “I have $322 in this game.  I’m rich!”  For most of us, having a net worth of $322 would be distressing.  That would not cover rent or all our utilities.  A family of four would certainly find themselves in a precarious situation if that was all they had.  But in Sweet Baby’s eyes, that money is astounding. It’s all about perspective.  My perspective has certainly been a little off.  I am guilty of having my sights focused on the wrong things.  I have heard it said many times, from many sources, that we…

For the past year, I have been very self-reflective and introspective.  I have been doing the work of getting to the core of my issues.  It has not been a pretty journey.  As a matter of fact, it has been downright ugly.  While I do not like some of the things I see, I thank God that I am beginning to see myself as I truly am.  Flawed…but God’s treasured possession none the less. This week has been all about acknowledging where I am.  In this space.  In this moment.  Not thinking about the past.  Not worrying about the future.  Focusing on where I am at this specific moment in…