Bless It. All of it.

 “All things come of thee, Oh Lord. And of thine own have we given thee.”

All of it.  

Not a little bit. Not most things. Not the things we pay attention to or the things we like the best. ALL things come of thee, Oh Lord. I love singing this at church during offering time. It’s a reminder that bit only is God a provider, but that our provision is purposeful. 

I think of my mom a lot, lately. One thing that I meditate on is how she would give so freely whenever she had something. Food. Clothing. Money. Time. Comfort. It makes me think of the promise I made to God; to give everything to God in honor of my call. This short hymn and my mom’s legacy are reminders to keep examining my life and keep offering up the many parts of my life to God with the belief that it will be blessed. 

Just like we believe on Sunday during offering time that collectively, we will give what we have, offer it up to God and expect a blessing; I am challenging and allowing myself to do the same. My financial life. My love life. My professional and ministerial life. Those undiscovered parts of myself . . . I’m offering it all up. 

And I believe God will bless it all. All things. 

Cooking Up Love

This happened less than an hour after my sister, Meme, and I returned home from a 20 hour road trip from Princton, NJ to Orlando, FL. 

Me: *sees bacon cooking in the pot*

“Meme, what’re you going to do with the bacon?”

Meme: “What do people do when they love you?”

Me: *Dazed and confused after our 20 hour road trip* 

“What???”

Meme: “When people love you, they cook you peas and rice.”

Me: *tears up* 

“You’re absolutely right.”

Peas and rice, fried chicken, baked pork chops, tomato salad. 

This is what love looks like.

The actual plate looked even better. I was too hungry, too tired, and too emotional to stop and take a picture.