Everlasting Talent

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Sometimes I think my talent won’t last. I’ll rise up early, get to the keyboard and my fingers won’t stroke a key. I have nothing to say. My talent has left me, gone on to younger fingers and fresh minds, leaving me in a funnel. I’m history, a part of the “you remember that” crew, that group of people who for a season dazzled us with whatever God-giving amazement they had then vanished. I don’t want people to think about me with has-been terms. “Whatever happened to…?,” “She used to,” and “I used to like” are memory-keeping phrases that I don’t want anyone to have relating to me and my writing. All of these thoughts came to me before I heard: “God is everlasting so my talent is everlasting.” That thought didn’t come from me so I went to the keyboard to relate what my Everlasting Talent was saying.

We put too much emphasis on what we can do, what others will think, how well we can do, and if we can do it again, and it was never us in the first place. If we are connected to the Everlasting One—Jesus Christ Himself—whatever He has for us will last as long as it should; it will be everlasting. This is what we need to focus on. No amount of worry about our ability or what others think will produce what God has given to us to produce. “[I]n him we live and move and have our being…” (Acts 17:28). Whatever lasts remains because God has allowed it to remain. Yes, we must do our part by way of discipline and the route of preparation He has for us, but “…God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn” (Romans 11:29 NLT). Whatever ability and assignment God gives us will always be there. My talent focus might shift but it will still be there, everflowing and giving life to others through God’s enabling. That’s the only way we accomplish anything. We must remember to live “by revelation not by human determination” (Tony Evans in his series “Reclaiming Your Spiritual Authority: The Key to Ruling the World, Part 1).

I am thankful that I produce through God’s revelation not my determination, worry or any other human factor. God provides me a well of thoughts and those are the only ones I should want anyway.

What “inadequacy” have you been wrestling with?

My One Thousand Gifts List

#91-100
Not feeling engorged
Justus sleeping seven hours through the night
Being able to witness to a woman
The woman being receptive to being evangelized
Cooking dinner without feeling stressed
Christen for babysitting
Dinner out with Flynn
Tasty food at Benihana
A loving mother with her four children at Benihana
A loving couple at Benihana

Friday Feature: Dying to Look Good

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Me with auburn-colored hair

I thought I was too cute here. This auburn hair color was actually a change for me. I would usually wear my hair a dark goldish blond. People who didn’t know me back in the day thought that was my natural hair color. And most who knew me thought it looked better than my natural color and I did, too. But when my doctor suggested I not dye my hair while pregnant, I stopped coloring my hair. She said no studies could verify the dyes were safe for my baby, and that made me wonder if they safe for me.

My research found that many of the chemicals in hair coloring are linked to cancer causing toxins and can cause a host of allergic reactions, sometimes immediately or sometimes not until after several applications. Allergic reactions also can be true for artificial food coloring, and there have been claims that food dyes cause hyperactivity in children. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently decided that there was not enough evidence to substantiate the hyperactivity claim to ban eight of the nine FDA-approved dyes as the Center for Science in the Public Interest had urged. Even still, a 2004 Southern Hampton University study showed “that adding food colors to children’s diets increased hyperactivity rates in all young children, not just those who were allergic to food colorings or who had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” What’s interesting is that the food coloring doesn’t change the taste, just the look of the foods. In other words, many times food coloring is added just to make the food look and appear to taste appealing.

Since the verdict is still out on the safety of artificial hair and food coloring, at least from a government perspective, I know some of you will continue to get your highlights and cover up your growing grey. And I know some of you can’t even think about giving up your favorite snack foods, but there are some safe natural alternatives:

Hair Coloring:

• Henna—This is the popular natural dye used for tattoos. Historically, only the red color has been available for hair, but recently new Henna colors have been derived. I never used this because I was told that my hair was too dark for the color to take, but it’s looked good on those I’ve seen who use it.

• Vegetable Rinse—Though these don’t last as long as permanent dyes, they color the hair using plant-based dyes.

• Hydrogen Peroxide—A friend says her mother puts some hydrogen peroxide in a bottle and sprays her hair after washing it. She then exposes her hair to the sun, which turns her hair light brown. I’m going to try this method soon and let you know how my hair turns out.

• Teas, Coffees & Other Edibles—The color from certain natural beverages and other foods can give you the hair color you desire. Check out these suggested formulas to cook up your own.

Food Coloring:

• Look for foods and candies that have been dyed with fruit or vegetable colors, like beets and blueberries. You are most likely to find these at stores like national health food chains that refuse to sell items with artificial colors.

• Search for and try recipes that don’t call for these colors. I have renamed my red velvet cake black velvet cake until I can find a natural food color that won’t change the taste of the cake.

I hope you will try some of these methods to seek to move away from chemicals that could potentially kill you. Looking good and eating tasty treats are fine, but they are not worth dying over.

What have been your experiences with hair and food coloring?

Lord of the Sabbath

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

What Do You Think? Wednesday

It’s 9:48 p.m. and I am just writing today’s blog post. There were no preemptive activities or technology issues. I just didn’t have anything to say. Well, I did, actually, but that was the problem: I had something to say. I’ve learned if I have something to say and God didn’t tell me to say it then I am on my own, and I can’t be out there like that, you know what I mean?

I remember that time, I’m sorry, those times, when I dated that boy because I wanted something to do. Then there was that time that I went to that place because I wanted somewhere to go and other times I said something because I wanted someone to know and each time ended in disaster: hurt bodies and emotions lay scattered, I was scattered wishing I had just listened to God.

We’ve all been there, wanting immediate gratification so we follow our flesh instead of waiting for God’s best for us. We try to rationalize, even spiritualize, our decisions. Sometimes that’s just easy to do when we are out of God’s will but want to be in His will. We work hard to make our will look like His will. I tried to do that in my mind. Thinking to God, I said: “You told me to start this blog and post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I want to be obedient to posting on the days you told me.” Even saying this I knew I couldn’t write what came to mind because I didn’t have a release in my spirit. Had God forgotten what He told me or did He change His mind? I know God doesn’t have any memory problems and doesn’t change His mind (though a change for us may seem like He does) so I decided to wait on him. He would tell me what I needed to know when I needed to know it.

This afternoon when telling a friend about my dilemma I said, “He’s the Lord of the Sabbath. He can do what He wants” (Luke 6:5). After the scripture popped in my mind, I understood my delay. Just like Jesus could heal on the Sabbath, the day Jewish law designated at God’s command as the day of rest—a day set aside to honor God—Jesus could tell me not to post just to remind me that He is the Lord of my blog. In the beginning He told me what days to post. If he decided to change my post days, He could do that; He is the Lord of my days. He is the Lord of all our days.

So what are you fretting about? Did He give that to you to do? Did you say you He was your Savior and Lord, too? Well, I had to let Him be. Won’t you let Jesus be the Lord of your days? C’mon, what do you think?

Soul Deep Beauty

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Esther Rolle on Good Times

Actress Esther Rolle

Once a friend of mine ridiculed me for thinking Esther Rolle, Florida on Good Times, was beautiful. Though she lived in the ghetto on TV with an angry husband, a buffoonish son and two other children who were in his shadow, I thought Florida was regal. She always held her perfectly shaped afro head high, had a dazzling smile that pronounced her high cheekbones, and beautifully smooth dark skin that looked good with her standard orange attire. When I asked her why she didn’t think Rolle was beautiful, she couldn’t tell me or didn’t want to tell me. See, her daddy told her just like mine told me that black is beautiful and good hair is any hair that you have on your head. She couldn’t tune her mouth to say that Rolle was ugly because she was dark and she had nappy hair. If she said this, she knew she would be saying that black isn’t beautiful and nappy hair ain’t good. She settled for “Wow, you believe that?” And I said, “Yep, I do” for all the reasons I said above and for the Bible scriptures below:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.—Genesis 1:27

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him.—Colossians 1:16

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.—Genesis 1:31

God, the creator of all things, was intentional when he created man—male and female—making us in His image and saw His creation as “very good.” Because of these verses, I can say with David “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). I can say Rolle was fearfully and wonderfully made and so is the pale lady with the large blue eyes, the blue-black man with the straight hair, the tall scrawny kid with the freckled face, and the olive-skinned lady with the coarse wild mane. I say with David to God “Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Like God’s intentional hand in making the physical me, my daddy had an intentional hand in making the soulish me. And I’ve searched and studied the Scriptures to mature the soulish me, to get my mind, will and emotions to agree that all of God’s creation is “very good.” This is soul deep beauty, transcending spiritual and politically correct talk and helping us walk out God’s truth. I hope we seek soul deep beauty for us and our children so we believers can hold up God’s standard and impact humanity for good.

Check out my new column in EEW Magazine that challenges parents to teach their children against dark-skin prejudice.

What have been your challenges to believe God’s beauty standards and not society’s beauty standards?

My One Thousand Gifts List

#81-90
Clean clothes to change into
A baby talking in his sleep who stayed asleep
Time talking to God in the night of morning
A strong desire for God’s company, direction
Being able to pay for a ticket and get a court date for other citations while on lunch break from trial
Getting to court only two minutes late
The trial evidence not being complicated
A group of friendly fellow jurors
A tasty lunch
Sunshine

Friday Feature: Wheat and Gluten Free

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

A woman came to me recently in distress. She had just found out her son was allergic to wheat and was devastated that the great majority of her family’s diet would have to change. I knew that overwhelming feeling. When I had my recurring yeast infection issue I had to stop eating products with gluten, a mixture of two proteins found in some grains, including wheat. Many people cannot tolerate gluten, especially those with Celiac disease. Gluten may even be found in many foods that may not include wheat flour. This protein affects people in different ways, including causing skin rashes, nasal congestion, runny sinuses and hyperactivity in some children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). When we found out that Nathaniel had a sensitivity and Justus was allergic to wheat, our entire family changed to my wheat and gluten-free diet (with a few exceptions). Because I was on this diet exclusively for some weeks and never returned completely to incorporating wheat and gluten, our transition was easier than it will be for most people who have to make a change. To help you or your loved ones not to be so overwhelmed, I share the following:

Alternative Grains

There are a host of prepared products, from cereal to snacks, that provide alternative ingredients to wheat. You can find some of these in the organic section of many grocery stores, but a natural food store is your best choice. Some I use are

Spelt—The government classifies spelt as wheat, but it is a different grain though the texture is similar. I know for sure it is different because my sons’ skin doesn’t break out when I use spelt flour like it does when I used wheat flour. I use spelt flour in all recipes that call for wheat or corn starch (Nate also has a corn sensitivity), including breads, cookies and gravies. I even developed a homemade pancake recipe with this that is delicious.

Rice (Brown or White)—I use rice flour like spelt but the texture is more grainy (even though I made a red velvet cake with this and had half my guests who ate the cake called to get the recipe). My family and I use rice pasta (spaghetti, lasagna and noodles) and bread. I make macaroni and cheese, lasagna and chicken and noodles with brown rice pasta. I even use the hot cereal that uses rice instead of wheat or oats (Yes, Nate has an oat sensitivity, too).

Sorghum—I haven’t used this flour in recipes, but just about every store-bought snack item (cookies, grain bars and brownies) that we buy uses this flour.

Sprouted grain breads—Even though these still have gluten, I found that they didn’t affect the children or me as much as regular grains. This may be because the sprouting process “breaks down amino acid protein bonds to promote digestibility of the entire grain.”

Tips
• Become a label reader. Most packaged foods use wheat flour.

• Know that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), even in this sin-cursed world that has produced all types of allergies and other ailments that have resulted from the fall of man.

• Make changes gradually, if possible. Sometimes you can eliminate certain wheat and gluten-containing foods one at a time so your family doesn’t experience such a drastic change. If you must be drastic because not to do so would cause extreme harm to those who can’t tolerate the grain and protein, know that God’s grace is sufficient. This is not a spiritual platitude but a spiritual truth that will give you the strength and courage you need to make your necessary modifications.