My eyes naturally shot open around 8:45am. The first thing that came to mind is the usual (well.. the usual for quarantine time at least) brush my teeth, wash my face, throw my hair in a bun, start the coffee maker and open my church tab. It was a Sunday, baby. Yay! Now, I could have woke up a little earlier to have time to take my fur baby out to do his biz, but the extra zzz's got me. Which meant he had to wait just a little before I would walk him two blocks away to the dog park. I promised him extra time out there for being a mean mommy. No worries, he understood.
Church came to an end, I felt pumped for the day, laced up my Nikes, lathered that SPF, and off we strolled into the eighty five degree dry sunny mid morning. Just me and Troy. "Good morning!" I smiled and shouted to a few neighbors who were already out working on projects or just sitting to enjoy the morning. Gettin our steps in by taking the longer way, we arrived to our destination: The good ol' dog park. "Aw sorry babe, no Butters or Trip today." (His two best friends) Troy didn't mind. He's an only child who's learned to have fun by himself if need be. So off he goes straight for his normal spot to do his thing while I take a seat on the park bench to soak in some vitamin D and enjoyed the small dry breeze that was hitting. As promised, we stayed out longer so he can sniff all the bushes, run around and roll in the only grass we ever get to see. His playtime had officially began. About a minute into sitting and watching, I began to strike a conversation with The Lord, as He was the only person around.
There I am just chatting away, beginning my sentences that went a little something like "you really hit me with that today huh..." and "this week I'm definitely gonna need your guidance with so and so.." On and on I went. Communicating with my maker. A few minutes in, I decide I want to walk around and talk. Knowing He's right there listening I get up to do just that. Up and down I casually walk across the soft and fresh cut green grass while I'm chatting with Him. That is until I grasped the feeling that someone was looking at me. I lift my head and sure enough, there's a lady almost staring right at me from her back yard where she had full view of the park. Before putting her head down, I could tell by her face expression that she was probably wondering who I was talking to. I quickly swung my head back down with embarrassment running over me, and sadly, I was silenced by it. Troy looked like he was still having a good time, and I didn't wanna ruin it, so I continued walking but in silence as I seen with my peripheral that the lady was still outside. Most likely able to hear me if I were to start talking again. I walked a little longer somewhat bummed that I was interrupted with embarrassment.
Then, realizing what was happening, how I was shying away from an intimate conversation do to mans opinion I thought to myself "Brandy, really..." Like, when the heck did I start becoming embarrassed to talk to God in public? Yes I looked like a crazy person, I know that. But little did this random lady know I was talking to a living being, the love of my life who happens to really be there. Thankfully I snapped back to my senses, and carried on with my conversation. Not caring if whoever thought I was crazy. I even went so far as talking a little louder. Maybe by her hearing me, it would cause curiosity in this God I was addressing. It was obvious that I believed He was there, so maybe just maybe. Right? Worst case scenario, I just straight up looked crazy. But dang it, Lord knows I'm not crazy!
*Ahem* Anyway, once getting home, my very own voice echoed in my head of a prayer that I've prayed more than once. "I want to be different, Lord. Unashamed for being different. And may the difference in me bring glory to your name." But what in the world does it mean to be different? Is it having purple hair rather than following the trends of blondes and brunettes? Is it not having social media? Or is it simply dressing in a way that screams "I'M DIFFERENT"? Hmm.. *taps finger on the table* there's only one scripture that pops in my head when thinking "what is different." And that's Matthew 5:13-14 then 16 (Jesus is speaking) "Your lives are like salt among the people. But if you, like salt, become bland, how can your 'saltiness' be restored? Flavorless salt is good for nothing and will be thrown out and trampled on by others. Your lives light up the world. Let others see your light from a distance, for how can you hide a city that stands on a hilltop?" 16 "So don't hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that the commendable things you do will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven."
Ah. So there it is! To be different, we are called to bring flavor to and shine our lights in this bland and dark world! And that, my friend, will ultimately point to God. #score I mean really though, if we look around, the blandness of bickering, drama, gossip, judgment, comparison etc. needs some flavor! That Heavenly Father flavor! That zing baby! Now I don't know about you, but I wanna shake a little som' som' on bland situations to show this world that there is definitly hope for humanity. Think of the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If you're lacking any of those (trust me boo, I have struggles too) then simply ask God to help you in that area. Do you find yourself wanting to gossip about people? Wanting to argue all the time? Having a hard time forgiving? Having patience with your children or spouse? You get the point. Then again, be transparent with God by saying "Look, I tend to lose it on my kids quite a bit, talk about people in a negative way, I don't wanna forgive so and so for what they did.." and so forth, trust me when I say He will help you become stronger in that area. If there was ever anyone that we can be completely vulnerable with, it's God. Where we are weak, He is strong. It's His specialty. I wouldn't be saying this if I hadn't been there. And sometimes still having to bring my ratchetness to Him. Yet, each time I do, He never condemns me, only helps me to become better. And I can promise, with you giving Him access to your heart, He'll do it for you too, Boo. :) (Had to add the Boo in there because it just felt right.)
Now I know this spiraled from looking crazy at the park, to being salt and light. But the way these two intertwine is that being salt and light IS being different. You probably will look kinda crazy out there when you forgive the person who hurt you. You will turn peoples heads and make them question why you didn't pop off when Kathy went off on you in public. Or how you took time to be kind and get know someone at your job or school that has a bad reputation or looks and talks different. But baby, let them heads turn. That just means you said yes to Jesus by being salty in the best of ways. And if that's the case, get it girl (or boy.) I'm right there with you!
With much love,
- Brand :)
