{"id":1339,"date":"2013-09-26T16:54:55","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T20:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oshetablogs.wordpress.com\/?p=1339"},"modified":"2013-09-26T16:54:55","modified_gmt":"2013-09-26T20:54:55","slug":"i-am-from-sheloves-synchroblog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/shalominthecity\/2013\/09\/i-am-from-sheloves-synchroblog\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Ignoring My Heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cThis is what comes from avoiding who you are, Diana. You\u2019ve got a mess on you hands because you thought you could ignore your heritage.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t work that way!\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cA Discovery of Witches\u201d Deborah Harkness<\/em><\/p>\n

\"I-AM-FROM_800\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I am from military corners on my civilian sheets. From \u201cJust For Me\u201d relaxers and hair grease.<\/p>\n

I am from Saturday morning chores dancing to jazz and \u201cEarth, Wind, and Fire\u201d.<\/p>\n

From vanilla, lavender, ylang ylang and lemon because once you\u2019ve conquered a messy home the best way to celebrate is to light a candle and sigh with relief.<\/p>\n

I am from the Whatchamacallit tree in our back yard. The one my older brother dared me to climb.<\/p>\n

Later on, I sat under that tree and discovered four\u00a0 \u201cLittle Women\u201d.\u00a0 All bundled up in my sweats and a blanket just days before Christmas, I\u00a0 admired Jo, wanted to be beautiful like Amy, cried for Beth\u2019s battle with sickness, and accepted that I\u2019m more like Meg than I\u2019d like.<\/p>\n

That tree and I created a tradition I keep now, thousands of miles away from her place in that Texas backyard and less than thirty miles away from the home of Louisa May Alcott.<\/p>\n

I wish I took the time to learn her real name. Willow? Maple?\u00a0 Oak?\u00a0 Now, I\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from midnight milkshake trips to What-A-Burger\u00a0in our PJs and hopelessly thick childbearing hips.<\/p>\n

I am from a human mistake. From being born of Hagar but loved by Sarah as her own. I am from God\u2019s whisper into my mother\u2019s womb that the world needs one more Shalom Sistah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from turning on \u201cLabyrinth\u201d to help me fall asleep, the same way Mama turns on \u201cPretty Woman\u201d and Daddy turns on \u201cDie Hard\u201d.\u00a0 I am from a blaring television in every room at anytime of the day.<\/p>\n

I am from sweet and sour chicken on Fridays.\u00a0 With egg rolls.\u00a0 Which I beat six hungry Whitneys to. Every time.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from \u201cyou must be extraordinary<\/a>\u201d and \u201cyou can be anything you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from singing \u201cChain of Fools\u201d along with the indomitable Aretha Franklin while I pressed my hair bone straight.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from chitterlings early Thanksgiving morning.\u00a0 The smell wafting through my house, invading my nose, saturating the very clothes I wore. A soul food\u00a0 with such a stench that I questioned my gratitude and appetite and love of the table.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from a military labor and delivery room in Oceanside, California and a mama with green eyes and a mysterious ethnicity.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from Blackfoot Indians who gave me these ambiguously slanted brown eyes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from bean soup with ham-hocks on rice.<\/p>\n

From sleeping overnight at Wal-Mart while my mama and her team decorated for the holidays.\u00a0 I\u2019m from getting caught on videotape stealing Lisa Frank pens because mama (and a good floor manager) knows everything.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from learning how to rob Peter to pay Paul when Jesus provided enough to take care of everyone.\u00a0 I\u2019m from visitors were strangers even though Mama was a friend to all.\u00a0 I\u2019m from tense phone calls, past-due notices, and learning to roll with the punches.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from Baptist church in the morning and Pentecostal worship<\/a> in the evening.\u00a0 From learning the Body is more beautiful than a field of bluebonnets.\u00a0 From white godparents who camped, hunted, and mounted their victories on living room walls. From learning that our God, who transcends race and class, sets the lonely in families.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from a simple leather journal with my name on the cover. The first of many.\u00a0 The go-to Christmas gift.\u00a0 The protector of my prayers.\u00a0 The holder of my hopes.\u00a0 The friend when I had none. The purest place where Jesus and I met.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is what comes from avoiding who you are, Diana. You\u2019ve got a mess on you hands because you thought you could ignore your heritage.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t work that way!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cA Discovery of Witches\u201d Deborah Harkness I am from military corners on my civilian sheets. From \u201cJust For Me\u201d relaxers and hair grease. I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3037,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[152,153,154,155,156,21,157,158,159,160,161,162],"class_list":["post-1339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-baptist","tag-black-girls","tag-chitterlings","tag-heritage","tag-i-am-from","tag-jesus","tag-little-women","tag-pentacostal","tag-relaxers","tag-sheloves","tag-soul-food","tag-texas"],"yoast_head":"\nNot Ignoring My Heritage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""This is what comes from avoiding who you are, Diana. 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