I start my workday like every other...
“Bon jou, madame...buenas diaz, senora.”
Near the time clock is the workstation of my coworkers Marie and Rosa, Haitian and Mexican, respectively. Each morning I find them hard at work, chopping vegetables and bagging fruit, sometimes harvesting freshly grown sprouts and wheatgrass for our busy organic market.
Part of my morning routine is to gather fresh produce I’ll need to create that day’s meal. And lately, my mornings include Creole lessons. Widmy Romelus, our produce stocker, is a brilliant 19-year old Haitian-American and the best Creole teacher an blan fanm could have. Though his English is impecable, he took it upon himself to make me ask for my produce list in Creole, not English.
“Sa ou vle jodi a?” What do you want today? My response is usually a wince and a moving an ear closer, my sign to him that he needs to repeat that a little slower, please. “Ki...sa... ou... bezwen?” What do you need? It was through Widmy that I learned my first Creole word, ‘zaboka.’ Fitting, as I love avocadoes. Mwen reme zaboka.
One day, I needed tomatoes. I approached Widmy. He stopped what he was doing and smiled as I timidly approached. “Mwen rele tomats wouj,” I said, and Widmy let out a hearty laugh. “Do you know what you just said? You said YOU WERE a red tomato! Non, ou VLE tomat wouj," and he continued to chuckle.
I walked back to my kitchen, blushed red as a tomato I’m sure, but with a box of beautiful local romas in hand. So that morning, I confessed to be something I’m not. Innocently enough, but It really got me thinking...how often do we do that? How often do we make confessions about ourselves that are simply not true?
Do you ever catch yourself saying things in your head like “I can’t do this...I’m a failure... I am unable... I am ashamed... I am not good enough... I am no good... I am damaged... I’m a mess.... I am ugly... I am unlovable... I am _________.” Feel free to fill in the blank, as I’m sure we all have old tapes that we play, perhaps only subconsciously. We don’t even realize how damaging these thoughts are to our minds, emotions, spirits. Even our physical health can be affected by harboring negative confessions. These ingrained thoughts are nothing but lies that need to be unlearned.
So that morning, as I diced the entire box of tomats wouj, I began confessing in my mind what I knew to be true:
Do you ever catch yourself saying things in your head like “I can’t do this...I’m a failure... I am unable... I am ashamed... I am not good enough... I am no good... I am damaged... I’m a mess.... I am ugly... I am unlovable... I am _________.” Feel free to fill in the blank, as I’m sure we all have old tapes that we play, perhaps only subconsciously. We don’t even realize how damaging these thoughts are to our minds, emotions, spirits. Even our physical health can be affected by harboring negative confessions. These ingrained thoughts are nothing but lies that need to be unlearned.
So that morning, as I diced the entire box of tomats wouj, I began confessing in my mind what I knew to be true:
"I am A child of God... Saved by grace through faith... Redeemed from the hand of the foe... Led by the Spirit of God, a new creature... Redeemed from the curse of the law... Kept in safety wherever I go... Strong in the Lord and in his mighty power... Living by faith and not by sight... Rescued from the dominion of darkness... Justified, an heir of God and co-heir with Christ... Blessed with every spiritual blessing... An overcomer by the blood of the lamb and the word of my testimony... The light of the world, an imitator of God... Healed by His wounds... Being transformed by the renewing of my mind... Heir to the blessings of Abraham... Doing all things through Christ who gives me strength... More than a conqueror." *
Now, being a complete beginner at Creole, it is difficult to figure out what to say to Widmy. I have no foundation on which to build. Some days, I get confused and resort to ‘kitchen Spanish,’ which I have to use all day, “Por favor, con permiso, lo siento, donde es el cuchillo grande, mucho caliente, gracias chicka....mucho delicioso!” It really amuses Widmy, when I start speaking some version of Sp-aitian, perhaps with a little French thrown in. “Donde kote est la wouj fey lechuga a?”
Life can be confusing. There are so many voices. Your past may tell you one thing, the media may program into you another, the people in your life that hurt you definately have a message. Sometimes you just default to the voices you've heard. There is, as well, an enemy of our souls who doesn't want you to know the Truth of who you are in Christ. He is hard at work bringing these opposing voices to you. Thankfully, we don’t need to be ignorant. Truth does not have to be figured out...God has already given us everything we need in His Word. His Word is our foundation, Jesus the cornerstone. We need only to read...
One of my favorite passages in Scripture is Ephesians chapter 1. This is my go-to chapter when I’ve had a horrible day, when all else has failed and I need to know who I am in Christ. In fact, I read it aloud to speak a little truth to the atmosphere:
One of my favorite passages in Scripture is Ephesians chapter 1. This is my go-to chapter when I’ve had a horrible day, when all else has failed and I need to know who I am in Christ. In fact, I read it aloud to speak a little truth to the atmosphere:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:3-14)
Works every time.
The days are just better, when you are able to rest in the truth. With Widmy’s help, I complete my shift and come a little closer to speaking Creole. As I clock out of another day, Rosa and Maria are usually still there, hard at work. “Buenos noches, amiga....Bon swa, m’zanmie. Muchas Gracias. Merci anpil.”
And thank you, Jesus, for the Truth that sets me free...
*Taken from a poster I have hanging on my bathroom mirror...
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