There is something about the holidays and food that go hand in hand.  Whether it’s because we spend time gathered around tables together enjoying conversation over a home cooked meal, or time spent together in the kitchen making an heirloom recipe…pies, cookies, cakes, and candy making at this time of year is not just popular but prominent, even if you aren’t particularly domestic.   Pinterest pages are filled with recipes, Instagram feeds with successful concoctions, and homes with the aroma of sugar and butter, and fresh baked crust.

Taste is powerful.

When I think about the women close to my heart, I often connect them with something they make, their “specialty” dish.  My Mamaw Hensley’s fried chicken, my Aunt Irene’s ribs, my Mom’s roast beef dinner, my Mamaw Ireland’s jam cake, my Momma Sandy’s chicken and rice, my Grandma Dretha’s chicken spaghetti, my sister Lisa’s strawberry cake.  I can smell, taste, and remember moments connected to each of these creations even now as i am typing.  There is something about these specific dishes that connect me to these women…to their story.

You can tell the whole story with a taste.

Just recently i was blessed to spend a week in one of my favorite cities in the world with my husband, New York City.  Talk about taste?  OH EM GEE!  Best Ravioli in my life, cheesecake, pizza, milkshakes, and all carbs because who cares when you are walking 10 miles a day minimum haha!
I am sure there will be many future posts that speak of my time there because it was AMAZING…i love the concrete jungle!

Our last night there, Ronnie and I (per a recommendation of one of my best friends Beth), were front and center at a Broadway Musical that with a few tweaks could have been Unbecoming the Musical, the Waitress.  Right in the middle of Broadway Jesus messed me up.  There i sat as this song went forth, my throat swelling completely shut, and tears blurring my vision and wrecking my makeup for good…and I LOVED EVERY SECOND.  When words fail, music speaks.

I could taste my tears and i wanted more.

This whole unbecoming message could easily be summed up in this song eloquently written and beautifully sang by Sarah Bareilles, She Used to Be Mine.  I want you to listen to it.  If it touches you, I want you to share it.  So many times life takes more than we give.  Somewhere along the way if we quiet our lives enough to listen, God will pull us back into original intent.  He will remind us that we are authentic.  In a world that strives to duplicate the DNA out of everything, when life’s blessings and difficulties attempt to chip away at your core, this year at Christmas i want to challenge you to give YOURSELF the gift of YOU.  The girl you once knew.  The girl with fire in her eyes, with a tender heart, with dreams and passions, and hunger…the girl you may have forgotten.  Once you get a taste of her i PROMISE you will want more.

This time of year is always a little bit of a war between two worlds…a time of evaluation and a time of projection.  As it comes to a close…consider these three things…

1. What story are you telling with a taste?
2. What hunger are you creating with a taste?
3. What space are you filling with a taste?

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Psalms 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

As you listen to this song and read this post, i want to encourage you.  God is for YOU.  If He is for you, you should be too.  Let this be a reminder as we continue Unbecoming that there are girls all over who are with you.  I am in your corner to cheer you on!  Continue to fight for you.  Do whatever you must to protect your special dish…the taste that tells your story.

Xo,

Steph