TRUE STATEMENT

I HAVE ALWAYS FELT WELL-GROUNDED - loyal to who I am and whom I believe in. Before I had the words to aptly express this grounded-ness, I intuitively knew it was somehow bonded to my belief in myself and faith in God. Sometimes one of these may have overshadowed the other leading to less than favorable outcomes but I didn’t let either go. A faith-filled family and friends supported my grounded-ness. Over time, I discovered that my ability to remain sturdy was most visible during times of pain and adversity.

It was the delivery of my brother’s eulogy by my husband a few years ago that the tripod for my sense of being well grounded took shape…Faith – Family – Fortitude.

These three succinct words and the significance of each, have become a mantra of sorts for me and my extended family. I was content and found comfort in them and then I traveled with five others to other side of the Atlantic Ocean to explore the land of my ancestors. I went with no other expectation than to be informed. I returned having been transformed and the Faith, Family, Fortitude mantra having taken new life.

Fast forward to the words you are reading now.

A sweet potato plant is never grown from a single seed. It is grown from a slip (a cutting). The slip can grow, displaying beautiful foliage in shallow, sandy soil and produce small, long, and slender tubules, especially if the conditions are good – sun, water, and heat. However, if one wants the kind of sweet potato that can be baked, sliced open, slathered with butter and a little cinnamon and sugar, the slip needs to be planted with ample space to grow in futile and deep soil. The foliage of both may look the same but the potatoes will look quite different.

My grounded-ness before visiting West Africa resembled the sweet potato grown in sandy, shallow soil. The slave trade immersive travel to the Continent enriched and deepened my soil and gave me space and nutrients to grow and expand.

I stood on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Ghana and some years later, on its beaches in South Carolina. It took a few years for me to fully grasp an understanding of my feet having touched each… I sensed a profound connection to both continents that had not been present before. My true statement – “I HAVE ALWAYS FELT WELL-GROUNDED,” had taken on new meaning. My roots are deep – very deep- and they are strengthened by faith, by family, by fortitude AND by an ancestral line that has withstood the test of time and of the unthinkable.

Psalm 1:3

PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Trees with deep roots withstand fierce winds.