Share Your World!

I haven’t done this challenge for Share Your World from Sparks from a Cobustible Mind in a while, so I thought I would today before I start back to teaching today for the summer.

How comfortable are you speaking in front of large groups of people?

Very comfortable! I first stood in front of a crowd in the fourth grade and recited the whole chapter of Matthew 28 and won a candy jar filled with peppermints, which are still my favorite candies. The applause was medicine to the heart of a neglected child. It’s no wonder I grew up to be a preacher! I love to impart knowledge, secular and spiritual, for it makes me feel useful. Before every sermon, my heart beats at double speed and my stomach is jittery, but once I start to talk and I see that people are with me and want to hear what I have to say, I am off to the races. I hope I am never so comfortable that I become arrogant. I realize that every speaker is a servant of the message and to the people.

What would be the best thing you could reasonably expect to find in a cave?

What a great question! I would hope to find a quiet place away from the hate, hurt, and seeming hopelessness that surrounds us today, to gather my thoughts on how I can help bring joy, peace, and love in the world. I would hope, like Elijah, to find that God was with me, and maybe asking me, too, “What are you doing here, Regina?” And then, have Him tell me what to do next in my life to help others.

What did you think was going to be amazing but turned out to be horrible?

As a child, I lived with a great-aunt who didn’t give us sweets. One day when I about 8 years old, I was sent to the store to buy something, and I saw these small wrapped packages with a yellow cover but silver wrapped, and I thought they were chocolates. I stole one and couldn’t wait to get out of the store and experience the wonderfully sweet taste of chocolate.

But, it turned out to be a cube of yeast. It was horrible tasting, but even worse was the thought that I could have gotten a really bad whipping for stealing something that brought me no pleasure at all. It was my last time stealing anything. I thought God was punishing me and laughing at that silly girl.

What’s the silliest thing you’ve observed someone get upset about?

It was when my oldest daughter called me one day screaming and crying like someone had died. She was so incoherent, and I was so on edge by the time I got her to calm down and talk slower. She said, “I’m going to be 30 years old my birthday!” I said, “What! I thought someone had died! You scared me to death! If you are acting this crazy at 30, we will have to bury you when you turn 40!”

We still laugh at that day now that she is in fifties. She got married on her 40th birthday, so she wasn’t so crazy that day.

Please feel free to share something that gave you an uplifted spirit during this past week.  (Optional)

I saw people of every race marching together for racial justice, old and young, and my hope soared that my nine great-grandchildren may live in a time when the power of race is diminished! It is my prayer!