Just Keep Cookin'

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me - Psalm 51:10

Wow, here we are family in the final days of 2017! Another year is about to pass, and in light of this I want to start off with a different flavor and ask you a question. Are you ready???... Ok here it is... I want to know, in ONE word, how would you describe this year? Memorable? Hard? Amazing ? Stale?

Well my word, without a doubt, has been growth.

*Deep sigh* My goodness this year has stretched me in ways I couldn’t have imagined!

{Side note}: I saw this meme circulating the internet saying something along the lines of “2017 has been a weird year for me. Somehow I’ve been living my best and worst life at the same time”... I don't know about you but I honestly couldn’t help but to laugh at how true this was for me.

If you take a quick skim through my 2017 dishes (posts) you would see, through written words, expressions of happiness, anger, transformation, grief, gratefulness, and of course growth. It’s been an interesting almost 365 days, and all I can humbly say is that God is still working on me. Essentially, I am still cookin'.

What do I mean when I say that I am still cookin'? Well, I'm glad you asked :) This phrase was actually birthed during a conversation I had with a friend and fellow believer, Craig. During this table talk, centered on Christ and seasoned with glory, he said to me, “Adrianna, just keep cooking”. I thought WOW. That’s it. So simple. So concrete. So true. All God wants us to do is to just keep going, and for creative purposes to “just keep cooking”. So today’s post is to encourage you to not hang up the apron or put down the barbeque tools just yet, but to stay in the kitchen until the meal is completely finished... or in this case until the year comes to a close.

Now, I know a lot of you are getting your resolutions ready and vision boards poppin’ for 2018 (including myself), but let's slow down and be still for just one moment. Granted, purposeful preparation is no doubt a major ingredient to success, but I also don’t want us to miss out on our blessings by not understanding the importance of today.

Let me be the first to admit, that up until recently I was doing just that. Honestly, I can't wait to welcome in the new year with a fresh start and clean s(p)late, but I am coming to realize that I must stop before I start. It is time to pause and reflect on how far we have come. Let us think about all the the good that has taken place in 2017, and what our God given assignment is for the rest of the year; because after all there is still much to be accomplished before 2018 makes its grand entrance. So family, now is not the time for us to lose our momentum. No matter how trying or unfavorable this year may have been we must keep cooking!

Ok so what does the menu look like for finishing the course of 2017? Y'all know I love a list...

1. Prayer. This is not seasonal. This is not an option. A consistent prayer life is so crucial as it sets the tone and the mood for the remainder of the meal.

2. Seeing it through. This one is for my fellow vision board lovers. In the beginning of this year I created a vision board, and to date God is still bringing those visions into fruition, so I am dedicated to "seeing" those areas through with intentions of enhancing upon them in 2018. I think you should too. Whatever goals you set forth in 2017, if unachieved, don't give up but continue to work on them. Keep cookin !

3. Rejoice. In full transparency, this has not been easy for me the last couple of days. The anxiety and stress of work, planning for the new year, and just adulting in general has severely impacted my level of praise. No, this is not how I expected to be feeling at the finale of '17, but I am showing you that I am human and that there is also a need for me to "keep cookin' ". I share this with you because I don't want you to get to a place where your praise and worship begins to wither. Rather I want your pot to be continuously full of praise because regardless of the time GOD IS GOOD. As Jeremiah 29:11 states, God has hope and a future for us so let us rejoice not only in the blessings to come, but for the blessings of right now!

While you getting your to-go boxes ready, and before I bring out the bus boy, let me leave you with some dessert. One night as I was pulling up to work, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, when things start to tremble God is about to make a shift. Just like when water begins to boil you know the contents are about to transform. So what I am saying is that...

2017 was the tremble and 2018 is the shift. Only thing left to do is to just keep cookin!

Always served with love,

Dri ♥