Truth Salt and Spice with Xamayta Graver

We 3 Latinas talk about our experiences with Lent and Holy Week and how it differed for us as Latin women. Leslie and I have a Catholic background, so we grew up with a Catholic view, but even she and I, still had marked differences in how we celebrated this most sacred of times. Jessica grew up Pentecostal and her involvement with Lent was non existent and her home celebrated differently than we did. It was a great way to show that even though our roots are similar, we are not monolithic.

At this point the Lenten Season is well on its way. Kai and I talk about what shaped our view of Lent and even though it is not a biblical command, it sure can be used as a time to draw closer to God. We talk about sin, repentance and shame, and how we view those can be attached to how we view Holy Week. 

This is the last episode dedicated to friendships. What I loved about Jessica and Cindi's relationship was their age difference. Their friendship is a great example to us that we don't have to be peers to foster deep, loving friendships. They have a deep trust and mutual respect that was amazing to experience. We hope you enjoyed this series and that you left with tools to either improve your friendships or to start new ones. 

As we continue to talk about women and friendships as adults, during this Month of Love and Friendship, Jessica facilitates this episode as Xamayta and her friend Pamela talk about their friendship and what it has taken to have the deep relationship they have now. While there is no secret formula, they do share with they believe is key to strong, deep and long lasting relationship.

In honor of the Month of Love and Friendship, we are talking about women and friendships as adults. This episode wraps up the interview with Leslie, Margie, Monica and Jackie. You'll get to hear more about what they love about who they are as humans and what they hope for each other in the future. 

When February rolls around many people start thinking about Valentine's Day. In Puerto Rico we celebrate it as the Month of Love and Friendship. One of the recurring complaints I hear from women is how hard it is to make and maintain friendships as adults. In this episode we get to listen to 4 amazing women talk about there friendship and what has sustained them through the years. Leslie, Margie, Monica and Jackie have been friends for many, many moons and through the years, their friendship is stronger than ever. 

We 3 share about how we've gone through life expecting God to align with our plans and not to present our plans to him and wait to see where he takes us. It takes tons of faith, hope and courage to ask, wait, listen and obey, especially when things don't make sense in order to walk with God. 

Happy New Year! 

As we start this new year filled with hope for COVID to not be the center of all of our lives, like the little narcist it is, we tend to look forward to many new things. Some of us are too cynical to even think that there is any hope for something new. However, in Jesus, there is always hope. Kai and I talk about false expectations we put on God and how that hurts our faith and fractures our hope. Our with is that you walk close to God so that you align yourself with what he already has waiting for you so that your expectations are realistic and that you may enjoy more yeses than no's.  

Magdalena was our guest in episode 12 and I had her come back to share her Christmas Traditions as a Pole that was raised in Canada and now resides in Texas with her American husband and children. We end up discovering some similarities in our cultures and I totally enjoyed learning about hers. 

Merry Christmas to you all! May the miracle of Jesus' birth shine a light on all those tender places that this year 2020 has created. May you find hope, comfort and his eternal peace when you meet with Him. 

Even though Leslie, Jessica and I are Puerto Rican, well, Leslie is half Puerto Rican and half Dominican, our traditions were not the same. We remember the similarities and share the differences. Since I am the only one that has actually lived in Puerto Rico, I was able to experience the full Christmas experience from childhood to adulthood. Jessica may have lost her Puerto Rican card after saying she doesn't like Bacardi. Also, you must listen in and hear all about my Christmas Branch. Totally not a Latin tradition, just me being funny!

Here is the recipe for the Coquito. It's our Christmas Drink and I refuse to call it a type of eggnog, because...just NO!

1 can of Cream of Coconut

1 can of Evaporated Milk

1 can of Sweet Condensed Milk

2 cans of Coconut Milk

2 Tbls of Cinnamon

1 cup of Bacardi Rum (start with 1/2 a cup and add until you hear the angels sing!)

Put it in a blender until the cinnamon is well incorporated and everything is creamy smooth. Store in glass containers/bottles with lids and refrigerate. Serve COLD! You can add a dash of cinnamon to make it look pretty! Enjoy!

Kai shares her childhood Christmas memories and super funny stories. There is a lot of laughing and talking about food. 

Leslie, Jessica and I talk about how we handle praising God in the middle of hard times, even when we can't thank Him in the middle of the storms.

How do you handle thanking God for the good and the bad? I don't handle it very graciously and I sure could use a change of heart. In this episode I share a story about a different perspective on being grateful for it all and especially when we are in the middle of the hard times. I share a few scriptures on Thanksgiving, but focus primarily on Philippians 4:4-8. 

Julie and I met online over 5 years ago and have become unlikely friends. Her story is one that I hold closely to my heart. First, her mother suffers a stroke. She then undergoes a scheduled hysterectomy and almost died after complications from the surgery. Her husband informing her that he was not in love with her and wanting to get divorced. Not to mention the extra surgeries in the middle of all that. YET, Julie held onto God and trusting in his promises for an abundant life.  Psalm 61:1-3

Kai and I talk about being seasoned in our seasons. She shares how she generally she embraces changes with expectations and tries to align herself with God's plan. I, on the other hand, am not that willing to embrace change that messes up with my plans. We both share from our personal experiences and the wisdom we have gained through our experiences. Daniel 2:20-23 

We springboard from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8...There is a time and season for EVERYTHING! We talk about how we handle difficult seasons, or how we don't handle them depending on our spiritual maturity. There are times we miss the changes in season because they are subtle. The irony of waiting for the shoe to drop when we find ourselves in good seasons. We even discuss how sometimes we go through seasons of absolute brokenness and it isn't even for our benefit but for the benefit of someone else. Jesus did that for us, didn't he? Share on the socials, share with your friends. Leave a review and a 5 star sure doesn't hurt one bit. Thanks!

It's October! It's crisp and cool outside. Leaves are changing color and it's pumpkin spice season for a lot of people. As children of God, what do seasons mean for us? Psalm 1:1-6 talks about people being like trees that produce fruit in its season. What happens with us when it's not the season to produce fruit? We will be discussing this and much more this month. 

Brand new season and with that comes changes to the format of the podcast. During this episode I give you details about the changes you can expect and the "WHY". After that, I lay the foundation for the topic for the month of September. We will be talking about comparison. How struggling with it is common, but why indulging in it is sin. The rest of the month we will address how it ruins relationships, with yourself and others, and we will give you tangible tools to combat it. In this episode we draw from Philippians 2:1-11, Romans 3:23 and Galatians 5:13-19. 

Jessica, Leslie and I talk about our experience and views about racism. We talked about our Black roots, as Puerto Ricans (Leslie is half Dominican, as well), and the role we play as Christians and supporting the Black community to be seen as having equal value to all of us. They too, are made in the image of God. 

This was supposed to be last week's episode, but with the murder of George Floyd, I had to take some time to lament and mourn. This chapter as a whole was a bit too much to talk about in a way that I could share Truth with you. I hope I was able to do that today. 

In this next installment of Summer of Truth, I talk about God not being fair, but most definitely just. I use the story of the woman caught in adultery to dig into this truth. 

Summer of Truth starts with talking about how God shows us he is forgiving through his relationship with Moses. We will read Deut 34:1-7

This is the final episode in these series. I wrap up by talking about authority and how Jesus spoke to the devil with authority and what that might mean for you and me.

We cover verses 8-10 of Matthew 4. Jesus continues to fight the devil with scriptures and we read the scripture in its context in Deuteronomy. I also share from personal experience how using scripture got me through a really hard time in my life.  

In part 2  we dig into more scriptures in order to help equip is in times of temptation. Which questions to ask God when we are feeling defeated and we cover more Truths in order to fight the enemy when he whispers lies.  We cover Matthew 4: 5-7.

In this episode we will dive into Matthew 4:1-4, we will explore how Satan crafts his way into our minds and finds the kinks in our armor to plant seeds of doubt and how Jesus fights Satan's half truths with scripture. 

In this episode I introduce you to a mini bible study series I felt in my heart would help us to anchor ourselves in Truth. With so much noise from outside sources, even the bleating from the sheep can block out God's voice. Join me in focusing on Jesus and what He says, so that we can walk in faith through these trying times.  We will be working from Matthew 4:1-11. Can't wait!

On this last episode of my journey toward healing and wholeness, I give you a report on how I am doing and how I feel about going home. I thank you for walking this journey with me. Your messages and texts have meant the world to me. See you stateside!

I woke up in a MOOD today. I took to my journal and you get a front seat to my brain and I'm all sorts of salty and spicy.  What's this Friday like for you?  What do you call this Friday and why? What does it mean to you? I share all about this on this episode and a bit more.

In this episode I update you on my experience with meditation and journaling. I am slowly but surely connecting with things that are part of my being that bring me joy and have been long forgotten and how I found Jesus, again.  

How good are you at accepting help or just to be loved up on? I realized this week how uncomfortable I am with it. Even the word pampered makes me feel uncomfortable. Do I reject Jesus' pampering as well? Do I even realized when he is pampering me? These are questions I have asked myself and will be sitting with for a while. 

In this episode I summarize my "fun" with an accidental, self inflicted stabbing, earthquakes, colds and lack of sleep. I am reading Celebration of Discipline by Foster and share about a few points that I found interesting with this whole meditation thing. Meditation being the first discipline taught in the book. 

I share about my time with the girls at the school this past week and what I've learned about them. I also talk about what I am learning through reading the book,  Boundaries in Marriage by Cloud and Townsend. Just go get it even if your marriage ROCKS! I tell you about what I realized just this morning about my relationship with Jesus, and it's a bit spicy and I'm salty about it.  Short, not so sweet and to the point. Share with your friends! You never know who needs a ME TOO at this moment. Thanks for listening!