I Am My Favorite Salt!

I used to love any sort of Lays potato chips. The plain lightly salted ones were always my favorite. But since I recently started watching what I eat, I only eat chips in moderation. Because of my limited access to chips, I have begun to take a likeking to the Salt and Vinegar ones. They go great with a tall glass of apple juice. Must be the sweet and salty combo! I used to think that they were my favorite salt. I have never been a fan of salt. Salt is absolutely never added to my food. I actually hate the way it makes my food taste. I can stomach it on a bag of chips though. It is the strangest thing. Even though I prefer salt and vinegar chips, there is a salt that I love even more!

Matthew 5:13 says, ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt looses its saltiness, how can it be salty again. It’s no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled over!’ God has called his children to be the salt of the earth. Broken down even further, he’s called his children to be truthful and sincere about sharing the gospel and our faith journey. ‘We are the way, the truth and the life,’ John 14:6.

So, every time I go to pick up a bag of salt and vinegar chips, I think of my Heavenly Father and what he has called me to do for him here on earth. I have been called and chosen to worship in spirit and in truth. It is my duty to share the good news. By doing so, my salty chips taste so much sweeter!

How Teaching Prepared Me For Success! Three Part Series! Part One.

For as long as I can remember, I have had the deep desire to be an educator. I vividly remember my first job babysitting my neighbors kids. When my siblings and I were kids, we would pretend to play 'school.' I was always the teacher. As I got older, the beginning of each school year was a favorite of mine. My parents took me to get school supplies and I quickly found out that it was the most fun. I loved getting prepared for school each year. I have been blessed to know that I wanted to be a teacher since declaring my major in college. My first teaching experience was abroad in Mexico City, MX. In this blog post, we are discussing how my teaching experience prepared me for success!

In 2003, I flew to Mexico City from Los Angeles, CA. After a 4 hour flight, I went through customs and began exploring my new home for the next 6 months. I landed a position as a teacher at The Wall Street Institute. I would be working 5 days a week. My hostel (hotel) was about 15 minutes from work. I travelled to and from work by foot everyday. Although my commute was short, I was very nervous about walking to work. I was one of the only African American people that I saw on a daily basis. Right off the bat, my commute taught me independence and responsibility. I had to be very vigilant everyday that I travelled to work. That is not something I was used to in my previous living situations. I was living and working in a third world country so everything about being there was out of my comfort zone. Having to adjust my daily routine to get to work safely taught me lots of discipline. I had the same weekly schedule while living abroad. Although my boss was American, my students were both Asian and Mexican. At the time, I spoke little to no Spanish. After a few months of teaching, I picked up some Spanish along the way. I learned enough to be able to communicate with my students, hail a cab and order my food from the restaurants my roommate and I went to. I learned something new everyday from my students.

Teaching allowed me to merge preparation with organization. Effective teaching doesn't happen without a combination of these two skills. I was also able to get over my fear of public speaking. I had to prepare for each lesson in order to be able to teach effectively. I had a combination of adult learners and teenagers. I had small group classes, as well as individual classes. I would constantly get feedback from my boss. When I stayed on task and hit deadlines, I was most effective with my students.

The Basics Of Bossing Up!

Bossing Up is very humbling. Humbling because we have to take full responsibility for our actions. In ‘The Basics of Bossing Up,’ I will be putting you on to some tips and tricks that I have been practicing since last year in order to take my life to the next level. That is the definition of bossing up. These habits have allowed me to see and experience a tremendous change in my life for the better. Singer and songwriter, Ciara would be proud because I have definitely leveled up a lot. Bossing Up is a mentality. It’s not something that you can study. You acquire these life skills over time and they often come as a result of lots of life experience. Sometimes painful. Bossing Up requires ACTION!

‘Remain positive throughout life’s curve balls.’ Positivity is key to experiencing any sort of elevation in life. Remaining positive allows us to act day after day, trial after trial and victory after victory. Excellence is a habit. After a period of time, if you continue putting excellence first, Bossing Up is inevitable. It will become habitual in your everyday life, walk and talk. Your journey will also start to affect other people around you for the greater good!

‘Be the change that you want to see in the world.’ Being true to yourself and your journey are vitally important to becoming a great leader. ‘The past is heavy, put it down.’ Letting go of the past is also very important. Letting go of the past is not always the easiest thing to do in life. You have to allow yourself grace and must be patient with yourself. Forgive yourself and others. When I was trying to let go of past hurts, I prayed without ceasing for God to remove the weight of grief. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says, ‘…there is a time for everything, even grief.’ Humans are meant to evolve. We aren’t meant to stay in the same phases of life forever. We have to grow and change, through the good and the not so good!

Take care of of your body and mental health. Taking care of your body is biblical. ‘Our bodies are temples.’ 1 Corinthians 6:19. Becoming a great leader will require you to show up whether you are feeling like it or not. It’s imperative that in order to perform in any leadership role, one must be mentally available for a lot of other people. Bossing Up always requires the leader to put others first. 

I work out for my mental health first. It keeps my mind sharp, all while taking care of my physical wants, needs and goals!

Last but certainly not least in my tips on Bossing Up in life is learning how to speak up and ask for what you want. It’s important to get into the habit of being honest with yourself and it’s especially important in any leadership role. Bossing Up requires you to be bold. Speak what you want into existence. Closed mouths do not get fed!

Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself! (In my Jay Z voice)

I’ve actually never done a social media intro! I don’t know why it took so long. To my new friends..

I’m Knetris (pronounced Kuh-Née-Tris, like Tetris) My close friends call me K. and I call myself a child of God🧸 I was born in rural Virginia and was raised there too. (VA stand uuuppp) My first ever job was babysitting my neighbors kids so teaching is definetly part of my calling. I attended UVA (GO HOOS) and studied English Language and Literature. I have always been a big writer and a sports fanatic. After interviewing at ESPN a day after graduating from college and not getting the job, I began a career in education. On and off, it has lasted over 16 years!

Over the past two years, I have started investing in my overall health more. Health is Wealth is my LIFELONG mantra. It’s SO important to take care of yourself. I started running again. Instead of craving dark chocolate with almonds, I find myself reaching for a hearty bag of trail mix and guys, that is huge for me. I’ve lost about 60 pounds since 2016. There is no time limit to taking care of yourself. It is in fact a lifelong lifestyle change. I love being fit.

I just want you to know that I’m that woman, friend, sister, daughter, girlfriend who WILL check in all the time! We could’ve just spoken on the phone and I’ll call back 10 minutes later asking if you are good. It’s just how God designed me. I’m truly in love with life! In love with improving, getting better, being a good steward over all that God has blessed me with. Totally elated to have real PEACE in my life! When you visit my page, I want you to leave better, stronger, more loving. KIND! Ready for the world! It’s nice to meet you! Let’s GO!

No. 27 ‘Prepared!’

Walking Into 2022 more prepared than EVER!

26 is the number of times I have spilled my heart out to you guys about my setbacks, struggles, and victories for 2021. Today makes number 27. It’s my 27th blog entry! It is inevitable that after setbacks and struggles come victory and triumph. God set it up this way for a reason. Ironically enough, today will be my 27th and final blog post for the year. And I am walking into 2022 more prepared than EVER!

Going forward, every new year I will pick a word that sums up my goals and intentions for the year. I’m getting started a few weeks before we move into 2022 with the word ‘Prepared!! Instead of setting a bunch of resolutions that I know I cannot keep, I listen for God to speak into my life. I choose ‘Prepared’ because there were many life changing lessons in 2021. Changes that brought an opportunity to be fearful but I chose to be faithful through it all. There is always a CHOICE. Always. Everyone of us has a choice. Most of the time, getting prepared means making a difficult choice. Difficult in the sense of going down the road less travelled. For me, prepared means surviving circumstances that were completely in my control. Surviving the waiting seasons in 2021 and there were many. What I am trying to get across to you is that I’m prepared because I chose to let go and let God trial after trial in this year. I’m still learning to let go daily.  My perseverance has been tested on levels I never dreamed I would go. 

I opened my blog, ‘Knetris The Word Nerd’ up in 2021. I survived COVID 19. I turned 40 years old. I was hired to write for a major women’s lifestyle magazine. I will probably resurrect my teaching career and get back into the classroom in 2022. God prepared me in ways I never thought possible in 2021. God is also for YOU! Absolutely. 100% He loves us in such a way that the human mind cannot even comprehend. Everything he does is out of love. It’s always for a greater and better you. All the things I went through in 2021 will be used as fuel to ignite the fire for ushering in this brand new season. Those hurdles created a more compassionate, more joyful, more graceful Knetris. Now, I can truly decipher what is really important. You are not regressing. You are growing and getting prepared. God is taking you higher. Just trust him❤️

I hope you have a Beautiful week leading up to Christmas and a very safe AND happy New Year! I love you and there is nothing you can do about it!

Remember To Breathe!

How To Survive The Holidays During A Pandemic!

Grammy award winning singer, Lalah Hathaway’s song, ‘Breathe’ has become a beacon of light for me since I first heard it. In 2011, I was on a Christmas vacation in Kansas City, Missouri with my family. At that time, my brother, Thomas was playing his final season in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs. We were on our way to the mall to Christmas shop and I just wasn’t quite feeling like myself. He put that song on and it was an instant mood booster. At that time in my life, I was carrying some unresolved grief and may have been suffering with slight seasonal depression. Now, whether I’m not feeling quite as confident or if I’m on cloud 9, ‘Breathe’ is my anthem. We MUST remember to breathe.

I think at times it’s hard to truly understand the trauma we have all endured since Covid came to America. We have been so totally knocked out of our routine. It is important to stay on a routine during this holiday season. I exercise as soon as I wake up in the morning. I shower and then have a light breakfast. I do this everyday. This routine helps my mental and physical health because I know its going to give me long term benefits. I also have noticed an extreme difference in my confidence level. It’s through the roof. I have increased energy, which shows up at work all day. 

If you are struggling with mental health concerns, be sure to ask for help during this holiday season. The use of alcohol usually rises during the holidays. Reach out to a sponsor or family and friends if you find yourself struggling with alcohol and drugs. This time last year, 47 million people reported mental health issues due to the death of loved ones, financial strain, not being able to buy gifts for kids, as well as foreclosures and evictions! Organizations and non profits are available to help buy kids toys for Christmas this year. 

A tip that I’ve found to be so necessary is to avoid social isolation during the holiday season. I have a large family but we also have cell phones for a reason. I have a weekly virtual meeting with my sister and her two kids and husband every Sunday after church. Since I haven’t been able to visit them in Florida since they were born due to the pandemic, I look forward to seeing them and watching them grow. 

Keep your holiday small. Plan a small family gathering like brunch or dinner for the holidays for family that has been vaccinated. At the moment, it’s imperative for you to be COVID tested if you are going to be around individuals who have not had the vaccine. You can still get COVID if you have been vaccinated. I have been laying low during this holiday season because I tested positive for COVID in January of this year! I have not had any symptoms since then. When I visit with family and friends, my circle is always very small. That is intentional.

I hope and pray for you to have a Bountiful and Blessed holiday season! Remember to use your best judgement and a lot of common sense. Happy Holidays!

When God Says, ‘Wait!’

Have you ever thought about why you have to be put in a position to ‘wait’ for certain things in life? Actually, we are ALL waiting for something. When God says, ‘Wait’ it’s always for a good reason. It’s always for the greater good of our lives. I was gifted this book in 2016 called, ‘When God Says Wait,’ by Elizabeth Laing Thompson. In it, she laid out her waiting seasons in life, most extremely painful and connected them to waiting seasons by powerful women in the Bible. My objective with this post is to provide you with some reassurance that your waiting is not in vain. I would also like to give some tips on what to do to ease the waiting periods in life, no matter how painful!

Everyone of us is waiting for something. Whether big or small, we make our requests known to God and we wait. I know it’s hard when God says to wait. I am waiting for things right now also! Whether we know it or not, the waiting seasons transform us. Most of us are totally oblivious to what we need during waiting seasons. They are uncomfortable, lonely and down right awful if we let them. I like to use the analogy, God is taking us from ‘odd to awed,’ during seasons of waiting.We could be waiting for a job, a husband, a wife, a baby, physical healing in our bodies to a million other things. What God really wants us to do is to focus on him during these times in our lives. Those odd seasons of life can be used to get to know God on a deeper level. We can get to know ourselves better and can let these seasons polish and refine us in such a way to equip us with the answers that God will soon provide us with. Getting to know God on a deeper level is more important than the answer to what we are waiting for.

Here are 5 tips on what to do to be a good steward in a waiting season!

1. Reach out to family and friends who may be waiting on something too. It’s most often that loved ones around you could be strengthened by your story. Check on your strong friends.

2. Use social media less during waiting seasons. Comparison is the thief of joy. For some, social media is not the best place to be while we wait. Try to find other forms of entertainment like reading or music. My love for music stemmed from difficult seasons in my life!

3. Try to find strength by fellowshipping with your church family. As much as time will allow, go to church, Bible study and pray without ceasing. There could be someone who could be going through the exact same situation as you! 

4. Keep a gratitude journal. As humans, we should get into a habit of writing down our feelings. When tough times come, you’ll need to be reminded of what God told you!

5. Exercise and eat a healthy diet. It’s important to take care of your mental health during the waiting seasons that are harder than others.