But there was one time when a few of us went out of town and we stopped at a farm which used berries to make wine. The wine tasting was so good that I got a bottle. Unfortunately, it was Spring Break and my friends were not around to help me finish it. What was I going to do with a bottle of good red wine staring me in the face?

Honestly, I tried. Sip by sip. My church people judging me already. I definitely didn’t get drunk but that spring break, I slept a lot! And boy did I need that sleep. I felt like brand new after that break. But I realised that I should probably lay off wine for a long time. By the way, for those of you wondering, I had some help afterwards. I couldn’t finish it all by myself. The other time I indulged was with my expatriate colleagues, in a small apartment room in Hayang, South Korea, seated cross legged on the floor, surrounded by wine, ice cream and chocolates. Ah, those were the days!

These days, I only go as far as sprinkling some Irish Cream over some oats and raisins to give my homemade granola some extra flavour. Thankfully, my little nieces are far away enough that they won’t beg me for a spoon of Cerelac-infused boozy granola. These days, that’s my favourite snack.

I have always found it incredibly interesting that the Bible parallels being filled with the Spirit to being drunk on wine (Ephesians 5: 18). Say what? As in the only difference is who or what is controlling you because either by wine or by the Spirit, you’ll definitely be under the influence. That’s why it’s ridiculous to get drunk. I’d like to give control to someone or something that knows how to lead, not a rowdy agent.

Most of you (where are all the church girls and Jesus girls?) can relate to being filled with the Spirit. But can I widen things here? Can we step out of the tongue speaking arena for a bit?

There is this thing called grace. A person, actually.

How shall I put it? I’ve known about the grace of God all my life, or at least, most of it. Seriously, my name is Grace. But then, one day, (well, it took more than a day), it was as if I was seeing everything brand new.

It’s hard to explain something so obvious. But it comes out in the way I see people, the things I say, the things I do. And I several times, I even shock myself. Because now that I have come to understand that Jesus is grace, the things that used to upset me, shock me, worry me, anger me, scare me, well, they don’t anymore. And I react in a way that makes me sure that it is definitely not me doing it.

And I love it when I’m out of control like that. When I’m irrationally kind and generous, patient and understanding. And instead of calling the idiot who crossed me in traffic names, I actually continue humming a song in my head like nothing happened.

When you see me like that, I’m definitely high on grace.

It’s not because I’ve got it all together!

Whether on the road or in church, in dusty hot Accra or somewhere in Kenya, dating a hot guy or reading a book, in love or out of love, welcome to where we speak frankly from the perspective of God’s love and grace for all of us lovely Jesus girls.