Handle With Care

The more I brushed my Ombre human hair weave, the more it shed.  I'd spent quite a bit of money to buy the weave so you can imagine my annoyance at the strands of hair that came off with every brush stroke. According to the manufacturer's specification, I will experience little or no shedding but the strand's of hair in my bathroom sink and sometimes food says otherwise. I was about to draft a strongly worded letter of complaints to the manufacturer but decided at the last minute to re-read the hair care instruction. I realised certain things I'd been doing wrong. 1. I'd been been using a brush with hard bristles instead of the recommended soft bristles. 2. No matter how expensive the hair or "human" it seems, it is not my original hair . My hair extensions have undergone a series of processing so requires a more delicate care than my natural hair, hence the shedding. *Lesson to self-always read instruction manual thoroughly*

I have experienced enough brokenness like some of you reading this post to recognise a "broken" person when I meet one. With my little experience, I have learnt never to box people together. People are products of different experiences and environment so require a more dynamic method of approach. It is downright wrong to treat a child from an abusive home with the same gloves as a child with a somewhat more balanced home structure. Broken and hurting people are vulnerable and quite easily exploited or susceptible to more abuse. That is why for some unfathomable reason  abused people tend to seek abusive relationships. It is just not normal! Jesus gives the perfect example on how to deal with hurting people. "to the weak, I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some" 1 Corinthians 9:22. Jesus understood the dynamics of dealing with broken people and lived accordingly. When the sick were brought to him he showed compassion "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd".  Jesus was moved with the desire to relieve the suffering of the hurting not break them some more.  "a bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out" Matthew 12:20  but he was much firm with the overbearing Pharisees. What most hurting need is empathy and not condemnation. Imagine going for counselling and leaving more damaged than when you got there. Frustrating isn't?  That my friend is not the purpose of the church but to offer hope to a dying world. Like my "human hair" God did not create the world broken. The present status quo is a consequence of sin but there is hope yet. No matter how much, you deny it, broken people like new born babes need  gentle care.

Next time you meet a hurting person, please handle with care don't be brash, selfish or uncaring.  Take a bit more time with that person and don't be afraid to offer a helping hand, it may well be you needing encouragement tomorrow.
P.S. Got myself a brush with softer bristles coupled with additional moisturising and plenty palaver  and the shedding has reduced drastically. Thank God!!

A FEW GOOD MEN and women.

I had this interesting discussion with a couple of friends some weeks back and the discussion somewhat shifted to men(no surprises there...lol). A running trend was how a lot of women have been hurt by men, how men now shirk their responsiblities and bottom line "there are no good men in Ireland". I wish I had taken a recording of how my dear friends were spewing fire..lol. As I gazed at the faces of the women at this informal meeting, I noticed we all had a lot in common aside from our bulging tummies....lol Some of us are single mothers made to bear the burden of raising kids alone without any form of support from the fathers. Even the ones that were married still shoulder the burden of being both father and mother at the same time. The single girls complained bitterly about how men just want to "use and dump"...how pathetic! I seriously blame this ugly trend on the erratic Irish weather!! It has the ability to turn any sane person nuts..lol. While not totally exonorating the women, I am not in a position to proffer reasons for any man that fails to uphold his position in the family as a priest, provider, care giver and father, they do a good job at making excuses themselves. I simply marvel at how a man would deliberately abandon his children simply because "he fell out of love with his wife or the woman is bad" or my all time favourite "my wife is a witch". Excuse me!!! but what about the children? Unfortunately, the first model for children are their parents. Children are great observers and are quick to recreate what they see!!! remember that the next time you want to utter an unkind thing about your spouse because it will bounce back at you!!! Even the church is not exempt as members tend to copy the mannerism of their pastors!! Jesus' disciples were identified because their lifestyles modelled the lord!! Every home needs a disciplinarian and that's one of the roles of the father but when the men abdicate their position the result is a family in chaos and society in disarray!!. The rise in single parent families and absentee fathers was identified as one of the causes of the London riot in 2011. Every child especially the boy child needs a father figure to emulate. So what happened? Where have the good men gone. As I pondered this knotty issue, I was reminded of the story in 1 Kings 19 when Elijah was bemoaning the killing of the the priests of Jehovah by Jezebel and saw himself as the "last man standing". But God's response staggered him " Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him". Despite the huge number of priests that were killed by Ahab and his queen there were remnants that the lord had preserved for himself. It doesn't matter the number of Mis-directed and "deadbeat men out there there a few good men too. This I believe strongly. I know men who are kind, generous and God fearing. These type are not extinct-they really do exist but it takes sifting through the chaff to find one. Any man reading this that needs reprogramming, this a life changing event you shouldn't miss. Hey we all need help sometimes....make that ALL THE TIME