Weep not child!

This year I didn't put up a post on my birthday but I had the most amazing time with the people that I love doing the things I love....EATING! 

I'm the cute one in the middle

For the first time in a long time I AM INDEED HAPPY and my joy stems from the inside. I realised what an amazing life I am living and what a priviledge it is to be alive and watch the plot unfold revealing a wonderful story  with me being the lead actress and the holy spirit directing.

 I have a ministry that is touching lives one smile at a time ( yeah, comedy is a ministry you know..lol) and i'm living purposefully. I have realised life is not about me but how I impact lives with the life I've been blessed with flaws and all.  Like Paul the scales have fallen off my eyes and NOW I SEE.

That evening while enjoying the sumptuous dinner, I desired just one thing, The Tardis. ...you know the time machine in the BBC show Dr Who! 

My utmost desire was not the head of John the baptist, diamonds, husband or anything grandiose just a time machine!  Oh, if only I could lay my hands on a real time machine, I would go back in time and tell the younger me, that girl that was hurt, unappreciated, unloved, rejected, emotionally and physically abused, not to worry that every thing will be alright. 

I want to give that broken girl a tight hug probably squash her a little bit too hard, wipe her tears and not leave her until I see a twinkle in those lovely brown (I hope..lol) eyes. I would love to give her a much needed kick in the nether region too but that would only damage her some more. Like Jesus " a bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out" Isaiah 42:3.

I will tell her the accident, disability, unwanted pregnancy, Joshua, Autism, every stone maliciously thrown at her, she used them to build a bridge of TESTIMONY and what a beautiful testimony it is. 

I will tell her she is stronger than she looks and tougher than she thinks. In fact her life experiences make up the bulk of her comic material. ..lol.  I will tell her about Laugh out Loud,  a comedy platform she uses to reach out to people battling mental health issues  and can't also wait to regail her with the success of Fifty Shades of Beautiful which is the charity organisation she set up  to help people with special needs and disability. All these are fall out from her life experiences. See girl, In all we turn out well. Therefore weep not my child, it will make sense!

That evening, I invited the young ladies in my youth class alongside my dear friend and it was a laughter filled dinner. Through their eyes I saw the young girl I was full of laughter and  dream and in mine they saw what God can do through a broken yet yielded life.

I don't know the point you are right now while reading this post but I want you to know EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE. A broken home, relationship, financial difficulties, job loss, disability are all "night" time experience. It will soon pass." Weeping may last for the night but rejoicing comes in the morning" Psalm 30:5.

As absurd as it might sound, there is a purpose to your pain. It might not make sense now but it will soon.  Your story matters and so do you. 

Now pictures with my girls.

Folake Olasupo...my Chief Operations Officer

Mind your pace

During my morning walk, a young lady jogged past me with such gusto that I literally felt the wind rush past..lol. For a brief moment, I envied her. I wished I could run like she did but I couldn't. I couldn't because of a knee injury I sustained during exercise some years back.

 Any form of serious exercise would be foolhardy  on my part as it would only aggravate my already sore knee.  So you see, I can't run or jog like my 'friend' but I could walk and walk I did! NO EXCUSES!! Imagine my surprise a couple of miles later when I ran into my jogging friend ...Again! Remember she'd jogged past me but fast forward a couple of minutes later  and we meet again. She was running while I walked but we still managed to run into each other. If i'd known I would eventually catch up with her,  I wouldn't have wasted that brief emotion envying her! ....although I was not in competition with her neither she me.  Envying her was not even necessary

 Though we are strangers, the ultimate goal is the same- KEEP FIT. She was jogging her way to a better and healthier lifestyle while I was walking to mine. She might get to her destination faster but as long as I dont give up and maintained my pace, I WILL GET THERE TOO. Life is a journey and all of us are on that journey. While some are walking, others are running, jogging or even sauntering along the way. The most important fact is to keep moving and never forget the destination. Dont get stuck in a rot, keep moving and MIND YOUR PACE.

• Acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses.
• Keep step in tandem with your strength and abilities...yours not another. Remember we are framed /wired differently.
• Don't envy or give room for Jealousy. 
• You are not in a competition with others.
• Your journey is personal 
• Remain focused on your path.
• Mind your pace.
• Make no excuses make use of what you have no matter how little or insignificant it might seem to you..IT MATTERS.

Its a beautiful day.

There is something about a beautiful day that makes everyone smile especially where the people are used to dismal weather. The brightness of the sun pushing through dreary clouds is a dear sight to behold even for people who tend to allow the weather dictate the mood for their day. On a regular cold dismal day, it is "normal" where I live to be greeted with statements like "what a horrible day", "have you seen such crappy weather before", "its such a cold day" etc. You might say they are saying it as it is but lets look on the bright side, we are not in a tsunami prone zone! Admittedly most days are cold and blistering but admittance to such negative statements could put a damper on even little miss sunshine. Like a bad weather so is the person with a negative attitude. They have a way of killing the lights anywhere they go. Truth is, just as a bad attitude is contagious,so is happiness. My favourite people are the light bearers. They turn up in the most dismal places and the light goes up. They carry excess joy and laughter with them everywhere they go. Every child of God is created as a light bearer to illuminate and glow everywhere not only in church. Sometimes "bad weather" happens through painful experiences that may dim the light...don't condemn or brandish the bible over the victim like a weapon(we Christians do these things... the word of God is the standard but be wise) rather empathise and help turn back the light on full blast. For some recovery might be immediate while others might take a long journey...BE PATIENT. However that is not dismissing a special group whose bad attitude is a force of habit!! I know a lady that is desperate to be married and she could frustrate even a saint to break his/vow of silence with her lamentations. Initially I would be upset at her negativity after all I'm not married too (ADVERT:note to every rich bachelor reading..lol)but you don't see me dragging anyone into a well for that; until I read Proverbs 13:12 "hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes its a tree of life. So that changed how I related with her but its not an easy task if not for grace. Aside from this little torn in her flesh, she is a very lovely person and I choose to focus on her other endearing qualities and pray for her MR Right to come soonest. As children of God, we are encouraged not to allow circumstances to determine how we perceive the world rather to shape the world with THE WORD OF GOD. Ireland is a very lovely place to live and bring up children and it has become my home. It is cold most parts of the year but that does not detract from its beauty and its wonderful people. Its not perfect but I'd rather focus on the good parts. So after weeks of horrible weather we got a break today. The sun is shinning and everyone is smiling. During my morning walk I did not hear a single negative comment about the weather...indeed a longing fulfilled is a tree of life

Don't give up.

She'd had enough! Who wouldn't? Nana had been married to her husband for 12 years and half of those he'd spent in a drunken stupor. Sometimes he'd be so *wasted* that she'd be called out from work to take him home. These days she feels more like a child minder than a wife. She could barely recollect when they last made love or experienced the intimacy of marriage. How had it all gone wrong? Where did she go wrong? She'd tired of begging him to consider the trauma of his drunkenness on their ten year old son; the effects of his dad being carried in daily like a rag doll as result of alcohol abuse. She was tired of feeding him like a child when he was too drunk to feed himself. She'd had enough of the whispers and snickering’s when she's out shopping. "Pity stares" as her son would call them. Right now, she'd had enough of hiding her head in shame and was calling it quits! The church had prayed but her husband seems to be getting worse than getting better. She believes it’s better to opt out of her sinking ship of a marriage than drown with it. But something keeps telling her to hold on and not give up yet. You see, when her husband was not drunk, he was the sweetest of all men; loving, caring and always eager to help out. Initially, she'd remained in the marriage because of her son but today she'd realised her reasons were deeper than that. She still believed in miracles. She still believed in God and she remembered her marital vows. Nana is not alone in this quagmire. For a brief moment consider how many times you've felt like giving up on people and situations when they fall short of your expectations. A couple of days ago, I stumped up to my room in typical dramatic Gladys style and slumped on my bed vowing not to get up until God came down and gave me some quality face time. Earlier on, I'd been helping my lad with his reading and writing. It was all going well till we hit a brick wall. I didn't throw a tantrum like I would in the past but I wouldn't be Gladys if that moment was devoid of drama hence my melodramatic conversation with God. Overtime, I've realised God takes every moment of our lives seriously. No emotion is too small to bring before Him. He wants your cares, worries, laughter etc. If it matters to you then it MATTERS TO GOD. God did give me quality face time as I requested… lol. Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up". It so easy to give up than pushing for results. But we only reap a good result if we endure and push through. Perseverance is never easy but always worth it if we keep the goal in mind. How many projects have you given up on and wondered what would have happened if only? The bible says in Genesis 1:26 that we are made in God' image and as far as I can recall GOD IS NOT A QUITTER. He never gave up on man hence He sent Jesus to reconcile us back to the father through his death and resurrection. I heard a story once about an athlete that competed in a race. Along the way, he sprained his ankle but continued nevertheless. At the finish line he was asked why he didn't quit when he hurt himself. He told the reporters that his country did not send him to the games to quit. "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace". 2Timothy 4:12 I have purposed not to let little hiccups deter me from my goals. The next day, I was back to my motherly duties with heaven's own seal of assurance that I WOULD REAP A HARVEST IF I DONT GIVE UP! To my amazement, the lessons flew without a glitch and I wondered what my stress was about previously. LESSON LEARNT: God cares about everything that concerns you. DON'T GIVE UP trust Him to work all things together for your good. YOU JUST CHILLAX.

P.S Teaching is not my forte at all..lol but I'm learning patience. "For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing " James 1:3-4

Don't give up.

"Sometimes when you are the closest to your breakthrough the pressure is the greatest. You have come too far to give up now! –Joyce. That statement credited to renowned precher Joyce Mayer is so profound. Have you ever been pressed to use the toilet, with your bladder full to bursting and set to give out on you? You manage to hold on to the wee and at the first sighting of your house or nearest toilet, you start to leak? I have been there so many times that I have lost count. Embarrasing isn't it? If you ask any pregnant woman in her final trimester,most can barely wait to get the baby out and the pregnancy over with despite the initial excitement of pregnancy. I remember in my final weeks of college, I just couldn't wait for the whole experience to be over and done with. I had to consciously encourage myself to go to school and hand in my assignments. It became harder to study and remain motivated. What kept me going those last few weeks was the thought of all those hours I had already put on this academic pursuit. I couldn't imagine failure or failing. Not me! No way! The journey to achieving a Masters degree in International Communication had cost me a lot emotionally, financially, psycologically and physically. I barely had time for Joshua, my family or any social life at that. In the midst of life challenges, it so easy to give up entirely or cut corners. I had a colleague who dropped out from the M.A programm citing too much pressure on the home front and problems with two courses. You could literarily knock me senseless with a feather when she told me she was dropping out at the die minute. We had survived the worst hurdles and had submitted our second semester assignments and she was dropping out? "you are not serious", I told her but she looked me dead pan in the face and retirated that she was! I begged and cajoled, reminding her of how far we had come but there was no changing her mind. we had only our thesis left to work- on and she two courses to re-sit and she was dropping out! I understood her challenges but could not fathom why she would not push through. I have been believing God for a husband and its not been easy. The loneliness is worse;no one to share true intimacy with. There are times I want to only be with and around that "special somebody", not just anybody. In the midst of "my wait" different men have come into my life but none fit my vision of a husband. Have I been tempted to settle for less? Ofcourse I have.I'm as human and vulnerable as the next person(I'm not made of stone you know...lol). However I constantly remind myself that I've not waited this long or held unto Godly values to settle for just anyone that bats sexy lids or flaunt manly biceps at me.No sir!. More than ever before I'm convinced that my breakthrough is round the corner and all that is needed now was Godly confidence, restraint and trust. I'm not looking for Superman or even Robin but a born again Christian. Like my good friend and pastor would say "it is better to be happy and single than be married and miserable", Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo. Many of my friends are married and some are ready to toss "a friend" at me or have one idea or the other on how to nab a man but I've refused to bulge under the pressure of "age" or compare myself with my married younger cousins. Of a truth, I want to be married and desperately so in the last couple of weeks but I choose to lean on God's strength and trust Him to help me make it through to the very end. Afterall, the bible says in James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him".