Here and There....

Hey Y'all!

I hope you had a great weekend? Well, I did o... and I think I'll just give you a li'l bit of it.

Ok, Saturday was a close friend's introduction (the first start of the marriage process where the family members from either side are introduced to each other and intentions are officially known). It was fun for me especially because i had not been to a Yoruba introduction before. I made sure i took pictures and made notes of some of the things i saw and heard. It was cool sha....

Some of my family came around over the weekend too including my sweet baby niece whom i wrote about here. Its always so nice to have family over...the laughing, the jisting, catching up....it always adds color (whether bright or dull colors...doesn't matter jor).

Anyway in the course of the weekend, i had reason to appreciate God's faithfulness over my life. Truth is, there are still things i have asked God for and not yet seen them physically manifested, yet there are others that i did not have to even talk about and he just gave me (after all, while we're still speaking, he has answered).

I look at my life....and in many ways, i see the fingers of God painting a beautiful picture. Sometimes with light brushes, sometimes with heavier strokes...sometimes with grey colors, other times with fuchsia pink or hot red or lemon green. But every time, i know that even though I cannot see and appreciate the full picture, i can be thankful for each individual stroke (or experience) that is gradually making the picture more stunning.

If you're reading this and wondering "What is happening to me?" "Why is my life in disarray?"...and you can't seem to understand why. Please be encouraged, God is working out something beautiful for you if you'll sit still and trust him to make you into something wonderful. He commanded light and order out of a chaotic, formless and void earth (what could be worse), he can make you beautiful too.

So today, I'm grateful...for a chance at life, for family that is irreplaceable, friends that really care and believe in me, for my own special someone and for you reading...I'm thankful that you stopped by.

Yeah, by the way, also stop at Belinda's, there's a beautiful post there.

Apples & Blackberries - Fruits or .....

Hey Everyone....I'm sooooooo sorry I've not updated in the past....3months?!??! I didn't even think I could ever go so long without blogging. But then again....you never really know what you're capable of until the opportunity presents itself. I have been really busy (I'm sure you're thinking - who hasn't) and I have let some things take the place of others. But i promise not to let this happen again. Interestingly, in the midst of all of these....I never stopped doing my blog rounds. 


Now this phrase caught my attention recently...

"Life was much easier simpler when apples and blackberries were just fruits".

I stole the phrase from a friend's facebook status (she stole it from her sister's wall - who knows how many other stealings have been involved here). Anyway, it got me thinking and pondering. These days, everywhere you turn to its one social networking site or the other.... Facebook, Twitter....and all the other ones. I recently heard of Yarn Pad - a certain Naija networking site (yeah, you can check it out). As a result its getting increasingly difficult to relate with people face-to-face. After all you already "poked" them on facebook or "buzzed" their yahoo messenger or "pinged" their BB Messenger. You forget you've not visited any of your friends because you've "seen" them already and because they have posted all their recent pictures and tagged you, you are deceived into thinking you know whats happening with them.

You know what I think? I'll tell you.

You Can't Have It Till I Give It

Hey everyone,

I guess its been such a long time since I came here and guess why I'm here? Most importantly, i really feel like venting my anger somewhere.....and just scream till there's no voice left.

If you're wondering what the issue is then I'll just give you a little background info. Do you have any idea what it feels like to be under-valued (i'm not even sure if that's a correct word, but it suffices for now) and not appreciated at all? Hands up if you've ever given your best to a cause (maybe even voluntarily) and someone turns to you and makes you feel like you threw your time away, even though it was for a worthy cause. Well, that's exactly how i should have felt through out today: unappreciated, unloved and any other un's you'd like to add to those.

Choose Right...you never know

I've had a really stressful month with tight deadlines and seemingly impossible tasks, but God has been faithful. Only recently i asked Him to secretly increase the number of hours for me alone (maybe 29hrs instead of 24hrs?)lol. but then again, I might spend the greater part of it, making up for lost sleep. :)

Anyway, while driving home from work yesterday, I passed by a mad man. He looked really "fresh". You know, like those ones that have not been mad for too long- maybe a few days or so. He maintained the small corner where he sat, with a broom in his hands determined to sweep the sand off the earth. Seeing that the traffic light was still green, I kept looking and watched as people cleared off as they approached his area. Of course, nobody wanted to have any "quanta" with him.

As i looked at him closely, i wondered what he would look like if he was clean shaven and for a moment, i tried to imagine him looking like the rest of us, all tidied up and making conversation and you know...living. It was hard but i tried even harder....but i really could not picture him any other way.

The lights changed to green and as pushed the pedals, i thought about that man. What was it like when he was conceived? I can just imagine his mother, shyly announcing to his father, that she had missed her period. I can see the show of joy and jubilation as the nurses announces 'It's a boy!'. Was he the first of many children? Or the last? Or maybe one out of many? I can imagine the look on his mother's face as he takes his first steps and says his first words. Did she for a minute think he'd have turned out like this in the end? if she did could she have stopped it? But just how did the little cute baby boy become this man that everyone avoids because although his body is present, his mind is far far away in captivity.

Someone said that we are what we are by the choices that we have made. The truth is that there are somethings that we are not responsible for: our parents, or siblings, or nationality, or skin color, or sex, or physical make up etc. For instance, I wont blame you if you are from a broken home, but I'll blame you if your child is from a broken home. Yes I know you did not choose to be a woman, but does that mean you'll allow yourself to be second rated? True, you might have better advantages if you were an American or born in America but that's no excuse for being lazy and refusing to maximize your potential.

Be careful the choices you make today because they are the foundations of the results you'll see tomorrow.Everything that exists today is because someone chose to make it happen. Even the world and man. It was God that said "let us make" and they agreed to make.

Every good or bad

...beauty and ash

...joy and tears

...pain and pleasure

is because someone chose to make it so.

Make the right choices, you never know who'll be affected by its results tomorrow.

FavorsHeart

P.S...Happy Birthday Topsie! You've inspired me in so many many ways. Have a beautiful year.

30 Years...and counting

So my parents clocked 30 years of "for better for worse" today. For them it’s been 30 long years of love and war, of smiles and tears and of hope and despair. I have watched them through my own 20-something years and I have observed that the younger generation still has so much to learn about the true meaning of marital commitment and staying true to the one you promised to love till death do you part.

Its been a rosy ride (yep, cos roses have thorns) and i can remember particular incidences that made me ask questions at those times. But still those two stayed together...sometimes like glue and sometimes like gum and sometimes it might as well have been water holding them, but they stayed.

My parent’s children (including yours truly) are all grown up and away from home now and so the house is back to the way it was some 30 years ago before the intruders came in, before the bills increased, before the sound of laughter or cries or music blasting could be heard from afar off, before time changed everything…the house is now occupied with the original two people, now with more grey hair, now with more wrinkles, now not as active as before (especially in disciplining children) and now better listeners.

Only recently, my mum wanted the recipe for "chin-chin" (Y'all know what that is, right?). She called to ask for it saying it’s been ages since she had to do any kind of pastry making (not quite her fault, seeing she has 4 daughters). My sister and I jokingly recommended that she mixed the dough while her husband cut it up into small shapes for her to fry. The image of them sweating it out left me in stitches.

And that’s how this post was born.

So today I’m dedicating this piece to my folks. I don’t know if they’ll ever get to read this or if they’ll ever know I even wrote this but I want to say thank you

~ for staying together

~for showing me that marriage is not convenience but a commitment

~for teaching me the joy of family

~for not holding back the rod from me (i'd have turned out really terrible..i'm sure!)

~for letting me know that home is more than a location, it’s a place I can be myself and be accepted the way I am

~for making my worries yours and reminding me that you’re there

I know it might sound like a cliché but if I have to come back to earth again after i'm gone…I’d ask for this same set of parents (well maybe with more money especially…lol)

So i'll sing like Style Plus "...30 years don waka...dem stil dey carry go, nobody waka nobody go solo...papa God o, their case o, na your grace o...Imela eh"

Just Sit Still

If I knew what would happen tomorrow or next week or next month....If I knew whether my book would be published, if the job would be mine, if the man I love so much would ask me to be his wife….

If I knew what the decision of that reputable school would be concerning my MBA application, if I’d have only daughters or only sons, if I’ll make more money than my parents….

It’s interesting that sometimes we feel that if knew what the next minute or hour or day or even month held, we’d do things a lot more differently.

My Phone O!

Today, my phone was stolen and i've been so sad about the loss...but what can i do? I decided to dedicate this to my phone (even if you think i'm silly) and i'll be letting you know soon the kind of phone i'll be needing (just maybe one of you'll see how lonely i've become without my old phone, and buy me the new one) :)

Here goes....

Oh, my phone!

You came to me almost 3 years ago as a gift from my brother. At that time, i really needed you seeing that the one i had had gone "blind".

All through the years you were there with me....helping me reach out, communicate, record memories and even psyched me into thinking i was a good singer ( you captured my voice too!)

For a while, you were all i had and even when some other one came along, i still treasured you and let you maintain that special place in my heart.

It was you who showed me messages that made me cry...texts that made me laugh...and with you i heard the voices of the people i love....and sometimes voices of people you brought to me in error.

There were times when i loathed the sight of you because i felt hurt by someone and did not want you to be the go-between....

Oh, my dear phone! If only i had known that you'd be taken away from me so soon, i'd have taken drastic measures to preserve your memories...the pictures, sounds, videos, messages, contacts....everything!

I'm truely going to miss you....and i know it'll be hard but i'll pull through on my own. All i have left is my earpiece...and i'll keep it in memory of you.

I just wanted to say thank you for yourcommitment and strength and for being there all thse times you ....and as you go into a new world, i hope you find happiness and joy. I hope your new owner treats you even better because, you are special kind.

Love...Me

And so i say

Sometimes I get so caught up in myself that I forget to be grateful for the little things that make the most impact. Today, I had an appointment in the hospital that left me feeling immensely glad for the gift of life. On my way to the particular clinic i was referred to, i passed by a psychiatric hospital and saw as a man was being taken in, bound hand and foot. I could not help starring at the scene, just like so many other people around me.

And so i say...

You can fly!

So much has happened....wheew! It's good to be back here again. I've been so busy in the past few weeks. Its just been from one thing to the other. At some point i had to tell myself that i simply needed to take a break...just disconnect myself from everything...and everyone (Ok, maybe not everyone). But yours truely was beginning to lose focus of my own personal goals and busy struggling to make everyone else happy. Somewhere along the line, I learnt (from a colleague) that at the end it all comes down to you...you need to be happy...in the midst of ensuring that everyone else is fine, it is important that you find time for yourself...take some time out to make "you" happy.

Anyway, i was reading a book recently and something i learnt i want to share with you.

My Gabrielle...

I still remember the first contact we had

Funny thing was you were still within the protective "container" of your mum's womb

But you "kicked" and my hand was there expecting to feel you

And i did....

Oh! what a beautiful feeling

I remember the first time i saw a picture of you

It was an ultra-sound scan (yes it was!)

Immediately i set my eyes on it, i knew you'd be a girl

Although you were still about 5months then

But you already had a pose

(Talk about one classy foetus....lol)

Finally you came to us....after all the anxiety and faith-filled prayers

You came in all your beauty and grace

Gabrielle....beautiful name...you are a beauty to behold

I look at you and i see a beautiful girl

When i say beautiful, i mean a beautiful spirit and a beautiful body

Like a cornerstone polished after the resemblance of a palace

I can't wait to hold you and feel you in my arms...

Change your diapers (yes, anything for you)

Feed you and rock you to sleep (my best part)

I can't wait to make you smile

Or hear you chuckle

Or even your cries...

Gabrielle...The Lord is my strength

Gabrielle...My beautiful niece

These precious seeds

Sow righteousness, reap love. It's time to till the ready earth; it's time to dig in with GOD, until he arrives with righteousness ripe for harvest. (Hosea 10: 12 MSG)



It's my observation that those who plow evil and sow trouble reap evil and trouble. (Job 4:8 MSG)

"Flowers will not grow in a bed of stones…" I have kept this phrase in my heart for a while now. I can’t really recall what book I culled it from. But I can say for sure that it keeps popping up and around my head every once in a while. Truthfully, it has helped my decision making more than once especially at times when all I want to do is indulge myself (what the heck!).