One more thing

Life never seems to have enough. Especially in this materialistic day and age. There's always one more thing to buy, one more person to see, one more place to go, one more degree to attain...

We never run out of things to do, have, think about. And as long as the world is in existence, things will always be. Unfortunately, in the middle of all the hoolabaloo that everyone's trying to hoard, there's one thing people are forgetting, or putting in the corner - God's presence.

Many times, in the process of having more, doing more, learning more, we forget the one thing we can't do without, or live without, that's God. Or at other times we take Him for granted. We often feel like, "Oh well, as long as I'm not sick, maimed, or somewhat demented, God's taking care of me", or "God sees me, He knows me, why bother?" So we pack all these things, and pull him out of the equation.

Unfortunately, God's the one thing we should start with. His presence is so essential and vital in our lives, we cannot do without it. It's the air we breathe, the bread we eat, it's everything in us. It's what we are. It's also very essential in our day-to-day planning. God can and wants to help us as we go on our daily activities. He wants to be with us as we laugh, cry, indulge, you name it, He wants to be with us in it.

God's presence is the one more thing, the one most important thing we cannot do without, and we have to have in the long run. So before you fill your life with all that clutter, the one more TV, one more cellphone, put the most important one-more in your life first- put God first.

Get Ready!!

People get ready, Jesus is coming, soon we'll be going home...

Decluttering clutter

Every once in a while, we have some form of clutter in our lives. It ranges from old things that we've always held tight, to others that we bought, thinking we'd use them, only not to use them, others are just out-of-date, or we've outgrown them. For whatever reason, decluttering ensures that all the things we considered junk and useless out of our lives.

I took time out of my busy schedule to declutter my  life. Not my room, my house, and material possessions; rather, it's the spiritual, the emotional, the personal. I realized that I've done a serious amount of cluttering. I've let many things infiltrate my life - what I see, what I read, who I talk to, what I think... So many things are clouding my rather sober judgement on how to live my life.

I made the seriously hard decision to turn my life around, and I must admit, it hasn't been easy. Many of the things I badly treasure and value need to get out the window. At times, I don't even know what to keep, and what to throw away. Some programs that were a must-watch, are now staring eviction in the face. Some books and magazines I flip are being dumped. And the songs - oh the songs!! I have the painful task of deleting them. Time to start living a clean life. Less is apparently more.

But as I go down this road, my goals get clearer, my life starts making a whole lot more sense. Black and white is separating from the cloud of grey. Everything is taking shape. I can think more clearly, all the me I forgot somewhere in the background is coming forth. There is a whole lot less to worry about. I can somewhat breathe easy.

Following God's voice

Recently, I had the extremely hard task of declining a job offer. Well, this is hard, because I have been looking for a job for quite a long time. Six years, to be precise.

So, when this offer came knocking, I felt happy, and giddy. I gladly accepted. But, no sooner had I accepted, than a heavy feeling fell upon me. It's like God was telling me not to follow that job. It took a lot of wrestling, but finally I accepted. I made up an excuse for not reporting on the reporting date. (I hope they'll not push the date and ask me back, though). 

This was tough. It was the toughest decision I ever made. After all those years of toiling. I almost wailed. I fought back. I tried to reason. But finally, I accepted. I gave in. Mostly, it was after God reassured me that He was still on my side. After reading scripture, and having friends reassuring me that God is in control. Everything belongs to Him. He's a miracle working God, He's a wonderful God.

All these occurrences made me question many things. One of them is - am I truly able to trust God? Not the cliches I keep saying. But am I really able to follow blindly? Like Moses, or Abraham, or Noah? Do I trust Him? Am I still before Him? What does 'Trust and Obey' really mean to me?

With all these thoughts, I realize I got to reconsider my thinking. I need to trust God with all I am, and all I can be. I need to know He is my all in all, He knows me no matter what. I need to follow His voice, despite being in the wilderness for close to a million days. He created me, He knows how He will sustain me, He has the upper hand.

I decide, from now on, to follow His voice, no matter how wierd or wrong it may sound.

When the heart cannot be really full

It's with much horror that I read the news on Oprah's new development - she started a religion and a church. That was, by far, the worst news I received in years.


Of course, many, many, thoughts ran through my mind. First, I thought: these really are the end times. Then I thought: What if she is the new Antichrist or something? I also thought: Maybe she's lost it, she needs to see a shrink. And another thought, that keeps lingering in my mind was: With all the wealth and social status she has, why does she get this far? Can't she be content with what she has? With everything going for her, is this one of the feathers she wants to put on her cap?


Also made me wonder - Is her heart ever full? Is anyone's heart ever full? Can the heart of man say "Enough"? And why not? Isn't there an upper limit as to what the human heart can handle? Led me to one word: Greed. Greed is the one thing that can never say "Stop!! Enough!!" Greed is the voice that lies to you to want what you don't even need. Greed is a 
bottomless pit that cannot be filled in any way possible.


Has greed really entered people's hearts that bad? Is it the emotional pet that we let into our hearts, but leave it untamed and bend over backwards at its every whim? Can greed really drive one to do insane, insatiable things, like making people bow down to him/her in great honour? And why should we even let greed go that far? Why should we let greed dictate what we should do? Can't we tame it down?


While I may not be an expert on life, these two things I know for sure: Oprah's greedy ambition will certainly lead her to a disastrous end, and if greed is the driving factor in your life, then, even the best and largest achievements will never be enough. There'll always be hunger for more and more.

So he ventured into music... who knew?

The downs of being a guest

A while ago, I thought I'd swing by one of my many friends I hadn't seen in a long time. So I made a quick alert (spelt texting) and took myself to her place.

Well, everything was quite OK, until I kind of realized that I things were somewhat out of order. The economy had taken a toll on her. Common commodities like sugar were becoming all to precious. Considering she was a single mom, the line between necessities and luxuries was becoming quite a blur.

Made me think - in this era of tough economic times, is being a guest a blessing? Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all against visiting friends and catching up. But seeing all that made me wonder - am I being a liability or an asset? All things considered, she will have to squeeze out of what she had to give me something. Will I leave her better off, or worse off? Will anything change? The fellowship was nice, but what then, after I've left? Will I leave her wondering what next?

Is being a guest a good or bad thing in modern times? With this economy that's unstable, is being a guest something undesirable? Not that guests are bad, but will the amount of money spent become less and less? Will it be quite a pinch when someone comes over, and you don't even know where to start coz the money's too little?

Will the joys of visiting and being visited be snuffed out by the harsh economic times?

Love of worship

Love this video. Get in the mood, worship like there's no tomorrow!

True heroes

The world is full of heroes (and sheroes - I'd have used heroine, but it'd sound like some drug). There are those celebrities that the world loves to glorify. The Arnold Schwatznigger meets Chuck Norris meets Denzel Washington. Those that keep saving the world using super powers and serious intelligence.

Well, truth is that they are heroes in their own right, but seriously speaking, are they for real? Does the world really revolve around people who can break doors and jump fifty storeys just to save a crying baby or a cat stuck in a burning building? Is that a daily event? Are thugs always beaten unconscious by some random guy in the name of saving a weak lady? Aren't these just exaggerated heroes?

Recently, I saw this article of some girl. At ten years old, she was battling with cancer. Life was really painful, having to undergo chemo every couple of weeks, hair falling off, bullying from her peers and classmates. Things were not really going well for her. But what made me really take off my hat for her was the inner strength she had. She still believed she was beautiful, to the point of calling herself a princess. She loved herself to bits. She was so optimistic of herself and her life, even when her mother was falling apart with hopelessness.

There, right there, I saw a hero. Someone who lived life despite its ups and downs. Someone with the tenacity of a weed. She braved everything against her to stand tall and strong. She, to me, was someone who saved the day. Someone I can look at and go Wow!! She really is something!!

So, well, there are heroes, and there are true heroes. Heroes save the world by kicking the bad guy's butt. True heroes save the world by injecting hope in earthlings.

When No becomes a bad thing

'No' is said to be a small word that makes a world of difference. It's the dam that stops many ills from happening. It's what keeps us in the straight and narrow, in more than one instance. It's what is responsible for maintaining sanity, in many instances. The small word is one word that allows us to stick to just what is relevant to be where we need to be without many distractions.

But there's a flip-side to it. The small word can also cause havoc. Many have wandered away from their destinies, into temporary pleasures due to the small word -no. They just couldn't resist the good feeling. Others have strayed from their principles. Many have run into some rather sticky situations because they haven't listened to their guts. When the conscience is screaming with truth, there are those who block it and don't want to hear the voice of reason. Then things start falling apart, and regret slowly creeps in.

Well, No can be a good or a bad thing, depending on how you use it. It could save you tons of murky situations, it could also land you into heaps of problems. Just be sure not to let 'No' become a bad thing...

In one word - Beautiful

So he took a sabbatical from the Newsboys. Thought he'd been buried, but he's back. Not so different, but sort of more wow. Enjoy the words, enjoy the music, enjoy everything about it (what's there not to enjoy, anyway?).

Talent meets worship

This song keeps getting to me every time. I listen to it like fifty times a day (OK, not fifty exactly, but I rewatch it way too many times)

Dancing to an unseen orchestra

Apparently, living is the process of dancing to an unseen orchestra.

At first, I didn't have any clue as to what that meant. Coz seriously, the only time I dance is when I'm listening to music I like, especially on Sundays in church. And how can an orchestra be unseen? So where's the music, if the orchestra is unseen?

Slowly, I learnt that the saying was so right. Every day, we bump into people doing this or that. Some are confused, some know it all, some are nice, some care less about niceness, there's all sort actions and reactions from everyone we meet. What they do (or rather what we see them do) is a result of something in the background, something we don't know. Like your boss may be angry almost always, and you wonder what his problem is with humanity. Little do we know that, in the hidden, something is affecting his mood, maybe his wife is threatening to leave, maybe a terminal illness, or something impossible to handle). All we see is his ugly dancing.

The one thing that I really try to do is choose the music I dance to. True, life can throw some pretty mean things, but that doesn't mean that I should dance at everything I hear. I want to learn how to hear good music in the midst of a bad situation. I want to dance to hope, faith, and love. I want to do the two-step with love and mercy. I want to ballet to peace and tranquil.

Life is a dance, I want to dance a beautiful, unforgettable dance.

Stuck

There's nothing as annoying as getting stuck. Like when I was younger, doing homework was not so bad, until I bump into a sum that seems so impossible. Or, as I grew older, stuck meant when you don't like what your friend's wearing, and she's grinning, asking "How do I look?".

Life can also present interesting situations of stuck. It isn't such a big wonder that life's a journey. And, like in any journey, there are instances where we get stuck. A good example is when you have a goal or dream, and your parents/guardians have something else in store for you. What they have is not necessarily bad, it's just not you. So there's a battle of the wills. You don't want to disappoint your parents, but you don't want to end up being the miserable person who has to wake up every morning to do something you'd rather die than do. Or when some guy is so madly in love with you, and you feel like he's such a bother. You don't want to sound rude, but you also can't stand his company. Things get weird, you're stuck.

But fret not, that's when God comes in. He always has a way of pulling us out of stuff. And He never disappoints. All you have to do is call him. You got to remember, though, that things may not necessarily work as you think. At times He'll let you wallow in the mud (much to your disappointment). Other times, He'll present a way of escape, either through a miracle, or through someone. Either way, when He's done, you'll be sure you'll be smiling all the way. But don't worry if He lets you struggle and fight. He won't leave you alone, He will be with you. Every step of the way. And when all is said and done, you'll be singing Halleluyah for the longest time.

So, you stuck? Call Him, He'll be your help, and He'll never disappoint.

Song for the broken

Special dedication to all who feel like they're down in the gutter:



Not every day will be a good day, but God will be there every step of the way.

All this Prince Charming talk...

I guess the one topic that will absolutely never be outdated is this Prince Charming topic.

Gets weird, coz apparently everyone knows who Prince Charming should be. Ask anyone, and they'll tell you exactly who you should be looking for, the one person who will be your soulmate for life. Their criteria are as diverse as the the people that exist on the planet.

Leaves me with the big question - who's right? Who's telling the truth, and who's out just to scam?Who's pulling my leg, and who's genuinely interested? Who's creating a circus, and who's building my life? Pretty hard to tell...

In the midst of all the confusion, I decided to let go, and let God. Isn't He the one who created me and wired me? Doesn't He know what I want? Can't He not bring something fresh and dandy for me? Am I really supposed to drown in all the noise of the "experts" and the "know-it-alls"? Well, if you ask me, it's time to throw it all away, talk to God, and let Prince Charming come, riding on a white horse, and whisk me away...

So between now and then, I'll put up my feet, relax, and watch it all unfold. (And Prince Charming better come ASAP or else...)

Lovely song right there!!

For y'all gospel Rock lovers, something for you. Something beautiful

More than meets the eye

A few days ago I bumped into this job vacancy being advertised, and part of the requirements is a certificate of good conduct. Being somewhat interested in the job, I decided to hunt for the famous certificate.

So I go down to the police station, and after some hoolabaloo, I finally get to the process of getting the thing - all the fingerprints done, the handprint, the blah blah blah. As it was all going on, the cops tried to be engaging and started asking me questions: why am I getting the certificate, where am I getting the certificate, and all that rat-a-tat that goes with it. Somewhere along the talk, the guy taking my fingerprints uttered "Everything nowadays needs a certificate of good conduct. Even marriage. How can your spouse trust you if you don't have a certificate of good conduct?" OK, the whole thing was supposed to be funny (and it was), but left a big "Hmmm" on my mind.

Seems like things aren't what they seem. A person looking all sweet and innocent may not be the sweet innocent thing their countenance proclaims. To get to asking for a certificate to show you're trustworthy is really going over the edge. Things have become really bad. Gone are the days when people were just sweet and noble. But are those certs genuine. So if I get the certificate, does that mean that I'm all that? Doesn't that only mean that I don't have a bad record with the authorities?

Oh well, some things are not as simple as they look. There really is more than meets the eye, in this twenty-first century.

Life's lessons

Get all you can, can all you get, and sit on the can (only if you're a stingy, self-centred fat-cat)

What goes around comes around (maybe, maybe not. Depends on how big the circle is)

Nice girls finish last (true. Bad girls burn out somewhere in the process, and never get to finish. At least the nice girls get it, even if it's last)

Life's a race (ummm... Who's awarding the medals?)

Love is like a circle, a circle big and round (and some people try to break the circle for whatever reason. Shame on them!!)

Life is not a dress rehearsal (true. But too much care can kill you)

Life makes no promises (but God does - and He always keeps them)

Be who you are (save yourself the pain of being someone else, and try being what you know what to do best. Just be you)

The greatest gift

In life, people are given gifts for many reasons: birthdays, weddings, graduations, baby showers, whatever occasions, good or bad.

But there is one gift, that many consider a great gift - parenthood. It is a priviledge that many get to go through, and some don't get so lucky. It is a God-given gift to mankind. Sure, some may think it's a result of sex, but truth be told, not every sexual encounter leads to parenthood. Not everyone gets to go through pregnancy, labour, child-birth, and child rearing. It is a special gift. Though there are those who go through this experience through adoption.

Either way, the main aim of this blog isn't to blabber about how to be a parent, rather it's to salute parenthood. I see parenthood as the greatest priviledge a person has. God took time and purpose to choose you to become a parent. He took time to create a beautiful baby and place it in your care. He trusted you enough that you should mould this child to become the greatest (or not-so-great) person they would ever be. He gave you the ability and purpose to teach them life, share your world, laugh with them, cry with them, walk with them through life.

He gave you the child. He gave you a partner. Someone to love you, someone to look up to you. God gave you someone to cherish you for who you are, someone to whom you're a hero for just being you. He gave you someone who will represent you to the world.

Enjoy parenthood, enjoy every minute of it. It comes only once in a lifetime, nothing is greater than parenthood.

All this talk on beauty...

Some say beauty is skin-deep, others say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, others say first impressions matter, there's so much blabber on this beauty topic.

Well, I was one of those in the blabber-crowd of what beauty is, until I met her. I won't mention her name for personal reasons. She was comely. In fact, she was plain and simple. Her appearance was comely, to say the least. Her dressing was, well, decent. Not fancy, just decent. Her hair wasn't so well done, in fact it looked like it was combed really hurriedly. Make-up really isn't her thing, so she didn't wear any.

I saw her as some average person, until I interacted with her. Her warmth was like nobody I met. She was so welcoming, and made me feel like I've been her friend for ever. She talked with such acceptance and humility, I couldn't believe. Her humility was (almost) out of this world. Her smile, well, was a smile indeed. She loves to laugh, and her laugh was so hearty, nothing about it was forced or fake. She really loves to hug, so she keeps on hugging and hugging. She really was, one in a million.

Being with her made me realize something - a beautiful person is one who makes you beautiful, no matter how they look like. The looks, and impression, and all that hoolabaloo may matter, but truth is, you're always drawn to someone you feel comfortable and beautiful around, no matter how weird or ugly your mirror claims you to be.

Having that in mind, I'm off to look for more beautiful people - those that make me feel loved, appreciated and accepted, pimples and all.

When plan A goes all the way to plan J

Everyone has a plan for their lives. Or at least those who value their lives. Everyone has some sort of goal, everyone has a plan A, and at least a plan B, in case plan A goes haywire. Everyone can at least tell you what they want to do with their lives.

But what if plan A goes awry, and plan B isn't a proper fallback, what do you do then? What happens after that? That's when people go crazy doing weird things. Some make some hasty plan C, others go on and on to plan D, then plan E... I once saw this chic on some talk show who had plan A to plan J. Her plan A was to be an "it-girl", if that didn't work out, there was plan B, then plan C, all the way to plan J, just to make sure nothing goes away with the wind.

In a way, she made me feel so inadequate. How could someone be so elaborate about her life, and I'm clinging only to plan A? And my plan A wasn't even working right, it was stuck somewhere. But somewhere in the middle of all that, I remembered, "Don't worry about tomorrow, tomorrow has enough worries of itself". Wow, how relieving for me!!

The only plan there is that anyone can cling on is God's plan. And the best thing about it, he doesn't have a plan A that spirals down to plan J. He has one plan, and that plan is his one and only plan, one that is his plan A. Plan A because it is absolute, and perfect, it's an A plan. It may be the hardest plan to follow, but knowing that He knows me, my strengths, weaknesses, his plan can be nothing but perfect and absolute.

So, either way, I decided, I'd throw away all those plan A to plan J, and rest on only one plan - one that's sure to work without fail - God's plan.

Maestro at being me

So there's this friend on mine on Facebook who calls himself 'Maestro'. I found it rather weird, so I asked him what's with the Maestro name. Apparently he's a maestro of some sort. I found that quite lame, that's until...

Until I realized, maybe he's right. He's really right about the whole maestro thing. He's no choice but to be what he knows best - him. In this plastic world, full of people being other people, being yourself is not enuff. You got to have Beyonce's hair, Brittney Spears' nose, Brad Pitt's cheekbones,... People are in a constant hurry to be someone else, act like someone else, so much so that they're forgetting to be just themselves.

The saddest part is that they're just making the whole thing more miserable and impossible for themselves. Nobody asked them to be just like the celebrities. Nobody asked them how Tyra Banks they can get. And nobody's grading. So just quit the whole thing and be you. There's no better person to be you than you. Just as J-Lo can only be a good her, so can you also be a good you. There's no better you than you, be a maestro at being you.

So I broke my own heart...

It's all common sight - guys breaking up chic's hearts, chics breaking up guys hearts. But rarely do we hear of people breaking their own hearts.

Yet it happens all the time. It happens when a guy chases after a chic who's a little too frigid, maybe trying to attain a financial goal, or just playing hard-to-get. It happens when a chic follows a guy who's anything but interested. It happens when both guy and chic are in a relationship for anything but love. Then everything falls apart. It happens when one gets too self-centred to see the other person's point of view.

So you break your own heart. You're too frigid, and he walks away to someone who can accept. She tries, and she tries and she tries, but you make fun of her by purposely ignoring her. You get so tired of this relationship, and you don't know how to end it without making anything harder than what it is. And there your heart lies, all broken, in pieces.

All is not lost, either way. Just because you shot yourself in the foot doesn't mean you let yourself bleed to death. Hope isn't gone completely. You can get yourself up, and limp on. Learn from your mistake, clean the wound and move on. It is important to let the wound heal, so you don't have some smelly thing all over you as you move. Wake up, learn from your mistakes, and reach for the stars. Who knows, maybe this time, you'll do it just right and score!!

Taking sides

Every society has some sort of person they have as an outcast. Not every person is the saint in town, there are those that everyone would rather they weren't even in existence.

The point to this blog isn't about them, but about what to do with them. Many times society wants us either for or against such people. After all, they're a pain in the tooth, and who would want to hang around them? People would rather that you are at either camp, but not both.

Well, I decided to move above such reasoning. I realized we're all grown up, and many times such ways of thinking doesn't help me much. I need one camp as much as I need the other. All of them have one thing or another that can build me up. Either way, associating myself to one camp or another is also quite twelve-years-old.

My major decision is how to juggle these two. How do I do this such that I don't shut out one at the expense of the other? How do I show each one of them my appreciation without one feeling disowned or stabbed in the back?

I guess now the only thing I need is wisdom from above. God help me be a good Christian by loving everyone, as you had commanded.

He loves me, I love him not...

We all dream to be in the situation where you're in love with someone, share the special moments, be the Prince Charming/Cinderella, and have the wow bubble-moment...

But that isn't always the case. There are times when love is one-sided. There are those times when you're in love with someone who doesn't even seem to recognize your existence. Or when someone nags you with all the I'm-so-in-love-with-you speeches, and you just start wishing you were deaf, coz it all sounds like some form of annoying jibber-jabber. So what do you do in this situation?

There's the avoiding tactic (which I'm a fond addict of ). In such an occasion, you do anything in your power to evade the person. You run across the road when he approaches, or suddenly pretends that you have to make the all-important phone call, you ignore their every call. You do everything possible to drop them, until they get the point. Problem is - some of them never get the point and try even harder, and it becomes an annoying Tom-and-Jerry call.

Or you can play along in public, and confront them in private. That means when they call you all these yummy names, and make you "feel" special, you play along, and pretend you're swept off your feet all along. But as soon as the two of you are all alone, you get to the nitty-gritty and just tell them you're not that into them. Problem is - You must be very good in acting, it may lead to extremely embarrassing situations.

But it gets worse when it comes to office affairs. When you have to see the person ever day. When you can't cross the road, and pretending can't even work. Or when they're your neighbour at the office. I guess then you need all the wisdom you can muster. You have no choice but to call the raw raw, and face it head-on, with all hopes it doesn't turn into breaking news.

Whichever way, one-sided relationships are part of life, and we'd rather deal with it now than jump ship at the altar.