Posts

Posted on

Make Room To See The Impossible

Devotions….

Luke 2 v 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a [b]manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

As I was thinking about the Christmas season last week and began reading the book of Luke the journey that Mary and Joseph took to the manger really got me thinking. I knew I needed to stay there a while and let the Holy Spirit minister.

For some years now Christmas was my least favorite time of the year and mainly because my family has been so far apart for a while. Being a mom now and having a toddler I begin to remember how excited I was when it was Christmas time. My parents really went all out especially my mom. If she was not cooking up a storm, taking us shopping she was hosting a party to remember with close friends and as the children we got to play all day with no restrictions to go into the house…what!!! Now that’s Christmas.

In life and throughout the year we go through so many different seasons, people move and relocate, we start new jobs, we lose money, our loved ones pass away, we celebrate at weddings and baby showers and worst of all this year 2020 we had to fight through and continue to navigate our way around the Covid 19 pandemic. Its been a long nightmare for the world at large! This affects our attitudes towards getting up each day. We could get up excited, charged and ready for the next day or we could be depressed and hopeless and wanting to stay in bed and in some cases wish we never have to get up to feel the pain that we will be going through.

Then Christmas time comes, I believe in this moment we consider so much. First of all the year is over. You have lived through a whole 12 months, so much reflection begins to take place. Did I achieve my goals, what mistakes did I make, what can I do better, what am I thankful for?!

In all this reflection the most important being where our relationship with Jesus Christ is today. So you may be wondering what does all this have to do with our theme scripture reading! It has everything to do with it!!!

So let’s talk it out..

When Mary and Joseph needed a place to stay and deliver their precious baby it was nothing short of a challenge. I can only imagine what Mary was going through experiencing labour and riding through town with so much uncertainty. In today’s age we plan ahead for almost everything, we know who our doctor is, where we will give birth, what our birthing place looks like, our bags are packed even two months before we are due in some cases, The first thing that this passage of scripture reveals is that some of life’s major seasons will not go according to plan and the main thing is to keep moving despite the NOs that come at us.

Because there was no room in the inn most of us would already judge the situation to be doomed. Mary and Joseph where offered a manger and I believe that this is we see one of Christ’s core characteristics – humility.

There was no room for Jesus in an inn where there was most likely a comfortable bed, well decorated space and room service that would bring delicious meals from the kitchen. I have heard a lot of people say that a place does not feel like Christmas when it does not have all the lights, trees and ornaments associated with the season and worse of if a spread is not laid out on Christmas day then it is considered just another day.

Even as I type this the conviction is hitting me so hard as I think through the misconceptions that I associated Christmas with. This is what the world would want us to focus on so that our eyes move away from the gift that was born to save our souls, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In order to make room in our hearts to see the impossible ( a child that was born of a virgin), we need to let go off the comfortable “inn’s” we created in our hearts and minds. When we do not see a December we expected to see and be living, when we do not experience a Christmas that we feel is the ultimate standard of what Christmas is all about, we seldom realise that we have everything we need and more and that is Jesus Christ. It certainly is a beautiful thing to be around our loved ones and fellowship together in an exciting way but in the event that this will not happen for you it does not mean that you are not already surrounded my love.

Prayer

Heavenly Father I come before your throne today with a humble heart. I acknowledge that you sent Jesus to be born of a virgin and then die to rise again for the redemption of our souls. May I make room to see Jesus lifted high in each and every situation I may face whether good or bad. I desire to draw closer to you Christ Jesus, help me see the impossible because I know with you all things are possible. In Jesus name I pray, Amen

Posted on

What Is Getting In The Way Of Your Passion?

Passion:

A strong and barely controllable emotion.

Wow this blew my mind. So If passion is strong meaning when I say I am passionate about something there is an inner strength connected to the emotion right!?

Ok so why is it that the percentage of people that really do what they are passionate about is really minimal. I’m not just talking your God given gift (although that is what we will dive into today). I mean all the things that you are drawn towards, could be praying for people, giving, taking walks, eating tasty food, baking and a whole lot more.

Really living a life that you look forward to waking up to daily. So this is my story. You could ask me what I am passaionate about or what I would love to spend the rest of my life doing if I had no limits. Could I answer, at some point no , I had so much confusion when it came to my true passion. Then bam it stood out, I loved to write. So did I write, sometimes…

Mmmmm sometimes does not sound like something a person is passionate about right. Well according to some of the quotes I have heard “If you are really passionate about something you will do it with all your heart”.

So riding on this quote, lets delve a little deeper on the word “really”. One definition for the word really is “very; thoroughly.” This means that is I thoroughly enjoy writing they will be a barely controllable emotion that will drive me to always, consistently write. So inconsistency with a lot of writers in particular, is a very common thing. In fact in consistency and the lack of self disciple is something that a lot of us humans may have to intentionally teach ourselves at a certain point in life.

I realised there is a certain process that affects how much we chase after the things our passions, the things we loves, our dreams whatever this looks like for you. Whoever told you it is easy to follow your passion or do your passion did not tell you the whole story.

I studied the people that were driven and self-motivated to go after they loved doing and realized certain traits.

The first thing is influence. A lot of time we are influenced by our environment. The people we live with or grew up with influence us in big ways. Sometimes we allow them the influence us to the extent of letting go of our passions because of the examples they are to us or the way that we care about them and fear disappointing them. In other cases we are influences by the results we see around us. We could have seen someone pursue their passion and not realise success. This can lead us to always want to play it safe and not fall into the same “trap”.

The second thing I have noticed is what we hear. You could have heard and chosen statements about going after our passion that make us hesitant. How passion won’t pay, (and of course money is a big influence on its own). How passion takes a lot of hard work and consistency (and yeah it is easier to binge watch tv and sit on social media all day right!?)

I’m happy to say I made a decision to pursue what I love the most and have learnt how to navigate all the limiting beliefs that were brought on by what I had seen or heard in my life. At the end of the day it is up to you to make up your mind about how you want to live your life today. Yes it’s true… You only have one life to live. Let’s live it passionately shall we!!!

Posted on

The Never Changing Benefits Of Starting A Blog Today

If you are reading this post you most likely are considering starting a blog or you may have started one in the past but left it hanging for whatever reason. I have been in both places, debating whether or not to start a blog, and starting not just one, but three blogs in different years with so much confusion on how to go about it all. This year is definitely the defining moment for me and I would like to really help you with this so you do not ever go back and forth again. There is a way to begin your blog right so that you stay motivated and consistent which is something I learnt over the years and going through coaching this year has made me see the value of not trying to figure things out on your own. We will talk about this in another post but for now let’s lay the foundation shall we!!

There are different reasons people consider blogging, to share stories, promote your products and so much more. The reason for me was because after launching my first book in 2013 I really wanted to develop my writing skills. If you are a writer, aspiring author or published author I consider this a must for a lot of reasons, something I explain in depth in my book writing courses, but this is also very good for almost any career, intention or business so let me break it down a little further.

Today we will talk about 5 never changing benefits for starting a blog:

  1. Confidence – Starting a blog helps develop confidence in your field as you continue to speak about the topics you are sharing about. You also develop confidence in the topic or product you are speaking about as you have to continue learning more about your topic to develop content. You also become a confident writer, ok do I need to explain this one!? As you continue to write each week your writing style and voice becomes more pronounced. The more confident you are about something the more excited you will be as you are sharing it.
  1. Leadership – As you become more confident, you begin to stand out as a leader in your field. People love to have a reference or someone they can go to for guidance, so guess what your blog will provide just that, leadership and guidance. You will become the go to person when they want to know about a particular topic or have questions they need answered in their life. As you lead your audience through your blog it will serve as a point of reference and proof that you know and care about your subject and showcase your passion for the field you are in. 
  1. Relationship – A blog gives you the benefit of developing a relationship with your readers and audience. They will get to know more about you and your thoughts and develop an online trust for you. This is so crucial especially since online means you may never meet this person face to face but a blog will help them feel connected to you . With so many scammers out there it is important that people feel that you are genuine and you are a real person. As an author this is really important to me. The more people develop a relationship with me and learn my writing style, the easier it will be for them to buy my books.
  1. Consistency – Beginning a blog helps you stay consistent as you have to develop self discipline, knowing that your audience is waiting for you to post something weekly. Self discipline can spill over to so many other areas of your life and when nurtured well will cause you to experience all round progress in the goals you set up to do. The more you blog the more you will realise what your audience is interested in and what they are not so fond of. This will help you become more aware of your time. A lot of us like to give the excuse of not having enough time but in all honesty I always believe it is a matter of what you decide to prioritise ( just thought I should knock this out real quick). Consistency will require you to get your schedule and time management system working smoothly in order for you to stay on the ball.
  1. Financial Income – Now who does not like or need an extra $1 in their pocket. I know I do. Blogging can become an income stream especially when you have the above in place (consistency). Depending on your blog niche it can open so many doors for you with affiliates, products and heck you can turn your blog into an ebook. So this is also another blog post on its own but yes it is possible to make money from your blog and if you decide to stop debating about starting and just do it already then you will surely reap the benefits in some months from now.

So there you have it, yes I know we all have fears and doubts to overcome but I know even as you continue to research about blogging, the benefits outweigh the doubts big time. Don’t spend your whole day pondering, do not waste another second. Begin your blog today and I am more than happy and willing to guide you all the way as I have guided other happy bloggers today:)) 

Posted on

Writing & Wellness

#delight

Wellness is something we all desire. Some of us dream it, and some of us work on it then the very few make it their lifestyle. 

As a teenage girl, I went through depression and around 16 went through a series of hemroids. This is certainly an experience I will never forget as I spent a lot of my days lying on the side in my bed, in pain and unable to walk 

Posted on

Facing The Truth

#devotion

James 1:23-25
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

As a woman there are so many things to get done during the day. The more hats you wear the more you need try hard to find ways to balance your day. This has been me for months (well even a year plus if I’m being brutally honest).

The focus has been about getting things done or rather getting as much done today as possible and somehow reaching some of my personal goals, which are hardly ever reached. This then starts an internal war of feeling under achieved, like you have failed, the list goes on.

This one evening I was putting my almost 2 year old daughter to sleep and it really dawned on me. I was not at peace internally at all. In that moment as the truth about how I really feel hit me hard on the face I literally cried out to God (tears running down my face, the works), and just told Him how I felt. Oh boy, I had no idea so much negativity was lying deep within this ‘got it all together’/proverbs 31 everyday goals woman. I was not happy about anything, found very little to be grateful for an was just an absolute mess.

The truth is that I had forgotten who I was in the heavenly Father’s eyes. I forgot that He loves me, I forgot that He is always there to help me and I do not have to go through life alone. I just forgot all things that are pure and lovely. My meditation was focused on how ‘unloved’ I felt and under appreciated I am. Oh my, even as I type that a flood of emotions just rushed through me. Yup definitely a lot more I need to offload but hey one day at a time from hence forth.

As the meditation scripture for today states how when we are just hearers of the word and not doers we are like a man that looks in the mirror and immediately forgets the kind of person they were. I am a child of the most High God and there is a way He desires me to live my life. One of them is that I should cast my cares upon Him and take up His burden that is easy and His yoke that is light. I should remember to pray about everything so that His peace that surpasses all understanding will guard my mind and heart. It does not help to keep things inside while trying to look like I have it altogether on the outside, complain when its at boiling point to anyone that will listen and not remember to go to the person that can actually hear my hearts cry.

Isaiah 66:2 For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.”

This shows that the Lord desires us to always come humbly before His throne each day and tremble and His word. To show that we tremble at His word it comes back to taking action concerning scriptures. It’s all about inner beauty this month and today my encouragement is that we really look to the Father to help us overcome the things that keep us out of His peace. As we look more towards Jesus who is the Author and perfect of our Faith He will direct us and lead us to that place were we are less self-centered and seeking to do His will and His will alone

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day that you have made, I rejoice and desire to remain grateful for all that you have done and continue to do. Thank you for moments were we can pause and really see the state of our hearts, having said this I pray that you create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. I pray for your peace that surpasses all my negative thoughts and the very little understanding I have to guard my heart and mind in Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Posted on

The Inner Beauty Spa

#delight

Going to the spa and doing some home self-care is definitely one of my ultimate treats. I love the spa industry so much when I graduated from high school I went to beauty school to learn how to give other girls the same pleasure.

Beauty is always a huge topic, whether we are speaking about it or not. We find beauty in so many different places and things. One thing that has been established a lot of the time inner beauty is more valuable the outside beauty. The question however is how often to we as individuals develop our inner beauty and what does this really entail.

I stuggled with a lot of self-esteem issues as a teenage girl and really believed that I could not achieve as much as the girls that were prettier than me could achieve. In the next weeks I want us to journey together through this top.

Your inner beauty is the real you.Only you can make the effort necessary to make it better!!!

Posted on

My First Love

#devotion

Psalm 91 14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

Do you remember how it felt the first time you thought you were in love? Blood rushing, butterflies in your tummy, sleeping late (or losing sleep altogether), not being able to hang up even though the conversation was over an hour ago. The joy of meeting the person and the desire to never leave their sight.

Well for me that pretty much describes the emotions I went through. It was all great until the first argument and even worse after the first heartbreak. You feel all the above intensity of emotion motivated by anger.

When I was pregnant with our first child, my husband hurt me really bad (story for another day). I can honestly say I have never felt so broken in my life. If anything being pregnant was my saving grace because I had to tell myself that I need to be strong for the baby and not ponder too deep on my hurt. It was tough but by God’s grace I made it to through the pregnancy..

One night as I was crying on the couch I started to think about a sermon my pastor once preached about how Leah in the book of Genesis, would tell herself that having babies would make Jacob love her. Its only until her fourth son Judah were her mindset changed and she decided she will praise God.

As I thought about this story the Holy Spirit started to whisper “the same way you feel neglected by your husband is the same way you have neglected your first love”

This convicted me so hard because my first love should always be Jesus. When I first received Jesus as my personal Lord and saviour at 16 I would hardly sleep diving deep into his word, I prayed and spoke to Him through out the day and could not resit talking about Him with anyone who cared to listen to all I’ve been learning and what He was teaching me. Prayers where answered almost immediately and the love I felt was so real. It moved past just emotion but bore witness with my spirit man.

The theme scripture for today’s devotion begins with a condition that follows a promise. Somewhere along the line I neglected my relationship with Jesus and started to look to man, more so my husband affection. I neglected my first love. He is my first love because He created me and sacrificed His life for my sins. There is a promise in the above scripture about what the Lord will do for us when we are in a love relationship with Him. He will deliver us, set us on High and answer us when we call.

So as I learn to “fly” (First love Yaweh) again, in all that I do, I would like for us to take this journey together. Life is so much better when Jesus is my first priority!!

Let us pray. Heavenly Father thank you that I love because you first loved me. Forgive me for neglecting to spend quality time with you and seeking from man what can ONLY truly come from you. I know that the more I seek you, the more I will find you. The more I find you I will grow in love and in turn know how to love those around me the way you desire. In Jesus name I pray. AMEN

Posted on

The Big Dream

So Sibo-lifestyle Magazine asked me to do a feature. This is the story I shared in my article. Hope you enjoy and you can follow their blog too inspirationbysibo.com

Posted on

Your Happy Place

Singing


Let me talk about singing for a little bit because this was a safe place for me in terms of getting to a happy place for years as I was part of a choir and then praise and worship ministry for over ten years. When circumstances prevented me from being able to be active in this ministry it dipped into the unhappiness bucket big time. This however led me to seek God about my life’s purpose more than just using a single gift to being Him pleasure. I’m grateful that I will still be able to express creativity through singing even though I’m not in a singing ministry but I’m even more grateful for my next step to happy place which is my love and passion for women and families finding their rest and beauty in God and in life as a whole. This is a part of my heart that has never gone away.

Passion

Even my first published book and prayer devotional was for women. I always believe that one’s career should somehow enhance or even mirror their calling for a fulfilled life. This one song says “if you don’t like the job you’re in then what do you do it for?” I remember the last full time job I ever had, I was miserable. Yes there would be things here and there I didn’t mind doing but overall it went against my personality so the things I had to do did not come naturally for me so that also dipped into the unhappiness bucket. I know better now, yes I’m living in an economy that’s really about survival but I made up my mind that I will not do a job that makes me miserable ever again. The opportunities the Lord has led me to for monthly income since I made up my mind have been mind blowing to say the least but that’s a blog post for another day. In getting to my happy place, it is now so clear how I desire to serve in God’s kingdom concerning women and families and how this passion is a big influence in the current hosting business I run and future businesses to come. I love being involved in hosting women’s events for ministry, empowerment and business. Setting up a solid plan concerning my purpose and passion I can put into action in small doses has really been lighting a fire each day. As hope rises so does happiness because despair and unhappiness are best buddies.

So that’s the bigger picture but there a also smaller things I enjoy that I have been trying to implement on a daily basis i.e. baking, journaling, watching or reading something inspirational, having good conversation, learning to be a better listener, eating ice-cream, spending time with my husband, taking moments to enjoy my daughter, visiting people, doing more activities either than being stuck in a house all day and have intentions of getting back to taking power walks (really love those), just to mention a few. The trick is to have this list handy when that ugly unhappiness mindset wants to dominate again. I’m realising now that this is a chose I have to make daily and on a deeper not it will mean learning to walk in forgiveness and overcoming past hurts, disappointments and fears (let’s also tackle that journey in another post shall we).

When all is said and done no one else decides my happiness but me, it’s up to me to confront what makes me unhappy and if it involved someone else let them know but I cannot let their reaction determine whether or not I will be happy. 

Posted on

Own Your Happiness

Happiness 

So why do I say I’m not happy?  I’m focusing a lot of my day on the things my husband has done in the past and some he continues to do that I do not like, I’m focusing my energy on the things I do not have. Of course that is what will make me unhappy and truth be told I have been like that most of my life, in a way it’s like I don’t deserve to be happy or something of that nature. I’ve always had someone to blame for my unhappiness, whether family, past hurts and something I didn’t have, a companion, true friends, always something. I’ve always heard the statement no one else is responsible for your happiness but yourself. This has only become a real realisation at 30 years old. How do I want to live the rest of my life going forward because honestly, people will not stop hurting people and I will not always have my way. 


Being aware that my mind already has a doctorate degree in being unhappy, made me realise that undoing this mind-set will be a process, so I have accepted the challenge never the less because I really want to be Happy. 

Get joy back!

I’m collecting joy first in my happiness journey. Where do I find her? In the presence of the Lord because that’s where I will find fullness of Joy. Even with this first step it’s easy to have an excuse. After months of using being a tired first time mom as an excuse I had to find a way to get joy at all costs. It started with praying and singing with baby at bath time, nap time, bedtime, meal time, whenever I could sneak it in (and when I remembered because God was not first priority anymore). As this intentional habit grew I then began to seek for time alone with God even if I was doing something. So during my bath time or cooking time when alone I would pray or sing, and think on scripture. Eventually I found energy slowly coming back and I could even wake up earlier. This then allowed me to get a real devotion in. Making sure I pick up the Bible before getting my phone, preparing the babies porridge, read the scripture and pray the scripture. 


The beauty about having joy is that even when happiness hasn’t happened I don’t fall apart into a thousand pieces. Joy gives me a new perspective of how I view things, even the things I don’t enjoy I started feeling warm inside because gratitude began to rise. I am grateful for motherhood so much and even joined a baby group that definitely helped in getting the joy levels rising. 


So now that I mentioned a little about how I’m getting joy back each day (I can’t express how mandatory this is for one’s soul), it’s time to work on being happy, having that real glow that comes from the inside. What are the things that make me happy in the first place? The thing with being in an unhappy state for so long is that each year you lose more and more of who you are and what you like and love. Side note for all single women make sure you know how to be happy by yourself before you enter a relationship because it’s not a guarantee that a man will make you happy. Sometimes the man can try to make you happy but if you don’t even know what makes you happy trust me all his efforts will be in vain. 

Find your happy place

I’m happy when I’m in a creative space of writing, dancing and singing. Practically, to get back here to this happy space, my first priority became getting a blog up and running so that I could write consistently and share my thoughts. 

Dancing

My baby girl is toddler now and so any moment we get we dance together, she loves it. Even at church we go to the front together now to get our dance on and when she is napping during service or a loving saint takes her so I can worship man I have learnt the value of time concerning this so guaranteed I get my temple dance expression on. How I love this and slowly because we are getting joy back remember I found myself dancing while praying when I had put baby to sleep and hubby was at a work function. Singing, I mentioned how I have begun to sing with baby and during prayer time but to get to happy place I have decided to go record some songs I have written and hubby gave a seal of authority on this one so expect to hear my first EP before the year ends.