Of Babies and paper bags

 Hi all, so, for the long time I have been quiet...has it been a year yet?... alot has happened. I became a mom to a very sweet baby. Thanks to this new addition, I have learned a world of information that I had absolutely no idea.

Suddenly, there is a paper bag eating monster in my home. I cannot believe it. I actually have a major shortage. The other day I went to get a paper bag to put dirty diapers and found none. I got a serious panic. You see, we use paper bags for a lot of things in our home. Garbage disposal, diaper disposal, lighting the jiko, going to the market. its surprising the many uses of paper bags with a new baby.
Disclaimer: the garbage increases 100 fold with a newborn so does the paper bag uses. No one told me about this. I was told of sleepless nights but no one told me about paper bag shortage.
As I was explaining my woes to a friend with a new baby, she told me how she begs the attendants at the supermarket to give her extra paper bags. I couldn't stop laughing. When did paper bags become a major issue. To be mothers, stock up on those seemingly unnecessary stuff. You will thank me later.

While I was thinking about this new 'problem' in my home, I remembered the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25. The girls were waiting for the bridegroom. 5 were ready with enough oil. The bible calls them the wise. 5 were not ready and their lamps ran out of oil. The bible calls them foolish. While the foolish ones went out to get extra oil, the bridegroom came and carried the wise virgins to the wedding banquet and the door was shut.
For sure, in the paper bag matter, I was in the foolish bracket. But next time I must be counted among the wise.

Where do you place yourself in your spiritual life. Are you among the foolish or the wise? You see, our bridegroom, Jesus, is coming back. He says he will come like a thief. Will you be ready? If he comes today, will you go with him to heaven or will you be out to 'get extra oil' like the foolish virgins?
I have resolved to live everyday of my life ready for my Savior. Make the resolve with me. The first step is to accept him and get saved. Then the Holy Spirit will empower you to live a righteous and Holy life.

Accept Jesus today. Be ready for his coming. He may come today.

Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Matthew 25:13                      

Love is not blind...it has eyes and brains

 

Most of my friends nowadays are either newly married, engaged or of marriageable age. This being the case means that our conversations are mostly about marriage or deciding who to marry.

I have been noticing something in my opinion is wrong. Most of the ladies...and the men too, choose their marriage partner sorely based on feelings they have towards that person. They completely ignore logic, their values and the character of the person.

It is said love is blind, but thank God for my mum who always told me that love opens its eyes wide.
Dear girls, marriage is a contract, and a life binding one for that matter. It is of vital importance that we approach it with a clear and alert head. Ignore those warm fuzzy feelings for a moment and sober up. Think about when you are about to enter into a major  contract/commitment like buying a piece of land, buying a car, buying a business, quitting a job. Think about the effort we put into to find out.

Some time back we were considering on a piece of land. We went for searches to verify if the land is clean and genuine, we visited the land severally, we had a surveyor verify the land measurements, we considered the seller if he was genuine, we checked our finances to make sure we are able, we prayed and prayed about it. I mean, we really did our best to ensure the land was a good deal. At the end, we decided not to acquire the land. Now imagine, marriage is a more serious contract than this.

This is how most of us women decide on a marriage partner. "Oh my I saw this guy, he is sooo hot". Hot guy asks girl out, they date for some time. Girl is totally into the guy, when he passes she cant even breath, and if she does not see him in a day, she believes she will die. He buys her flowers, he takes her out, he is really a dream come true. However, she has this gut feeling that this guy is not right for her. I mean, their communication is not that good, she does not have peace because she keeps suspecting the guy. However, when hot guy asks girl to marry him, she ignores all this and says yes. Fast forward to the marriage, girl is still suspicious, its driving her crazy. Her love starts to wither. Its made worse by the fact that they don't have a good communication base. Neither guy or girl is bad, but they are not for each other.

Dear girls, we need to do our due diligence before committing ourselves to a marriage partner. And by this, i don't mean that long list you have been keeping in your drawer for years. Once your married, so soon realize that most things we look for don't matter. For me, these are the most important things:

-Is the man born again? Is the man committed to Jesus? Does he have the fear of the Lord? This will save you tons of problems because he is afraid to sin and when he sins, he is quick to ask for forgiveness.
-Is the man hard working? Remember men are commanded by God to be providers. He needs not be rich, but he has to be hardworking.
-Check his background, how is the family? How do they treat each other? Do you like their practices? Can you tolerate them? Remember they are going to be your family.
-Can you live with his weaknesses. The ones you have already noticed. Please ignore minor weaknesses. Everyone has them. Love covers a multitude of sin.
-Is he ready to marry? I am not a supporter of long term dating. Why would people date for 5 years and have not yet decided to marry. By 1 year (I personally think 6 months is enough), a couple should have decided to marry or to call it quits. Sweet gal, don't be Lord of the rings...engaged for over 2 years with no marriage to show. Move on fast.

If he meets this, then lady, marry the guy asap. If he does not. Move on and move on fast. God is faithful. His word says no one will lack her mate. Look in the scroll of the LORD and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together. Isaiah 34:16

  ...not one will lack her mate. Isaiah 34:16

MY BODY, MY SERVANT

Hi dear friends,

I was watching this preacher preaching on TV the other day and he said that the body is our severnt. Just like the way a car is, a blender, a phone ... anything in our house really. I was shocked then upon looking deeper I saw it was so true. He said that oftern times we let our bodies control us. Think of the times when the body is sleepy and your inner man knows you should get up. When you are constantly eating fries and junk but your inner man knows its wrong and you should be eating fruit instead?

The body is a carrier of the inner man, our spirit. Our bodies are meant to serve us inorder to live life effectively. Paul says in the bible and I quote ".. I beat my body and make it my slave..." 1st Corinthians 9:27

Think about this, if we never discipline our bodies, we will never get anything much done. The body does not like pain or struggle or effort. Think of the way the body rejects the gym, hence we end up obese and oversize. Think of the way the body does not like the hustle of cleaning up the house so we end up with a pile of disorganised mess. Think of the many times we have gotten to the office or appointments late due to giving in to the body's urge to sleep.

This act of being the master of your body is called self control. the bible says: 

Proverbs 25:28 A man without self-control  is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. If this be so, then self discipline needs to be one of our virtues as  2nd Timothy 1: 7 say  "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."

So yesterday I woke up to find my husband already awake at 5:30am. And when I asked him he said he has decided to make his body his servant. It will work for him.

May we learn this wonderful discipline of the kingdom of God. Then our lives will be so much more fulfilling and productive. 

 I beat my body and make it my slave.. 1st Corinthians 9:27

My rich God

Hi good people,
Its been a while since I last wrote. The reason is that I have been planning my wedding...yes, am getting married soon and you are all invited :-) God's grace has been very sufficient during this period.

Today I woke up thinking about my wedding plans, the bookings, the dresses, the money, the demands, ....and and was tempted to be a little worried. The only thought in my mind was I need to pray now!
The Lord has the most beautiful surprises. As I read his word, he spoke to me in the most sweetest clearest voice that just calmed me.

Romans 10:12b The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.

Can you believe how precise the Lord is. He knew I needed to read this very word that very minute. And as if not enough he reminded me, his maid servant:

Romans 10:11 - Anyone who trusts in him (God) will never be put to shame.

How beautiful, how so wonderful to have a Savior like my Lord. And at once, the storm in my heart calmed down and I was once more at peace.

Below are a few pictures of my hand modelling :-)

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

Psalm 18:1

Honey dripping mouth

Last week I was reading the book of Songs of Solomon during my devotion. I would like to share with you what God was teaching me as I sat at his feet in the mornings. Songs of Solomon is actually love songs between a groom and a bride. Very interesting read. As per today's topic, the groom was praising his bride in these words:

Songs 4:11- Your lips drip nectar my bride, honey and milk are under your tongue.

I thought wow! What high praise! This bride must have really mastered how to make her husband happy.
You see today in our culture, it has become usual for men to complain that women nag alot, talk too much and generally express much dissatisfaction towards their mates. But not this Songs of Solomon woman. Her mouth is used to utter beautiful words.

Words as sweet as nectar. Words of praise to her husband, words of praise to those around her.

As if not enough, under her tongue is milk and honey. She takes this business of speaking seriously and even keeps reserves of sweet speech under her tongue

Milk is a nourishing drink so this woman speaks life giving words unto people who surround her. She uses her
tongue to encourage, to build up, to correct gracefully and to admire.

Honey is a natural medicine. So we see this beautiful woman using her tongue to offer healing words. She comforts the grieving, she gives hope to the desolate with her words. She knows that her tongue has power. And when her husband, her king is stressed out and discouraged, she knows her words can heal him, and goes ahead to give him a dose of honey filled words.

May we strive to be like this beautiful woman. May we always use our words to praise, nourish and heal.

Proverbs 18:3b but the tongue of the wise brings healing

Baking and practicing for perfection

Hi all,

Last month I had a seven day break for work and I had a wonderful time, I thank God. I was home all along. I finished a book, Americana by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which I will do a review later and I loved it. I also did a bit of baking which is something I had purposed to do and I trimmed my hair cause it had so many split ends. I will write about that later too.

I have never really baked in an oven. Our home oven was mostly decorative because no one ever uses it. So I just started without a clue of what to do! Guess what I learned from all this, Practice always makes perfect. I used only two recipes to cook, you have to start small lest you make a huge mess right? You can follow the links below for the recipes. Please note, I was using only what was available at home. So if an ingredient isn't withing my reach, skip :-)

1. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/honey-cake-recipe - For the honey cake. I used raisins instead of almonds and margarine (blue band) instead of butter.

2. http://www.urbanfarmonline.com/sustainable-living/eat-local/whole-wheat-honey-cake.aspx - For the vanilla cake. I skipped the allspice, nutmeg, baking soda and sugar. I used lemon juice and peel.

The first day, the cake burnt after five minutes! imagine! And as if not enough, half of it overflowed from the baking tin and spill to the oven. It was such a mess. The second time was better but the cake cracked at the top. See, practice does make perfect-ish.

Next time I will take pictures.

In those kitchen moments, God was reminding me that we are all works in progress. And with enough practice, we near perfection everyday. Of what purpose are we here on earth if not to daily improve ourselves?

1st Cor 9:24-27
²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. ²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. ²⁶ Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

My race, this time was cake baking to the glory of God as I please my family ( and they were very happy)
Tomorrow I will pick another race. and on and on it goes till I win the crown, till I meet my Jesus.

 Practice makes perfect.

A different kind of woman...

"The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of christian,
But the fact that I am a christian does make me a different kind of woman."
~Elisabeth Elliot 

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

Psalm 18:1