My unknown thoughts......

I wish this world was such a peaceful and a better place to live in: a place where no one would kill his brother for anything, a place where the thief would not go and rob the innocent family at night, a place where one wouldn’t have to lock his door at night or even during the day because of burglars, a place where a close friend would not sabotage his friend because of a position he doesn’t deserve, a place where there would be no paedophiles nor rapists, false prophets and fraudsters who dupe others of their hard earned monies.

I wish we lived in a world where a man would love a woman, marry her and place her on a pedestal. I wish the woman would be submissive to her man as the good book says for the man to also love her equally. I wish we had a world where ladies would stay away from married men and not go to destroy someone’s “hard built” marital home. A world where a man would not abuse his wife or partner emotionally and physically but rather learn to live with her shortcomings. I wish we had a world where men would take up the responsibilities of taking care of their children and helping their wives to raise a wonderful family. A nice place where a man would tell her wife she is fat and still love her for that and let everyone know how proud he is to have her. The beautiful world where a man and his wife would laugh and play together as little kids and dance their hearts away to the tune of their lovely music even after 20 years of marriage.

I wish we had a human race where friends would help each other in times of difficulty and also pull the other to climb the ladder of success together. A place where there would be no fair weather friends but real friends who would take good care of your family and other properties if you were away. A world where people would not talk behind your back and say hurtful things they do not know about but would be bold enough to approach you to solve issues. A place where sisters or best friends would not stab you in the back and take your spouse but would rather pray with you in strengthening your relationships. A place where a family member would not love to be seen as a “saviour” in the family to be worshiped but as someone who would love to help the less privileged in the family to also attain a better position in life. A domain where an uncle would not ask for sex from his niece before he pays her school fees. 

I wish we lived in a wonderful place where people would tell others exactly how they feel and not harbour any bitterness in them. A better place where there would be malice, pain, bitterness or anger in anyone’s heart but we would love our neighbours as ourselves and be each other’s keeper. A peaceful and a serene atmosphere where countries would not rise up against countries, where there would be no racism issues, where there would be no corruption; a world where leaders would fulfil their promises when they come into power and not spend the little money in the nation’s coffers. A world where there would be no corruption; a place where the rich would not continue to get richer with the poor getting poorer but a world where the rich would teach the poor how to also “fish” and not necessarily feeding him with fish because with that he’d know how to gain and sustain his riches.

Mostly, I wish we had a world where we used our mouth to settle issues and not the use of weapons and the hands. Our wise God in His own special way gave us mouth in the creation of man to be used for talking and solving problems when the need arises. A wonderful world where phrases such as “thank you” and “sorry” would always be on everyone’s lips. An atmosphere where there is love and not hatred; peace and not war; joy and not sorrow.

My heart desire is to see all the nations with one heart, worship our creator irrespective of our religious background. I would love to see people with a common destiny who would remain united no matter what happens. I am waiting to see that world, and I would love to do everything I can to see that world because I trust that is the place I can scream “o, what a wonderful world!” I don't know about you but I know you'll love that world too.

All things are possible to him who believes, more to him who hopes, even more to him who loves, and more still to him who practices and perseveres in these three virtues – Brother Lawrence

He who throws pellets.....

I quite remember a book we used to read in the literature class back in the day. The book, “The gods are not to blame “by Ola Rotimi was one of the best literature books of our time. What I really loved most were the typical Nigerian proverbs that really got you thinking; I must say I love African wise sayings. Well, what happened this weekend reminded me of a particular proverb in the book; “he who throws pellets at one asks for rocks in return”.

A friend visited me after Sunday service and told me he had just broken up with his girlfriend. “What the heck?” was the first sentence I could utter. How could this be possible when these lovely couple visited me just a day before and we had a lovely chat about their future plans and of course the family they would love to raise someday. Initially, I thought my buddy was just kidding but after listening to his reasons for making that decision, I noticed I had a friend who could endure. This was a guy whose girlfriend could make him experience “fire and flavor”, that is, fire indoors and flavor in public but this guy would never complain to anyone and would always pray that things will change. He was being accommodating and hoping things would change but the lady kept messing up. The lady was throwing pellets at this young man till he couldn’t take it any longer and so had to return the pellets with rocks! I bet the lady never saw this coming, of course they may have argued a couple of times or may have experienced some silence treatments from this fine gentleman but I strongly believe the “it’s over’ phrase was never part of her plans for her relationship. From my encounter with her at some point in time, I could deduce that she thought the guy could never leave her so she rather used to treat the guy of leaving him. I bet this girl never saw this coming!

After trying for hours to influence my friend to reconsider his decision, I gave up on that when he let me know that he had lost the love he had for the lady in his heart a long time ago but rather advised him to follow his heart since he knew what he was going through. I woke up on Monday morning to see his calls I had missed at 2:45am. I immediately called him only for him to tell me that the girl threatened to commit suicide that night and that was why he kept calling but I didn’t answer. OMG! So it had gotten to that stage where there was even attempted suicide! Ah, but I thought she was that brave girl who would never cry over a guy. Hmm, what a funny world we live in!

There is a popular saying that “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” Many people have lost loved ones because of an attitude or behavior they showed them and now getting them back is difficult. We sometimes act on our emotions so much that we don’t even take a moment to think about how the other person feels and the pride in us also makes it hard for us to apologize. Truth is, most people don’t know how to express their feelings especially when the ones they love hurt them so they just keep “piling” up the mistakes till they can’t take it anymore and that is when they explode when you least expect that from them.  Accord people with respect and always remember the golden rule: do unto others what you want to be done unto you. Cherish relationships and be a shoulder for someone to cry on and not a “shunner” for someone to cry about. The last thing I would want to hear is for someone to tell me “it’s too late to apologize.” No way!

 Always remember to be nice to people on your way up, because you’ll meet them on your way down - Wilson Mizner.    

...and just trust!

God will never, never, never let us down if we have faith and put our trust in Him. He will always look after us.

                                                                         Mother Teresa

There are times I weep and ask God questions; I sometimes feel remorseful  about my past and even wish I could turn back the clock just to do things right. I sometimes feel terrible especially knowing that I can’t correct some mistakes I have made. I am sure I’m not the only one going through this; there are people from all walks of life who just wish they had not done something terrible that would still haunt them.

I was just going reading an inspirational book and I came across this touching piece from Mother Teresa. I have always known that God will never let His children down but how people despise you when you get into trouble makes me wonder whether God is really looking after us. Well, I don’t let what mortal beings do bother me but I know for sure that there are some people who are just wondering if God is indeed looking after them because of what they are going through. What even baffles me is when servants of God also despise and reject people. A man once told of the hardships he went through when he decided to leave his village for Accra to seek greener pastures. You won’t believe that this guy slept in one of the big churches in Ghana and he was robbed of his belongings and sacked from the church. He was asked not to sleep there again and that made me ask myself if these people are indeed working for God because God has taught us to feed the hungry and care for the needy. Another I heard was about this lady who was punished at church for getting pregnant out of wedlock and that makes me wonder, ”where else will she go if the school sacks the teenage mother and the family also rejects her?” . I thought the church was like a place of refuge! Well, who am I to judge? That was just by the way!

I remember back in my junior high school days when I used to tell people that life was like playing chess.  Truth is, I didn’t even understand that myself though I preached that but now things are clearer now. You think you are on a right path till you face a bigger challenge which looks at you in the face and seems to say “CHECKMATE!” and that is where you see those who love you and the others who were just waiting for you to fall. I always talk about the goodness of the Lord and how He rescues us even when there is no hope. I am a living testimony and I always tell people that I even find it amazing that I’m alive but to His glory! I’m alive and enjoying perfect health.

You may wonder why I’m writing this but like I said earlier, I know some people need this to move on. They need to know that they are not the only ones going through regret; they are not the only ones soaking their pillows with tears at night neither are they the only ones asking God questions. All I can say is this: never lose hope even when life seems unfair. Have faith even when the road is unclear and don’t forget to pray until something happens (PUSH)! Just remember that because He lives, you can face tomorrow and learn to trust Him through your trials. He shall surely be there!!!

As long as the sun shines in the morning, trust me, there’s gonna be a better day! :) 

     

Heaven Knows...............

Anytime I hear about the death of someone, my heart leaps. I always wonder where we are going. Indeed, life they say is a journey and to me, I think it’s true. I remember this particular song that was usually played on radio when I was little. I never understood the words until I grew up. In his song, the singer said life is a journey and that he doesn’t know when, how or where he will die but only God knows. I ponder over these words and I pray to God everyday not to let me die a shameful or painful death.

Death is inevitable and I would want everyone to bear that in mind. What you should rather be concerned about is where you will be going from this world. It is rather unfortunate that dead people don’t come back to life to tell us where they are and how the conditions there are like (I stand to be corrected if there has been someone who died and came back to life to tell their story) but one thing I know for sure is that the Bible does not lie; whatever the Bible says is true. If the Bible says there is a heaven and a hell, then I believe it is true. A friend once asked a question about  how I would feel if I died when I got old and found out there was no heaven or hell and all I said was, “Dude, I will praise God!.”

I get worried about people who behave like they will never die (the Methuselahs’, lol). There are people who think they rule the world forgetting that there is a great ruler who has the world in His hands. I’d rather be humble and yearn for a longer life on earth to worship my Creator than to walk around carrying the world on my shoulders when my life can be taken away from me at any time. My dear, I don’t think holding on to the worldly properties would help; after all, all the certificates and the achievements in life do not save us from death because if it did, I bet we would all be immortals and death would be for the lazy.

Remember this life is a journey and the world is our temporal home. We all have a permanent home above where there will be neither pain nor sorrows, where we will walk on gold, where angels will sing and rejoice to welcome us and that will be where our God will open His arms to welcome us and say “Welcome home”. I urge you to think about this and make a wise decision but remember, we will all enter that 6 feet which has been reduced to 4 due to insufficient land for burying the dead, lol but in all seriousness I would want us to have an idea of where we are going after this life.

            What a joyful day it will be when we all get to heaven to meet Jesus someday!!

The tree in our lives......

I read a post on Tyler Perry’s wall where he likened the people in our in our lives to the parts of a tree. He wrote that there are people who are like the leaves of a tree, those people are not to be worried about because they just enter and leave our lives without leaving any “footprints”.  These types of people are only there to celebrate your success with you but will never be found when you are in need. I call these people swashbucklers; they flamboyantly express their affection for you but run away when you are in a mess. The “leaves” in your life are the ones who reveal your secrets to others and gossip about you. These leaves will never pull you up on the ladder of success; they will rather climb that ladder alone and will always seek your downfall. They bless you with their mouths but always curse you in their hearts. Just look at how leaves fall easily in harsh weather conditions and you will know what I am talking about.  Leaves are so green under favourable conditions but fall easily under unfavourable conditions. Don’t worry about the “leaves” in your life because they don’t care about you!

The next group of people in our lives are the “branches”. The branches of a tree are obviously stronger than the leaves. Branches are able to withstand bad weather conditions but have a tendency of breaking when there is a mighty wind or a storm. In reality, the “branches” in our lives may be our close friends and even some relations. They are there when you are in pain or in trouble but most of them turn away when they have to help. They usually make promises they can’t fulfil and keep giving excuses for turning you down. Never put your trust in the “branches” because they may not be there when you need them most.

We then come to the stems. Oh, I love the “stems”! The Oxford English minidictionary defines the stem as the supporting part of the plant. The “stems” in our lives are there to support us and they are mostly our close family relations specifically parents, siblings and even some intimate friends not forgetting spouses or partners. These people are usually there when you need a shoulder to lean on; they are there in times of sorrow and pain and they are also there in times of happiness. They share their joy when you and are also there to help you achieve your dreams. Some may disappoint you but the majority will always be by your side in hard times. They always make you feel you are not alone and that makes you feel better. Never despise or shun the “stems” away because they will be there when no one is. I just love how these people accept our mistakes and make us know that we can’t be perfect as human beings but rather help us to bring out the best in us. Don’t trade them for anything!

The last group of people are the roots. Yes, the ROOTS!!! I love the stems but I’m in love with the roots.lol! A root of a tree is the part that grows into the earth. The “roots” in our lives are always at the “backdoor” working for our good. They are not seen but they are the people we always run to for advice, solutions, etc. They never let us down; they fulfil their promises to us and always make us happy. The root is usually one person and that one person to me is GOD. I’m in love with that man up there!! I don’t see Him but I always feel His presence, He hears me when I call and the best of all; He fulfils His promises to me. The Lord is the root of my life because He holds me upright and makes sure that I don’t fall.

I hope I have enlightened you on the groups of people in our lives but think about this: which group of people do you belong to in the lives of others? Are you a leaf, a branch or a stem? Always remember that what you give out is what you usually gain. Be a stem in someone’s life and you will be surprised how fulfilled and blessed you’ll be.

                                                            

                                                    A good friend loves at all times....