TODAY'S DREAM TOMORROW'S JUNK

Okay, I am seating in front of my computer and I am supposed to be typing my blog to close the year 2011, and somehow I cannot think of what to write about.  I have received so many mails and text messages already, thanking me for my role in the authors’ lives in 2011.  So I thought maybe I should be typing a blog of gratitude… but the truth is I have been flexing my gratitude muscles for a while now, so I am kind of feeling, how many ‘thank yous’ will one person say?  But here it is again, thank you to you all for being in my corner.

I was in church yesterday and we were asked to pray for one thing concerning the New Year and I couldn’t find something to pray, however, I could not help thinking about an article I wrote and published in Effectual Magazine a while ago.  I have adapted it here so you can discern for yourself…

Before I got married I couldn’t get over the fact that at last I will have an apartment to myself and be the Lord of my manor in a manner of speaking, it excited me so much that it almost didn’t matter whether I had enough money to spend within that marriage or not, what mattered was that I had found someone I was willing to spend my life with and so even if he lived in a cave I wouldn’t have minded.

Then we got married and we had a three bedroom apartment that had just the basics, when I moved in it didn’t feel like a basically furnished three bedroom apartment, instead it felt like a castle with one hundred rooms.  Within the first year, it was just fine and very exciting, but as the second and then third, fourth and fifth years rolled by, our family had grown, we had two children with the third on the way and we had acquired quite some furniture and property.

The three bedroom castle began to feel like a very tiny hole and I just kept praying and believing God that somehow, we will be able to afford another house, much bigger so we could move in.  I wanted a bigger house so much that it almost didn’t matter where it was located or what amenities it had, I just wanted a bigger place.  Eventually, we got a bigger place, we moved in and it felt like moving into the National Stadium, I wondered if we will ever be able to get enough furniture for the house, if we will ever be able to put enough air conditioning units in and so on and so forth.

Today, five years later the `National Stadium’ has become too small again, we need more space because we have acquired so much again!  And isn’t this the story of all our lives?  We want something so badly that if not for Jesus and a lack of guts we could have killed to get, then we get it and within years and sometimes even months, it losses it’s excitement and all we want is to replace it?  The question is, when we get into the `I need to replace this mode’, and we get round to changing it, what do we do with the old?  A lot of us want to be able to hold on to the old while reaching for the new but in the end we find out that the old is just that, the old, it loses its excitement, it becomes dusty and at long last it becomes just one antique or piece of junk sitting on our shelves or tucked away inside our wardrobes, or sitting within our premises and  we have no idea what to do with them.

I have thought about our dream cars, houses, jewelry, relationships, and all the other things we like to acquire and found out that they are only as exciting as they are new, but with time they begin to lose their sheen and consequently the excitement we used to feel from just looking at them, and as a result we begin to crave new ones and the cycle begins all over again.  

                                                                 

I asked myself how we can get round this vicious cycle and I realized that there is no peace derived from acquisitions that will last, and I suddenly realized that what I should be doing is craving for ways to make my life worth while by spending it and being spent on others.  It has come to my notice that people may die but whatever we invest in them doesn’t die, because somehow they are able to pass it on to others.

So as I sit here wondering it suddenly hit home for me.  Yes I want a great 2012, but it is not because of the things I will get for myself… my sight is set on two things, first to be in the center of God’s will for me and second to be able to serve more people than I served this year. 

I am not apprehensive about how we will cope in the new year, because we didn’t cope this year, God helped us and he will help us again.  Before you make your very long list, remember that it will soon be another twelve months and everything will need to be changed again.  Make meaningful contributions in the new year, and then in December you will be able to say, ‘I lived’.  Because honestly, I lived in 2011, and in 2012, I will live too, NeverTheless.

God bless you and Happy New Year.

Sistar B

Beyond Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you all!  I do hope that the Christmas was truly merry for you and yours.  And if for any reason it wasn’t quite merry, I am so sorry for whatever it is that went wrong, remember that this season is especially for reasons such as yours.

Leading up to the Christmas, I couldn’t help but notice the desperation with which people tried to either sell me something or try to get me to buy into something! For me it was just plain vulgar and presumptuous for anyone to think that such brazen in-your-face, no-regard-for-others marketing was going to work.  Then I thought again, if it didn’t work maybe they would not be going at it so strong; so obviously it works!  My question is why?  I hear that this season is a time when people are most vulnerable.  So vulnerable that some even take their life!

And I asked myself, but why?  Well, because it is that time of year when people express so much love and passion; and excuse my cynicism, even though they don’t really feel it!  People who had not bothered to speak with me through the year, even when I most needed them, sent me a text wishing me a merry Christmas, and praying for me!

All these rather than make me feel special actually made me feel violated! I mean, I know we don’t get to speak or relate for another one year!  I therefore resolved I was not going to send a message, mail or text wishing anyone a merry Christmas except I really had a message for them.  I was not going to participate in another religious exercise just because it seemed the right thing to do.

What is the point of Christmas as it relates to me today? I wondered!  When I say to someone ‘Merry Christmas’ what will I really be saying?  Why was Jesus born?  Why is the anniversary of His birth worth so much celebration?  Why is there such a desperate need to succeed one more time in this season, and why do people say to me Merry Christmas when they so don’t mean it?

I had to press in for fresh perspective.  And here are my thoughts.  First, there is more to the birth than we tend to think.  In fact, the birth is important I agree, but the death of Jesus is the reason the birth is anything to write home about.  Jesus, some two thousand plus years ago, came in the flesh on a journey of PURPOSE.  He came that He might ‘Redeem, Reconcile and Restore’ mankind to God. Even though God, He recognized quickly the importance of accomplishing His Purpose and so everything He did was a step towards fulfilling destiny.

His wasn’t a journey in futility, it was one that had meaning and even though His living a meaningful life culminated with his death on the cross, it was for that reason He came and didn’t try to find another purpose for Himself!

Which is why while we merry, it will be important to not just have the Manger in view, let us remember that the Manger only has an essence because of the cross!  The Manger is useless without the cross.  Even your own dream cannot be worth the while until you take up your own cross and finish that which you have started! 

Back to the desperation with which people deal in this season, I can understand that we all want to end the year as successes and we all want to say we cleaned out good.  But at whose expense will this be?  To whom are we selling dust as gold? To who are will trying to sell their own birthright? Just who have we promised magic in a bottle? What is with the weight loss magic in two days?  Enough of the gimmicks and e-marketing already!!!

To those who are buying and scouting for a bargain, remember that the journey for this year started twelve months earlier, and if you have not been able to lose the projected weight in this time, no magic formula will do it now.  It doesn’t make you a failure, just gives you a reason to take up your cross in the New Year and ensure that you finish strong. 

The birth of our Lord and Saviour is about His death, it is about His finishing… and it is a journey. Your life and dream is a journey too, and you will celebrate and have others celebrate with you, if you finish!  You will make it, even with the curves and the hitches along the way.  Just as Jesus focused on the cross and He made it NevertheLess, you will too, if you understand that the end of a thing is better than the beginning.

A quick shout out to my latest Sister Bola Essien-Nelson (Of Diary of a Desperate Naija Woman), you are loved and appreciated!

To you all here is my Christmas message. ‘Beyond the celebrations, may you experience for yourself the WHY of the birth, may you align to the gains and may you utilize the opportunity therein. Merry Christmas. You are loved and appreciated.

You will make it! NeverTheLess!

Hugs

Bidemi

Naked And Not Ashamed!

Good morning, compliments of the season, and welcome to our Pre-Christmas post.  Today I am excited! Not that I won a lottery though, but excited nevertheless.

My Christmas tree isn’t up yet, but I am so excited that somehow, even though I am not good at decorations at all, I am going to do my best to put it up today, and if I am not able to do a good job of it, I will solicit help to get it done.

So why am I so excited then?  Hmm, maybe because I could sense the excitement in my team as I walked into the office this morning. They are excited that we are closing for the year today! I feel them, because even I don’t want to work another day in 2011.  But more than the fact that we are closing shop at the office is that, looking back, we can say we have had a great year, and mean it!

God has been extremely good to us, and if we don’t acknowledge the fact that He has been, it will be ingratitude of the highest order. But my excitement also goes beyond the fact that we have had a good year.  So what is the cause of such great excitement?  Hmm, you still have to wait a bit.

Last weekend, I was at a retreat with my awesome sisters and by the end of that retreat, I felt brand new.  Some how, the fact that God loves me so much, as demonstrated by our time with Him at the weekend, just makes me want to climb on the roof top and announce that God loves me, and I know.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to teach in Church something that God spoke to my heart a few days ago, and as I taught it, it dawned on me that I will not need to struggle next year.  I will not need to struggle, not because I have perfected the art of growth, both personally or in business, but because God loves me just the way I am, and He would rather I come to Him cracked and broken just the way I am, so He can do all that I cannot do.

My text from scripture was taken from Genesis 2:25, “Now the man and his wife were naked, but they felt no shame.” I saw through this scripture for the first time that I didn’t need to have a strategy for everything. I saw that I didn’t need to have the ‘i’s dotted and‘t’s crossed.  With God I can trust that every time I come in faith, trusting in His ability to be able to scale through, I do not only make it; I excel. This is the cause of the excitement that I feel.

I am excited just looking at this information against the backdrop of what God helped us achieve this year. We may have tried but it wasn’t because of that we had a good year; it was because God Himself stuck to His own plan and executed it on our behalf.

I am sure you are wondering how this helps you in living your dream; shouldn’t I be giving tips on how to begin in the New Year?  Yes, I could be doing that, but I can assure you it won’t yield much, except you know the source of your dream and hear His instructions for you to excel.

I guess I am excited because I have deliberately considered this year and I have come to one conclusion, that if it was not for God behind us, we will not be standing today.  This is why I am confident that if I stick with Him and listen to His instructions for me, next year will definitely be greater than this year.

Your year may not have gone the way you wanted, but know that God doesn’t make mistakes. As long as you are connected to God He has your life all planned out.  He wants us to be able to come to Him, naked and unashamed. With God our dignity is non existent, and it is okay to be broken.  He wants to have a reason to invade our lives on a daily basis.  Take out the facade, and next year will be great, if you will rely on His plan.

Till next post, remember that because you are connected to the best and only God ever, you will make it, NeverTheLess.

Merry Christmas

Sistar B

You can never be ready

courtesy flickr.com

Welcome and Compliments of the season to you all.  I had the opportunity of going out of my neighbourhood today and it dawned on me that the season has crept in on us somehow which also quickly reminded me that the year is spent.

As I thought about how fast it seemed the year has gone, and I wondered what it is that I can specifically say I did this year 2011 worth celebrating, I came to the realization that yes, there is a lot that I was able to accomplish this year by the grace and mercy of God.  However, I also quickly realized that if I stayed too long on that route I may be wasting precious time.

It all reminded me of a conversation I had at the weekend, where someone said to me that he didn’t do much because he was preparing.  He said to me that in the field where he wants to live his dream, you have to be very skilled to succeed, and as far as he is concerned, he needs to be sure that he is perfect before he steps out.  According to him, it was the reason he didn’t try to start at all in 2011.  He is waiting to ensure that he has everything together.

I told him his reasoning made sense, but was curious to find out if he has now acquired enough knowledge and skill to be able to start next year, and his response was “No, I still need to take so and so course as well as do this and that research before I can start.”  At this point I was curious, what is this dream that is so specialized?

And he told me he wants to start a restaurant.  “Good!” I said, “But can you cook at all?” He said yes, both Nigerian and continental dishes.  He can bake and knows how to make some natural drink or the other.  It was at this point it dawned on me that this person wasn’t trying to acquire skills, he was afraid to start.  Because I have been to a lot of restaurants where the owners have no idea how to boil water!  While this is not the best way to launch a dream, it is also important to recognize that even when you possess all the skills, you will never be able to get it all done on your own.  That is the point of the labour force, isn’t it?

As this year rolls to an end, if we spend too much time analyzing what we didn’t do instead of celebrating what we did and making plans for what we want to do next year, it will be a case of setting ourselves up for failure.  On the other hand if you didn’t start at all this year, because you will prefer that everything was set and in place, I have bad news for you, it is never going to be perfect.

Perfection is not and should never be the goal. Let the goal be to step out and make a difference, yet learning every step of the way to keep improving on ourselves.  I have learnt so much just waking up everyday looking for how best to serve my dream to my allocated constituency, than I could have learnt in any formal training environment.  Life has a way of training you and ensuring you acquire the needed skills even when you don’t enroll in a formal school.

The count down has started, and as much as you want to improve on what you already know, are you using what you know right now?

I was asked this morning what my plans are for 2012, and all I can think of is to find a way to serve more people with what I already know.  One thing I can assure you though is that while serving that number there will be hours and hours of training.

To end this post, please allow me bragging rights for a few minutes.  Effectual the “Power Digest” that we publish made it into the cloud this weekend.  This has taken our very small and personal vision GLOBAL, and for that I am very grateful to God.  Now we can serve you beyond the limits of distance and time. Just log on to www.magcloud.com and do a search for Effectual Magazine.  Download and enjoy and don’t forget to send me your comments and feedback.

From my heart, warmed with love and gratitude, I wish you a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year ahead.

God bless you.

Sistar B

Random thoughts on Gratitude and More...

Welcome! There is so much to write that I have kind of become confused as to what to write.  Anyhow, I will ramble through all that is on my mind for today and hopefully, we will be able to tie it to the issue of pursuing our dreams as individuals.

Firstly, thank God that I am actually writing this sitting up! My post last week was done on my phone, lying flat on my back because I had just had some surgery and God kept me and saw me through.  It has been an amazing two weeks since the surgery and I cannot stop thanking God for His mercies and His grace.

Leading up to the surgery, I was full… full of ingratitude, questions, and fear.  Why of all the people in Lagos did it have to be me?  After all, I have done my best to be a decent child of God, but as always, the attitude wasn’t doing me any good.  I realized quickly that I was beginning to lose my sense of awe and wonder at the things God does in my life on a daily basis.  So I resolved to deliberately, make out time to just thank God for every thing I had taken for granted, especially the people in my life.  By the end of two days my attitude was better and my perspective was as it should be.

blogs.poughkeepsiejournal.com

You may be looking at your dream right now and saying to yourself that 2011 wasn’t a good year.  Let me help you gain perspective; do you even recognize that a lot of businesses went under?  Do I need to remind you of great banks that had to be bought over by others?  At least your own dream didn’t die?  For that, be grateful.

I remember growing up and being told that women couldn’t do a number of things, and therefore, looking at myself, I wondered how I was going to live the dream in my heart.  Looking at me today, and how, even though it seems to have taken longer than I would have liked, I am actually living my dream and I didn’t need to have a sex change.  How many things, that you were told you couldn’t or shouldn’t do, have you done a zillion times over?  It is the same with the dream in your heart.  If you have plans for 2012 and you are hoping to get the permission and validation you need, you may never get it from the quarters you wish. I want to encourage you today to jump anyway, because I mean, we were told a black man couldn’t rule the United States of America and today he is getting ready for a second term!

What about understanding why people are in your life?  Some are door openers- and we all want door openers-but the sad truth is that you will have more nay-sayers and discouragers.  Some people are in your life for nothing but to make you laugh and some are there to ensure that you cry once in a while.  While the last set is not the kind of people we want, have you ever stopped to think about the role they play?  If you didn’t need them, tell me, how will you develop the muscle to go for what you want?  What is the spice in your story, if you cannot point to one time, at least, when you didn’t think things would work out, because everyone said so!

Hmmmm! What is the point of my ramble this morning? Well, I am full and I cannot seem to be able to sort through the information overload right now, but I need to let you know, that it doesn’t need to make sense at all.  There is a point I have made for gratitude here, try it, you will be pleasantly surprised at how good you will feel.

Remember that your case is not the worst one around the block, maybe your business or dream didn’t do as well as you hoped, but see, your doors are still open which means 2012 is another opportunity for God to prove Himself concerning you.

Finally, every dog or person in your life is useful. The good, the bad and the ugly all have their day, just look them in the face and say ‘thank you’ because whatever they contributed, good or bad, is why you are the person you are today.

Every dream in your heart and hands is put there by God and I can assure you that He is more committed to your success than you can ever be.  I thank God for surgery, I thank God for people, I thank God for what doesn’t seem to have come together.

I know that beyond all these is a King within me waiting to step on the throne.  It is no different for you, you will make it NeverTheLess.

Hugs.

Sistar B