TODAY YOU ARE RICH!

Welcome, it is great to be back home. Troubled as Nigeria is right now, for me, it still is the best place to call home.  It was a really great time we had in South Africa as you may have gathered from previous posts. It was also a time in which some of the principles l had proposed here on this page in the past were tested and proven for me.

The title of today’s post is an adaptation of Tim Sanders book, 'Today We Are Rich.'  It was one of the books I read in 2011, and it made some major impact on me especially when I needed perspective as to why some things happen and as regards my attitude even when I cannot control my circumstances.

While we were in South Africa, we had the opportunity of ministering to women who ran small businesses mostly out of their homes. We went to the 'townships' starting from Springs and we spoke to different women about their dreams and why they did what they did.  

One story stood out for me as a wonderful expression of today's post while we were speaking with Joanna, a master quilter and soft furnishing guru.  When we got into her medium spaced living room, we couldn't help taking another look, because lying smack in the middle of her living room, taking up all the space, was a giant quilting machine.

I remember that while I was still staring at the machine in amazement, wondering how it got there and why, Coach Anna took the words out of my mouth and asked Joanna what the machine was for and how it got into her living room!  In answering this question Joanna told one of the most interesting stories I ever heard, not because I had never heard one like it before, but because right in front of me, I could see evidential living of the principle.  It turned out she lost her job eight years ago, and was distraught about how to make a living and continue to contribute to her family.

She said she felt God ask her "what do you have in your hands?" Since she had learnt how to make quilts and soft furnishings from her mother, it was naturally what she had in her hand.  She didn't have any money, nor did she have any business plan, but she had in her hands the ability to create lovely bedding and furnishing, so she set out to start a business called Heaven Sent.

Joanna took charge of the direction that her life was going upon realizing that with what she had in her hands she was rich that day!  It’s only a skill, some other person would have said, but Joanna was rich that day! She had no clients lined up asking her to make furnishings for them, but Joanna was rich that day!

Wealth is not about the money we have in bank accounts or under our beds as the case maybe, true wealth is an ability to recognize the raw material that we have in our hands by which we can begin to express our dream to become rich and maybe even famous!  Wealth becomes us the day we recognize that we are rich just knowing what it is we possess.

Since that day eight years ago, I can assure you that Joanna has had many ups and downs, but nothing compares to the surprises along the way.  She told us of how she couldn't afford the machines she required, including the one in her living room, and how people eventually offered them to her at ridiculously cheap costs and very convenient payment terms.

This would never have happened had she not stepped up to the plate with the understanding that all that it takes is what she already had in her hands!  Maybe you didn't lose a job, just that you have not been able to keep one for years; it is time to realize that today you are rich. Others are counting on you to step out and offer what you have in your hands, and as you begin to push a dream that stems from what you already have in your hands, your wealth will begin to rub off on others.

Joanna now employs two people, and her dream now contains within it the prospect of a training centre!  Still in the future, yes! But very achievable because today she knows she is rich already!  Friends, today you are rich, because right in your hand is the seed for the wealth that you seek.

Joanna had not considered the impact that the internet could have on her business, but we were able to point that out to her and the day we were leaving she could not come to say goodbye because she went shopping for her own computer!

 Illumination and light comes to your life if you recognize that your dream is not alien to you!  The best dreams are usually those that start up from what you already have.

Folks, today you are rich!  Tomorrow is not promised but today, yes today, you can begin to live the rich life if you know what you have in your hands.  It can only make an impact and a difference if you recognize that you have got it already. This is why I am confident even in my dear nation Nigeria, I know we are rich, and once we recognize it and realize that we don't need to harm others or steal from them, we will begin to arise and take our place again.

There is no mistake about it people, Today You Are Rich!  You just need to recognize that you are and you will make it NeverTheLess!  Joanna received wings to fly with her dream, but that is because she always knew that she was rich!

May God preserve you; especially if you live in places where it seems evil is taking over. Light always prevails over darkness and even for Nigeria light will prevail, NeverTheLess!  

Hugs 

Sistar B