I am Beautiful not Am I Beautiful?

Often times I asked my husband, am I beautiful? And his automatic response is you’re the most beautiful woman in the whole world. And he will crown it by saying, more than so and so, i.e a movies star, a model or even a beauty queen. Alone, I usually consider his response and always thought he had actually told me what he felt I needed to hear, and I will say to myself, once I was beautiful now I am fat and ugly.

This insecurity usually comes after meeting old friends and acquaintances that once knew me as a very slim and beautiful young lady. But after two kids and several years of marriage, my appearance has totally changed; personally I am now overweight with a tummy that refused to go down after childbirth. Obviously I don’t see myself as he is seeing me and I’d rather see myself as those old friends are seeing me. But having read Ephe 2:10 as made me realise that I am indeed beautiful, forget about physical appearance, I have a beauty within that transcend outwards to magnify my physical beauty.

Friends have been known to sometimes tell me, you don’t have a problem because you’re very pretty and your husband won’t get tired of looking, NO, beauty is more than outward appearance. Never compare yourself with others, who are thinner, curvier or younger than you are, but remember you are God’s MASTERPIECE

Whether old or young, God made us beautiful, but most of us allow cares and worries to take away that beauty from us. The beauty within us is supposed to connect with the physical beauty to give us the glorious look we have been gifted with from God i.e, if we light up from within, any plain face we have will be good to behold.

Even if it is not possible for us to get rid of that plain face, excess fat and other physical imperfections ………… it is possible for us, with God’s help, to grow a mind and soul so big that when people look at our faces, they see an uncommon beauty from the father of creations. If you love God and do his will then you are beautiful because strength and beauty are in his sanctuary Psa 96:6b

Why do we tell lies?

Lies are told to hide certain truths about a situation from others basically because we are afraid of the consequences of telling the truth. To some lying comes naturally, they are born liars while others are forced to lie in response to an intrusive, inappropriate question. Whichever, lying is bad, it is not socially acceptable, neither is it morally accepted and God frowns on it as evidenced in the ten commandments.

Lying however undermines the trust we feel for each other. Lies has been known to destroy a perfectly healthy and loving relationship. Personally, I find it extremely difficult to lie to my husband; I rather hold the truth until I am able to tell it as it is than fabricate a bunch of lies that I may end up contradicting. And my greatest fear about lying is to say one thing today and another tomorrow, accidentally contradicting myself and putting my integrity to the test.

Nothing good comes from lying; liars lose respect, integrity, and status and even look foolish when found out. Lies destroys relationships, friendships and find it difficult being around the person you have lied to.

Learn to be trustworthy by telling the truth at all times no matter what the situation is.

Look up:

Job 11:3

Psalms 101:7

Proverbs 14:5

Coping with the death of a loved one.

Author Edgar Jackson describes grief as the silent, knife-like terror and sadness that comes a hundred times a day, when you start to speak to someone who is no longer there. It is the emptiness that comes when you eat alone after eating with another for many years. Grief is teaching yourself to go to bed without saying good night to the one who had died. Grief is the helpless wishing that things were different when you know they are not and never will be again. Grief is a whole cluster of adjustments, apprehensions, and uncertainties that strike life in is forward progress and make it difficult to redirect the energies of life.


Losing a loved one is a difficult thing, fewer things in life will ever affect more deeply. The intense pain of loss and the difficulty of facing the future without the other person is much more than a lot of people can bear. To deal with grief, it is advisable to;

Not hold back the tears, as crying will help to ease the pain of loss.

Communicate feelings as keeping the feelings bottled up inside will make it difficult to deal with grief. Prov 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

Talk to close friends because a friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity Prov 17:17Address feelings of guilt if there is any

Talk to God about it. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Is 61:3

Influencing lives?

My son Ladi is three years plus now, but even before this age his father’s influence on him was so great that, he always wants to do exactly what dad is doing, has done or did. An example of this is his refusal to wear shorts, he want to be in trousers at all times. I find this hard to understand until one day a friend I discussed this with told me that he did not want to wear short/knickers because he has never seen the dad go on an outing with a short. Quite amazing!

Same goes for some of us, we are so influenced by others that we want to be like them in all ways, we want what others have, even try harder to be what others are. It is good to be influenced by other people, but the great question is “do you influence others?”

Does our lives touch others in unforgettable ways?

Do people want to act, talk, dress, walk and live our lives?

How do we influence our young children at home?

My life is an example, every time I get angry in the presence of my children (not at them), they go very quiet and I will know that I have made an impression on them, A WRONG IMPRESSION AT THAT! Something happened this morning, and my son asked, “Mummy, why were you shouting and talking so much?” I felt so ashamed, and I started wondering the kind of influence I am having on that impressionable young mind by getting unnecessarily annoyed even though the anger was more than justified!

INFLUENCE! Children who see physical violence between their parents are more likely to abuse their own spouses after they marry and if they were also hit by their parents as teenagers, they are more likely to abuse their spouses.

Remember that how we live our lives matters so much to God and others around us. May God teach us to be more like him!

Stress In The Home.

Stress is a physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension on a person. It is often identified as a negative reaction; but this is not necessarily the case, because sometimes stress can be of positive benefit to us, making it possible for us to be more focused on what we do and also enhancing our performance at home and at our respective places of work. A lot of people often say they are stressed when they become distressed, emotional or suffer from stress related symptoms. It is often a clue that a person is unable to cope with the demands placed on them.

From experience symptoms are evident to the individual well before the stage of distress but rather than be forthcoming they often deny those feelings in the hope that it will go away. Sometimes it does, especially after taking time off the particular activity or situation that causes the stress. For example, a housewife that is always on her toes taking care of the children and the home, started feeling physically stressed, and the husband decided to help her take care of some of the chores like bath the children in the morning, feed them, get their things together for school and drop them off at school later to pick them up in the afternoon has taken some load off the woman. The woman will feel better and able to cope with the other things she has to handle unlike when she has to do it all alone.

If the feeling of distress continue, worsen or return, it will then be necessary to seek medical help in order to avoid a complete breakdown.

There are different causes of stress in a family; some of them are listed here;

Problems with family income, resulting in inability to feed the children; pay their school fees; settle accumulated bills etc

Inability to have children;

Problems with relatives of either the husband or the wife;

Extra marital affairs

Health issues.

Watch out for COPING WITH STRESSES IN THE HOME.

Good people

The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog. (Frederick the Great), this sentiment is echoed by many of us daily as we encounter some kind of people with lifestyle and character far different from ours. Some People are tagged good while others are seen as bad and not worthy of being called friends.

Good people have good intentions, when they say they will do something, they follow through and take whatever actions are necessary to get it done. They don't feel that the world owes them anything; neither do they seek for attention, special recognition or praise, they are simply themselves.

So, Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can - John Wesley

Some of life's greatest blessings come through the good people with whom we are privileged to be living.

-- Ralph Marston

Divine Blessing.

Divine blessing is to invoke divine favour upon someone. It is only through God that one can get an abundance of blessings for which there can be no word to express enough gratitude. Men can bless us also but not the way God blesses. But whether divine blessings or human blessing, we need to adopt certain principles in order to unlock the windows of blessings.

First, there is need to be hardworking. Laziness cannot unlock the windows of divine or human blessings for anyone. Anyone who desire blessing must be ready to work hard to achieve it, not by breaking your backbones nor by burning yourself out or killing yourself in the name of hardwork, but by diligence and faithfulness to what you do. For example, I used to drive by a sport shop every morning on my way to work, one day I gave a friend a lift and as we passed by the shop, the man mentioned in passing that the owner of that sport shop has a commendable trait. He said he noticed that every morning he passed by, the man is already there setting out his wares, always at the same time. I have also noticed that and we both agreed that diligence and faithfulness to ones business or career is good and will eventually result in blessings from God and favour from people. If all you do with your life is laze around, day dreaming and hoping for the day some one will work up to you and say “ you just won a lottery” you might as well get ready for a life of poverty, failure and wretchedness.

Secondly, be grateful for all things, no matter how small or big. Imagine if you give your child a gift and he/she shows no gratitude or appreciation of what you gave, how do you feel? Of course, there are some people; no matter how hard you try you can never please them. They want you to sacrifice your life for them before they can tell you “ thank you” Ingratitude for the little favours we receive or for acts of kindness, mercy or help offered can and will surely emit a bad stench, which ultimately leads to disfavour. Please know it that disfavour closes the windows of blessings.

Thirdly, you must have a Vision: Proverbs 29:18 – where there is no vision, the people perish! Of course, having set goals help to make ones life a success and it also enable us to get positioned for blessings. Such goals should include “I want to be rich, I want have academic excellence, I want to be healthy, I want to have a happy home, a happy marriage, I want to raise Godly and responsible children, I want to live a fulfilled life. After listing all these goals, you really need to plan how you hope to make them a reality. Without vision, it is easy to perish.

Lastly, have a positive outlook on life. Don’t be negative, have a victorious attitude even when it seems as if you’re already defeated. See others in a positive light. Don’t be self centred, believing that it’s just you and you alone. Your needs don’t really have to be satisfied first, give others a chance while you wait patiently for your turn. Don’t put yourself down, declare positively; “I will make it”, “I will excel”, “It is well with me”, “I will not die but live”, ”I am beautiful”, “My children are wonderful” rather than “OH! What crazy children”.

For me, I want to be bless every second, minute, hour and everyday of my life. You should not be an exception. Desire the favour of God through divine blessings.

Shalom!

Tough times will go away.

If there has been a rain of hard times for you recently, it will interest you to know that the rain will stop, the gloom will disappear and there will be sunshine. If it has been bad news, one difficulty after another, failure, disappointment, depression, sickness, whatever, it is a time to have that season of your life.

Of course, To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Eccl 3:1-8.

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end, Eccl 3:11. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him, Eccl 3:14.

We all take our turn facing those seasons when we keep waking up to another rainy day but be comforted because that raining season will soon be over in your life, your situation will change, your circumstances will be better, so you can say, no matter how many days it's been raining, "This is going to be good for us later on." God simply wouldn't let this happen if it wasn't going to be good for you later on.

And it may take a lot of rainy days for God to make you the man or woman He created you to be and redeemed you to be. He's toughening you, or maybe tenderizing you, purging you of old ways of doing things, squeezing you into new and better priorities, sensitizing you to people that maybe you've hurt or neglected, moving you to burn some old bridges or to treat some old wounds. What gets you through the rainy days is the calm as assurance that "God is working all this together for my good to make a better me."

Are you going to enjoy one rainy day after another? Not necessarily. But it sure helps to see them in the big picture perspective. God is using these days to prepare you for better day’s ahead. So, be strengthen and encourage yourself in faith, Remember, Tough times

don’t last but tough people do!

Mending a broken heart.

At one time or the other we must have had our hearts broken by the people we love and cherish, could be our children, spouses, parent, friends or brothers and sisters. But if you have not had your heart broken, then you are one of the few lucky ones. It hurts and badly too! You could imagine how you will feel to hear that your husband or wife has been seeing someone else. Your children could be engaging in activities that are contrary to your believe, for example a teenage girl getting pregnant out of wedlock of course, will surely break the heart of her parent who have plans for her future. Such hearts need to be mended and fast too, to avoid further damage to the mind and soul of such persons.

The big question is: how do we mend a broken heart?

A broken heart could be mended in the following ways;

1. Keep busy, occupy your spirit, soul and body. Don’t mop around thinking about what might have been. Idleness could make you do things that may result in more heartache, depression and frustration. Do something that take your mind off the problem or better still help someone to get through a difficulty. Just make sure you’re busy so you don’t have time to think about your own problems, with time you will forget.

2. Be good to others, do good. Don’t because someone hurt you repay other with evil, two wrongs don’t make it right. Wish the other person well so that you will not always carry the burden of bitterness around you. Don't wish something horrible would happen to him or her; rather hope for their good fortune and it just may release your blessings also. Sometimes some of these things happen to us for a purpose

3. Take time out to do those things you have always wanted to do but never have the time or the opportunity. Treat yourself to a nice surprise, make yourself happy, and put your life back on track.

4. Be thankful to be alive, the dead don’t feel pain, they know no hurt or anguish, praise God for making you one of the blessed people in the world because your life is not over, you can actually live without those who hurt you and even be happier without them around you.

You will overcome the hurt, rejection, pain, sorrow, bitterness and loneliness only if you tell the heartbreak to move over so you can continue with the rest of your life.

Blog Action Day 2008: Should Poverty be a way of life?

Poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor; indigence. In as much as we all know that poverty is not good and nobody ever prayed to be poor, except in the spirit where it is counted as humility, otherwise it is like living life without a purpose. Or of what purpose is a life when as a parent, you watch your children die of hunger because there is no food to feed them with or sickness for lack of money to pay for hospital bills. Of what purpose is a life that clothed itself in rags whether the weather is cold or hot.

A lot of people are living in poverty either as a result of their own making, or some others because of circumstances beyond their control. Poverty has been known to be the major reason why there are so many crimes in our world today. People resort to criminal activities as a means to an end. Both men and women, boys and girls all over the world have been known to go into prostitution simply because poverty pushed them into it. Parents have even been known to send their underage children into the labour market just to contribute to the family upkeep instead of their being sent to school. Some of these children have been known to fall into the wrongs hands who will lure them into petty stealing, used them as informants/ baits for armed robbery operations, some have been kidnapped and used for rituals, others have been sexually and physically abused in the process.

Should poverty be a way of life? No!

The people that have should help those that do not have. When you give to the needy around you, aside the popular believe that when you give, you will be given in return or blessed by God, you will be helping to better a life, you will be giving hope to someone whose been treated poorly, been made to feel that he/she never measure up, been rejected, defeated, whom people have undervalued, passed up, tagged a loser, been hurt pretty bad and is now hard and angry inside.

Help to better a life today, Isaiah 61:1; the spirit of the sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has chosen me. He has commissioned me to encourage the poor, to help the brokenhearted, to decree the release of captives, and the freeing of prisoners.

Can love impel humans to show outstanding courage?

Yes, love can impel us to show outstanding courage, a case study was how God because of the great love he has for all mankind sent his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. John 15.13, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” and shortly after Jesus said these words; he gave his own life, not for just one person, but for entire mankind, Matt 20.28. What a great courage.

How many of us can show such great love. Can a wife give herself for her husband? How many parents can lay down their lives for their children’s, some rather use their children for money sacrifice, abuse and some can even kill their partners just to fulfil a whim. In II tim.1: 7, For God have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do because there can be no courage unless you’re scared. If we cultivate a selfless love in addition to faith and Godly fear, we will also be able to display Christ-like courage and we can only do it if and when we recognize its source, love is from God, so also is courage according to II Tim 1: 7 earlier quoted.

The Song of Solomon 8:7, many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised, Real love forgets self. Real love knows no danger. Real love doesn’t count the cost.

Let love impel you to show outstanding courage to someone today.

DO YOU REALLY APPRECIATE GOD?

Do you remember all his mercies?

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.

Psalms 118:29

The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes. Psalms 119:64

Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever Psalms 118:4

Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever Psalms 118:3

For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.

Psalms 108:4

Do you remember all his Love?

Even the most unlovable person in the world is actually loved so much by God, remember that He let His Son die a terrible death in order to save the whole world. God does love you! He sees your pain and weeps with you. "He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord's favor has come, and with it, the day of God's anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, He will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, and praise instead of despair. For the Lord has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for His own glory." (Isaiah 61:1-3).

Do you remember his plan for you?

In His compassion, God makes big plans for us. In His wisdom, He does not tell us what they are, Jeremiah 29:11 says it best. "I know the plans I have for you: plans for your welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope."

What about his Faithfulness?

Psalms 89:1b with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations?

Psalms 89:2b thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

Learn to appreciate God at all times, in good times and bad times, Listen, What would the loss of your job or business do to you? What if your house were to go up in smoke tonight? What if a pain sent you to the doctor and led to the discovery that you have only a few weeks to live? These things really do happen to people, you know, but he has been faithful to you, shown you his unconditional love,bestow his mercies on you and he gave you the gift of life.

Be grateful for who you are, what you are and what you have always!

Shalom!

Discouragement Is Dangerous.

Paths without obstacles don’t lead anywhere. To be an achiever, one will have to go through some tough times. The best approach to this is to refuse to be discouraged by temporary setbacks like barrenness, disappointments in relationship, marital problems, lack of promotion, unemployment and so on.

If you are going through tough times, don’t worry because circumstances are not your master. You can always take the measure of a person by the amount of opposition it takes to discourage him/her. Remember that adversity is the mother of invention and difficulty give birth to opportunity. Discouragement can kill like a poison, it is dangerous. If your life is filled with difficulties one after another, then you need to seek the face of God in prayers, he is the only solution to a difficult life.

Ask God to reveal His purpose in allowing difficulties in your life. That's a legitimate question to ask. Often, the answer comes in the process of dealing with your circumstance.

"Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything." (James 1:2-4).

The Negative Scoreboard

A scoreboard is a board on which one displays scores in a contest. Score keeping to most people is like winning their opponent in a game, usually a game of rivalry. We tend to keep scores with people around us, like members of our families, friends, and relatives. Score keeping is a trait that shows that we do not love the other person the way we should. If we have God’s kind of love for one another, it should cover up a multitude of sin, which the other person may commit, i.e. Agape love overlooks any sin, shortcoming and mistakes of the other person. I Peter 4:8 says, And above all things have fervent love among yourselves: for love shall cover the multitude of sins. The man, who wrote those words, experienced this kind of forgiving love himself. Remember he totally let his Lord down, denied Him three times in Jesus' greatest hour of need, but he found that Jesus did not hold that against him. In fact, when he finally got together with Peter individually after His resurrection, Jesus said, "Do you love me?" That's all He wanted to know.

We tend to keep score in our relationships, we rack up a negative point when someone fails us, or hurts us, or slights us, or in any way blows it. It was Peter who asked Jesus how many times he was expected to not score things someone did against them, to forgive them. Jesus said, "Seventy times seven." Let it go 490 times! By that time, who's counting anymore? (Matt 18:21-22)

Maybe a relationship of yours is suffering because you've been keeping score with your mate, your son, your spouse, your daughter, or your parent? Maybe you've been racking up points against your friend, or your co-worker, or that person at church? And when they do something that bothers you or hurts you, you figuratively roll your eyes and say, "There they go again." And you put another mark against them on your negative scoreboard. In fact, those marks ultimately become a negative filter through which you view everything that person does. They can't do anything right - even their good is explained away or it's unrecorded because it doesn't fit your negative grid. Now, could it be that you keep bringing up those negatives, especially to make your point? Someone you're supposed to love may be drowning in your critical comments, your judgmental attitude, and your negative assumptions.

Well, that's how Jesus is treating you, and now He's asking you to treat other people with that same kind of grace and mercy. Not to treat them in the way that they have treated you, but to treat them in the way that Jesus has treated you - and Jesus has had a lot more to forgive than you ever will. Colossians 3:13 say, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

It's time to put the scoreboard away isn't it?

John 9:9 some said; this is He: others said; He is like him: But He said; I am He.

What a great testimony. I was pondering this verse of the bible after listening to a ministration in which that verse of the scripture was used. I immediately started to prophecy such good tidings into my life, such a miracle that people that knew me before will not know me again. The explosive miracle, such that when others are doubting the transformation, only I will say “don’t worry, it is me!”

Such is the act of God, he is forever in control, and because God is God, then nothing happens without His knowledge and permission. While it is difficult to imagine why God allows some painful things to happen, His character revealed in the Bible and through the testing of generations, leads us to the conclusion that He is willing and able to sustain you during the worst of times. "We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:8,9).

See, whatever we suffer now is nothing compared to the Glory He will give us later." (Romans 8:18) "He will keep you strong right up to the end, and He will keep you free from all blame on the great day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.” 1 Corinthians 1:8. He has not given up on you! So don't give up on him also. Remember, he said in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you to an expected end." Ask God to reveal His purpose in allowing this difficulty in your life. That's a legitimate question to ask. Often, the answer comes in the process of dealing with your circumstance. Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grows, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything." James 1:2-4.

Think of Joseph's betrayal by his brothers, it lead him to an exalted position in the Land of Egypt. If he were not so persecuted he would not have attained such a glorious post and we probably will never have heard about him, Genesis 50:19,20.
Are you going through tough times, terrible pains, are you deaf, dumb or blind like that man in John 9:9, then today I believe you will sing a new song of hope and people that knew you before will not know you again after the Lord Jesus is through working on you. Then you will those that doubt, that I am The ONE.

Further Reading HERE and HERE

Small steps.

This simply means that everything begins with something unimportant, insignificant. To be a great person like most people in the world today and some great men and women in the bible, one has to learn to be faithful in small things. Taking small steps is necessary and a great idea because greatness is a function of small steps taken consistently and continuously in the right direction. Greatness is sometimes hidden in small steps that one takes or refuses to take and it is always better to fail at doing something to succeed than folding our hands and not do anything.

Some people depend on others to make a living instead of taking a small step towards independence. I have seen a lot of family suffer because the head of the home is waiting for a big opportunity to land on his doorstep when he could have start something small hoping and praying for greatness from there.

My advise to everyone today is, don’t fold your hands and watch while others achieve greatness through taking small steps. Don’t let what you can’t do stop you from doing what you can do and don’t also let what you don’t have stop you from enjoying what you do have. Take a small step towards your dream and the end will be greatness for you and your household.

Be blessed and have a wonderful weekend.

The seasons of one’s life.

There are different seasons in a person’s life, according to Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. How I wish that everyone passing through one trial or the other could read this and believe in it.

Yesterday, I heard the story of a woman, married for twelve years without a child, suddenly one day she just decided to end it all by jumping into a well. Fortunately for her, there were people around who rescued her but not without a serious injury to her spinal cord. The doctors told her she could no longer have a child because of the injury, this devastated the husband who had always been supportive of her and even had hopes of having a child with her at God’s own time. The husband started seeing another woman who got pregnant for him and he was according to him left with no other choice than to ask the first wife for divorce.

How I wish the woman had waited, how I wish she had enough faith to believe that her season is yet to come.Remember the Apache season and the story of a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, and fulfillment of your fall. Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later.

For as many passing through one difficulty or other, please take it from me, suicide is not an option, it is a sin against your creator, you’re are telling God that he did not create you well. Also know that even though Happiness keeps You Sweet, it is Trial that keep You Strong, Sorrow that make You Human, Failure keep You Humble, Success keeps You Glowing, BUT ONLY GOD KEEPS YOU GOING!

I hate poverty, it makes me unhappy!

Poverty is not good, it is sad and sometimes sickening to observe. Then abject poverty is… (Can’t find the right word to describe it). Poverty is a ruin of ones ego, the poor is shunned by the society, by the neighbours, by friends, by the government and most difficult to swallow by their family. Even children these days shun their parents and eventually abandon them in the hope of cutting off the string that ties them to poverty. A poor person is deserted by everyone he holds dear, ruled over by the rich, the person does not have any say among his peers, it is so sad.
I do not believe that someone could voluntarily wish to be poor, though there may be some issues that the poor person need to address in other to extricate himself or herself from poverty. For instance;

• Laziness
• Refusal to work
• Responsibility greater than one’s income
• Poor money management skills
• Refusal to take up any other job apart from one qualified for
• Being too slow either in action or thought
• Not planning for the future.
• Financial indiscipline
• The fear of failure
• Stinginess etc.

All these and many more could lead to poverty. They cannot afford the basic things like three meals a day, paying hospital bills, they don’t even have a roof over their heads, most exists in the open come rain or sunshine, some survive on items of clothing or food salvaged from waste bins or refuse dumps. When most of us pass them on the road, we try to avoid them like the plague with our well fed bodies clothed in the finest clothing from the top designers. Most even try to shield their children from this reality. I have been guilty of this, which is why I have decided to do this post.
Who has the responsibility of eradicating poverty? The person affected? The society? Or the government?