Standing in the Place of Prayer for 1972 Babies

On Wednesday, May 23^rd, I shared in my post “The Year I Stopped Playing with Dolls”, the leading in my heart to stand in the place of prayer for 1972 Babies and I asked you all to join me in this initiative. Since then, I have been asked by several persons, why 1972 Babies in particular?

I do not have the answer to that question yet.  I have acted in response to the burden I believe the Lord placed on my heart to stand in the place of prayer for 1972 Babies. I know that God has a purpose and a plan He wants to fulfill in their lives.

I believe that when two of us agree concerning anything in prayer on earth it is shall be done for us by our Father in heaven (Matt 18:19). I believe that the effectual and fervent prayer we offer on behalf of these God’s children can avail much (Acts 12:5, James 5:16). I believe the love of God in our hearts compels us to pray for one another. In the light of the above, I ask you to join me today and every last of the month for the rest of 2012 to pray for this group of people.



Let's join our hands and hearts in prayer.

A dear friend of mine and a handmaiden of the Lord prayed that they will not miss their moment and they will walk in their God-ordained destiny. I am persuaded that testimonies will abound in their lives and as we hear of it, we will be glad that we have harkened to the prompting of the Holy Spirit concerning them.

For this reason let us kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Let us pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen them with power through His Spirit in their inner being, so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. Let us pray that they, being rooted and established in love may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that they may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God – Eph 3:14 – 19 paraphrased.

As promised, I will publish the names and birthdays of all the 1972 made available to me. I ask you also to keep sending the names.

January

·        

February

·         Dotun

·         Subomi

·         Kemi

·         Bola

March

·         Folabi

April

·         Yemisi

May

·         Gbenga

·         Bola

·         Sarah

·         Tokunbo

·         Mary

·         Funmi

·         Simon

June

·         Grace

July

August

September

·         Kayode

·         Rosemary

October

·         Femi

November

December

I invite you to join us as we pray today. Share with me the names of anyone you know born in 1972. I will include them in the above list.

Please share with us the testimony of what God is doing in your life if you are a 1972 or in the life of your 1972 sibling, family and friend.

One Mistake, One Wrong Turn, What Next?

“One mistake.”

“I made just one mistake.”

I have heard this many times. But often that is all it takes – one mistake – one wrong turn at the crossroad – and dreams are shattered, lives are destroyed or a life course is altered.

One mistake is all it takes to switch a train to a track leading to disaster.

One mistake can occur from an error of judgment, willful disregard or disobedience or a moment of loss of self control.

One mistake can have varying degrees of consequences; often many can not be erased or reversed. Painfully true is the fact that it also can affect other lives beyond ours.

But one mistake does not have to be the endpoint of your dreams. No matter what you have done, there is still hope for a better future. You can arise and move forward from the point of your one mistake and you can refuse to let it glue you down to the past.

Two things come to mind thinking about the consequences of one mistake:

1.       How can we avoid making this one costly mistake or taking the wrong turn at the crossroad of decision making?

2.       How do we move forward after making a mistake without allowing our lives to be defined by the wrong decision we made?

In “At a Crossroad?” posted on May 9^th, I shared some actions we can take to help us avoid making wrong decisions. These include seeking the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and studying the Word of God to know His will and gain wisdom. In addition, we can like Solomon ask for a discerning heart to distinguish between right and wrong (1Kg 3:9). We need to be able to discern between the prompting of the spirit and that of the flesh.

What next?

If you want to move forward, you have to take responsibility for your choices. Don’t blame others or make excuses.

·         Seek and receive God’s forgiveness.

·         Forgive yourself and let go of the guilt. Unforgiveness and guilt can hold you down to the past.

·         If possible seek forgiveness of the people affected.

·         Refuse to let the “accuser of brethren” put you in constant remembrance of your mistake.



Moving Forward

Let God have full control of your life. He has the blueprint and a good plan for you. We may have to live with the consequences of the wrong choice we have made but we can ask God for the opportunity for good to come out of that situation, an opportunity for His name to be gloried.

God is able to make a ministry of the mess we may have made because He is able to work out a good in every situation – working it together for our good when we are repentant and submissive to His will.

There is an opportunity waiting in every setback which will put the glory of God on display in that situation if we turn it over to God.

Some years ago, I was infuriated by a colleague’s unwillingness to take responsibility for a failed project and actually passed the blame to me during a projects’ presentation meeting with the new head of office. I got so angry that I erupted like a volcano, raised my voice and let out a tirade to show his failings and all I did to try and prevent the crisis. It was the last straw that broke the camel’s back for me after a very tensed period of reorganization in the office. I simply gave him a piece of my mind and in the presence of the new head of office.

The ensuing silence was deafening. For someone who had maintained her composure during the crisis in the office through the previous months and earned the respect of most of my colleagues in the process, this outburst was out of character. You could see shock written on their faces, some stared at me with jaws dropping to their chest wondering what got into me.

I regretted my outburst immediately. It was one of the worst moments of my life. I felt so ashamed of myself and disappointed at my loss of self control. For many months afterwards I beat myself down at every recollection of the awful incidence. I had to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to deal with it and to let it go.

A few months later, I left that office for another position in a different country. I did not meet the head of office again until 2 years later when he attended an international conference I was part of organizing. At the end of the conference, the participants commended the organizing team for a job well done. I was still basking in the compliments when the gentleman told me that he could never forget the day I threw a fit of anger at an important meeting. My bubble was busted. After 2 years, that was what he remembered me by despite my track record in that office—one moment of loss of self control.

I had to make a conscious choice not to let this incidence define me and prayed for grace for both of us to move forward from it.

No matter how difficult it may be, you too can move forward by the grace abounding from God, if you let go and let Him take control.

Have you made a mistake in the past? How did you move forward from it? Share your story and encourage someone today.

The Year I Stopped Playing with Dolls

That twenty-second day of May could have been just like any other day except that I woke up and Mother was not at home.

Later, Dad came home with the good news. "We have a baby girl," he announced. I waited with great expectation to see the bundle of joy everyone was talking about.

I did not have to wait for long, in a few days, Mother was back at home with this little bundle wrapped in floral flannel with the brightest eyes you could ever imagine, and far more beautiful than all my dolls.

I stayed glued to Mother’s side, watched her feed, bath, change and care for the baby. Everywhere she turned I was there like the shell on the back of a snail, I followed her. I watched and I learnt.

Of course, Mother wasted no time to show me the ropes—how to hold the baby when feeding her, where you put your finger when you pin the terry nappy, how to make the feeds and wash the bottles.

I went up and down the house to bring whatever she needed whenever she needed it. My excitement was boundless: I was helping to take care of my baby sister. I touched her, held her hands and hug her, but I wanted more. I wanted to hold her in my arms.

Mother said, “Wait, be patient.”

It was not long before my patience was rewarded. Mother sat me in a sofa in the sitting room, she placed the baby on my laps, propped her head against the crock of my arms, gave me the bottle and showed me how to feed her. After that day, playing with dolls was not much fun anymore—I had greater fun helping to take care of a real baby.



www.123rf.com/photo_6334222/

 That was 1972.

That was the year Mother showed me and taught me how to take care of babies with my baby sister. And I was just about 6 years old. She was the first of the many babies I have since taken care of.

It is incredible how much a child can learn and how early a child can be actively involved in contributing at home as an act of service. Daryl Hoole in The Art of Homemaking wrote, “It is in the home where children best learn to express love by serving one another.”

Skills which will make a child a responsible, competent and contributing adult are best nurtured in the home. What I learnt from Mother that year and afterwards stayed with me throughout my life.

Even more important is that it created a special bonding between my sister and I—I was a part of nurturing and caring for her. I have followed closely her life’s journey since then, and shared in both her good times and her not-so-good times.

It was melodious music to my ears, listening to her yesterday. She was overflowing with ebullient joy. I could tell across thousands of kilometers how overwhelmed she was at the faithfulness of God. One minute, her voice was light and bubbly, the next, it was deepened with emotion. I could imagine her face radiating with happiness and a big smile flashing across her face. Her outlook of the future is brighter than before, as she testified of the breakthrough God had given her after years of being faced with many dead ends.

When I woke up this morning singing, “What a faithful God we serve…,” I knew I wanted to do something special to appreciate the faithfulness of God in her life.

1972 will always be a memorable year for me—the year I set my dolls aside and learnt the essence of serving with love.

To commemorate this, I ask you to join me and let us pray together for the 1972 Babies.

·    On the last day of each month, beginning from May 31^st, I will post the names of the 1972 babies I have for the month in a special blog post. The first edition will have names of those born between January and May.

·    I will request everyone to pray and also leave a word of encouragement for them. And I will do so too.

Here is what you can do:

·     Do you have a sister, brother or a friend born in 1972?

·     If yes, please share the first name and the birthday with me in the comment box below.

·     You can also send me an email if you would like to share more details – email address and specific prayer points. This information will not be posted in the blog.

Did you learn a lesson at home as a child which left an imprint on your life? Share your story in the comment box.

Correctly Positioned

Three events worked in concert to confirm and re-echo a couple of messages in my heart this week.

It started on Sunday, that is, the reflection and I have been ruminating on the message since then until it became imprinted on my mind.

But one of the events was initiated a few weeks ago when Angela and Becca of the Bookshelf Muse asked if I would like to participate in a special event to commemorate the launch of their book. I thought it was a worthwhile event to participate in. I had benefited a lot from their blog.

Last Sunday, in his exhortation during the pre-service prayer session, the dear brother leading asked us to pray that God will position us to locate our HELPER. That hit me like a load of bricks. Joseph’s stay in the prison had a brand new meaning.

On Monday, as part of the Random Act Of Kindness organized by Angela and Becca, I blitzed 2 writers—Naomi and Bidemi who have been HELPERS to me—they were positioned at the right place at the right time for me to connect with them.

It was very interesting to read the blog Bidemi posted at Nevertheless, which went out on the same day at the same time I was blitzing her—The Value of  Connectors—it was the third witness and worth reading.

Taking part in the RAOK on Monday had rippling effects far beyond my imagination. It led to a new level of relationship with Naomi, and it blessed Bidemi and I in tremendous ways.

I must pause here, and thank all of you who came over here since Monday, you are simply amazing, all the 95 of you. I have yet to see such traffic on a single day on the blog as on Monday. Thank you so much for taking time to stop by here and at Nevertheless. Thank you for joining me to appreciate Naomi and Bidemi. Many thanks for going the extra mile to make comments here and at Nevertheless, and to become friends.

Who is a HELPER?

I will borrow Bidemi’s definition of a Connector—someone who contributes to moving your dream forward and enhance what you do. To this I will add: Someone appointed by God to help you fulfill His divine purpose for your life. A helper will provoke recommendations on your behalf. He/she encourages you to be the best you can be. They uphold you in prayers and promote your interest.

Because God has a perfect plan for our lives, He positions us at the perfect place and at the right time to connect with helpers who will assist us to fulfill His grand purpose for our lives – those who will lead us in the direction He has prepared ahead of time for us. If we trust in God, and depend on the help of the Holy Spirit, we will make choices that will position us at the right place at the right time for success.

We have two examples in the Bible of persons who were correctly positioned to connect with the people who helped them to fulfill their destiny. Ruth happened to be in the right field belonging to Boaz – the man who later redeemed her and became her husband (Ruth 2:3).

In the case of Joseph, he had to be in the prison to connect with the butler who later provoked a recommendation on his behalf, which led him from prison to the position of a prime minister. Who would have thought that the prison was the right place to be to connect with destiny (Gen 39:20)?

Sometimes, it is the adverse situation or challenges we face that places us in the right place to make the necessary connection with our helper. God’s perfect timing and placing can put us in the field like Ruth or in the prison like Joseph.

God’s timing and positioning can also put us in a place to help fulfill His purpose and destiny in the lives of other people. Joseph again was correctly positioned in Egypt at the right time to help save his family and the people in the land from famine (Gen 45:7).

Here is a rough translation of a Yoruba chorus I leant as a child based on the story of the Good Samaritan:

Whosoever it is in your capacity to be of help to, he is your brother, take care of him.

Two distinct messages took root in my heart from these events and stories:

·         To be correctly positioned—at the right place and at the right time—to connect with the helper God has appointed to move forward my dream and help me to fulfill my God-designed purpose in every sphere of my life. I don’t want to miss him or her.

·         To be correctly positioned to be a helper to someone—to be the person who will assist another to fulfill their God-given purpose. To be a conduit of God’s blessing – that is my passionate desire. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to contribute into someone’s life and enhance their walk and work.

To be correctly positioned may take me through some difficult paths, so I can be best equipped to be the encourager God wants me to be, to offer the comfort which I also have experienced from God and to provide counsel that it is enriched by a personal experience.

The one who will deny himself that he may do us good at our time of need is the one who is truly kind to us and loves us most.

Will you let this message take root in your heart too? Would you take a moment to pray and ask God to correctly position you to locate your helper and connect you with someone you can be of help to?

If you will, please let me know in the comments below. It will be a privilege to pray along with you.

I share with you Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

Random Act Of Kindness Blitz

A smile. An encouraging word. A thoughtful gesture. Each day people interact with us, help, and make our day a bit brighter and full. This is especially true in the Writing Community. 

This is a special post in honour of Angela and Becca at the Bookshelf Muse. I ran into their website during the first weeks I started writing actively. I desperately needed help with describing emotions and an internet search took me to the Bookshelf Muse - it has been a useful companion since then.

An act of kindness enriches lives of people around us. It is an investment of time and effort but it makes a huge difference when we lighten someone’s burden. Take a second to think about people you know, friends who listen, support and keep you strong when times are tough. Friends who add value to your life through their kind gesture and those who generously offers counsel, advice and inspiration.

So many people also take the time to make writers feel special, don't they? They read what we write, comment on our blogs, like our posts, follow-up on our work-in-progress, offer to read our drafts, encourage us to keep at it and hold us up in prayers.

Kindness makes a difference!

To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. And because I think KINDNESS is contagious, I'm participating too!

Today I am blitzing two writers who have been a blessing to me.

Naomi Shahib Nye: I met this lovely poet at the Geneva Writers' Conference in February. Out of the blues, she walked up to me and asked me if I would be in her poetry class. I answered, yes. I had registered for the class with trepidations. I had planned to sit at the back of the class, listen and learn. I've always felt intimidated by poets. Though I love writing what I called "my poetic muses"—I did not have the confidence to call them poems. She made poetry refreshing and engaging. She asked me to read my poem. It was my first-ever public reading. She liked it. She affirmed me as a poet. Tears welled up my eyes. I could never forget that day or this sweet lady who made me feel more confident about writing poems and sharing them.

To appreciate Naomi Nye, I will share her poem – KINDNESS on Facebook and ask you to share it as widely as possible, and thank her for being so kind to me. 

Bidemi Mark-Mordi: I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Bidemi in person but we have spent many hours communicating and we both admitted that our connection was divinely engineered. I really appreciate her; she allowed herself to be used of God to open new doors to me and to give me the opportunity to live my dream as a writer. Bidemi, I am offering to help spread the word about your book when it is ready. Bidemi blogs at Nevertheless. Please stop there and tell her what a blessing she has been to so many!

Do you know someone special that you'd like to randomly acknowledge?

Don't be shy--come join us and celebrate! Send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. Kindness makes the world go round. :)

Becca and Angela have a special RAOK gift waiting for you as well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up.

"Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body" - Prov. 16:24.

Have you ever participated in or been the recipient of a Random Act Of Kindness?  Let me know in the comments! God bless you!

At a Crossroad?

Are you at the place of decision making? At a crossroad where you must decide whether to turn to the left or right or to go forward or retreat? We know that life does not always give us a retreat option once a decision is made.

We also do not know what is down each road but we can say in the words of the song by Don Moen: “No matter what may come my way, my life is in Your hands.”

Perhaps you have made the turning into a road already and you know this is not where you ought to be but you are not ready to or can not retrace your footsteps back to the crossroad.

Several times in the course of a day, we find ourselves at the crossroads of decision making. Some decisions are minor and routine—what to wear, what to eat, when to sleep, when to get up, who to be nice to and such. While some are critical with life changing impact—what course to study, which university to attend, career choices, choice of a life partner, choosing to wait for God’s time, conducting our lives and business by God’s standard etc.

Some decisions ultimately impact our lives for years. No matter how hard we wish we could, there are some things we can‘t go back and undo, and we have to live with the consequences of such decisions.

Your heart desperately desires this ONE thing and you have waited for a LONG time for it to come and it seem not in sight.  You are tired of waiting for God to show up the way you want Him to in this situation. You find yourself at the crossroad where you have decided to go the way that will give you what you want but clearly not in the way God would approve but you hope at some stage you can come back and settle with God. You are taking God’s grace and mercy for granted.

There is a way that seems right to a man but the rightness of that way is like a phantom which arises from self-deception and it leads to destruction (Prov. 14:12). This way is a careless disregard to the will of God. It is highly provoking to God. And God can not be mocked.

Dear Friend, this is a passionate plea to you, don’t turn into this road, it is full of thistles and thorns ahead. If you have turned in already, it is not too late turn back NOW. You don’t want the agony of the burden of conscience. You want to keep a clear conscience before God in all things (Acts 24:16).

There is a clear difference between acting in ignorance and deliberately acting in error, no matter what the arguments maybe. What benefit would you reap from the things you would be ashamed of? What would you have gained by doing those things which you will later regret?

You may not understand God’s plans for you now and why He is taking you through this route but your life is in His hands. He has a good plan and purpose for your life. Don’t give up on God now. He will never give up on you.

My mother once said to me, “Never get desperate about anything. Desperate people do desperate (and despicable) things” – emphasis mine. Pursuing a route which will give a short term pleasure at the risk of deviating from the larger picture can not be desirable in the long term.

I read of a mother who advised her daughter that each time she is at a crossroad to visualize a perfect day in her future – at the age of 65 years – to the smallest detail – where she was, who she was with, what she was doing etc. If the decision she is about to make in the tiniest way leads her in the direction of the manifestation of that perfect day then it is worth pursuing.

At every crossroad, we need to fix our gaze and focus on our ultimate goal in life – if our goal is to please God by doing His will and thereby attain eternal life, we will be cautious not to turn into any road which will lead us away from that goal. We will be careful not to jeopardize our goal of attaining eternal life.

Robert D. Hales, in “Making Righteous Choices at the Crossroads of Life,” suggested three things that will help us in making decisions whenever we are at crossroads:

·         Prayer – ask for help, leading and guidance from the Holy Spirit

·         Study the Word of God to gain knowledge of His will

·         Seek wise counsel from those who have exhibited obedience to the commandments of God and demonstrated the willingness to follow the Holy Spirit.

Dwelling daily in the presence of God through prayer and the study of His Word will prepare us ready for the times of critical decision making so that we can by faith trust in Him when He asks us to wait at that crossroad for His time or to turn into the way He has prepared for us even when we do not understand it.

Are you the one who is tired of waiting? Don’t give up on God. He will make all things beautiful in your life in His own time.

What do you do when you are at crossroads? Share your story; it will enrich someone’s life.

Though I may not understand
All the plans
You have for me,
My life is in Your hands
And through the eyes of faith
I can clearly see.

 From Don Moen’s “God is God All the Time”

An Icon for a Dream

When I saw the beautifully wrapped parcel on my bed a couple of weeks ago, neither I nor my husband who gave me the gift could have imagined the tremendous impact it would have on me. I opened the parcel, lifted the gift out of the wrapping paper, and a flood gate of memories sprung open. In rapid flashes, images from a dream I had two years ago dashed across my mind.

I turned the gift around several times, examined it closely, it was a very close replica of the finished product I envisioned in my dream. I recalled the details of that dream, how I wrote down all the specifications which would make my product unique and set it apart from others. I remembered identifying a label name for the product of my dream, and how I started collecting the raw materials for it. I also remembered how after a while it looked impossible for this dream to be pursued and how I had let it fade into near oblivion. The gift item brought it all back, every single detail of my dream.

Every time I look at the gift since that day, it reminds me of my dream, not to give up on it and to start again collecting the materials. The conditions are not yet right for me to pursue it vigorously but I know that there are some things I can do now in preparation for the fulfillment of my heart desire. The gift reminded me to keep doing what is possible now. The gift has become an icon for my dream, a symbol that my dream can come true.

I had learnt a while back to envision myself in the future living my dream; I learnt to sketch it in my inner mind and to make it plain by writing the details out on a paper. Recently I read Woman Act Now and Coach Anna McCoy wrote “You want them so real that you would never think of giving up….It has to be so beyond your current circumstances and what physically exists.” I identified with that. The gift reminded me of the vivid image engrafted in my mind from my dream and my desire to see it come to pass.

I had also learnt that it is not sufficient for me to just dream but I have to act out the possibilities of achieving my dreams. Somehow, I had allowed the obstacles to pursuing this dream to overwhelm me, but this reminder helped me to regain my focus and to be assured that I have the potential and passion to pursue the dream.

Just as architects create three-dimensional models to help us appreciate what the completed project of our dream could look like, identifying an icon for the endpoint of your dream will help to give dimensions to it such that it becomes so real to you and keep you reminded of it.

Faith calls those things which are not as if they are. You need to see with the eyes of your inner mind what your heart desires, what you are dreaming about and praying about.

God said to Abraham, “Look up into the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them…so shall your offspring be” and “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars I the sky and as the sand on the seashore” (Gen. 15:5, 22:17). I am sure that the numerous stars in the sky and the sand on the beach must have become to Abraham the emblems of envisioning the fulfillment of God’s promise to him, and the answer to his prayers. I am sure each time he looked up into the sky at night and saw the numerous stars, he was reminded that faithful is He who has promised, and his heart must have been stirred up in faith that it will definitely come to pass that he will become a father of nations even though he and his wife, Sarah were advanced in age.

An icon for your dream will affirm the possibilities of your dream, it will encourage you to take steps and actions each day to accomplish your dreams and it will nudge you not to give up on the prospect of living your dream.

I have yet another dream, a vision of an answered prayer and in this vision, I saw myself—handbag over my arm, passport, ticket and boarding pass in one hand and my carry on luggage in the other hand—walking into a Jumbo Jet, in readiness for a long haul flight. I walked into the plane without any encumbrances or paraphernalia, just my personal effects. Indeed, that will be the open manifestation of God’s promise fulfilled in my life which will require no further explanation—a walking testimony.

Now I seek an icon to symbolize this vision of dream come true, one which will constantly remind me that it is coming soon. If I were an artist, I would have sketched the picture in my heart, framed it and keep it in view!

Do you have a vivid picture in your mind of what you desire and you are trusting God for?

Can you see the endpoint or end product of your dream?

Write down the details today and identify a graphic symbol to keep you reminded of your dreams.

Share the icon for your dream and we will join in encouraging you to keep it in view.

From A Grateful Heart

It was on Tuesday, 1^st November, 2011 when I gingerly took the step of faith into blogosphere in response to the clarion call by many close friends to share my writing with a larger audience. The journey, which began 6 months ago, has brought me in contact with so many far beyond my wildest imagination. The statics showed me that you have visited from 27 different countries across 5 continents—I could never have imagined being used of God to reach out that far. I am truly humbled and overwhelmed. And I give thanks to God from the depth of my very grateful heart.

I am grateful to God for the so many of you who have visited the blog again and again, those who are following, those who have commented within and outside the blog, and those who have continued to encourage me. I thank you very much for taking time to walk on this journey with me.

The fact that you visit gives me the reason to be here for you even at very difficult and challenging times. Knowing that you will be here compels me to look up to God for the strength and inspiration to share, so that when you come you will, by the help of the Holy Spirit, find nuggets to take away. And I am also blessed in the process.

I have also been connected with many writers who have inspired and encouraged me to improve my skills in the art and craft of writing. I have learnt a lot from many of them, some nudged me to join a writers’ group. I did and it has continued to be a very useful learning experience. Some encouraged me to attend a writers’ conference. I did in February and gleaned so much from the knowledgeable and experienced writers who facilitated the Geneva Writers Conference. A lot more continued to share useful tips by email and on their blogs.

I read an article recently by Angela Hunt, Switching the Price Tags, she challenged me to write to communicate the truth, to be sincere and skillful, and to make sure in writing I am investing in treasures with true value – “Write to encourage love. Write to challenge complacency. Write to illustrate sacrificial love.”

Today, as I look back to where I started from, I am reminded of the real reason I started writing—to encourage, to enrich lives and to inspire hope. I give thanks to God for how far He has brought me in this journey and for blessing my life with you all.

Dear friends, whatever your journey may be, I encourage you to take a look back to where you started from, count your blessings and give thanks to God for how far He has brought you. As you give praise, you will receive the grace and strength you need to press on. Your journey may have been rough and challenging but you have been kept by the mighty hands of God and the storms though threatening have not overwhelmed you. It is a good reason to give thanks.   

A heart that reflects on the mercies and goodness of God will always overflow with praise.

Will you not take a moment to reflect on God’s faithfulness to you in your journey? You will be amazed how much there is to be thankful for.

Hear these praises

From a grateful heart

Each time I think of You,

The praises start

Love You so much, Jesus,

Love You so much

My soul longs to worship You forever.

Pleased to share with you Love You So Much by Hillsong for your reflection and worship.