The Symbiotic Relationship between the Flower and the Bee

"The flower doesn't dream about the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes" - Omilola 

The relationship between the  flower and the bee is a very interesting one. It is called symbiosis.

Flowers produce nectar which bees use to produce honey. When a bee comes to a flower to collect nectar, it delves deep down where the nectar is and their bodies become covered with dry pollen which is produced by flowers. When the bee moves to another flower in search of nectar, they take the pollens with them and the pollens fall off and are deposited in the other flower.

Flowers are dependent on this process called cross pollination in order to produce fruit to continue their lifecycle. Without the bees, the flowers would not be fruitful.

"Research reveals that bees rely on an array of visual and sensory clues such as humidity level, shape, pattern and color to discern whether flowers have something to offer. In fact, bees are known to have three times the colour recognition ability of humans" -Mercola

THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP IN BUSINESS 

A lot can be learned from the symbiotic relationship between the bees and the flowers and we can apply this in our lives and businesses.

The flowers need the bees to reproduce. This is the same way in business, we need our customers, we need money etc.

A flower knows it is a flower and it focuses on being the best flower. In fact in order to attract the bees it has to blossom and make sure it is full of nectar. This can be applied to business. 

A business owner should be focused on Excellence. The business owner should be focused on adopting the Spirit of Excellence in its business endeavours. As you focus on excellence, all that you need will come your way. 

A flower is not worried that it won't find any bee to come to it. As long it is blossoming and it is full of nectar, the bees will come. 

As long as a business is excellent in the service it provides or the products it produces, clients will come, money will come. Unfortunately a lot of people neglect what is important and focus on getting customers or looking for or making money at all costs but what happens is that when the customer comes, the customer or client is put of with the substandard service or over priced product and they never return. 

This can also be applied as an employee. The best way to get a pay rise is by being excellent in what you do. In fact what worked for me as an employee was not just to do my job very well but to take on extra responsibilities. In all the places I worked in I always did more than was required. I always went the extra mile and sooner or later, my employers had no other choice but to increase my pay because of the value I was creating. 

A very good example is in the case of Daniel in the Bible. Daniel was appointed to work with the King. The book of Daniel Chapter 6 verse 3 says "Daniel was promoted to one of the 120 governors over Babylon: “Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps, because an EXCELLENT spirit was in him.  And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

The key word here is excellence. 

Let us look at the definition of Excellence.

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF EXCELLENCE?

Wikipedia defines Excellence as a talent or quality which is unusually good and so surpasses ordinary standards. 

Another definition by the Free dictionary is the state, quality, or condition of excelling; superiority.

Synonyms include Synonyms: arete, class, distinction, eminence, excellency, fineness, goodness, greatness, high quality, merit, perfection, preeminence, purity, quality, superbness, supremacy, transcendence, virtue, worth, éclat.

As you focus on being excellent in your business, money will come. Customers will come, more business will come. 

A lot of people are going around hustling, looking for money and customers. Imagine if the flower forgets about beautiful beautiful, colorful and producing nectar and is going about hustling for bees. Imagine if a flower decides it also wants to be a tree or an animal?

I love this quote by Dekola "God gave man work in the garden of Eden by it turned into hustle when man sinned".  

God expects us to work and be excellent in the work He has given us. It is His priority to send the bees. 

I have outlined 7 tips you can adopt to enable you to be excellent but let me first of all talk about a woman and her purpose. 

BE A WOMAN OF PURPOSE

This can also be applied to a woman looking for a man for marriage. The Bible says a man finds a wife and a woman chooses. Unfortunately we don't adhere to this and women are going about looking for spouses. 

 Focus on your purpose

A woman should be focused on her purpose and it is in her place of purpose that the man that is meant for her will come and find her. 

This is what happened in one of the greatest love stories in History. Ruth and Orpah lost their husbands who were brothers. Their mother-in-law Naomi told them to return to their families and home land so they could remarry. Orpah left but Ruth decided to stay and take are of the woman who was now her mother. She followed Naomi back to her homeland and went to the fields to work so that she could earn a living for her and Naomi. It was while she was working that the owner of the field Boaz, a man of integrity found her. They got married after that. Ruth had faith that she would be fine as long as she was doing what she was supposed to be doing and God sent her a great man.

Like a flower a woman should focus on purpose. In her single years, she should discover her purpose and adopt the spirit of excellence. As she blossoms, like in the case of the flower where the bees are attracted to the flower with discount Colour, pattern, shape and level of nectar, her husband would find her.

7 TIPS TO BEING EXCELLENT

I have outlined 5 tips that would help you imbibe Excellence in all your endeavours

1. Desire the spirit of excellence

2. Believe you can achieve it

2. Benchmark against the best 

3. Read up and gain knowledge on being excellent

4.Set goals on how you would achieve this 

5. Develop a plan 

6. Work Hard

7. PRAY for the Spirit of Excellence and ask the Holy Spirit to help you (MOST IMPORTANT TIP). 

I hope you are encouraged to imbibe the spirit of excellence in your business, in your relationships, in your work, in your finances, and most especially your relationship with God. As you do so, all that you desire will come your way. 

So what area of your life do you desire to be Excellent in?

(c) Omilola

A Flower Bed or an Oak Tree

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Little by little, precept upon precept.           

An oak tree is considered one of the biggest trees in the world and is considered the King of the forest. Oak trees grows very slowly and can grow up to 40 meters high. Oak trees typically start blooming and producing acorns when it is about 40 years of age. There are some trees that have to wait till 50 years to start producing acorns. As the tree continues to grow, they start producing even more flowers and acorns until they are about 80 years old.  Oak trees produce the most flowers and acorns between the ages of 50 and 80. In a good year, one tree can produce thousands of acorns. The usual lifespan of an oak is about 200 years, but some live over 1,000 years. Oak trees are valued for their wood, appearance, fruit and importance to wild life( they host many species of insects and are a source of food to many animals and birds). In the past its leaves were used for healing dies ease such as kidney stones etc. Before the production of wheat flour, acorn was used to create flour which used to be used in baking.

 On the other hand a flower bed is very pretty and sprouts up very quickly and often dies quickly typically after one season. A flower bed is also used for fewer uses typically only for its appearance and scent.

We can learn a lot from an oak tree  in business and in all aspects of our lives.

I love this quote "it took 10 years for me to be an overnight success". Great things take time. Just because someone's business sprouts up over night through a lot of noise doesn't mean the business would survive. That business may very well be just a flower. It takes longer to build a skyscraper than bungalow. When constructing a building, you first have to work on the foundation. The taller the building the deeper the foundation.  The rule of thumb is 1:5 i.e. One part foundation for five part building. Do the maths. This is a micro wave generation we want everything quickly and fast. However God is a God of process. Even God took 7 days to create the earth. It didn't take him 1 day but 7 days. The Bible says. A day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day to God. So imagine what 7 days is like to God. The Bible also says a "For a dream comes with business and painful effort". It takes time.

 I hope you are encouraged to keep building your business, your brand, your marriage, your family, your life and even your walk with God. Don't look at what other people are doing, don't compare your business or brand to the next persons business. Just because they are more visible does not mean they will survive or outlive. They may just be a flower bed. A lot of people may also feel discouraged at the fact that they are in their late 30s, 40s or 50s, 60s or 70s and they haven't achieved much in life. Don't be discouraged the acorn only starts producing fruit at 40 and its produces the most fruit between age 50 and 80.

Take your time and build your sky scraper. Take your time and grow and just like the oak tree what you build will last for centuries and generations to come. Are you building an oak tree or a flower bed? Which would you rather be, an oak tree or a flower? #beinspired #beencouraged

The beauty of the Sunflower

Recently, the Lord has drawn my attention to the sunflower and I felt led to do some research on this beautiful plant. I was expecting to learn something new about God because the Bible says in Psalm 19 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge" however I didn't expect to learn something so PHENOMENAL.

The sunflower is a beautiful plant. It looks like the sun. It is often given as a gift to cheer someone up. It is regarded as the happiest plant. It is also regarded as a loyal plant. The sunflower has so many uses. Its seeds are eaten as a tasty snack. The seeds also produce sunflower oil which can be used for cooking, margarine or salads. You can also make flour from sunflower seeds which can be used to bake. Sunflower oil can also be used to make cosmetic products like shampoo, lip balm, lotion etc. Sunflower seeds is also eaten by animals and birds as food. The sunflower is also a bees delight as it produces a lot of honey. The stalk of a sunflower can also be used to make paper etc. 

Now these are wonderful features however what makes the sunflower so special is what I'm about to share.

When a sunflower is at the growth stage the sunflower follows the sun and its stalk grows toward light. It tilts during the day to face the sun. When it reaches maturity i.e. the flowers are in full bloom it stops tilting towards the sun and faces East permanently.  

I wondered why it stopped tracking the sun when it's mature and also why it's faces East. So I did some more research and realised that the sun rises from the East and sets in the West. So when it is mature instead of tracking the sun, it decides to face where the sun rises from permanently. 

This is quite deep and we can learn a lot from this loyal plant called the Sunflower. 

As human beings, as we grow and spend our lives on earth we ought to follow the SON. We ought to look to the SON for sustenance and for growth. Without the SON we would wither and die and never reach full potential. We would never bloom. However as we follow the SON, we would reach our full potential. We would grow, we would blossom. By the time we reach full maturity and we are blooming, we already know the SON based on our relationship in our growth years and so like the sunflower does when it reaches maturity by facing East where the sun rises, we must face the SON permanently and rest in His presence. Once morning comes because we are in alignment with the SON, we are immediately immersed in His presence and when we die we continue in HIs presence in eternity.

The SON I'm referring to is the LORD Jesus Christ. The Son of God, who is God himself. Without Him we are nothing. Without Him we can't have a fulfilled life. Without Him we won't reach our full potential. Without Him we would wither and die. With Him we would live a fulfilled life. With Him we would bear fruit just like the Sunflower bears fruit. With Him we would bring joy to all who come in contact with us. We would bring light. With Him we would deepen our relationship and grow to love Him and we would remain in His presence in this life and the next. 

Also like the sunflower, night comes and  there are moments in our life where there is darkness however the Sunflower in maturity knows that morning will definitely come. It is  just a matter of time and so it waits and faces East permanently. The same way we must have hope that Morning will come and God will be there. We must sit and wait for Him. We must sit in His presence.

I hope you are encouraged to turn towards the SON. To spend your life in pursuit of HIM. That way you would have a fulfilled life and would be prosperous in every aspect of your life. You will live the abundant life. You would bear fruit and be a blessing to the world and you will remain with Him in eternity when you leave this temporary place. 

God bless you.

A tribute to Peter Kayode Bello

A tribute to Peter Kayode Bello,  a young man I never met.

Last week I heard about the helicopter crash and I thought to myself I hope nobody I knew was on the craft. I didn't make much of it.

Then on Thursday I received a blackberry message from a friend of mine and our conversation was as follows.

F(friend): Omi
O(Omi): Hi love
F: When God said three score and ten is it a promise 
O: Hmmm
F: If yes why don't some people make it. The guy in my dp was 26. Such a great guy. My Aburo (younger brother)
O: Wow, what happened to him?
F: The helicopter crash yesterday. He was the co-pilot.
O: Awww
F: So accomplished. He was an engineer and a pilot. He was also a talented photographer. A sweet soul. His mothers pride. He went to University here in Ghana.
O: It is well. There are somethings we can't understand on this side of eternity but we can only trust God. God is good. He didn't cause the accident. He wants the best for us all. Also I think the way we see death is different from the way He sees death. 
F: I know He didn't cause it but He knew it would happen.
O: Death is a gateway to glory. It is a gateway to Heaven. A transition to Higher glory. While we mourn on this side of eternity, I believe Heaven rejoices when a saved person goes to Heaven.
F: I agree. Yes
O: Death is a gateway to a better place. I'm sure if He is in Heaven he won't even want to come back if given the opportunity.
F: I thought that today too.
O: It. is also a reminder of what is really important. Not our accomplishments. The Lord will comfort his mum. He will work it out for her good.
F: I agree. Amen.
O: Did you read my friends tribute to his late wife who died just 6 months after their wedding. She too was 26. It's on Bella Naija.
F: I'll look for it. God has been speaking to me since I heard today. And you just repeated everything He told me. I was saying He has to explain to me.
O: Google Oluwadamilola Famakinwa's tribute to his wife Tosin.
F: He was saying three score and 10 empty or one score and 6 full.
O: Wow, it's not how long. It's how well. Jesus died at 33. It's about fulfilling the purpose God put us here to do.
F: Yes it is. Thank you
O: We thank God for His word. Was ChristIan?
F: Yes he was.
O: The Bible says to live is Christ and to die is gain.
F: yes.

The next morning my aunt sent me blackberry message Isaiah 66:13 "As one whom his mother comforters, so will I comfort you and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem." I saw this and got a bit scared. Around the same time, facebook and Instagram had so many pictures of this Peter Bello. On Sunday, someone I follow on Instagram, Debola Williams, wrote a tribute to Peter Bello, but I didn't get to read it.

I don't work on Mondays, as it is my sabbath, so I took out time to read Debola's tribute and I ended up going on the Instagram pages of Peters friends to read all they had to say about him. 
I recently experienced the loss of a friend recently, I prayed and felt God say He wanted me to write. So here it goes.

Wow, Peter Bello. What a remarkable young man. Full of life. He fulfilled so many dreams. Handsome, tall, well built. He had a kind heart. He loved his friends. He put people he loved before him. He was a giver. He touched everyone he met. He seemed like a lover of life. He seemed fearless. An Angel in disguise as a human. He followed his passion and died while doing a job he loved so much. I can't imagine what his parents, his siblings and friends are going through. I can only remember how I felt when Tosin died, it was a horrible, gut wrenching, dark, painful experience. It didn't make sense. Tosin too had so much going for her. Her life had just started. What helped me through that week was the love of God, the fellowship of believers. I cried and cried but tears couldn't bring Tosin back. She had gone to a better place and it was Gods will. 
Peter like Tosin is in a better place. They are away from this fallen world. They wouldn't want to come back if given the opportunity. 

It is not how long but how well. Jesus too died at 33 and He fulfilled His purpose. This place is temporary. We are on BORROWED time. Yes we should fulfil our dreams. We should #doitafraid. But at the end of the day, what matters most is your reconciliation to our Heavenly Father.
First you must be saved. Second, you must fulfil your God given purpose. 

I saw a video of Peter which was taken a couple of hours before his death. He looked so happy, so full of life. He never knew he would die in a few hours.
We can never know the hour or time. A few people are lucky, for instance, if they are sick and know they would die soon but most times death comes suddenly. 

Since we don't know the time or day, we should live everyday fully as though it were our last, we should thank God for each morning we wake up and for each day we go to sleep. We should do the things He lays in our heart to do. We should love. We should forgive. We should do what He wants and we should live for the creator who put us here. 

Like in Isaiah 66:13: The Lord will comfort everyone that Peter has left behind. He will wipe away every tear. He will heal wounds. He will mend broken hearts.

Peter has run his own race, it is now up to you to run your own race and finish well. 

Rest in Peace, Peter Bello, a man who touched so many lives even in death.



Sent from my iPad

My testimony: It is the greatness of God that did this Praise the Lord.

In May/June 2012, I decided I was ready to have my third child, a son that I so desired. Also around the same time I noticed that my periods had changed. The colour, consistency and content were different from the norm. My periods became darker, were late and lasted longer. I thought it must be the copper coil that I was using. So I decided to remove the coil.  I started trying to conceive, using the ovulation kit etc to ensure I had a boy but I wasn’t getting pregnant. A couple of months later the periods were still the same. After a couple of examinations, my doctor said I had polycystic ovaries which causes infertility. Now this came as a shock since I already had two kids. I also recall that as soon as he checked my cervix, he asked when last I did a pap smear. I told him and he said since the results were fine then there was no cause for alarm. According to him I had cervical erosion which apparently could be a symptom of a bigger problem or as a result of child bearing.

After I was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries in January 2013, I cried and told my husband. He said I shouldn’t worry about it and I should trust God.  That Sunday we went to Church as we normally do. At our church, Guiding Light Assembly, towards the end of Sunday service, a basket is passed around which contains bible scriptures in folded pieces of papers. Each member of the congregation is expected to pick a bible promise. On numerous occasions God has spoken to me through those promises. On this particular Sunday, my husband picked a promise Psalm 128:3 “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons like Olive shoots around your table”.  He showed it to me and I believed God was speaking to us. The following week I picked the same Bible verse and I knew that God was talking to us. He was confirming what he already told us a week earlier.  I believed it and knew that in God’s time I would have my son. By summer 2013, I began to worry again when nothing had happened. I went to see another doctor who also confirmed I had polycystic ovaries. No one could really say what I needed to do to reverse the condition. Anyway at this point, I decided to just let go and let GOD.

February 2014, I felt something in my breast that felt like a lump. I told my cousin and she prayed with me and advised I go get it checked. As usual I procrastinated and didn’t get it checked. Then one Sunday in March, we had a guest minister from the States, Francina Norman, a woman blessed with a gift of prophecy. She preached that day and in summary the message was that when God wants to enlarge your capacity or container, he often removes certain things in your container and this is often a painful process.  I believed strongly that the message was for me from God. Then after preaching, she began to prophecy and then she said there is a lady in the congregation with a lump in her breast and the lady should come out now. I went out with about 4 other ladies. Then she prayed for us and everyone apart from me said their lump had disappeared. She began to pray for me saying Lord you must heal her too. She then touched me saying the Lord will turn your sorrow into joy and I fell down. When I got up I was so embarrassed that the whole Church now knew my predicament.

Meanwhile my best friend, hadn’t been to Church in a very long time and that day she happened to come to Church and coincidentally sat right next to me. So after service, she called saying “Omi I didn’t know you had a lump ..….” . She also said and that another of our friend who has a breast cancer foundation had  been in Church and called her out of concern. She got the number of a doctor for me and I decided to go get it checked. I called the doctor and booked an appointment, however, that whole week all attempts to see the doctor were futile.  I made several attempts to go get checked but for some reason, something kept happening that made it impossible for me to go (fuel scarcity, car problems etc).  At one point I was confused and even told another friend that I wasn’t sure what was going on, that was it God preventing me from going to see this particular doctor or was it the devil.  

By the weekend, I remembered I had a swelling in my gum and decided to go get it checked on Monday before going to get my breasts checked. I went to the dentist and they decided to do an x-ray and then said I needed to see a maxillor facial surgeon to confirm what they thought they saw. They said I would have to wait another week to see him. You can imagine how I was feeling at this point. From a lump in my breast to the fear of a lump in my gum. I told a lady who had been praying with me during this process, what the dentist had said and she said she was going to take me to another dentist to get another opinion and that she would pick me up the following day.  The next morning I received a text message early in the morning around 5 am from a friend of mine saying : “Good morning Omi, God said to remind you that He is your shepherd and you will not want, that He anoints your head and protects you from the evil one. That his goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life”. I received it and believed that as a shepherd guides its flocks, the Lord will guide me. 

I went to see this other dentist which is considered the best in Nigeria and he said I had nothing to worry about that it was just excess bone deposits which occur in some people. I then told him that I was worried because I had also felt a lump in my breast and thought the two were connected and he advised me to go check the lump out immediately. I called the doctor I had tried to see the previous week and she was annoyed  and basically said I had been wasting her time and that she was leaving the office shortly . I told her I was on my way. I got to her office but didn’t see her and saw another doctor, who then checked and said she didn’t think there was anything there but that she would rather I get another opinion and asked me to come the next day to see two of her other colleagues. I got there the next day but still didn’t meet the doctor I had been trying to see and saw another doctor. She checked me and said I was fine but that she would like to talk to me in her office. I went to her office and she sat me down and educated me on female health etc, She took her time and we were there for over an hour talking through her presentation slides and also her families experience with cancer. She wasn’t even feeling well and wasn’t supposed to be at work that day but it didn’t deter her from doing her job. Towards the end of our discussions, she said the top three killers of women are breast cancer, cervical cancer etc. At that point I remembered that I was due for a pap smear and asked if they did it at their clinic. She said they didn’t but that she could recommend a good doctor. She gave me his number and I drove all the way from Lekki to Surulere to this clinic. 

I got checked and was told; I had pre-cancer cells in my cervix and needed treatment. I asked what kind of treatment I needed and I was told I needed a cryotheraphy which is a procedure that involves freezing the affected area and burning it off. Alarmed, I asked how much it would cost and the doctor told me the cost of treatment. I didn’t have money on me and so I told the doctor that I would come back to do the treatment and he said to me, you look like someone that would pay. We would do it for you and you can come back to pay us later. Without checking the credentials of the hospital, doctor or even the consequences of the treatment and without even consulting with my husband first, I did the treatment.  It wasn’t until after I did the treatment that I thought to myself how I could have gone through something like that without telling anyone. The normal thing to do would have been to first of all discuss it with my husband, get a second opinion before deciding on what to do but I guess God had other plans. It was as though I was on remote control, everything happened so fast. So when I got home I told my hubby and we thanked God.  

The next day, I went to a restaurant opening and I bumped into the doctor I had tried to see several times with regards to the breast lump. I spoke to her and told her everything that had happened that week. She said I shouldn’t have done a cryotherapy, that there are consequences etc, etc. Basically she put fear and doubt in me. I told my hubby and he said, don’t you believe in God. At that point I realized why God had prevented me from seeing this doctor all week. He had a plan for me and he directed me to who he wanted me to speak to and where he wanted me to go. I stood on the words of encouragement from my husband and believed that God was in control.

At the end of the month, my period came and for the first time in about 3 years, my flow was fresh and exactly what it had been previously. Immediately I knew I had been healed and I thanked God. The next three months, my periods were regular and consistent. No more darkish brown and no more delays. I began to think again about getting pregnant but I thought to wait for a while to ensure my cervix had healed.

Around that same time I started co-hosting the talk show the Heart of the Matter and we recorded about three episodes on fertility. I interviewed a fertility doctor and I began to think of getting my self-checked again especially since I had been diagnosed with polycystic ovaries. I also interviewed a lady who had waited 10 years to have her kids, she couldn’t and in the 10^th year she opted for surrogacy. This too wasn’t an easy process and eventually she had twins three years later through surrogacy. After hearing her story and seeing how much she went through both physically, financially and emotionally, I realized how blessed I was and I said I was content with my two girls and didn’t need to have any more. I stopped obsessing about having a baby boy. Later that month (about 3-4 weeks), I got up one morning to go to work and by my bedside I saw a Bible promise I had picked in Church a while ago Psalm 127:3 ”Lo children are a heritage of the Lord and  the fruit of the womb His reward”.  As I was about to leave the house, I checked through my bag and picked up the same Bible promise. When I got to my office , I saw the same bible promise at my desk. I then said to myself, God must be saying something. I hadn’t even missed my period and I went home and did a pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant.

On the 25^th of April, 2015, the Lord blessed us with  beautiful, baby boy who weighed 4.26 kg/9.3pounds. I had a very quick labour (about 3 hours) and didn’t even know I was in labour.  When I got to the hospital I was already 4 cm dialated. All the while I thought I was having Braxton Hicks.

Everyone says my son is so beautiful and so cute and it is the Lords doing. I cannot even begin to say all the wonderful things God did even during the pregnancy. All I can say is that God is never late and always on time. His ways are not our ways but His ways are far better than ours. He would always do exceedingly and abundantly above your wildest imaginations.

See the delay in getting pregnant was for a purpose. If I had gotten pregnant when I wanted to I would not be here today. Pregnancy is said to aggravate diseases and the pre-cancer cells may have developed into cancer. God knew this and removed the cells before I got pregnant. He also knew it wasn’t the right time. The time my son has come is perfect timing and I have received so many confirmations to this effect. See we need to learn to trust His timing. Delay is not denial. ‘Not yet ‘does not mean ‘No’. He sees the bigger picture, He sees the future. We must learn to trust his timing. Then suddenly, when you least expect it, He answers your prayers and it is beautiful, it is beyond your wildest imagination. It is more than you can ever imagine.

I pray this encourages you. I pray it gives you peace that that thing which you have been waiting for would surely come to pass. I pray that it also gives you confidence to trust in His will and even if He says no, it is for your own good. Today I read something that said on Good Friday, the disciples and Mary thought it was over but then Sunday came and Jesus resurrected. It’s not over yet, your Sunday is on its way.

Stay blessed and have a wonderful Easter. Remember Jesus is the reason for the season. 

Fear of disappointment by Funmi Aboderin

Fear of disappointment 

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23

Sometimes we open up, allow ourselves become vulnerable and decide to try again..Try to let someone in… 

We risk our fear of disappointment, our vulnerability and most of all our hearts; we finally drop the guard we've kept up for so long, we do this all just to try again... to fall again. 

In hope of things working out this time around, with the same person or a new person, we give it our all, invest our time and emotions.

But the question is why do we try again? Aren't we supposed to guard our hearts above all? Why do we put our hearts at risk to try again, is it cause we believe that there is that one out there, that might not be your first love but intends on being your last love?

Or are we just insane? Do we try the same thing, over and over again, expecting a different result? 

But there are some of us that are afraid to try, because the fear of disappointment overshadows their urge to love, so they refuse to try...

They refuse to invest feelings and they refuse to fall, they decide to guard their hearts.

They go against the human nature that argues that we all long to  love and be loved.. But not these people, they believe life is perfect without having to fall....

.......after all they do not want to have to become vulnerable

The fear of disappointment overshadows everything else.

And I tell you, that's the easy way out because you never experience life till you step out of your comfort zone 

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" 1 Cor 13:13

Put off the old and put on the new

As I sat down at my desk trying to put the weekly bulletin together, my laptop started its usual “wahala”.

 The screen began to flicker, after about a few taps on the back, I finally had an “a-ha” moment.

A few years ago, my dad had given me his laptop when I asked him for a laptop. After about two years the laptop started acting up, the screen would flicker from time to time and finally one day it went completely “bonkers”. Thankfully I had been working off my flash drive and was able to save most of my documents.  My mum took the laptop to the computer village to fix it and they were able to sort it out.

During this period, the office had bought a brand new laptop for the department. The only challenge with this new laptop is that the application installed is Windows 8. Rather than taking time out to learn how the new and improved version works, I reverted to my old laptop. Today I had to climb a fleet of stairs carrying my two laptops. So what really is my problem? Why would I rather tap my old laptop on the back than take time to experience the joys of the new laptop?

I believe this is how we are with regards to our Christian walk. There are many things that are ours due to Christ sacrifice on the cross, things such as forgiveness, health, peace, joy, prosperity etc. However many of us choose the old way of life. Some of us try the new life but still hold onto aspects of the old life. We would rather stick to the old covenant than transfer to the new covenant. This thing called Grace is just too difficult to understand so we would rather stick to works and the law. If this is you, I implore you to put off the old way of life and come into the blessings of the new covenant. Christ has done exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ever imagine or hope for.