Matthew 6: 25-34: But They Found Me

Over the course of the last 2 years I have looked for things. The first was a job, the second was a house, then a job again and then a side business.

As with each one I had what I thought best for me and went right out to get same. I searched with as much passion I could ever muster. Never failed to tell everyone I came across my specifications and why if they desired to know why I seemed so set in my ways.

Then they found me, one after the other, not immediately, naa between my first job and my house was the interval of a little over a year.
Job 1 was not one of my options of places I’d like to work in…thinking about it now it’s amazing. Twas from a causal barter with a friend of mine. Had been discussing my search and how I just left Lagos yet again. ‘Come to Lagos she said, and I’d help you to get a job,’ ‘okay I said’. The next time I got into Lagos I let her know. ‘O ya I am here, where is the job?’. Two months later I got a job…I got her job, her seat, her works station… and I fell in love with aviation.

I recall the tears…(I have since come to terms with the fact that I tear easily…reading a book, reading news, watching a movie…) the prayers, the applications, the tests, the interviews… that was the utmost I talked daily with God on. He gave it to me and it was tailored made for me. Not only did I genuinely enjoy it, it challenged me and taught me while it afforded me a living balance.

Yea in the course of one year I spent searching for the job… no November 2010 – August 2011, I shuttled between Lagos, Port Harcourt and a month in Abuja. It seemed like an herculean task. That’s what I thought a couple of times….

But the job found me.

24th April 2013.

Of Ideas & Side Business

So for a long while I had considered various options I could explore as a side business. My motivation lay in the fact that during my service year back in Minna I successfully sold credit card of the major telecom lines to fellow corpers, my colleagues at work and my neighbours in my compound. It sure did help my finances for that year.

Looking at the number of credit card vendors across the length and breadth of Lagos…that option died naturally. I then ventured into Forever Living Products seeing that I use quite a number of their products. This business seemed to tell me marketing is not really me…am yet to believe it though. Then I attempted book sale…being a lover of books I keyed into a beautiful idea to sell a particular book…hmmm. If I thought my selling skills were bad with FLP, this book sales was a no no… out of 10 books, I bought one as a gift to someone, got someone to pay for another copy for a friend, I sold 3 of them with the help of a friend. The remaining I gave to my sister to help sell same.

Taking note that the aim of my side business if to improve my finances, I can say I’ve found the right side business…okay it found me, that’s the way I see it. For it promises to improve my finances…I don’t have to sell anything, no I do not have to market anything. I simply have to give peoples trash to recyclers and get stuff in return. And no its not in money but I get things in money’s worth.

PS: He has given me ideas to get and make wealth.

© 24th April 2013.

Power to Get Wealth

Recently as I followed the unfolding financial saga of Cyprus online I began thinking: ‘if this were Nigeria, what would we have done differently as a preventive measure’. I pondered over the thought and came up with an idea. That people trade in anything and everything but money. In that, I give service in exchange for another service.

Yes, I recall reading a few times of people either trying to stay debt free or protect the environment, I think one was a response to a financial issue (cannot quite recall) in some foreign country. They were rendering services such as mowing lawns etc in exchange for meals, a place to sleep, never money.

After dwelling on this for less than an hour I wondered how this idea can be sold to Nigerians. We sure love to spend money; we sure love money in cash also.

Reading 1 Chronicles two days back; I noticed some transactions done without money being the exchange for any of the trade deals. For timber, Solomon gave feeding and other stuffs to another king. Aha! I recall, I had thought to me how this idea would work pretty well if the agricultural sector of this nation flourishes without apologies. Be it small scale or large scale, the difference it imparts are…numerous!

Recalling my growing up years we had a fruit farm behind our house: cashew, guava: red and white, grape, lemon, oranges, a budding Isekwu (do not know the English name), banana, mango, most of them were given up at a point to host a poultry but then a vegetable farm soon came to life: Ugwu, water leaf, bitter leaf, scent leaf. The banana and plantain plantation remained… the poultry proved good a tenant, provided needful manure to the farm.

With a flourishing agricultural sector, it would be so easy to give food stuffs in exchange for services…*thinking*. In exchange for your useable trash you could let me shop without cash the worth of your trash. For using my skill in babysitting your kids you would give me …*please share your thoughts*

With all the economic recession going on in Europe particularly, I do think we should explore preventive measures to forestall it ever being our reality.

It’s an idea I am still pondering upon.

© 24th April, 2013.

Never Alone or Empty

I recall Easter 2012, while on my way to church I boarded a wrong bus…yes wrong bus cause I got robbed of my bag with all inside it *of course*. As they dropped me off a moving bus shaking with fright I wondered how I’d get come place – either back home or to church. Suddenly it dawned on me that my phone (thank you Lord) was in my hand hidden by my shawl.

Fast forward, recently a friend’s car packed up…naa it didn’t up and leave him. It simply stopped working. As I thought about his predicament of now having to take public transport when he could not get a ride, I realised that he did have a soft landing… another friend of ours had recently bought a car and thus helped him home and to church on rehearsals and church days…

It got me thinking, that no matter how down and out our situations may be, God never leaves us with nothing. Most times we simply don’t see it that way, particularly when hurting from the pain of landing on your bottom from a moving bus.

Am so sure the widow of Zarephath didn’t see how last meal as anything to reckon or the widow of the priest who was scared she would lose her sons to the creditors didn’t considered the oil as important.

One thing is for sure, God everly (Itse’s English) has His children at heart and never will He leave us, or leave us with nothing.

© 7th April 2013.

25 Random Things About Me

1. I love the colours blue, brown, green and black.

2. I would truly love to learn how to ride a power bike and own one.

3. I don’t like cockroaches & all creepy things in that family.

4. I love meeting members of my extended family i’ve never met before.

5. Am not a TV person, but a good book can hold my attention for hours.

6. Music i truly believe is the food of love, life and good stuffs.

7. I dream of going to France, its my dream vac spot (don’t ask me why, cause i don’t really know) with Malaysia as the 2nd place.

8. Writing is part of me: from diary entries to poetry to articles, you name it.

9. Hanging out with family, friends, people i love who love me right back is a great way to have fun.

10. Sports: I love basketball cause the guys are tall and cute!

11. I am me…opinionated, quiet with strangers, anonying some days, but crazy about God.

12. I believe strongly in friendships, maintaining them is one work i’d never retire from.

13. I want to learn these languages: Spanish (its the language of love) & Dutch.

14. I love my sleep….

15. Travelling is a way of life, i’ve embraced it beautifully.

16. Am vain in my own way…want to be cremated at the end of my walk on earth.

17. I dreamed of many things to be in a life: from being a police (thanks to Police Academy), to a journalist that wrote ‘hot’ stuff, but finally settled for law…yet to change my mind on this.

18. Life is beautiful…it all depends on the vantage point you choose.

19. My fave singers are Out of Eden…love, peace & happiness is my current fave of theirs…it changes from time to time.

20. I have great dreams…in but a while you’ll get to see them being manifested.

21. I love dancing, watching people dance and a learning new dance steps.

22. I didn’t always love cooking, but since i started loving it, it ceased to be a chore.

23. Food is not me, i eat so that i don’t faint or stop functioning properly.

24. I wish i could paint and sketch pretty pictures

25. Nature: water, birds, trees and all them stuffs make the world a really pretty sight to behold.

I first wrote this on the 20th day of October 2009. Fast forward 22dn day of April 2013… Well one thing has surely changed: No 23- I now love food, I guess the greatest spur is noting I can eat and not add anything *thank you Jesus*. Also No 19: Today I don’t have any favourite singer or singers, I enjoy so many different songs… More by Lawrence Flowers and Only You by Nikki Laoye are it for me now though.

Just a little about me…
What are your 25 random things?

22nd April 2013

Speak & See

God said… and He saw
Jezebel spoke… and Elijah Saw

As cliché as it sounds, there is power when people speak. The depth of the power is scary in some degrees and quite a faith booster on the other hand; Ça depends on your vantage view.

It’s scary when I pause to think that someone who is not God, not me and does not want the best for me speaks and I “just” might see it. #declaring – all evil speakers are silenced Amen. The wisest man recorded that life and death lies in the power of the tongue…

As a faith booster it encourages me declare the truth I find daily in His Word… watching them take on flesh in my life pushes me to keep speaking over my life and all that concerns me and those around me.

When we speak, we do create the visible out of the invisible; the physical out of the spiritual. The power of our words cannot be over emphasised. What are you speaking into your life, your tomorrow, your career, your purpose… and who are you letting speak into your life and future? Know this for sure, you will see it.

© 18th March 2013.

Lucky or Favour… of he & He

Passed by facebook to respond to the question of “what’s on your mind?” I wrote – I wanna give my best to you, cause you deserve this and more, I wanna make you smile…

A friend commented that the guy is lucky… I realised he thought I was referring to a guy… on a second look at my lines from two songs, it could actually have so passed. However as I was talking to God I decided to respond. In response to his comment I had to think about it… He was not lucky; luck is definitely not a word I’d use for Him. Thinking it over, it was not truly whether He was lucky but it brought to fore that I was favoured.

Yes I have been divinely and highly favoured. To have been chosen by Him, either ways or angles I viewed my relationship with Him, I was the party better advantaged for whether I returned His love or not He is who He is. Yet apart from Him there is no me… I truly don’t live.

To give Him my best or make Him smile can never (in my thoughts) adequately express my heart—bone marrow—felt appreciation for His favour freely bestowed upon me

PS: I’d try to not leave ambiguous responses on any social network.

© 13th March 2013.