I may have mentioned this before in another post but I enjoy driving. I will volunteer to drive almost 100% of the time so it’s not surprising that I will look for any excuse to take long drives. I took a rather unusual road trip a few months ago and I knew I would need to share my experiences eventually.

As I made preparations for that trip, I asked around for ideas including the best driving routes. “The destination is beautiful but expect winding roads,” they told me. That did not deter me. I was excited for the break and so I set out, fully aware of those winding roads that l would need to conquer before I could enjoy my mini vacation.

The drive was a pleasant one. The sun shone brightly in the sky and a long stretch of calm, bright blue ocean buzzed with its own dormant strength. There were a few curves here and there and I was starting to get relieved by the prospect that nauseating curves would not be my experience.  

More than halfway through the journey, my GPS gave me a signal that I would need to take a right turn and sure enough, not long after, an intersection stared directly at me and then a sign that read – gravel road ahead. As if that was not enough there was another one – you know those picture road signs? Yes this one showed that I was heading onto a winding road for the next 22kms. “This is it! The winding roads are here,” I thought.  “Should I turn back now?”

“Focus on the goal,” I told myself. “It’s only 22 kms,” I reasoned. As it turned out, these would be some of the longest 22 kms of my life.

The first thing I noticed while driving up the steep gravel road was that it was quite narrow.  Just the thought of another vehicle approaching from the other direction terrified me. Any wrong move would lead one of the cars down the cliff without a doubt. I kept driving and looked at the GPS. 21kms to go!! It felt as though I had done 15km already but I was only getting started!!

I also noticed that all the other vehicles that had so graciously accompanied me from the beginning of my trip had somehow disappeared. There were no vehicles in sight on this gravel road for what seemed to me like eternity and I started to fear that I was lost. Phone reception was unavailable at this stage and as I realised this I felt a huge sense of helplessness. What had I done? To make matters worse, the sky was increasingly darkening and it was starting to drizzle.  Did I mention the roads were narrow? Because of this I could not turn back so I kept going.  I would check my GPS again and again and each time it seemed I had only advanced a couple of hundred of metres, a kilometre at most. I became increasingly desperate and began to pray that God would help me to figure out if I was on the right path. I had not seen one car since I left the main road. I must have driven for about three minutes after saying that prayer when I saw a car parked up by a parking bay. I was so relieved.  There was no one in the car and so I assumed the driver was hiking in the forest but that gave me enough hope to keep going.  

The road didn’t get easier to manoeuvre unfortunately. It grew steeper. The sky grew even darker and the air grew foggier. I was terrified and was almost at the point of tears when about 10km into the journey I saw a Black Mitsubishi Outlander driving in front of me – making its way possibly to my destination as well. I was ecstatic. It felt to me that God had sent me an Angel in the form of a Mitsubishi Outlander driver. In addition to that, another vehicle approached from the other direction. I started screaming with joy.

After that point I checked the GPS and saw that I had another 5kms to travel on the gravel road and by then we (the people in the Mitsubishi Outlander and I) had started to descend although the road was still quite windy. As we made the descent, we stumbled onto a flooded portion of the road and at that point, the Outlander  stopped completely and a passenger slid out of the car to investigate the situation. He went back into the car and must have assessed the hazard to be low because just after, the Outlander drove over the flooded section. I took the leap of faith and crossed too. The Outlander lingered on afterwards as though to make sure I had also crossed safely. This was at about 17kms into the gravel road. There was definitely no turning back now.

About 3kms later, the Outlander slowed down and parked up on the side of the road as if to say – “My job here is done.” I was very grateful for having journeyed with this car and felt a level of confidence to complete the lag on my own. I was starting to get excited at the thought of completing the journey. A few more minutes and I would be on a “normal” road again!!

I got to my destination safely and journaled my experience straight away.  It was prettier than I had imagined and the pictures that I had seen of it did not do it justice I believe. I rented a little apartment which overlooked the beach and woke up to glorious views each day. What if I had turned back?

I am grateful to God for helping me throughout that journey and for making it possible for me to be in a place where I could experience the joys of His creation. I learnt a lot while driving that day. I know I have written something else about lessons learnt from a road trip yet for some reason this driving experience was more personal – as if God was speaking directly to me about a situation I was facing and urging me not to give up. Perhaps you learnt a few things too through my experience or picked up a few things that resonated with you? I hope so. There will be good times in life – treasure them and yet there will be difficult times. Some difficult times will seem to go on and on and for ages – treasure those too. Learn all that you can from them. Sometimes even with prayer things don’t appear to come right in an instant. At times it will look as though there is no help in sight and that you are on the journey alone. You are not. Look out for those little things that God uses to encourage you to stay on track and encourage others as well. You may be their Mitsubishi Outlander 😊

Father in Heaven please be with everyone who reads this post. Please help them in their individual journeys. Encourage them, guide them and help them to press on and never give up when they experience difficult and unsettling challenges. Lord help each person who reads this to realise and appreciate the good work that You have begun in their lives and not to allow the enemy to destroy their peace and joy and all that You have started to build in them. In Jesus’ name I pray Amen.

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

In scripture, there are a number of examples of men and women who did great things, unfathomable even, under the direction and guidance of God. One of them was the Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was appointed by God to be a prophet. In fact, before he was even formed in his mother’s womb, scripture reveals that God had already set him apart for this purpose.

When this plan was revealed to him, he resisted the call and doubted his ability reasoning that he was only a child and did not know how to speak. However, God assured Jeremiah that He would be with him and that He would give him the words to say and God did exactly as He had promised.

What other examples come to your mind?

I am fully convinced that Jeremiah lived His life to its fullest potential as he did exactly what God had carefully planned for his life. Imagine if Jeremiah had resisted God’s call and decided to do something else. Would he have lived his life to its fullest potential? I don’t think so.

I was introduced to a poem some time ago which really inspired me and is entitled- A tandem ride with God. It reminds me constantly that there is no better place to be than where God wants me to be. No better calling, than the one that God has placed upon my life.

God will do mighty works through us too and like Jeremiah, write pages in our lives that we would not have thought possible.  When these opportunities are presented to us, though unworthy or unqualified we may feel, we have to trust that He will help us too. We are in good hands.

A Tandem Ride With God

I used to think of God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there, sort of like a President. I recognised His picture when I saw it, but I didn’t really know Him.

But later on, when I met Jesus, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Jesus was in the back helping me pedal. I didn’t know just when it was He suggested we change, but life has not been the same since I took the back-seat to Jesus, my Lord. He makes life exciting. When I had control, I thought I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places and at break-through speeds; it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it often looked like madness, He said, “Pedal!” I was worried and anxious and asked, “Where are you taking me?” He laughed and didn’t answer and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into adventure. And when I’d say, “I’m scared”, He’d lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me their gifts to take on my journey, our journey, my Lord’s and mine. And we were off again. He said, “Give the gifts away; they’re extra baggage, too much weight.” So I did, to the people we met, and I found in giving I received, and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He’d wreck it, but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear high rocks, fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I’m beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus.

And when I’ sure I just can’t do anymore, He just smiles and says… “Pedal.”

“How is it that you have no faith?” This is a question that Jesus asked His disciples at one time when they were caught in a storm and to be honest I think that Jesus would ask me the same question considering how I often respond in the “stormy seasons” of my life. I know I can use some more faith.

I know there is hope though. I say this because the very same disciples that Jesus said had no faith went on to do great and wonderful things. Infact, Jesus would later prophesy that they would do greater things than He had done and boy did they!! The disciples took the gospel beyond Jerusalem and Judea – spreading it to Asia including India, Europe and parts of Africa. They experienced great calamities and distress as they shared this good news. Their Ministry was filled with immense torture, humiliation and alienation. They were ridiculed for their beliefs yet they soldiered on in their mission.

Before He died, Jesus taught His disciples that if they had faith like a mustard seed, they would be able to do great things and anything would be possible for them. Why mustard seeds? It was interesting for me to read that a mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds in the world. When fully grown however, a mustard tree can reach up to seven metres in height and can be as wide as it is tall. Pretty big hey?

Could it be that Jesus was highlighting that faith, like a mustard seeds could grow? It grew for the disciples. It really did – just look at what they were able to accomplish!! It can also grow for me and you. This is why there is hope.

A story is told of Charlemagne, king of the Holy Roman Empire. King Charlemagne bowed to no one. It is said that when the Pope was about to place the crown on this head, Charlemagne seized it and crowned himself. This ruler, yet strong and feared during his lifetime, grew old. Facing death, he left instructions as to how his remains were to be handled. He was to be clad in His royal robes with a crown on his head, sceptre in hand and even seated on his throne. The tomb was to be sealed tight, never to be broken. He would reign forever even in his death!!

His servants did as he had instructed and closed the tomb. The years went by; the winds blew and shower fell on Charlemagne’s tomb. And one day the wind carried a tiny seed, and it lodged in a crack. The rain fell and the seed sprouted. It found a little soil and put down its roots which expanded the crack and the wind carried in more soil and the plant grew larger. It grew and grew until one day the tomb cracked open to reveal a skeleton slumped on a dusty throne, robes rotted away, crown fallen to the earth, sceptre in the dust. The mighty Charlemagne’s plans had been defeated by the power of a seed.

Remember; seeds grow in the right conditions. Faith, like seeds will also grow in the right conditions. I can think of studying the bible, prayer and maintaining a healthy support network that encourages spiritual growth as factors that influence growth. I’m sure you can think of many more ways to cultivate faith and trust that you will put them into practise. May God bless your faith journey.

I would like you to explore beauty with me. What really is beauty? Mankind spends millions, even billions of dollars each year in their quest for it- you know those age defying looks, flawless bodies, you name it. Does mankind look in vain? Do all those millions, yet billions of dollars find us the beauty that we search for? 

The definition of beauty has been a long debated subject. I can’t even remember why I decided to write about beauty but as I have been reflecting on the subject, it has seemed to me that as societies have changed and ideas have evolved, so has the standard and measure of what is beautiful and what is not. Just think of it!! Do you remember a time when for a woman to even deserve the title – beautiful, she had to be very slender? Do you think that this could be the reason why beauty pageants have typically attracted women who fit that description?

Let’s talk about social media. Have you noticed how some aspects of social media seem to be challenging some of the ideas that we’ve had of beauty and what it is? I think of social media pages where women showcase their natural hair. Remember a time when hair needed to be a certain way to be beautiful? What about pages where women share ideas about how they to go without makeup and where bigger sized women exchange ideas about what outfits to wear? You name it, it is there and from all corners of the world, silently challenging some of the ideas that we have grown up with, ideas mostly penned by media.

Did you notice how in 2019, all the major beauty pageants that took place in America were won by black women? Did black women suddenly become beautiful in 2019? Absolutely not!! However, I believe that the definition of what beauty is has evolved in the last little while because at some point, black women were not seen as representing beauty. So then again I ask the question. What is beauty? Does it have anything to do with one’s skin colour or the way clothes sit on one’s body? Just questions, no answers, challenging your understanding of beauty and what it is and isn’t and the very sources from which your ideas may have come from.

Another question. Is it possible to spend millions of dollars on physical enhancement surgeries in a quest for beauty and still feel miserable and lacking in beauty?

I believe that our societies shape the ideas that we have of beauty and what being beautiful looks like. Could it be that regardless of what society says, for every individual, real beauty begins with a sound mind? When I imagine a sound mind, I imagine a mind that is able to cope and maintain healthy relationships, one that is balanced and well-grounded in what is true, one that is secure and positive. The list can be longer.

One of my favourite quotations has been credited to Eleanor Roosevelt and it says, “No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” I not only like this quote, I believe it is true and also believe that one who has a sound and healthy mind is capable of practising this principle. With a sound mind I believe that if society were to label one as lacking in beauty, one would be strong enough to look themselves in the mirror and say “No!! I am beautiful.” Don’t get me wrong. Looking good is awesome but is there any value in focusing on how we look on the outside at the expense of the heart and mind? Inner beauty- that’s what they call it.

I believe in God. I believe that He created this world in all its splendour. The mountains, the seas, the waterfalls, the animals, the purple, yellow, orange flowers, the little shrubs and the big trees- everything. I believe in the creator God and often marvel at His great sense of beauty and organisation. I think of how the flowers for example come in different colours and varieties. Very beautiful and yet different. Pretty much like us humans isn’t it? Beautiful – yet different.

If you do not believe in God and the fact that He created you then I have a question for you. What if God really did? If He did (which I believe), that would mean that you are part of His wonderful and beautiful creation. He made all things beautiful – including you.

So back to the question- What is beauty? It’s now up to you to define it for yourself. I hope that whatever your definition, it may be grounded in the truth and not societal pressures. I hope that you do not always feel pressure to look a certain way and spend large amounts of money to be whom society has said you should be in the name of beauty. I hope that you remember that society’s measure of beauty is always changing but the creator God never changes. When He sees you He says, “I made you fearfully and wonderfully my child.”

My workmate and friend gifted me an orchid when I moved into my office about 10 months ago and I named it Sofia. The orchid looked beautiful with two little purple flowers but because it was a plant, I knew I would have to take good care of it in order for it to survive.

I often get asked why I named it Sofia. Well, I hadn’t had much success growing anything in the past and I really wanted Sofia to survive. I heard that talking to plants helps them grow and it needed a name for me to converse with it – right? It so happens that Sofia is the first name that came to my mind!!

After she had been gifted to me, within a few weeks of watering and caring for Sofia, her flowers started to wane and over the few following months, there weren’t many that blossomed. I had read that most orchids like the cold and as we moved into the winter season, mine did not appear to be thriving as I had expected. I had grown too attached to Sofia to give up on her although I was disappointed that she had not produced any flowers.

About three months ago, I moved the plant to a little corner where I could see it better. In this corner, the rest of my colleagues could also see the plant effortlessly so one of them suggested that I trim the stems to allow for flowers to emerge. I mustered the courage to trim the stems and I must say it was quite a painful and unsettling experience. I felt like I was setting the plant back. Yes it hadn’t been flowering but it had grown bigger and now trimming the stems had left it looking much smaller. What had I done!!

Three weeks ago before I went on leave, I spotted a few signs of life as some flower buds had emerged from the spike. Just yesterday, I couldn’t help but marvel as I looked at the beautiful Sofia. She looks lovelier than I’ve ever seen her before with dozens of lovely purple flowers and more on their way.

I also couldn’t help but think of what an object lesson this presents. I might be speaking for myself only when I say sometimes it feels like I am being trimmed. I think of the times when I go through trials and setbacks which often seem to pull me back and hinder my progress. Could it be that those experiences could help me to develop into a better person? I think so. I mean look at Sofia.

Thanks to Sofia I have been thinking of the things that I might need to cut out from my life in order to become a better version of myself. What about you? What needs to be trimmed from your life in order to generate beauty? Is it your bad friends? Could it be a bad relationship? What about your unhealthy eating habits? Procrastination? I don’t know. What I do know is that I would give up anything to be the best version that I have been called to be and that is my prayer for you as well.

By the way- I’ve only ever talked to Sofia once!!!

“Whenever God asks you to do something for Him, just say YES,” my mentor and bible teacher always used to say. “If you say no, God will find someone else!!” Would you want Him to find someone else?” she would ask. I remember I would just smile at her and I do not remember ever giving her a response but the truth is that I deeply desire to say yes to Him whenever He calls.

I visited a church recently and that morning it became apparent that the Pastor would not be able to make it for church due to an emergency and unfortunately that meant he would not be available to preach as had been planned. Later that morning,  a church member got up to share the message and mentioned how she was always ready to take a sermon in case anyone asked her to and so when she was asked to step in without prior notice, she just said YES.

As we made our way back home that day, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have been able to share my faith so eloquently at such short notice had I been asked. Would you? 1 Peter 3:15 urges us to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us. I often say I cannot live without God. Surely I should be able to share why, should anyone ask!!

My sister and I contemplated on the message and what a blessing it had been. We imagined what could have happened if she hadn’t been willing to share God’s word. Some of the scenarios that we imagined were quite funny and I must admit  we laughed our lungs out as we deliberated some of them. We were grateful that God had sent a blessing through  this lady and that she had been willing to say YES.

Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to hear Your voice and give me the courage to JUST SAY YES to you, whenever You call. Amen.

I found this speech by Dr Martin Luther King Jr. I know it is my desire to be the best version of myself that God created me to be and I hope that this speech somehow inspires you as much as it does me. It actually reminds me of a verse in the bible – Colossians 3:23 which reads, “So no matter what your task is, work hard. Always do your best as the Lord’s servant, not as man’s.”

Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God’s ideal for His children – Ellen G. White.

On October 26, 1967, six months before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia and this is what he said;

I want to ask you a question, and that is: What is your life’s blueprint?
Whenever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the guide, and a building is not well erected without a good, solid blueprint.

Now each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives, and the question is whether you have a proper, a solid and a sound blueprint. I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life’s blueprint.

Secondly, in your life’s blueprint you must have as the basic principle, the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You’re going to be deciding as the days, as the years unfold what you will do in life — what your life’s work will be. Set out to do it well.

Number one in your life’s blueprint, should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own somebodiness. Don’t allow anybody to make you feel that you’re nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.

And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. Don’t just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living or the unborn couldn’t do it any better. If it falls on your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.

If you can’t be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be the best little shrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

I have been reading through some of my old journals. It’s been interesting because I remember exactly where I was when I made some of my entries even though some are at least five years old. It turns out that my favourite places to journal are the beach, the park and the library!!

I remember when I was about six to 10 years old, a mobile library would come to my school every Monday and Wednesday and I would get a new book to read at least every week. My favourite books were from the Junior African Writers’ Series (JAWS). Just thinking of those days makes me smile. We had another public library close to the school so I was spoilt for choice when it came to books.

Now in my “grown up” years I still visit the library. On occasion, I go there to search for a book or read one but most of the time it’s for some peace and quiet and for a chance to recharge. I know!! I totally understand how ridiculous this sounds to some people. All I can say to this is isn’t it amazing how we are all so different!!

We live in a fast paced world. Most things nowadays are quick and easy to get and do. We have instant pictures, instant messaging, we can binge watch a whole series of our favourite programs on TV in a few sittings rather than wait for the whole season to finish (which takes months sometimes). There is increasing pressure to do much more nowadays and frankly because of technology and other innovation we can. I believe the effect of this is that we tend to “empty our tanks” faster, a term that a friend of mine likes to use. Surely our bodies and minds can only handle so much pressure. It’s no wonder our societies nowadays suffer from a lot of burnout issues.

It is for this reason that I believe it’s important for one to take time to “fill up one’s tank.” Doing something that one enjoys could be a way of filling one’s tank. Some people enjoy travelling. I have a friend who enjoys baking so much that it cheers her up when she is sad and another who enjoys cleaning and will gladly do this for fun. I wish I had that gift!!

Going to the library is one of my favourite things to do and often gets me recharged. What about you? What do you normally do to recharge? Do you intentionally engage in activity that will help you avoid burnout? What do you enjoy doing? As my mum often says, “Be kind to yourself.” Take a break every now and then.