AS 2011 PASSES……

Hello friends, in a matter of minutes we would be saying goodbye to 2011, how has it been for you? what have you gained and what are those things you aspire to achieve? It’s always good to take a few hours to ponder over 2011. Its been a good year for me and I have every reason to appreciate God, most especially for my lovely wife Ono, and other things I got this year. I drop my last post for the year, signing off with a poem….

Smiles, Opinion and friendship
These three, I enjoyed in 2011
So grateful to receive from you
At different times, in varying proportion
You did give.
So appreciative that you gave.

Smiles, sometimes subtle other times visible
You gave without holding back
Needed comfort they did offered
Desired assurances, they gave

Opinions, rich and deep
Some positive, some not quite
Some soothing, some piercing
Valuable ingredient of self-evaluation
So generously offered to make me better

Friendship, honest and truthful
Providing gaps where knowledge failed
Cheering when the game was good
Giving smiles and opinions as required
this I’ll cherish for ages to come.

In simple language, I’ll like to thank you for the impact, the interaction with you in 2011 has, made on me. It was, as always, a privilege to have opportunity to know and relate with you.
Congratulations for making it to this time. I do wish you a prosperous and fulfilling 2012. My God will do a new thing in your life that people around will gather to celebrate with you.

See you guys on the other side of 2012.

Happy New year…

 

$10 WAGER

Merry Christmas guys, how did you spend your holiday? Mine was good, had to rest and reflect on 2011, I read through my e-mail and saw this piece from a friend that  I am sharing with you all, it makes for interesting reading, Enjoy. My wife and I were at our first stop on our annual Christmas shopping day, making our purchase at Bath and Body Works. After Nadia completed the transaction, I told my wife, “She was the nicest person we’ll meet all day.” My wife was skeptical, as we had a long day of shopping ahead of us and would interact with more than a dozen clerks, associates and wait staff. I suggested that we “make it interesting,” so we put a $10 wager on my prediction.

As the day went on, we visited a number of stores. Some associates were helpful, while others ignored us or brushed us off. By mid-afternoon, we had come full circle geographically and returned to the first mall for a late lunch. As we ate, my wife admitted that I had been right about Nadia and that I had won the bet.

Then, she had a brilliant idea. “You don’t need the ten bucks,” she told me. “Why don’t we walk over to the coffee shop across the street, but a $10 gift card and present it to Nadia?”

Brilliant!

We purchased the card and returned to Bath and Body Works. Nadia, who was ringing in a customer’s purchase, saw us and immediately asked, “Oh, no, what did I do wrong this morning?” I replied, “Nothing. We just want to speak with you after you’re done with that customer.” During the next five minutes, as she completed the customer’s transaction, Nadia looked nervously at us periodically and her co-workers looked at us suspiciously. When the customer was finished, she remained out of curiosity to see why we had returned to the store.

With Nadia’s undivided attention, we told her about the bet and presented her with her $10 gift certificate. She was overwhelmed and nearly broke down in tears. Nadia is a single mother of two teen-age boys, balancing family life, a full-time job and school. She told us that no one had ever done anything like this for her before.

Afterwards, my wife and I agreed that it was the best $10 that we had ever spent. And now we’ve started a tradition that we’ll continue not only on our annual Christmas shopping day, but on other occasions as well.

Imagine – a mere $10 gift card can boost a person’s confidence and make her feel really good about herself. It doesn’t take much of an investment to make an impact on someone’s life. I can’t believe that we didn’t think of this year earlier – but I’m grateful that it didn’t take us years longer to realize this simple truth. And I’ll never walk around again without a $10 coffee gift card in my wallet to recognize someone’s kindness or effort

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL GOODLUCK JONATHAN…things are hard.

Dear readers, most of you would wonder why this topic, well those are the exact words of a middle aged man who screamed out loud in the midst of a heated discussion with friends, I couldn’t help but stop a few minutes to hear them out, what could have made this man who looked so worried scream out so loud.

Nigeria with about 140 million people here claims to be the giant of Africa, (well…with the numbers I’m sure) a land of many, diverse cultures, opportunities and wealth, Nigeria is the next destination for growth and development, fastest growing economy in Africa, and they seek steady for foreign investors, great, nice advert line, I picture all these put into a well done advert by some of the best creative geniuses in Nigeria and shown at peak period slots on cable network, woah and everyone would scream and fall for the make believe, while we do not argue the fact that Nigeria is the next destination, we wonder the finish point. What would you get at the destination. I travelled to Dubai recently and this is a totally different world, I looked through the window all through the drive appreciating the beauty of the city, the well laid down roads, neatly trimmed lawns by the road side, quite fast lane (They barely use their horns) neat and well pained cabs, beautiful landscape adorned with brilliant flowers.

As we drove through the streets of Dubai, I marveled at the masterpiece I saw, I searched seriously for a bungalow, nahhhh they would not do that, I past a police academy, police barrack and was so amazed, guys no exaggeration, I blank out for a few minutes as I remembered the police barracks along Mobolaji Bank Anthony Road Ikeja, where you have a clear view of the decay and rot of the Police barracks, half of the roof is blown off, I can place a billion Naira bet that the walls have never been re-touched since it was first painted if it was ever painted, the railings are so rusted the rust is wearing off on the paint. The windows are half standing with broken glasses and rusted frames, the fence has signs of remake practically due to a collapse.

Streets well kept and neatly swept, road signs all in place, street lights shining so bright you actually don’t need your head lamps at night, Fashola has done well to a large extent in this regard, but some of this contractors have not met up to expectations, well how far can they go when the major issue is POWER, even God used light first as foundation for his work, the beginning of development in Nigeria would start when POWER is constant.

DAYSTAR CHRISTAIN CENTRE – Benevolence helps the poor at Christmas

The Benevolence stand

Sunday 18^th December 2011

A warm morning and the whole team is fully prepared to serve in the Benevolence special Open day tagged “Love at Christmas”. This the one of the biggest event the Unit has held this year, Special Open day was designed to meet the needs of the less privileged. Daystar Christian centre a church founded 17 years ago has a vision of raising role models in our society.

Daystar Christian centre has a culture of helping the needy, with clear focus on community development; the church has a track record of developing her host community with a block of classroom donation to various schools in Lagos, development of Oregun high school, repairs and maintenance of Ikosi Oregun road amongst others.

Benevolence unit is a unit in the church that is focused on catering to the needs of the less privileged in the society, the unit opens every Sunday with a stand in the church where it distributes Food items, Clothes, Shoes, gifts and money to individuals from different walks of life regardless of tribe, culture and religion.

Clothes Section

December 18^th was the Special Open day tagged Love at Christmas, this is the grand finale of all events held this year, the ambience was right, the costume was appropriate and the mission was clear, help the needy celebrate Christmas in style, with what they can’t afford given them for free. Over 500 bags of rice, 500 bags of beans, packed Garri, Vegetable oil, Clothes, Shoes, Gift items and other food requirements, money. The event started by 10am and before then the queue was ready, members of the community were all ready for the kick off.

Benevolence team preached the word to the people who were around, explaining the essence of Christmas, the event was a medium for reaching out to those who are yet to accept God into their lives. They preached to them, sang songs to them, bulletin exhortation and praises. Some of the recipients of the items expressed their gratitude to the pastorate of the church, praying for God to bless and provide for them always. Benevolence Unit head Akinwande Ademosu took time to preach to those present encouraging them of the need to sustain the confidence they have in God.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, In history he was born on the 25^th of December and since he came to save the world, we should extend the fellowship to all those who are in need, there are so many people around who don’t have an avenue to fend for themselves, they do not know where the next food would come from, others have no clothes, and no money for good health care, in Daystar no one goes home hungry, scholarships for those who can’t afford school, this is how to show love.

L-R Rev. Sam Adeyemi, Akinwande Ademosu, Daystar Pastor

Benevolence thrives on good will from the members of the Unit, members of the Church and friends of the Church, all items are given out for free without discrimination. At the end of the event, souls were won for God, lives were changed and some family smiled as their Christmas celebration was sure. Thanks to Benevolence unit of Daystar Christian centre.

 

Members during the event

DONT BE AFRAID OF FAILURE

Until you overcome the fear of failure, you’ll be immobilized at the prospect of taking a risk. The important thing to remember when you fail is not to quit. History shows that failure can actually become a bridge to success. In school, Napoleon was forty-second in a class of forty-three, yet he went on to build an army that conquered much of the world. George Washington lost two-thirds of his military battles, yet against overwhelming odds he won the Revolutionary War and changed American history. Albert Einstein was such a slow learner that it was suggested he switch studies from physics to some other topic, yet he’s considered the father of the atomic age. When you recall these names you don’t remember their failures but their contributions to the world. Only when you consider your failure to be final, are you finally a failure. Failure is not an event, only an opinion, and as long as it’s not your opinion you can come back and succeed. ‘A righteous man may fall seven times and rise again.’ In his first inaugural address Franklin Roosevelt told the nation, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ Failure is not fatal; you can begin again. But the fear of failure could prove fatal to your goals by keeping you from trying again. After cataloguing every possible scenario that could come against us, such as tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, Paul writes: ‘Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us’ (Romans 8:37 NKJV). So the word for you today is – don’t be afraid of failure.

TAKE CHARGE

The story is shared of a young woman went to her mother telling her how things had been difficult in her life, with the thought of giving up because she was tired of the endless struggles with diverse problems. Her mother then took her to the kitchen, filled three pots with water and placed each on a burner until they got to boiling point. In the first she placed carrots, second eggs, and the last ground coffee beans. She let them boil without saying a word. Twenty minutes after, she turned off the burners. She fished out the carrots, the eggs and ladled the coffee out in a bowl. She asked, “Tell me what you see.” Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel them all. The carrots were soft, the egg hardboiled and the coffee beans melted with sweet aroma in the water. The daughter smiled as she tasted the rich aroma. The daughter asked after “What does this mean?” Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity, the boiling water but each reacted differently. The carrot went in hard, unrelenting but came out weak. The egg went in fragile with thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior but became hardened. The ground coffee bean was unique in that it had changed the water. So which one do you think you are?” she asked her daughter. The response is left for you to judge.

 As we draw the curtain on 2011, we have individually been subjected to heat in our academics, career, business and life pursuits. We need to do an assessment as we look forward to 2012 with expectations.  “When adversity knocks on our doors? Do we assume the disposition of the carrot, an egg or coffee beans?” give these your thoughts this week!

 

LIFE RHYTHM!

Hey friends, its been 12 days now since I got into the UAE on vacation with my wife and I still havent gotten myself together to write a good post on how exactly I feel about this place, its been one form of surprise to another, im so amazed at how organized things are and consistently compare things here with back home, you know the end result PAIN. I have however kept my post about my vacation till I return. lets share another story from my motivation weekly Ayo Daniels;

A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call as fast as he could, changed his clothes and went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy’s father going and coming in the hall waiting for the doctor. On seeing him, the dad yelled: ‘Why did you take all this time to come? Don’t you have a sense of responsibility? The doctor smiled and said ‘I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital and I came the fastest I could after receiving the call and now I wish you would calm down so that I can do my work’

 ’Calm down! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies now, what will you do? said the father angrily. The doctor smiled again and replied doctors cannot prolong lives, go and intercede for your son and we will do our best by God’s grace. ‘Giving advises when we are not concerned is so easy, murmured the father’

 The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy, thank goodness your son is saved and without waiting for the father’s reply, he carried on his way running, ‘if you have any question, ask the nurse’. Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t wait some minutes so I can ask about my son’s stability, commented the father after the doctor left. The nurse answered with tears running down her face, his son died yesterday in a road accident, he was in the burial when we called him for your son’s surgery and now that he saved your son’s life he left running to finish his son’s burial’.

The lessons this week is never judge anyone or make your conclusions before you understand who they are and what they stand for. You may never understand the rhythm of their lives, what they are going through or where they are coming from except you are in their shoes

ABUSE

All relationships have their ups and downs. When you are in a relationship with a person with very high and very low moods, there is always the threat of abuse, whether it is physical of emotional.

Why don’t women speak out about abuse? – that is a common question asked and I think there are many reasons: shame (because mostly these husbands are oh so sweet in front of others – certainly not the type you would expect it from), fear (of the unknown and also what he will do to you if you spoke out), but most importantly, these abusers know exactly how to play people. “She’s lying”, “She’s over-reacting”, “She pushed me” – so basically, they leave you with nothing.

I think it’s important for a woman to have courage to speak out. It really doesn’t matter what others think of you, your life is more important. If there are kids around, you need to speak out sooner rather than later.

You are the biggest role models for your children. Do you want your daughter to be a wimp that’s beaten up by some low-life scumbag or do you want your son to be turned into an abusive low-life scumbag?

Think carefully and then take action.

Firstly, you need to get away from him.

Then you need to file a case with the local police.

Finally, find help for your children and for yourself.

Don’t let him back in your life, no matter what. Your children will appreciate it one day.

A BEAUTIFUL STORY

A REALLY BEAUTIFUL STORY – BE WARNED – HAVE A TISSUE HANDY
The importance of a woman, I struggle to do everything in the morning.

 A story worth sharing 4 years ago, an accident took my beloved away and very often I wonder.. how does my wife, who is now in the heavenly realm, feel right now? She must be feeling extremely sad for leaving a husband who is incapable to taking care of the house and the kid. ‘cos that is the exact feeling that I have, as I feel that I have failed to provide for the physical and emotional needs of my child, and failed to be the dad and mum for my child.

There was one particular day, when I had an emergency at work. Hence, I had to leave home whilst my child was still sleeping. So thinking that there was still rice leftovers, I hastily cooked an egg and left after informing my sleepy child..

With the double roles, I am often exhausted at work as well as when I am home. So after a long day, I came home, totally drained of all energy.

So with just a brief hug and kiss for my child, I went straight into the room, skipping dinner. However, when I jumped into my bed with intention of just having a well-deserved sleep, all i heard and felt was broken porcelain and warm liquid! I flipped open my blanket, and there lies the source of the ‘problem’… a broken bowl with instant noodles and a mess on the bedsheet and blanket!

Boy , was I mad! I was so furious that I took a clothes hanger, charged straight at my child who was happily playing with his toy, and give him a good spanking! He merely cried but not asking for mercy, except a short explanation:

“Dad, I was hungry and there wasn’t anymore leftover rice. But you were not back yet, hence I wanted to cook some instant noodles. But I remembered you reminding me not to touch or use the gas stove without any adults around, hence I turned on the shower and used the hot water from the bathroom to cook the noodles. One is for you and the other is for me. However, I was afraid that the noodles will turn cold, so I hid it under the blanket to keep it warm till you return. But I forgot to remind you ‘cos I was playing with my toys…I am sorry Dad…”

At that moment, tears were starting to run down my cheeks…but I didn’t want my son to see his dad crying so I dashed into the bathroom and cried with the shower head on to mask my cries. After that episode, I went towards my son to give him a tight hug and applied medication on him, while coaxing him to sleep. Then, it was time to clear up the mess on the bed. When everything was done and well past midnight, I passed my son’s room, and saw that he was still crying, not from the pain on his little buttock, but from looking at the photograph of his beloved mummy.

A year has passed since the episode; I have tried, in this period, to focus on giving him both the love of his dad and mum, and to attend to most of his needs. And soon, he is turning seven, and will be graduating from kindergarten. Fortunately, the incident did not leave a lasting impression on his childhood memories and he is still happily growing up.

GROW IN PATIENCE

This is a classic story. A man came out of his home one day to admire his new truck. To his amazement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, and hammered the little boy’s hands into a pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital. Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones but they had to amputate the fingers from both hands. When the boy woke up from the surgery, saw his bandaged stubs and innocently said “Daddy, I’m sorry about your truck.” And then he asked his Dad “when are my fingers going to grow back?” The father went home sorrowful.

 Think about this story the next time someone crosses your path or you wish to take revenge in whatever manner. Think first before you lose your temper with someone you love. Trucks can be repaired but broken bones and hurt feelings often can’t. We often all forget that forgiveness is greater than revenge. People make mistakes and will forever make mistakes, so we should provide room for people to make mistakes in our interpersonal relationships otherwise the corresponding reactions we assume in rage can become counterproductive and haunt us forever. Patience is a virtue we should inculcate into our lives as we relate with others “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God”