A Wedding Ring Depends On It

Nerves, nerves, nerves! We all have to deal with the adrenaline rush prior to taking a giant step that the body isn't familiar with, especially the one that involves public speaking. In fact, no one is a natural on stage; even the seemingly confident politician has had to deal with nerves!
The past two or so days were nerve wrecking in that I had to do the one thing I dread the most; public speaking. And I say dread because I was being graded for it so it had to be A- grade. Simply put, my client's life depended on it. But, something good came out of all this: I learnt a precious gem that is worth a share.
So, sitting in a little corner, wondering how on earth am going to mask my nerves before those learned minds, I heard a whisper...
"Imagine you are a guy and you want to ask out this beautiful girl, the girl of your dreams. You can't mess that one up. Whatever you say, your demeanour and non-verbal cues will either win her heart or make you look like a fool. So, the ball is in your court, a wedding ring depends on it. Do what thou wilt, but do it quickly!"
Hearing that, I was like what?! Am not a guy but even if I was, there's no girl to ask out. Even if there was, she is... not.. here.. then voila, brainwave! I should give this presentation the same energy, the same devotion, the same determination that a brother trying to get a sister would. I was this brother, and the judges were the lady I liked. I must persuade them, I must convince them that 'nobody loves them better than I do.'
With a smirk on my face, I went out of the corner, tenaciously going to present my case..
Now, this isn't about public speaking, much as it may work. Rather, this is about something bigger, something better than public speaking. This is about Christianity (you weren't expecting that ey...)
In a similar sense, we as Christians have an argument to present before the world. An argument that there is something more to look forward to than this dismal existence and what's more is that we have to persuade our audience day by day. In a world that is bleak and despondent, in a world that has flickering flames of forlorn hope, we have a duty to present our substantive argument that there is indeed a better way; that there is hope. But, the reason why our arguments are not water-tight, I reckon is because with don't present them in an enthusing way, that captivates the attention of everyone and make them believe that we could be making sense. The laissez-faire attitude with which we carry ourselves wouldn't even take anyone for dinner!
And yet we wonder why it is so easy to make one party as opposed to inviting them to church!
There is so much that goes into convincing an individual, and the large part of it is not what you say but how you say it and how you live out the little you say.
I was ardent fan of Ussain Bolt at a point in my life and I recall him giving tips on how he manages to keep his body in shape and I think I tried it once or twice. Why, you ask, well I don't know. I guess I wanted to do it cause Bolt said it. However, it is an indisputable fact that whatever gold medal(s) Bolt acquires in his life time are just temporal. Notwithstanding, look at how much devotion the brother throws in but contrast it with the devotion of the average christian, pity!
I think it's high time we got our act together and knew who we are and what our object in life is because really, a wedding ring depends on it. When the wedding of the Lamb comes, the well done will only be said to those who were zealous enough, sober enough and determined enough. If you can do so much for a one night public speaking event, how much more for a life time, knowing that we "have been made a spectacle before men and angels..."

Yes-Man!

There are times when I want to get my way so bad that I wish life would grant ALL my wishes. Thank God I do not always get my way.

Have you also felt like you have got it covered? Like the only thing standing between you and the ecstasy of a dream come true is God's veto and yet He seems so reluctant to say yes, go ahead? We all feel frustrated, let down and unloved by God when He says No, don't we? But, I have come to realize that "He makes everything beautiful in His time."

Truth be told, we are all short-sighted: we see things in the here and the now, without giving thought to the repercussions of whatever it is we desire. And because we are present-oriented, we should really be thankful whenever God says no to us.(What? I know right!)

Perhaps one thing that we know about God in relation to answering prayers is that God uses the 'tripod-stand' method (don't look it up, it doesn't exist!) It's either He'll say Yes, No or Wait. Most of us love the Yes answer and are quite infatuated with the 'Wait' but none of us like the'No'. As a matter of fact, we give up on God when He says no. But listen, God is not a Yes-Man! He won't always say yes to us. Why? Because we are unreasonable, short-sighted and literally have no clue whatsoever about anything.
If we could see our prayers for what they really are, we would realize that sometimes we make foolish demands that will come back to hurt us. And what happens when we get hurt? We accept responsibility like 'mature adults', right? No! We blame God! Typical.

The past Sunday was a day dedicated to our precious mothers who made us what we are today. Now imagine if, while we were growing up, our mums were yes-men who said yes to every silly thing we wanted.
"Mummy I want fire!"
"Oh child, you didn't have to ask, its over there."
"Mummy, I want a red-hot knife!"
"It's on the table, you can gladly have it."

I do not know how many of us would be alive today, I know I wouldn't. God bless our mothers because they knew that should we get everything we want, we wouldn't live and so they said No, sometimes with sweet tones and at other times with an angry spank. When we look back now, its actually embarrassing that we even asked for such things (covers face and runs away :]).

In many ways, God is like our Mum. He knows what's best for us and so trust Him when He says no because He's got it covered. He knows what He is doing. When God says no, it is an assurance of His love. It is His way of saying "I love you too much to see you get hurt and so I withhold this from you." So when God doesn't seem to come through for you, trust that He is coming through for you in a better way. Expect these answers from Him when you pray and dance with joy when he says no because in all honesty, we are clueless about what we want. We don't even know our own hearts so child relax and leave this to the Expert!

Oh and Mum, happy belated mothers' day, I would have been a brute without you...

LITTLE DRESSES AND LITTLE STANDARDS

Growing up, there would be times when I wanted to feel like the food I was eating was going somewhere; I needed to feel that I was gaining a few kilos but the scale wouldn't grant me the much sought after wish. Consequently, I decided that whenever I wanted to feel like I had gained weight, I would jump into the clothes I used to wear 5 years ago. It pretty much seemed like the logical thing to do given the circumstances. And, to my delight, I would forcefully fit in those little dresses and I feel like I had put on a lot of weight! I enjoyed the euphoria so much that the deception went on and on...

Now, everyone would agree with me that, that was one hell of a gross deception but hey don't be too quick to judge because we are not very different...

Have you ever felt like you have done your best simply because your achievement was slightly higher than the others? Have you ever mourned a loss only to realize that your loss was actually a 'better' one? Truth is, we all have (most of us at least). But what is wrong with this attitude? Everything!

By comparing ourselves to low standards, we tend to feel like we have given the best and have this illusion of satisfaction. We tend to feel comfortable in our losses simply because many others got way below us. Students will feel good for getting 40% and topping the class not realizing that the percentage is not what can be called a distinction or merit.

In constantly tallying our lives to other people, living or of the past, we lower our standards and do not see the need of improvement. We are content in our failures because we have failed way better than others. Failing way better than others does not change the fact that it is a fail.

Sadly, this is what happens in our Christian lives. The fact that we don't drink or smoke like the other church-mate does not make us better Christians. Looking at the sins of others will always make us feel 'holier than thou', like Mr and Ms Goody-two-shoes and we won't see the need to grow. We will be content in our sins.

It is only when we look for a higher standard that we'll be constantly working and striving to be better. If my standard is 90%, getting 50%, regardless of whether am the 'best' in that course should not make me comfortable. Similarly, we should endeavor to make Christ our standard so that we look not on the faults of others and feel like 'holy' sinners, rather that by beholding His perfect character, we see and feel the need to grow into His stature.

It is possible, only if you let go of the little dresses in the closet! 

Tiny Giants

One morning, I frantically searched for a 50 ngwee coin (yes, they are that important!) but couldn't find any. In fact, the only 'things' I found where 10 ngwee coins in every place I looked but I ignored all of them simply because I was looking for a 50 ngwee not little 10 ngwees that my two year old niece wouldn't care for. Thus, the search went on and on until it hit me; the number of 10 ngwee coins I ignored were more than five and so if I collected every bit of them, I would have more than the 50 ngwee coin I was looking for!

This reminded of the many opportunities we forfeit simply because they are too 'small'. Most of us wait for big opportunities to do something so much that we ignore the little blessings that come our way, we wait for grandiose signs to do good or start our goals. There is absolutely nothing wrong in dreaming big but all big dreams started with small effort.

So, no matter how small a role we seem to play in this world, it is not irrelevant because it is the little things that birth great success. A simple thank you or good morning could brighten someones day. Take advantage of the little things you can do and bring light to the world.

At the past jubilee celebrations, I recall seeing a troupe of soldiers who stood in such a way that if one took an aerial view of what they were doing, you would notice that they made the words 'Zambia at 50.' it only makes sense to one who takes an aerial view but from an adjacent view, it pretty much looks like aimless soldiers standing in a disorganized fashion! All of us have been given a role to play in this world. No matter how 'aimless and disorganized' we may look in the eyes of people, God, who takes the aerial view of things sees His children standing in positions that. He saw fit for them hence, regardless of who or what we are, we are here for a purpose.

Even though our purpose may looks small and of little importance, we are tiny giants in the eyes of God because little is much when God is in it! Endeavor to therefore make the most of every opportunity regardless of how small it may seem.

Oh and please take care of these little 10 ngwee coins, you need them!