Family matters .... and friends too.

With my lovely friend on the right, Bsc of Business and finance grad. On the left is my cousin, Bsc of Marketing and creative services.. Proud of these two!!😊

Today has just been been a day full of inspirational and motivating speeches , from the different speakers at my sister and friend's graduation to Serena Williams' acceptance speech at the aussie open. one thing about inspiration and motivation is that they wear off so easily, one minute you feeling so excited and feel like you can take on the whole world and the next it's all gone, and that is why all the speeches today just made me think to say you can never have enough of the two, you constantly have to keep yourself plugged in to whatever it is that keeps you motivated and you daily have to draw inspiration from it. Personally, I find my inspiration and motivation from the Scriptures, it is a clear and direct reflection of who God has says I am and has made me to be, so whenever I feel in doubt about myself or my abilities,  going back to the word of God reminds of what I am capable of, I also find inspiration in them from looking at the lives of men and women of in time past; Esther's courage, Ruth's devotion and faithfulness, to Rahab's bravery and solomon's wisdom. The list is endless.

Asides the Scriptures I also draw inspiration from contemporary men and women of God, be it in books or speeches. But not only that, I also find inspiration in everyday encounters, in nature and in myself. The inspiration is always there, sometimes you just have to make it a point to be present and live in the moment for you to see it and capture it.

counting stats, missing home & asking questions

It's only been two weeks and three days into the new year and upon checking my leave hours thus far, I nearly squealed in excitement! So far I already have 46hrs of annual leave, that for me translates into two weeks off work... so far, and come end of the year those hours will be soaring high. Just the other night I was on the phone with my aunt and I was nearly in tears just telling her how much I miss home. So after looking at my stats I quickly go onto emirates airline to estimate fares and upon hitting the search button I now want to do a 360 degrees swing in the office swirly chair, I could easily save that in two fortnights,  sweet! But amid my excitement and exhilaration this thought drops in my head, "I'm I ready to visit home come end of the year? " And the honest answer is "I don't know yet", is there even such a thing as that! And to that, I don't know either but hey! The year is still young and I know for sure that those answers will eventually come to me. For now I'll keep counting my hours and guarding them jealously😀

Reflections. .

It's been two days in a row of working thirteen hour shifts. I'm finally in bed at 23:00hrs since leaving the house at 6:00hrs, it's almost like I just come home to sleep. As I lay down to rest, there is so many things that want to take a hold of my mind, mostly about what's not right in my life and around the world, I also want to feel sorry for myself about how tired I am and how hard I have to work, from dealing with not so polite colleagues to commutes, the list is endless, but the words that stood out are these " you're one of the strongest women I know" , that thought just triggered back to the source of my strength,  God, and my heart is filled with gratitude and peace and contentment. I'm also reminded of this scripture;

"To declare your loving kindness every morning and your faithfulness every night. Ps 92:2"


It's moment like these that the scripture becomes even more real. I feel at ease that in such a moment of physical strain and dealing with some emotional issues that my response is to chose to see God in the situation. Life is hard y'all , but this I know for a fact, my God is good and greater.

I now look forward to some much needed and deserved rest, days I get to bury my feet in the sand and stare at the vast blue expanse of the see, and of course days that I don't really have to pick up work calls. And those days are not to far away, yes! Happy Days are near.

okay, right now, to think that im still half awake and typing this post on phone when I have to be up early and get to work by 6:15 is just crazy.  This is where I call it a night.

a little morning pep talk to myself.

“Sometimes life knocks you on your bottom... get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.” 

Healthy girl and Mrs. S shenanigans

Anyone who knows me knows that I quite easily and often fall off diets for the simple fact that it doesn't appeal to my taste buds but lately,Iv been desperately trying to get rid of my muffin top but maybe just not desperate enough. The idea that I have had that healthy food is boring and yuck has from today now become archaic, lets just say that my Journey to mind renewal and transformation started earlier this week when I made some conscious decisions which include changing my diet for the overall health of my body system, not just to lose my muffin tops (though at the moment it ranks higher in terms of urgency lol), So I picked up a book at the library called the ' S factor diet' by Lowri Turner, she offers a diet plan that isn't about measly breakfast, lacklustre and unsatisfying inners, and I was quite impressed by that proposal. So far finding a diet I am going to follow is a huge milestone in itself.


yes, I take pictures of my food... haha

Now my final moment of truth wasn't  until this morning, I met up with my three sisters for brunch at a trendy hippy café in Maylands, its one of those restaurants that at first sight the African in me would look down upon but I turned out to like it because I tend to like the unusual. As expected, every one was late except for C, who conveniently lives just less than a 10 minutes drive from the café. I guess no one had punctuality on their new years resolutions for 2015. The café was crowded and there was a sizeable number of people lining outside waiting for a table, I wonder how C managed to get a table for 4 and a high chair for baby so quick and easily. on to the food, I ordered a plate of coconut braised ribs with sweet potato mash sprinkled with nuts. My expectation was to see ribs on a rack but no, but then again it wasn't disappointing at all after having the second bite. lets just say that my expectations were superseded. From that moment i was convinced that healthy eating wasn't as bad as i made it out to be. Away from food, diets and all it was just lovely to be together as sisters and catch up and laugh and shop together. such opportunity doesn't come so often as clashes in work and other life commitments don't so often allow for that,  I felt really blessed at the end of the day.

HAPPY 2015

9 hours and 54 minutes into a new year and I can triumphantly say I'm still here. I'm grateful to God for a wonderful year past, It came with it with its challenges, trials and test, but God saw me through all of them. I have grown as a person, both in my thinking and my spirit . But it hasn't just been about the challenges,  God has blessed me so much too, where I was yesterday is not were I am today, and it's the blessings that have taught me to trust in God at all times, not my job or my education,  not family or friends, not my bank account or hustle.  I rely on God. Throughout the year he's words have resounded, "be strong and of good courage, I will never leave you or forsake you".  And those words have been true. ( seriously thinking of tatting that on my forearm now..lol..seriously)

My new year's eve was awesome, we had  church service where we prayed for our beloved country, we prayed for renewed revival and an out pouring of righteousness over the land of Australia and that in the coming year , the gospel of our lord Jesus reaches many people and melt many hearts.

 

 

As the night progressed and we got closer to midnight we danced in praise and in worship, As we sang the last anthem, 'alive' by hillsong, I couldn't help but just throw off my shoes and join the young youths in dancing. it was amazing to have so many young people in the service that night, especially in place where most young kids are all about partying and drinking their heads off, but not these kids when the clock struck twelve, the whole church broke out in celebrating. Thank God for another year, yes we made it!!!! It was a nice way for me to start a new year for a change, in the presence of God. I haven't really got any new resolutions for the year as most of them I had done towards the last quarter of 2014, who said you had to wait for January 1st to take stock and make resoloutions?? Certainly not me :-). So here's to another year, a year filled with God's favour  and grace, a year that he causes me to triumph in all things. A year were I have left all those things that weigh me down. I step into this year knowing who I am, a seed of Abraham, and I carry that with me every where I go. :-)

 

 

 

HAPPY 2015!!!