So many people today are living lives that are going nowhere. They are stuck with no way out. Opportunities come and go unrecognized, doors open up but the children of God are unable to perceive them. There is a lot of despair as many brethren have given up and are ready to throw in the towel. Where did the faith go? Where is the hope? Why are there so many tears in the eyes of the children of God, why is there so much weeping in the house of God? Why are we not comforted? Today, I write this blog because I realize something has to change. After so many years of being stuck, I am now ready to stand up, wipe my eyes and start the journey, only this time with purpose. If God is on my side, why am I so defeated? Why those thoughts of despair and what’s with the daily discouragement? Am I not a child of the most high God? This morning, I entered the Lord’s presence feeling so down, I told my father of the same mountains that have been before me for so many years. I told him I needed a way out and that only he could...

After the devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, there was a huge humanitarian response from all over the world. I have seen people moved by other people’s suffering to the point of giving selflessly, but never to this level. There was an outpouring of goodwill as people donated cash, clothes, food and manpower among other things, to the victims of the devastating earthquake. I have no words to express the sadness I felt as I watched God’s precious children fight for their lives. It must hurt God when his children hurt like that, and my heart goes out to all our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Only God can bring healing and restoration where the rest of us can only give what feels like a drop of water in a burning oil field. Two days after the earthquake, the president of the United States gave a public address regarding Haiti. He too like everyone grieved with the hurting in Haiti and promised to send aid to the victims of the earthquake. What touched me most about the speech was his choice of words...

I am back again after taking a whole year’s break. That is a long time to be away, right? Well, am back now and It is my hope that I will be sharing more. In the past one year, I have started teaching Sunday school- a ministry that is so life changing. Seeing the beautiful children worship God while trying to understand Him, is breathtaking. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I went in thinking I would change them, but their unconditional love ended up changing me instead! Okay, before I begin sobbing, let me get straight to the point. Back to the shedding of the baggage and moving forward. This Sunday, I was supposed to teach the kids about forgiveness and how important it was to let go of people that did us wrong. As I studied the Sunday school guide, I realized that I was in no position to teach about forgiveness because I have been hanging on to some unresolved issues for a whole nine years! I said an earnest prayer to God about how I was unable to teach the children about forgiveness yet I had...

Today, as I was driving home from work, I listened to a preacher on radio preach regarding prayer. The teaching was one of those very timely messages that just get to one’s heart. Oh how I needed to hear today’s message because my prayer life has been in ruins for about three months and the lack of a close walk with God is evident in my character, my emotions and every part of my being. When a believer is not in tune with the Spirit of God, every aspect of their life is affected. No I haven’t started going to the clubs or doing bizarre things, but the joy, patience, peace, self control, gentleness, faithfulness and all other fruits of the spirit have become near scarce lately. When I came to my senses that I needed to go back to my father and get serious about prayer, I casually knelt down and said a short prayer about how I wanted a closer walk with God before I fell asleep on my knees. I will be very frank about my struggle with my spiritual walk because I know many believers go through moments when they neglect...

Today is probably the best day of my life (since I came to the United States that is). I never knew I would see this day- well at least not so soon, but God has done it for me! Today marks the day when I became debt free!! Yes, you read that right! My school loan is paid off, my credit card debt is paid off and so is my car loan. Today, I made the last payment and paid off my car! All I can think of is- Ebenezer! This far, my God has brought me. Please let me take you back to the journey of my life, and let you in on why I am celebrating this milestone.

Seven years ago, a young woman landed from Africa, full of ambition and energy. My dreams were larger than life itself. See, most us had this illusion of what the American dream was like. We thought that once an individual set his or her foot to America, there was someone waiting to hand them dollars. Most of us thought that money flowed like the rivers in our motherland, and that life was easy. So most of us just dreamed of coming to America probably not...

 “Give me the measurements for a standard ear, so I can know how close or far off mine is,” were the words of a visiting pastor who blessed us with a life changing sermon in church this last Sunday. He was talking about his insecurities as a young man, growing up in an average household that struggled. He was tall and skinny, and felt his ears were too big. He grew his hair into an afro to cover his ears, so they didn’t look too big. One day, he met a young man who suffered the same predicament and that became the turning point of this pastor’s life. He realized that he did not have any basis of feeling insecure because no one could tell or give the measurements of a supposedly perfect ear, so his ear was okay after all! That became a freeing moment for me too as I have struggled with weight ever since I was a small girl. In my head I thought to myself, “What are the measurements of a perfect woman, what is the perfect size?”- Please do not give me the Hollywood standard because it has changed on a yearly basis...

This week, God has been impressing on me the story about David during the time when he lived in a cave; the time when King Saul was hotly pursuing David trying to kill him. I have always marveled at David, the man after God’s own heart. He always puts my praise to shame every time because he went deep in his worship. I could never even come close. David was a worshipper who no one has been able to replicate. He described God in very intimate ways, using comparisons I would never think of even if I were to get a doctorate in the English language. He must truly have made God smile. David’s worship was uninhibited; he didn’t consider his status in society when he danced for the Lord till his robes fell off. His wife despised him for it; but God blessed him and you know how the story goes- his wife was struck with barrenness. I could never describe David in one page, but today, I want to focus on his difficult days, which must have been many in number. After David’s triumph over Goliath, he was invited to live at...

So it is that time of the year again- you know what I am talking about! That day; its starts with a V- the day when you see men carrying flowers to give their loved ones, when the doors are flung open for some lucky women, when the entire woman race wears red to celebrate the love in their lives. For you, it is the most dreadful holiday of the year- the only one which reminds you how alone you are. The single women working in offices have probably submitted their leave requests (who wants to go through all that torture?), or are planning to call in sick. Some, who love their money and won’t miss work for anything, have ordered flowers to be delivered at their workplace. You know how the drill goes. The delivery man walks in with two dozen roses and asks for you. You pretend to be oblivious to what is going on, and when he calls your name, your jaw drops like you are so shocked! You pretend to wonder who it is from because as far as you are concerned, you haven’t said yes to anyone yet. And so the drama goes on...

Today is the last day of 2009, and never have I been more excited about the beginning of a year like I am this time. In the past, a day like this brought pain and regret because all I did was throw a huge pity party where I feasted on painful memories of what I was not able to accomplish, how many people had hurt me and what unfair circumstances I had encountered. Since a party is not complete without the sweet treats- dessert to be precise, I dug deep into the tasteless cake of despair as I hoped that the following year would be different. Well, as we all know, if you do the same thing, you always get the same results. I knew that concept full well so I had my strategies all written up- the strategies called resolutions. I believed in my own psyche. Yes, I was psyched to lose the weight and fit into a size 14 dresses (That’s all I want believe me. I love being a big girl) and of course that would make me attractive I believed. I would also save more, maybe twenty percent of my pay, I was going to invest (It was...

God is a very loving father who comforts us when we are unable to trust him because of the circumstances in our lives. I can testify to that because I experienced the loving arms of my father recently when I felt broken and unable to understand his will for my life. It started as a normal Wednesday, when my friends and I went to the house of God, as we normally do every Wednesday to intercede for the church and also pray over each other’s lives. We usually have soft worship music playing in the background as we talk to the Lord. What a blessed time we have! No one cares who is listening, but we all pour out our hearts to our father in heaven and later pray together over different prayer items. This is followed by encouraging words from different sisters, and amazingly, God always has a timely word for our situations. During the most recent session of Wednesday prayers, there was this song which really touched my heart. The song was essentially about declaring that we would not go back to the lives we led, or rather, since God had taken us to a higher level financially, socially and spiritually, we were not going back to lead the poverty stricken lives we led, we were not going to be despised again and things were going to change for the better. How I agreed with that song! As I continued to seek the Lord’s face, I started declaring those words over my own life. I just wanted out of a life of struggle, I wanted to prosper, and I wanted to go to the next level. My heart just grew heavy within me suddenly and I was crying to the Lord as if my heart would break as I asked him why some things were taking so long to come. I asked him why those things seemed so impossible and why after all the fasting, praying, weeping and wailing, heaven still seemed shut!...