Mobile blogs are the way to go .... no pun intended :-)

Words to live by...

The Great Chess master is moving His chessmen, be where you need to be, so that you can be moved to where you need to be.....

Back down memory lane...

Those of us who used to watch musical videos waaaay back may remember this song - and may actually remember the vocalist singing the song bemoaningly with tears streaming down her face - "Back down memory lane"........ but that not what this story is about (no Dear Abby here) - it's about walking down a road so old old that it has become unfamiliar, and it's about becoming so intelligent that you almost verge on being stupid.... This is a true account.... and I lie not. It actually came back to me whilst conversing with a dear friend.... enough perambulating...here goes.... A few years ago I bought my first SUV - The Volkswagen Touareg .....and I tell you this vehicle was so chock full of gadgets that the interior looked like the inside of a cockpit and I loved it! This car was so "techie-maxed" that the glove box was designed to also function as a refrigerator (for those who would use it as one - tongue-in-cheek).... Wellllll one day I walked out of the office at the end of my day anticipating the drive home in my 'dream car' and behold my door would not open, no matter how many times I pressed on the remote door lock! What ! how dare it ! I finally figured it out that I had probably left the headlights on all day and the battery was flat... I was in a quandary.... I frantically called the support line and told my story to the tech support guy and said at the end of my monologue.... ' and so I am stuck out here and I can't even get into my car to see if I can get a jump start'..... and the guy calmly said to me.... well ma'am have you tried using the key to open the door? Wha..... I just burst out laughing and the guy and I laughed so hard that I almost had tears streaming down my face... you see my key had to be flipped out using a spring release system and since I didn't really need it out most of the time I had forgotten that it actually existed at that time AND that it actually had a function to serve.....so in all my intelligence I was caught staring at the door lock, it not even crossing my mind that I could have used MY KEY TO OPEN THE DOOR.....so I finally used the key to open the door and THEN started looking for where the battery, and the battery terminals were, so I could get a jump-start.... and we looked and looked, and looked, and looked..... but hey that's another story for another time.... we did finally get the car jump started and I finally got to drive my car home now having a new respect for "THE KEY" and filing this episode away under the 'lessons learnt' tab, I thought all the way home, about other situations that I had been in ...... and found a common thread to string them all together to make a piece of jewelry to beautify my soul ....... when things don't work in the 'usual' way it may be a nudge to let one know that one probably needs to go back to the basics, to make the simplest and for that situation, perhaps the most intelligent decision that will bring about resolution...... I had been staring at the darned lock the whole time I was locked out of the car, and all I needed was the key turning in the lock to open the door ..... go figure!!!!!

Well y'all have a nice day and take the time to tell your key how much you appreciate it, and for those who have remote door locks please TRYYYYY to use your keys to open the car door and for those who have the functionality of keyless engine start.... use your key (gasp !) to start the car today... if only to remind yourself how to ....... ha ha ha .......love y'all... Ciao!

Words To Live By.....

The mark of one who will apprehend destiny is one who will allow God to interrupt the routine of life, and be willing to press on, following God whenever, wherever.... and doing whatever He asks, however He wants it done...... selah

Are you 'WUI' (pronounced OUI) fit ?

As we all know the economy, the economy, the economy, has been the phrase on every one's lips especially so over the the past year or so and especially here in The U S of A, the proclamations of 'doom and gloom' have sometimes reached frenzied proportions and have been borne out by real life personal and corporate disasters - job losses, home foreclosures, bankruptcies you name it !

Many of God's children have been hit really hard during these times..... and if you think that nobody you know has been affected, think again because as my father would often say to me when I was a little girl - Just because something looks good on the outside does not mean that all is well - A gentleman's 'agbada' ( Djellaba, Flowing African robe) may appear rich, opulent and even kingly, and the gentleman may dance and walk like he has not a care in the world, but his kingly robes may be hiding a groin hernia so big you would wonder how he could carry all that weight around.... yes - you never know until you know..... So how do we deal with these 'new times' we have never before experienced ? and how do we help others do the same ?

I was reading an oldish edition of time magazine showcasing the design 'greats' of 2008 (which is why I would have been reading Time magazine anyway!) - some of you may have read this issue: It was filled with unique, some may even say frivolous pieces of frippery, that had sold at unheard of prices (at least to me....), AND some people had clamored, fought, bid and achieved acquisition of these 'one-of-a- kind' objects, sometimes just to satisfy a whim !


While I was reading this article with the 'mind boggling' money numbers in amazement, the Holy Spirit nudged asking me what I thought made these people eligible to appear on the pages I just perused, and made their products so desirable ? - Their talent certainly I said, but talent is a dime a dozen He said. What else ? and while I still thinking on His question..... The Holy Spirit whispered in my ear these words - Wisdom, Understanding and Insight - and said to me that these above all (pertaining to their trade) had elevated these people to places of distinction. He said to me that talent was but a small part and that Wisdom,Understanding, and Insight have the ability to multiply many times over, the measure of a talent - No wonder all Solomon asked for was wisdom, and also no wonder The servant's master was so angry with the servant that hid his talent....selah.

Wisdom, Understanding and Insight - WUI (oui, kinda like Wii -the acronym I gave it).... Yes we all need to not only to be physically - Wii -fit, we also need to be WUI-fit to survive these times that we are in... We need wisdom to know where to go, when to go, we need understanding what is needed for the now moment, not only for ourselves and our families, but the families in 'The Kingdom' ie The Kingdom of God, and we need insight to make those perceived needs a reality so that we can and will not only be able to weather and emerge victorious during these times, but that (linking it to the allegory above) we would also be able to discern and address the needs around us that could never have been discerned, but by divinely imparted insight.


So brothers and sisters let's make it our prayer this week and beyond, that the Holy Spirit would help us to be 'WUI-fit' through our study of The Word, our worship, exercising ourselves to hear what the Spirit is saying for the NOW, whether it be "Join this chariot" or "Go to the potter's house", and obedience to whatever instruction we hear.... Then and only then can we attain the dreams that we have dreamt, the hopes that we have nurtured and the heights that we have aspired to........ As the book of Proverbs rightly states:

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

For......Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.



Y'all have a great week and remember - Let's get WUI-fit !!! We ARE more than conquerors !

Celebrate YOU !

I posted this piece about a year ago originally, and came across it today as I was going through my writings, and felt compelled to share it again.

The other day I wrote about us celebrating our families ... today I would like us to celebrate our own selves...... so after reading this piece, please take the time to write something that YOU celebrate in YOURSELF and we all will celebrate ourselves together.....

Quotes:
We all become the composite of the places we’ve been and the people we’ve met. Wherever you grow up, will always remain with you. You can go somewhere else but you never really leave that place, it goes with you, the good and the bad…..
Bill Withers.

All we can do, the best we can achieve is to not let these moments and people define who we are, or who we will become, but to let them enrich the texture and the hues of the tapestry of our lives, building character and beauty - the hallmarks of growth and maturity …..
Mettabel.

Wherever you go, you always take yourself with you…….
Bill Withers.

Learn to treasure and appreciate that person……. your life will be the best for doing so...
Mettabel.

How may I serve you?

Good morning Lord
What would you have me do for you today?
What will bring you pleasure?
Is it a song of praise
Or just to sit at your feet
My heart, my ears open, ready for your word
Lord, How may I serve you?

Good morning Lord
What would you have me say today?
To that faithful child who's waiting on you
A word of hope, a helping hand ?
A meal for the hungry, a drink to quench thirst ?
Hands laid to heal the sick? I ask again
Lord, How may I serve you?

Good morning Lord
I'm really tired today
Don't feel much like praying, or singing a song
Pressed on every side
Oh how I feel the burden of life

But then I hear a whisper in my ear,
'Oh child how I love you!'
Your voice in my heart
Bringing to remembrance how much you care
And how you sacrificed
To give life to this soul
That now cannot help but cry:
Good morning Lord!
How may I serve you today?

Mettabel

For B and J with love...

Hi Sis P This is B…. Just calling to let you know that we’ll be passing thorough Minneapolis and we would like to stop and visit with you on our way to Chicago…. This was the message I retrieved from my voicemail sometime close to the end of summer ’09. Just your typical ‘passing through your neck of the woods message’ right? No… You see when I heard that message a myriad spectrum of emotions ran a gamut through my mind, and I will be totally honest here… Fear (yeah – pathetic isn’t it?), anxiety, anticipation, gladness that my cousin would actually be visiting me and last but not least, curiosity…. How would this so called stopover unfold? Hmm…
I had not seen B in quite a while - approximately 8 yrs to be precise and what I remembered of her was that she was a typical bratty teenager whom I was related (quite closely) to but had not much else in common with, except that she was my ‘friend’ on FB…
Bbrring…… bring… I picked up the phone …… Sis P hiiiiiii….. Did you get my message…? We’ll be arriving on…. (Talking a mile a minute). Who is “we”? Oh it’s J he’s my boyfriend. Hmm I said… Why did you say hmm she said, is it because he’s not Nigerian? What does that have to do with the price of Fish in the market? I asked. Is he nice? … She giggles. …Yeah well then… By the way I like your hair I said after a few minutes of cousinly conversation… REALLY!!! She said, (she happens to be sporting some fiiiine locs) yeah really… (You see B remembered me as her “SU” cousin who would never have approved nor gasp…. Liked her hairstyle…) I am surprised she said but thank you…. After a while we ended the conversation and I got off the phone actually now beginning to look forward to her visit as I had a glimmer of hope from that conversation that we would at least be able to relate on some level.
On the day of their arrival, after numerous ‘we’re nearly there calls’, the bell rings and I go to the door and upon opening the door I saw a gorgeous couple both quite tall to my 5 feet you got it… almost zippo… THIS was my bratty cousin? Sis P she yelled OMG it’s been forever… This is J and the motor started – yada yada yada … from the start I had quite a lot to digest… This was not who or what I expected, I had expected to do my cousinly duty and chalk the weekend to “familingtropy” but after just a few minutes into the visit I realized that this visit would not go as I imagined. You see … upon setting sight on B I felt a certain warmth rise up within me…. This was my baby ‘aburo’ all grown up gracious, beautiful and Godly (the latter I had begun to realize during my phone conversation with her….
Now J where can I start? He totally impressed me and won me over immediately. (He got me at hello…) He was polite, charming ( not in a smarmy way) and very calm the kind of guy that you would want your sister to bring home….
Without taking too much of your time I’d like to say that B and J’s visit was a delight to me – despite our differences, we all got on like a house on fire…. I couldn’t look at them without feeling mushy inside…. Not because of the ‘romance’ that was obviously in the air but because during the time we all spent together during this visit – the laughing, listening to music, the ‘fooding’, the shopping (of course), the late night profound conversations (they are both Ivy- league scholars with deep minds -lol), them going on a 5 mile jog early in the morning (Pas moi s’il vous plait….quelle horreur !!!!), I was developing a bond with my B and J based not on the fact (obviously) that I was related but B, but on a new platform of seeing her as work of progress in The Fathers hands and a young lady with much to offer….. Living out this phase of her life with a Godly man at her side and looking forward to great things,…. with big dreams – I was happy..
Sunday morning arrived too soon – there stood a teary eyed me, after they had given me a HUGE sweatshirt from their alma mater and ANOTHER gift (I told you they were gracious) waving them off saying ‘why can’t you stay another night’ go figure! After numerous hugs and kisses and them saying ‘We’ll be back! –Bye Sis P then B and J were gone.....
I walked back into the house with mixed emotions – a sense of melancholy, poignancy, mixed in with a good dose of love and joy… We were family you see – both in the natural and in the spirit…. And despite our differences – ethnicity, age, sex, locs, ‘fros and specs WE WERE FAMILY! bonded by love… I can truly say that I was deeply enriched by their passing through my life, and grateful to God for allowing us to touch each other’s hearts…. AND I am still waiting for you both to fulfill your promise to come back….
And as Se-un – my cousin, is on his way back to Chicago, after spending Christmas with me (OMG! …) and Sola – my brother is IM-ing me and Deolu and Bukky are calling me and Olumae – my mom is texting me, and you know…. I got 5 sibs… I am reminded about how truly BLESSED I am to have FAMILY….
Let’s take the time to appreciate both our natural and spiritual families today….. WE ARE BLESSED!
So to B and J with much love…. And you know I mean it….

Mettabel