My first dog pet friend -Puppy.

My friend Puppy

My first dog pet friend -Puppy.

I had never had too much love for having dogs or cats for a pet till when I came to America.

My favorite pets were domestic animals like goats and sheep.  Even though I like them, I had never seen some body give them too much care.  I cared about taking them to graze, making pegs for them and their pen wasn’t fancy simply because I did not stay in a fancy housing either.

The first time I landed in America a land where many say the dream land; I could not fathom how people have close attachments with their pets. For the first days I could hear statements like, she is a cute little girl, she is simply awesome, he is the best walking companion, he is fun to hang around with and I would be like wait a minute, whom are you talking about?. I would surely love to meet him or her. Whenever I would be told that, my dog pet or Cat Pet, I would quickly rush to say, “Okay, that’s cool though I thought you were referring to a human being”.  I would wonder how a cat or dog would be that nice!

I wanted to experience the niceness myself though it seems I was not ready for it. All the pets here have names and the pets are so disciplined. So I had to ask my host family to tell me the name for their dog pet. Oh; the little cute “puppy” they said. I was like what a cool name.

Puppy welcomed me in the Phillips family. For the first days I could not understand her ways of communication opening a learning room for better communication skills. Puppy makes my moods zoom sky-high with her loving and waiting BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK. Her barking in the first days would scare me but my host family explained to me how it was her sign to welcome me back home and an expression of how happy she was to see me.

I’m in love with Puppy’s nonverbal communication and vocalizations and I do enjoy doing games with her especially the fetch game.  Even though the big sized pets scare me by their size; I now accept that pets are great members of any family. Great appreciation to my host family (puppy inclusive), for shaping my view on pets.

Living a focussed life

Everyday Life presents opportunities for learning. That’s why a popular saying goes, “life is a lesson; learn it”.  When I was young I wished I would get an opportunity to get into an aero plane.  
As I get used to the use of air transport I have gotten to learn how different it is from other forms of transport. When it comes to observing time, everyone has to keep time. Air transport does not have “African time” where if you are 20 or 30 minutes late you will still be on time.

I’m always fascinated by the consistency of the signs and symbols on the airports. You have to follow the right direction to get to your boarding gate or to your required exit gate. Simply put, you have to be focused! You can hardly go wrong if you follow the arrow signs that point to your intended gate.

So why am I sharing this?

Friends I may not know what you are going through but would like to encourage you to stay focused. It does not matter how many mistakes you have made in life, it matters if you get back on the right path just like the case for following arrow signs at the airports. It does not matter how you have meandered along the way. What matters is getting to your required destination on time.

Apostle Paul said in wisely in Philippians 3:13 “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” May be its time for you to forget what is behind you. It may include limitations and hindrances that prevent you from moving forward (Discern what is hindering you).It’s time that you narrowed down your priorities. What is your pursuit and are you determined to get it.  Paul forgot the past and pursued the prize for his call.

Focus may be defined as letting go of nice things that do not matter to pursue what you think matters. Leaders who change the world have this sharp focus!Let’s ponder on men of the bible like Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Paul and Jesus; they all focused on what they dimmed necessary. To get back on the right track of focus we have to work on our selves, work on our priorities basing on our strength and learn how to work with our colleagues. May you start this week with a focused mind. Blessings.

A Heart full of Gratitude

If you are reading this, just know I appreciate our friendship.  A few days ago I was asked if I would share in a devotion of a team that had a meeting.  I can’t tell you how grateful I was; for sure I was humbled by the invitation, meditated about it and God used me to prepare a message which I think was a great encouragement. When the time came for sharing, I shared and had to continue with my day’s Schedule.

Yesterday I received a card and was wondering who could have sent it. On opening it, I realized that it came from the group I shared with.  The words on the front cover of the card went like this; “As you serve the Lord, our greatest blessing is to receive God’s Love; our greatest privilege is to give it away to others”. What a great message this is. I pondered on it for a while before opening the card to see what would be inside. I was greatly humbled by the comments saying they are thanking the Lord for me and the faithful way I show his Love.

I felt encouraged to model Christ’s Love in all that I do. The encouragement and words of appreciation from the card motivated me to serve God diligently. I got to ask myself of how many times I have said thank you to people around me. I remembered the words of my Mum that “Thank you is a lovely word even to the son of God”.

How often do you say thank you?  Colossians’ 3:17 one of my greatest memory verses says “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”.

In 1 Corinthians 1:4; Apostle Paul expressed how grateful he was to the Church of Corinth.  In Ephesians 1:16 Paul again said” I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers”.
It’s my desire that we will count it a great privilege to give away God’s Love to others in all that we do. Remember Love is an act and a package of a heart of gratitude may be that one needed act to show it. Blessings to you all as you serve in the Lord’s vineyard.