The Scarcity of Fulfilment

 

Often times, there is usually a huge gap between what God has really called us to do and what we think we can do or should be doing. Perhaps, that is why fulfilment is such a scarce emotion.

-Babatunde Oladele

How To Reduce Stress

How To Reduce Stress

A wise man says, “Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn’t happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.”

1. Pray

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won’t fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more… (Although one is often not enough, two may also be too many.)

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can’t do anything about a situation, forget it.

12. Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You every day.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19. Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot… Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don’t wait until it’s time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favourite scriptures on hand.

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good “Thank you Jesus.”

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).

32. Sit on your ego.

33. Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you’re grateful for that you’ve never been grateful for before. God has a way of turning things around for you.

— Author Unknown

Meditation: Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. – Romans 14:19

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

20 Truths To Remember

 

20 Truths To Remember

1. Faith is the ability to not panic.

2. If you worry, you didn’t pray. If you pray, don’t worry.

3. As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home every day.

4. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

5. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.

6. Do the math. Count your blessings.

7. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

8. Dear God: I have a problem. It’s me.

9. Silence is often misinterpreted but never misquoted.

10. Laugh every day, it’s like inner jogging.

11. The most important things in your home are the people.

12. Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

13. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.

14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.

15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

16. We do not remember days, but moments. Life moves too fast, so enjoy your precious moments.

17. Nothing is real to you until you experience it, otherwise, it’s just hearsay.

18. It’s all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.

19. Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and dreams you’re seeking require courage and risk-taking. Learn from the turtle — it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.

20. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Author Unknown

Meditation: for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. – Romans 14:17-18

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

One of the Greatest Assets

 

One of the greatest assets a woman has is the power of influence. However, it is not a default endowment to all women; only those who have mastered the art of self-effacing persuasion, irrespective of their education or social status, wield it.

– Babatunde Oladele

A Place for the Grace of God

There is a place for the grace of God; there is a place for diligence. They are mutually exclusive, not interchangeable.

-Babatunde Oladele

The Other Grandma

 

The Other Grandma

We were grandmothers together to two of the nicest grandkids anybody ever had. It makes great comedy on television for the two grandmothers to engage in rivalry, but that never happened with us. We both babysat—sometimes on the same day—passing those wonderful children between us with her sometimes coming to get them from me and I sometimes going to her home to pick them up. I liked her a lot and never doubted that she gave my grandchildren the best of love and care. Even after our children divorced, our relationship remained the same.

Can you imagine how sad I was for my grandchildren when I recently learned that her cancer was terminal and she did not have much longer to live? It was heart-breaking for me because of those grandchildren. They were facing one of the most difficult losses of life at a time when it would be most devastating.

When I saw my four-year-old granddaughter a couple of days later, I said to her, “Honey, I’m sorry your nana is so sick.” Perhaps she didn’t want to talk about it; perhaps she was busy playing with cousins, or perhaps she didn’t really hear me. All she replied was, “That’s okay.”

The next day, when I was with her again, after a few minutes, she nearly jumped in my face and yelled at me, “Aren’t you sorry about my nana?”

“Of course I am, Honey; remember, I told you I was sorry yesterday.”

“You didn’t.”

“I guess you didn’t hear me but I am sorry, Sweetheart. I even wrote a prayer for your nana.”

“Where is it?” she demanded. “Read it to me.”

“I don’t have it with me. I left it at home, but we could say a prayer for Nana right now.”

“No, write it.”

She brought a small piece of paper and thrust it at me. As I struggled (out loud for her benefit) to find words, she scribbled on another piece of paper, first seeming to write what I said and later saying aloud words of her own. When I had finished, she said she was going to mail the prayers to her Nana in the city where she was in the hospital. She said, “I know how to mail things.”

Then she folded up both papers (rather messily) and asked me to write on them. At her instruction, I wrote, “To Nana at Indianapolis. She then immediately ran out of the house to place the “letters” in the rural mailbox.

I made a mental note to tell her father to retrieve them later but I forgot to tell him.

Two days more passed and I saw my little granddaughter again. She was not in a very good mood and I asked her why she was so “saucy” with me. Her answer, “I want to be saucy because I’m mad and I’m sad.” Of course I asked her why and her answer was heart-breaking. “Because I don’t want my nana to go and I know she has to. She has to next month.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Because I know things; she tells me things.” And then she added in a tone of despair, “And the mail doesn’t even go to Indianapolis.”

There was nothing I could do at that point but tell her I loved her. I later learned that she was the one who got the mail every day for her daddy and she had been complaining about her letters not being taken until her dad finally looked at the box and discovered the “letters”.

The very next day after this dear precocious child told me she knew her nana had to go, her mother called and asked that the child be brought to Nana’s bedside to say goodbye. Her dad took those precious prayers along so she could give them to Nana personally.

I wept.

Please Note: This is an entirely true and very recent story which is the reason why I request that my name be withheld if you use this article.

– Name Withheld

Meditation: “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:3

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Poverty Is Of The Mind

 

Poverty is of the mind. It is not necessarily those things you do not have that make you poor, but the frustrations and other negative dispositions of the heart toward them which prevent them from coming to you.

-Babatunde Oladele