Blemide...Happy Birthday Shawty

Hello Good People!

It's the birthday on one of my "personal persons" today and it really got me thinking. Friends are very hard to come by o! Like for real. Friends are an integral part of your destiny, believe it or not. So this is an ode to a Super friend -

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one." - Unknown

See this quote just describes my relationship with Olubunmi Titilayo Elemide. Sometimes, it seems like we lived in the same womb - that's how in sync we are. Distance, time or life's distractions don't seem to put a strain or hiccup in the bond, you know? It's like those relationships that people go their separate ways for decades, meet one day and pick up where they left off.

This woman (well, she looks an 17 year old girl with her ageless face....hiss. I'm such a hater!) is absolutely awesome! She's passionate, kind, reliable and as dependable as the sun! She is the type that comes through for you in a moment's notice! She's probably one of the few that I trust implicitly with my business, my dreams, visions, aspirations. I know without a doubt that she will keep it safe, pray it to manifestation and rejoice with me when it happens for me.



Friends for 7 years - forever!!!

BLemide herself! Isn't she lovely?

Oyin, Tola, Bunmi

There's no story you tell about me that is worth telling that does not include Bunmi in it - now that's heavy! She totally rocks! Smart, funny, gorgeous, compassionate child of the Most High God! How in the world is this gyal single!!!???!!!

I say this all the time - I have been blessed by God with friends who are no longer friends, but family. You are my sister from another mother...and father (you get na)

On this note, I pray that God blesses you more than you can stand - may He increase you in the knowledge of Him and cause you to increase in wisdom, grace, virtue, favor. May this year be the unfolding of several hidden things that will you propel you to your next level in Jesus' name.

I love me some Bunmi!

Happy Birthday, egbon mi atata.

Don't get it twisted, love is a beautiful thing......

So....have you ever been in love?

It changes things doesn't it? An awesome example of the transforming powers of falling in love can be found in Mr X - see, this guy wouldn't go out of his way to do anything for anyone!! You need a ride, he doesn't have gas. You need to get your hair done, he never carries cash...and his check card got stolen 35 seconds before you asked him for money. You need help moving to your new house, he just broke his two legs and an arm helping an old lady cross the street. Things like that. Then.....in walks Mz Q and X falls and falls hard! I mean, he topples over and lands on his head he falls! He's mad about this girl. He thinks about her when she's standing next to him, he dreams about her when she's not.
He dog sits for her...and he's allergic to dogs! He cooks - dude took cooking lessons! This is a guy who could not boil water until Q came skipping.

THAT is the power of Love!

So to the koko of the matter....I listened to 95.1 Shine FM as always on my way to work in my brother's car ( love you Bid!!) and this song came on and it just made sense to me!

I've come to realize that love is a huge deciding factor in a person's willingness and commitment. I mean, look at Mr X! You could hardly get him to do ANYTHING for you! He would never go out of his way for anything. But all Mz Q has to do is blink the wrong way and poof, he's there!

You cannot be utterly and irrevocably focused on God unless there's a deep love and devotion for who He is. You can't be cajoled into a relationship with God - you have to be arrested and the encounter HAS to change something in you, because then it wouldn't be termed an encounter would it? Look at Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus. He was a persecutor of the children of God before he started his trip then BAM, he meets Jesus, then he became blind, got his sight back, changed his name to Paul, became one of those he used to persecute and wrote a lot of the books in the New testament! What a change!

This relationship is really important, it's deep and it's profound! You cannot afford for it to become routine. You can't just go through the motions with God, it doesn't work that way. There has to be a desperation, a fire, a hunger...day after day...If this is lacking then you need to go back to the ultimate boyfriend (or girlfriend) and get back together 'cos y'all broke up and you didn't know it!

God's love is the deepest; his love and devotion and focus never wavers. He's perfect in every way you can think of! Look around you! He's everywhere!! He's everything!

So, I'll end the same way I started: ....Have you ever been in love?

I hope the answer is yelz!

Have a blessed and God-filled day!!

PS - Happy Birthday Oluwatomilola Okubanjo. You are indeed a blessing! God loved me enough to gift me with friends who have become more like sisters to me and you are one of them! I love you plenty, Strawberry Shortcake!

Expectamus Dominum

Happy Tuesday Morning Beautiful people!!

It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Unfortunately, that is the life of an external auditor from January to April and no, I do not do taxes all day! So anyway, Church this past Sunday was Ah-mazing!! It's just like God to throw you a life jacket when it looks like drowning is imminent. It's only God that will put a word in the mouth of your pastor that you abso-positively needed at that particular time to tide you over for the next time you're overwhelmed again and it looks like there's no way out. And again, He comes through. God's infallible faithfulness is basically what I'm experiencing right now...and I'm not alone.

It's His faithfulness, His ability to never fail that I would like to share again with you this beautiful day (not that I can see it from this gloomy audit room, but still). God is never late; he never forgets, he never disappoints. He's dependable like the sunrise. He has this ability to say something and actually follow through! There's no wishy-washiness (yep, it's a word, according to the T.Toleezy dictionary coming to stores near you) with this God!

With this in mind, why is it that we go through the day or a season without an expectation from this God? It seems like we are told by God either through daily meditation on the word or prophecy that this, that and the other thing is going to happen and all we do is say amen and do nothing afterwards. It comes in through one ear and goes out the other. There's no daily confession of the word, no expectation that it will come to pass. It's tying the hands of God! It's basically saying that you dont want it. So, fine, God did promise but it's now up to us to begin to walk in the fullness of that promise. We belive Not by what we see! We are a people of faith who call things that be not as though they are.

Something has got to give! We can't have this uber-cool, magnificent God who is like the total supreme of and in all things and we are wallowing in medicrity and lack! That is most definitely not God's will for you and I. If you want to know what God's will is, open the Bible! It's all in there. The thoughts of God towards us are those of good! (Jeremiah 29 vs 11). This is where we align our expectations with God's will and expectations for us and it's then and only then that we dont get a case of dashed and disapppointed expectations.

If you don't expect good, then good will not come to you. It's like a woman who finds out she's pregnant - the manifestation of that pregnancy is not seen until 10 months after inception but that doesn't mean that it's not there - there's the kicking and the burgeoning belly and the like that gives proof that there is indeed life growing in that woman. So, the woman who is preggers doesn't deny the truth that yep, there's a bun the oven because the baby doesn't just pop out after she found out (that would be creepy...think the movie "Species" Yuck). She looks forward to the end result. So should we! The fact that it doesn't look like our dreams, hopes and aspirations doesn't negate the fact that it's going to occur. So keep hoping, keep expecting because our God shall come and He will not be silent!

Dream On!

Hello and Good Morning,

Stumbled upon some rather heavy views on dreams, visions and goals and wanted to share it with y'all. So here goes-

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them

- Henry David Thoreau

Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare

- Japanese Proverb

If you're not sure where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else

- Anonymous

A man's dreams are an index to his greatness

- Zadok Rabinwitz

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law. - Proverbs 28 vs 18

....Something to think about........So Dream On, People!!!

Have a blessed and God-filled day.

To sow....Or not to sow

.....that is the question!

Hello!!

I hope everyone is having a good afternoon - enjoy it because it's supposed to rain non-stop for 36 hours starting at 5pm this evening. So, beautiful people, I got an alert in my email on Bill Gates (I get alerts for Mr. Gates, Warren Buffet and Carlos Slim - #1, soon to be #2, #3 and #2 richest men in the world) that he will no longer be the richest man in the world as of today's Forbe's list! All because he gave a significant chunk of his ridiculous net worth to his charity!!

Disclaimer - There's also news going around that he wasn't the richest man in the world last year either, but big whoop! Who cares? The point is he has over $25 billion with a "B" to give away to charity. So there!

Now this got me thinking - as far as I know, this guy is not saved but he's following the rules of the kingdom pretty strictly. Isn't it weird that most of us don't do the same?

In Luke 6 vs 38, the Bible says "Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you mete with it shall be measured to you again".

Okay, back to my story. So from this passage, good ol' Bill has obeyed the command (maybe without knowing it) and it is automatic that the result will follow. The fact that he's not a born again Christain matters not (pulling out the King James version there...see it? hehe). God does not go back on his word....ever! So whosoever decides to obey His command reaps the reward of their obedience.

In this situation, giving, according to the Law of God, triggers a torrential downpour of blessings and increase commensurate with the measure of the giving. Simply put, to receive is to give! Kinda backwards, but that's the way our God works. "Seed"ing or sowing always comes before receiving or harvest.
So God says, "Hey child, do you want to receive from me? Then give!"

Genesis 8 vs 22 - "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

Now, please understand, although my segway into this conversation was money (and lots of it), this is not entirely about money. I mean, we do need to give offerings, pay tithes (Malachi 3 vs 20) and all that. Because like I blogged about earlier, God will not continue to fill you up if you're hoarding all that He has given you. He doesn't work that way.

We need to give of ourselves more; above and beyond the money - our time, our talent(s), resources that are available to us and so on. We need to be more giving because that is the ONLY way to receive from God and we all know that whatever God gives is the awesomest ( I know it's not a word, but it works)!

Proverbs 10 vs 22 - "The blessing of the LORD, it makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it."

#Dasallfolks

On that note, have a blessed and God-filled day and have an umbrella, a poncho and yellow raincoat complete with boots handy!

PS: Barcelona is Fiyurrrrr!! Did you watch the game?? Is it any wonder I want to marry Lionel Messi??

Crows and Locusts

Good Morning.....

So, what's up with the gas prices of late? I mean, this time last year, gas was $2.75 per gallon and just this morning, I tried buying gas in Annapolis and literally turned around in utter shock at the $3.57 gallon asking price for Regular! One would think buying a compact car is cheap...ermmm not anymore!! Gas prices are increasing at an alarming rate of 2 cent per day on average!! Very soon, people are going to start hiking to work, mark my words!

It's getting so bad now that Prez Obama is seriously considering tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve - which has been done only TWICE since it's inception in 1973 after the Arab boycott; in 1991 after the Gulf War and after Hurricane Katrina (yep, I've done my research! I'm tired of paying ridiculous amounts of money to fill my tank). Although this will definitely drive down the gas prices temporarily, the reserve can only hold the United States for only two months, if that! So, what happens after that?

What needs to be done is to address the underlying issues causing this massive issue -

Libya provides about 2% of the world's supply of oil and with the unrest there (Gaddafi is a mad man, by the way) and the winding down of Egypt's protest and subsequent resignation of Mubarak is causing a really huge domino effect that we are now feeling here halfway around the world. Oil production has not ceased; Saudi Arabia is still spitting out oil and we all know they're up there in the oil production hierarchy, but unrest equals uncertainty, which resonates into the stock market and that's another issue for another blog (schizophrenic doesn't quite cover it).

God help NORTH AFRICA! It's people and leadership! It peeves me that Libya and Egypt and the others are being regarded as the Middle East in the news! CNN, Get a Map! Ignoramos!!

Ranting over.. But on a serious note, though, we need to pray for these countries. God needs to intervene. I mean, Mubarak was a dictating president for 3 decades! Gaddaffi is not any better!

2 Chronicles 7 vs 14 - "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

On that note...Have a blessed and God filled day!!

PS - Happy International Women's Day, Ladies!!!

Have this Confidence

Hello and Good Morning,

Just a quick reminder that.....

1. Today is the day that the Lord had made (Ps118vs 24) - A lot of people didn't survive the weekend, some didn't wake up this morning and others didn't wake up in their right minds!

2. You have been given another opportunity to begin again or continue from where you left off. Don't look back, there's nothing in the past but regrets and recriminations. You don't need any of that. Look UP and Forward. That's where your reward is.

3. You have a God who is scarily awesome! Imagine how big this earth is - that's His footstool! And He loves you! Isaish 40 has a pretty good description of who this God is -

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One." - verses 21-22, 25

This is your father, your friend, your confidante! There should be no reason to fear, complain or worry! This is the God that looks out for each and everyone of us!

"Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “my way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - verses 27-31.

....Have this confidence!

On that note, have a blessed and God-filled day!

PS - Shout out to my gyal, Opeoluwa Oladapo!! Happy Birthday baby!!! May God bless, increase and enlarge you and the works of your hands. Have an incredible year ahead! I'm sure God has a nice birthday present all picked out for you!

Morning - Things to note

Good Morning Beautiful people!!!

Mornings are awesome! I'm by all means NOT a morning person (it takes several attempts to get out of bed every single day!!), but I love what they represent. It's just another reminder that God's promises will never fall to the ground. His mercies and grace and love are renewed every morning.

Lamentations 3 vs 22-23 - "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

So, every daybreak, every sunrise, is a promise that God will stay true to His words concerning you and I. In Jeremiah 33 vs 20-21, God states very clearly that "....if you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken…”

I'm pretty sure that there's not been a day that the sun has not risen and set in the evening to make way for night; so, basic correlation and deduction leads me to conclude irrefutably that God's words to me will surely come to pass.

Period.

So, smile and know that God is cooking up something. He always is.

On that note, have a blessed and God-filled morning and rest of the day!

Just a thought

God will Never leave you empty.

He will replace everything you lost.

If He asks you to put something down,

it's because he wants you TO PICK UP

SOMETHING BETTER!

#thatsall!!

iRecommend

좋은 하루 아름다운 사람!

So by popular demand, I have come up with some recommendations for a lot of random things and I plan to do this rather haphazardly (to keep you on your toes...lol) so here goes.


1. The In Death Series by JD Robb - There are now over 31 books in the Series from Naked in Death (July 1995) to Treachery in Death (February 2011). Guess who has all 31 books....yezzur! Read them all over at least 3 times; they're that good! It's written by Nora Roberts under her pseudonym J.D Robb features NYPSD ("New York City Police and Security Department") Homicide detective, Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her mega-rich, deliciously delectable Irish husband Roarke and is set in a mid-21st century New York City. These books get better with each book and you know that with 31 books already in print that is no easy feat. Check it out, I guarantee you'll like it. The only downside to this series is that Nora only releases 2 books per year - one in February and the other in November. So here I am, already wanting more after Treachery (stayed up all night on the 23rd of Feb to finish it) and I have to wait 8 months for another dose. Oh well, I can always re-read the other 31.

2. Restaurants - I'm not the eating out type, especially because I am a Jollof rice and plantain kinda gal, but I have had some really nice lunches/dinners at relatively affordable places in my tenure at my current job. Some of them are -
a. Carpaccio, Annapolis MD - As the name denotes, it's all Italian all the way baby! This is usually a drawback for me, as I do NOT eat any sort of pasta whatsover and cheese is not my friend. But I had the Pollo Marsala, which is basically chicken, veggies, potatoes and mushrooms (that I moved to the side of my plate..yuck) for my entree and a nice modernized tiramisu for desert. All for $15! Now that's a deal.

b. Silver Diner - Well, to be honest, this really isn't a restaurant, but whatevs! They serve banging food! Their Caramel French Toast and eggs are out of this world ($9.49), their shakes are artery-cloggingly delicious. If you're watching your weight and waistline, you can get the Junior serving (but why?). The chunky monkey banana and peppermint patty are fiyurrr! I loved this place so much, I got a job there while I was still in college. I had to quit when I couldn't fit into my favorite clothes (lwkmd).


This should hold you over....for now. Until next time. Look out for my random iRecommendations.

On that note, have a blessed and God-filled day everybody!

Not an Option!!

Good Morning!!

It's not the most fun thing to do, getting up and ready for another work week after a really short reprieve at home (where, if you're like me, you put in about six hours of work in anyway...yuck!). I mean, who decided that it was okay for the work week to be 5 days and not say, like 3days ehn? That person sucks! Rubbish!

Well, rant over...on to the topic of the day. Did y'all watch the Oscars yesterday? Kinda boring, if you ask me. I mean, James Franco as a host??? Dude is as dry as Sahara. Highlights were Natalie Portman's win (wasn't it cute that her baby daddy walked her up the stairs?), Colin Firth's win (now I have to watch that movie) and Inception's wins (shoulda won Best Picture, but whatevs).

Anyway, this whole shebang kinda got me thinking about stuff - you know how I am; I can't keep my thoughts to myself! So here goes -

Have you thought of the issues and heartache a lot of these "stars" had to go through to get to where they are today? I was loafing around on yahoo the other day (I needed it!) and I saw this article of idol rejects who later became hot shots in the biz! Like that girl from "Lady Antebellum"- she tried out for idol twice! And she never got past the production people to see Paula, the crazy. Both times! Now, she and her group just won 5 Grammys! Another is Jennifer Hudson who got belittled by Simon for being fat, then she went on to win the Oscars and shrink about 8 dress sizes thanks to Weight Watchers. Mendeza was another idol hopeful who got creamed for being fat and went on to make it as a Gospel artist (she lost a ton of weight now too).

Heidi Klum is married to my cousin, five times removed. Yep! Seal is family! She also had several issues landing jobs because a lot of modeling agencies thought she looked weird; her face was all wrong and she wasn't skinny enough. Fast forward like 12 years...she's arguably one of the hottest supermodels in the world right about now.

What I'm basically trying to get at is that these people refused to give up when it seemed like things were going awry for them. "So, I went to American Idol and got rejected, big whoop! I'll just start a group instead! Up yours, Simon Cowell!" I just made that up, but I feel like that's probably what Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum said and/or thought.

There's no stopping us, unless we decide to stop. Failure is just another chapter in life; it shouldn't be the end of the matter. Instead, it should be the force that drives us to the next thing. Those who wallow in self pity of what might have been are in danger of actually failing in the end because all they do is look at the past, instead of keeping their heads in the present and looking to the future. They look down on themselves instead of looking up to the One who made them. It can't be easy though. Actually, it is most assuredly NOT easy. I've been there. I know. But at the end of the day, you need to pick up the pieces, move on in order to move up.

Woody Allen once said "If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative". It's easy to do just stick with what you know because it's bearing a little fruit. It's easy to stick to your comfort zone and not do anything that will challenge you. But those things will not bring fulfillment, which causes people to live (exist, really) in a haze of mediocrity.

The crux of my thought is that that at the end of the day, you can do ALL things! There's nothing impossible for you to accomplish. As long as you can think it, you can do it. Your dreams and aspirations do not need to stay dreams and aspirations. Start taking steps to actualizing them! I know I am. Phillipians 4vs13.

"Remember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn.t work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach" - Roger Von Oech

"Failure is success IF we learn from it" - Malcolm S. Forbes

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" - Phil 4vs13.

Start this beautiful new month (sheesh! We just said "Happy New Year" two seconds ago!) with that in mind! What would you do and start to accomplish if you knew YOU CAN'T FAIL?! 'Cos you can't and that's a fact!

On that note, have a successful and God-filled day, week and month ahead!

PS - Oyinlomo Nafisat Abiola ROCKS!