Love comes when you least exist it

For the couple of times that that I have been in love it has normally been happening in the strangest of ways, meeting someone that you absolutely never imagined you would and when you least expect. Well, much as those relationships due to one reason or another had to end they had been some real memorable moments and of course the moments of hurting and pain.

From my years of experience I can surely attest to the fact that love comes when you least expect it and it’s when am not out searching that's when it found me. I believe that to everyman there is a woman to all the people who are still seeking for love my word for the year and from the lessons gathered is to be patient so that one doesn’t have to settle for less, be the best that you can, give it all you can while you’re in it, above all commit your desires to the Lord so that He can really show you if that is where you should be and wait while He works in you. Forgive the ones that have hurt you and free them so that you can free, associate with people who have the same beliefs and faith so that you can speak in one language and encourage each other along the way.

'when you lose the feeling to love someone, move forward with the action of loving them and that will help you reclaim your feelings of love' Tom Holladay

In the presence of the Lord miracles do happen

A couple of weeks down while we were driving down from Eldoret for what was a great family function our car had a terrible accident. It was hit by another car and totally lost control, the memories are still so fresh in my mind, I can see my brother in law who was driving the car holding the steering wheel and trying hard to control the car. Anyone who has been in an accident will tell you that once a vehicle loses control, there is very little if at all anything one can humanly possible do to control it.

We were at the mercy of the heavens while this machine circled around the road and then right and then left again and soon it was flying out of the road to start rolling, my mind had seen us being pulled out of the over turned car. This was one of the scariest things I have been involved in and it was all happening so fast. I had been talking to my friend over the phone at the same time and we got cut off in the commotion.

Just when we were out of the road to start rolling over, suddenly the car came to a standstill. It was at this point I felt the mighty hand of God, He had taken over and made the car come to a complete stop.

The next thing I saw was people running all over to where we were to see the extent of the damage and soon a mammoth crowd of people had surrounded the car. My two sisters, niece, our friend and I all sat still in the mangled up position, all to shocked to move and not really knowing what to do, I believe everyone was making silent prayers thanking God for saving us.

It took the effort a lady who came to my side of the door and asked me to come out of the car, she politely asked if we were hurt and I said no and then she assured me that it was okay to come out. When we were out is when we got to see what had stopped, the car was held by a molehill which stopped it from rolling and crashing in the bushes.

My friend called back and I fuzzily explained what happened, he tried to ask for the details which I couldn’t make out at that time because of the shock. I wanted and I guess what we all want to hear in such a situation is some assuring words and when he said he was coming to help us out the adrenaline levels came down an inch, he was my knight in shining armour at that moment!

When he did arrive and a few minutes later my brother and mother who were in another car ahead of us came back things began to look up. We were able to make some decisions on how to proceed with the journey and what help to call for.

It was a miraculous event, sometimes this year I set out to memorise Psalm 91, the prayer of protection and indeed as it’s written in the chapters His Angels took charge over us and we did not dash our foot against a stone. My little nice has been singing praise kiddies song in the car all along the journey and indeed her kiddies praises anointed the car.

There is power in prayer and there is power in the name of Jesus and this is my testimony.

Immersed in the Pool of Water: My Baptism

On Saturday 4th December I was baptized by immersion at Parkland Baptist Church where I have been fellowshipping for almost two and half years now. How did all this come to be? For a very long time I have been meaning to become a member of the church, this calls for attending membership classes. For the times when i have attended the service and every Sunday when I see the announcement for the membership classes I have always found reason for not attending. Where some of those reasons were valid, many are the ones that could have been avoided I was a victim of the procrastination, shamefully!

So this time round when I finally saw the announcement I knew my chance was here and now and I decided to go for the Thursday class. The classes run for 5 weeks and as part of being a member of the Baptist church one of the requirements was that one should be baptized by immersion, after the acceptance of Christ. After signing up for baptism and talking to my small sister she reminded me that I had been baptized by immersion years back when I was a teenage, can’t quite recall the exact age in Catholic church and this was after being baptized by sprinkling in the Anglican church when I was about 5 or 6 years, its only through the pictures that I was aware such an event happened!

After much thinking about it I decided that I still wanted to be baptized, yes for the 3rd time in my life. Why? Because this time I felt that the decision was being made by a fully grown woman. It was not a decision influenced by my parents, it’s a decision being influence by me, meaning that I am more responsible for it.
So as I walked to meet the deacon inside the cold water for the immersion and he held my hand, I felt like I was experiencing a new rebirth. God’s timing is perfect and that was my time and I felt peace and calmness in my heart.

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised through dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in the newness of life.” Roman 6: 4 And the same was significant of my life and my sins and as I walked out of the water my prayer was that I will walk in the newness of Christ thanking Him for cleansing and washing my sins away.

I feel free, happy, healed and so proud for making that move, I am looking forward to being a member of the Church on Sunday the 12th. I am even happier of the friends that I have made because it creates some form of accountability to each other and my greatest prayer is that I may continue to obey God’s word and live a life that is pleasing to Him.

I wouldn’t have thought of a better way for marking the year 2010 than this!
For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:14

Memories from Rome

my dashboard in italian!

My first trip out of Africa is in Rome, yesterday i was welcomed by a sunny and lovely day contrary to what i expected, thank heavens for that. Today it has been cold and raining, am worried for my black African hair since i forgot my hair drier something most people here don't seem to be worried about, i mean they can simply dry their hairs in the sun and it will look as good as.

Quick run down of my day yesterday
9.00am - arrived in Rome
10.00am - welcoming, grand and yummy breakfast at my colleagues house
11.30-2.30pm - power nap (too long!)
3.00pm - trip to see our shared apartment
4.00pm - small tour and walk around the city, first stop was icecream at Piazza or something, then went to Pantheon and saw some stature and a spot where they filmed angels and demons, this was the highlight of the walk! another interesting thing was being entered by the lovely music at the many open areas.
6.00pm - back to the apartment
7.30pm - dinner with the house mates, had a bit of an over expectation on the food didnt like as much, i simply love Kenyan cuisines. Eat the famous artichoke (deep fried)
9.30pm - hitting the pillow, for an early sleep

My collection of favourite scriptures

1. Prayer of protection. Psalms 91.

2. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

3. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Phil 4:8

4. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. Psalms 16:6 did i mention i was born on 16th June!

5. You have heard that it was said, “You should love your neighbor and hate your enemy! But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Matt 5:43-44

6. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Prov 18:24b

7. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct they paths. Prov 3:6

8. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. Ecc 10:6

9. ..But one thing i do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. Phil 3:12

10. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8

11. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. Jame 1:17

12. Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way. Psalms 119: 36-37

I am not struggling over it

Yesterday was a day spent worrying, worrying, worrying and i achieved nothing, only an emotional day with very little job production. It is hard to plan when the future doesn't seem quite clear but life is all but a series of phases, a time to start and a time to complete, a time to receive, a time to spend and a time to look for more. Looks like its coming to a time a completion and being the good planner that i am i am trying to see beyond the completion however that part is out of my control for now.

My pastor's word for Sunday is really coming to play today. I realise better than yesterday that the battle is already won whether i am up or down the battle is already won, God knows the outcome so why should i trouble my little head! He knows what is best.

Today i choose to do my best and do all that i can without trying to imagine what will happen in the months to come, the rest will figure itself out..

Being unique

I have been thinking of the social networking sites that exist. I must confess I love face book: it’s fun, user friendly, quick and easy to learn the functionality, gives you the option of selecting what you want, kids use it even my grandpa am sure he can learn how to use if he was technologically advantaged.

Many other social networking sites have come up since and many try to work on the same principle, on the move status updates, connecting with people and many more. But none really works for me like face book does and many of my friends seem to concur with me. I have a twitter account, which I update here and there, I don’t see anything quite spectacular about it, there is also an official in the office communication group, it is a good way of getting to know what people are working on and also sharing information but not many people use it and also being an official communicating tool and the cordial relationship that we want to maintain and also the fact that it limits one’s imagination on their extent of sharing information, makes it a bit restrictive. Needless to say am sure there are people who like other tools as much as I like face book.

Many other social networking sites are being invented but I think there needs to be something different and something special about them. Any innovator should try and see what is unique to their product and capitalize on it, I was told in my research class that there is nothing new that my future (few months to come) research work will uncover since most of the research has already been done and what I should try and do is look for where the gaps are to fill them, while this might be true, I also think that there could be something new for me to unearth, I mean we are all unique creatures, the brains that invented something years ago are not mine so I can still do something new. The most successful companies I know have made a niche in the market, what yours? what’s mine?

Firing up the adrenaline levels

I have just discovered that I need some form of excitement in my life. Something to build up my adrenalin levels. I believe in constantly redefining my north. Life should not be a boring plateau of same old same old routine and procedures – as they said variety is the spice of life and I need to add in some flavor.

I recall that when I was a fair swimmer I used to go to the pool with great enthusiasm, hoping that that was the day when I would swim all the way to the deep end and back and not be scared or the day when I would float on my back. Now I still love to swim but it’s more of a fitness regime. I want to start learning tennis, I want to start hitting the ball and I hope that this can bring some thrill and flavor in my life.

Investment – I want to start up some business or some investment venture. Renew the zeal that I had when I was carrying out my t-shirt business.

To me life should not be the same old procedure. It should be about encountering new experiences, new challenges, trying new and different things and aren’t all the options available in the world for us to explore them?

I could scream of joy

the best advice i was once given by a former boss who played a keen role in mentoring my career upto this stage and i wish to share with other young guys is to work hard (smart) and money will follow in due time. It has followed me, Hallelujah!

It's a happy day, a happy day, a happy day. I link this to my first post this year. Whatever one confesses with her/his mouth and believes in their heart surely comes to pass. one is really what they say there are, the power of the tongue and confessing good things upon your life...



jumbled up post, but its all in the spirit of capturing and sharing the moments right ;-). Tomorrow God willing i will have intrinsic lessons to share.

...the point

It is important to be accountable to others, yes, but in addition you will need to
remain true to you. So you have a goal or a plan and you have friends to check on you; That's all good! But more importantly look at the mirror, and right there you will see the one person you should be accountable to... the one person on whom the success of the goal depends. By Rose Ndegwa

...another straight from heart post

Tough morning, tough start of the week been in the office for more than 2 hours and i have achieved negligible - saddening! Its one of those sad days, some low moments in life, beating my head up over some wrong moves. I need to find a balance, i need to hold on to the hand of God and keep the faith. God look down on me, thank you!

Journey to Burkina Faso

Another Birthday - Happy belated birthday Kamama ;-)

I just couldn't resist the temptation, to say it truthfully its more of pressure to write this article, you see my writing grease has kinda run out and now its not as smooth as it used though i still like to keep rolling the writing rollers.

I mean it's June, the month of my birthday and that is a BIG BIG deal, forget about people who say that they don't event notice when there's are approaching and i would like to come back here one day remind myself how it was turning 27!

So the day of my real birthday the 16th, i was in the middle of my exams and never managed to do anything big, actually i had -ve physc for any events. Nevertheless, i went out for coffee and cake with my friends, talk of a surprise coffee and cake plan, i love u guys...u made it special in its own way.

June 26, was thee day. How did it all happen? Am randomly talking to my colleague and she offers to buy a birthday cake, leave alone the fact that i had been asking myself why i didn't have any and i had been buying and organizing cake for my family members - they say its always comes back pressed down shaken together- yes it did for me (sample that beautiful cake in the pic above). Another one offers to bring some brandy glasses, and another one say they don't mind that i have limited space in the house they wanna come and see my new house and celebrate with me. Their wish was gladly my command and i had a gathering of friends at home and we had a memorable time chatting and talking and later on went out dancing.

Crap has happened in year 26 but i tried to keep it together all the same. Am still alive, i can still the sun rise and set everyday, i can still smile, i made more good friends all i can do now is say Thank You God and am sorry that i sometimes trip and fail to listen to your voice. Continue holding my hand in this journey called life and open my ears that i may listen and obey. I pray for a rewarding and happy new year with plenty of love and joyous moments.

2009 bday
2008 bday

Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man

The most recent book that i have read by Steve Harvey,what do i think about it? I absolutely loved it, enough of the things that he mentions truly makes sense to me.

Protect, Provide and Profess are the three things that a man should do for a woman and in return Support, Loyalty and the Cookie is what men want from women. Among these, there are couple of other things that he talks about e.g. how to find out if he the right guy for one, mistakes we make all these in a humorous and interesting way. Of all the books i have read, this one took me the shortest time to read (think i must have been the timing ;-)).

Some pics from Ethiopia - truly random

To win some and lose some

In May of 2008 i packed my few bags and left the comfort of my mum's house in May of 2010, i am settling to my new and more spacious new house. Looking back, am amazed a what a journey this had been, am overwhelmed by gratitude to my father in heaven because every achievement and every good thing i attribute to him. I have not only advanced in years but in other areas of my life and that is something to be thankful about since i know a number of people who are only advancing in age and retrogressing in the other areas.

It takes a lot of hard, determination, passion and my favourite - a positive attitude. I won good friendship, trust and respect from my mother when i moved out and lost my independence at the same time. Am sure some might think that it's independence that i got and i initially thought that too but how wrong i was, when i learnt that living by yourself calls for discipline beyond ones imagination and so am still learning to parent myself.

By moving to my new place, i have lost time as i spend a lot of time commuting to and fro work but l have won space, peace of mind and plenty of room to grow. I must find the perfect balance and make the most of my situation.

I toast to more growth, more blessings!

Defeat bad thoughts by thinking of something better by Rick Warren

Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. Philippians 4:8 (TEV)

The more you think about something, the stronger it takes hold of you, which is why the Bible teaches that we should, "Run from anything that gives you the evil thoughts . . . but stay close to anything that makes you want to do right." (2 Timothy 2:22, LB)

Temptation begins by capturing your attention. What gets your attention arouses your emotions. Then your emotions activate your behavior, and you act on what you felt. The more you focus on "I don't want to do this," the stronger it draws you into its web.

Ignoring a temptation is far more effective than fighting it. Once your mind is on something else, the temptation loses its power. So when temptation calls you on the phone, don't argue with it, just hang up!

Sometimes this means physically leaving a tempting situation. This is one time it is okay to run away. Get up and turn off the television set. Walk away from a group that is gossiping. Leave the theater in the middle of the movie. To avoid being stung, stay away from the bees.

Do whatever is necessary to turn your attention to something else.

Spiritually, your mind is your most vulnerable organ. To reduce temptation, keep your mind occupied with God's Word and other good thoughts. You defeat bad thoughts by thinking of something better. This is the principle of replacement. You overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

Satan can't get your attention when your mind is preoccupied with something else. That's why the Bible repeatedly tells us to keep our minds focused: "Fix your thoughts on Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1 NIV).

"Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable" (Philippians 4:8 TEV).

If you're serious about defeating temptation you must manage your mind and monitor your media intake. The wisest man who ever lived warned, "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts" (Proverbs 4:23 TEV).

Abyssinia

After my maiden visit i was back again to Ethiopia, this time round to attend the Rotaract 22nd District Conference and Assembly and also double that up as my holiday. Sunday 25th April at 6am the plane landed and at 6.45 i had met my host and we were on our way home. I had travelled with 4 of my friends and we were 4 days earlier to the beginning of the conference.

After some consultations and advice we decided to go to Awasa on Monday 26th, the foreigners made up of 3 gals and 2 boys together with the map given to us set out to find this Awasa which is located to the south of Ethiopia about 250 km from Addis. The journey was about 4-4.5 hours, everything went well besides language barrier since majority of the people in Addis speak Amharic and now that we were not in the capital center it was even more difficult to find people who speak good English. Nonetheless i think i have learnt that the beauty of being a tourist is getting lost and discovering new areas in the process. Eventually we found a nice hotel close to the beautiful lake Awasa and after checking in and refreshing up we hurriedly left the hotel to venture into the night clubs that was of course after i had my first lovely injera fir fir dose for the 8 day holiday.

Our first stop was club yougovia and being a Monday we were shocked at how full the place was, until we realised that Awasa is more of a tourist town and thus most of the people there were out to have fun. There was a live band playing some lovely Ethiopian music (the beat of what ended up being one of my favourite tracks is ringing in my head something like.....injiga...injiga)and it didn't take long for us to start shaking our shoulders needless to say un-rhythmically! Our next stop was club climax which was more of hypee joint playing international music all. After a few hours we were totally swamped and went to sleep.

Day 2 in Awasa, we first went to the fish market to look around and the tourist aroma in us attracted some unwanted aroma and made us leave after a short while. Our next stop was to go and have lunch besides the lake which later lead me to my very first boat road. I must confess that i was thrilled not even feeling an inch of fear, being in the middle of the lake brought about some rejuvenating feeling, and we also saw Haile Gebrselassie's new hotel. We later on enjoyed the sight of sun setting and the night was spent partying and dancing to Ethiopian tunes.

Wednesday, was the day to hit the road back to the capital city in preparation for the conference. We arrived in the late evening and i went home to catch my rest before the beginning of yet another exciting 3 days and nights of the long awaited District Conference.

The venue for the opening ceremony where all the Rotarians and Rotaractors converged was Hilton Hotel and the place was packed with members and guests from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia. The president was there to officially open the ceremony and after the morning session the Rotaractors proceeded to their meeting venue at Dreamliner hotel. It was great to make friends and re-unite with old ones that i met during the last conference here in Nairobi. After all was said and done we had our dinner at Karamara cultural restaurant and went to tam tam restaurant for some brief but lovely night out.

Friday was spent in the meeting room discussing Rotaract affairs, past projects that have been successful, planning for the next year, saying thanks and goodbye to the outgoing District Representative and welcoming the new DRR. We later on went to the DRR banquet and partied the night away at Bailamos and Voltage (my favourite club in Addis, needless to say that i made friends there from my previous trip).

Saturday was the last day of the conference and after the official closing ceremony at 1pm we went for lunch at Ambassadors Park and spent the afternoon shopping. We had the District Governor's dinner at the Hilton and partied the night away at the famous Platinum.

On Sunday, was a day to start slowing down on the events. I went to the National Museum were i saw the remains of the famous Lucy, these are skeletons of the first remnants of man which were found in Ethiopia....talk of tracing my history all the way to Ethiopia :). After some lovely makiato (coffee with milk) and a light snack for dinner it was time to call it a day.

Monday was our return date back home. It was a hard day, after some small shopping i was on the road saying goodbye to the dear friends that i met and also exchanging some souvenirs. Big hugs and lots of kisses sent me to the airport.
10.30pm and we were boarding the plane back to Kenya holding on to many memories including a cd with my favourite Ethiopian tracks that brings back fresh memories of my best holiday so far and Lalibela, the teddy dear that i named after a holy Ethiopian city.

"It is better to have traveled, than to have money sitting in your bank account"

My last night in Addis

I just came from taking a loooong bath, felt extremely good soaking my body in the warm water in the tab as i reflect on the days that have been.
Six days ago i made my maiden visit to Ethiopia Addis Ababa, after a long while i was out of Kenya, the change of air, different people, different cultures was all too thrilling.

Day 1, before i engage into those details there is my yellow fever certificate that is giving serious jitters, it is less that 10 days old and i wonder if i will be allowed to travel. I contemplate a lot, among others changing the dates or looking for another one. After a lot i decide to trust God and tell myself that it will be well. It indeed went well, praise God for that!
We land at about 8pm after all the checking out and all, we make it to the hotel - Intercontinental at 11pm, i marvel at the beauty of the room as i eagerly wait to see the sunrise in Addis!

Day 2, true to my expectations its a beautiful day, the city looks nice just very old, ever seen ancient cabs? yes they have them here, blue, tiny and old! A wholesome and heavy breakfast which was to be the order of the morning for the week that am in Addis kicks off what was bound to be an extremely busy and hectic work schedule.

What have i been doing for the 6 day that i have been here? First and foremost a
lot of enjera/injera (still haven't gotten the right spelling as they spell it differently in different places) eating, to me the ones i have eaten so far have been way tastier than the Nairobi ones. Another interesting thing (foodwise) was that i ate raw meat 'kitfor', however it was minced, am told its meat picked from the arm of the cattle the red part of the meat. I only had a spoonful or something and there was nothing unusual about it, my colleague said that if i ate it a 2nd & 3rd time i would begin to find it tasty and i kinda believe him! i must mention the sausages are terrible (for lack of a polite word) i totally understand why we carry them for peeps here in Addis, am salivating just thinking of Kenyan sausages.

Site seeing wise, i have done zero of it, blame this on the busy work schedule however am riding on the advantage that i will be back soon for a real holiday. What i managed to do though, was buy some Ethiopian scarfs for my mum and sisters and some silver jewelery for myself and I :).

I need to pack up my computer so forgive me for the typos. Photos coming soon.

Of International Women's Day

For International Women's Day yesterday, i wished to let my mother and two sisters and other extended sisters know that i love them so much. As James Allen says in his book As a man thinketh, achievement of any kind is the crown of effort so it has to take effort to grow and cultivate the friendship between mother and daughter, sister and sister and other relationship.

My grannie, the oldest woman of the clan that am named after

Well, i am glad that the relationship with the gals in my family has really grown and is something that brings a smile on my face attributing this to our monthly get together and other things that we have committed to do together i still wish for more and much more. I wish for us to also be able to share not only somethings but also other things, the dark hidden secrets that still makes us scared of being judged. Nevertheless we have come from far and i believe that we are going far.


While looking forward to next year's women's day this year i choose to sit and reflect on the love shared between my inner circle of girls!

My niece, looking up to a brighter future, the youngest lady of the clan!

How to connect with people

One of the deepest needs we have in life is the need to be understood. We all desperately need to feel that somebody can feel what we're feeling and understand what we're thinking. We all need people who connect with us.

A study by the California Department of Health Mental found that if you're disconnected from other people -

* You're two-to-three times more likely to die an early death;
* You're four times more likely to suffer from emotional burnout;
* You're five times more likely to suffer clinical depression, and;
* You're ten times more likely to be hospitalized for an emotional or mental disorder.

We need human connections for physical, emotional, spiritual health. We need people who understand us, who relate to us and who can connect to us.

Learning how to connect with people on a heart-to-heart, soul-to-soul level is one of life's most important skills. Unfortunately, nobody ever teaches us how to do this. You learn science and geography, history and math in school, but nobody teaches you how to connect with people. You may be brilliant in some subject, but if you don't know how to connect with people, you're still not going to go very far in life.

Daily Hope by Rick Warren

Love Defined

I cor 13; 1 - 13 i believe was a good enough valentine's message from the pastor this morning.

Everything else without love is like water or should i say milk down the drain. And with that i shall passionately hold on to my books and read with all the love that i can (talk of Passioning oneself for exams ;))!

The Year of Prosperity

It is the beginning of another year, a time when we set the phase do a dummy or a skeleton on how we want to shape up things throughput the year. Firstly I totally feel blessed to be among the children of the universe this year and am very grateful to God for this blessing.

Last year I was riding on the theme the 'Year of Fulfillment' and looking back indeed I can say yes I was fulfilled of course there were hitches here and there, some events that left deep scars but what is life anyway without both sweet and sour moments! Diamonds are made under pressure and what is most important in life is to learn from our experiences, mistakes as well as successes and use those to become better people.

This year I am riding on the theme of Prosperity. Repeating what I said in my blog the year of fulfillment this is another feeling, an intuition that I can’t explain in depth.

As you sit there and read, my question to you is. What theme have you set for yourself? Its been said over and over again, stand for something or you will fall for anything.