#MandyTope2016: On getting married young, abstinence and gender equality in marriage.~

Wedding bells are ringing! Yay! I love weddings so much but that is not why I decided to write this post. I did this for two reasons;

1. I read a tweet (and the conversation thread) last year and it made me really sad. The tweet basically bashed young Christians for getting married in their early twenties and explained that they decide to get married simply because they want to have legit sex. And a lot of young people agreed with this warped line of reasoning. In this line of reasoning, it is better to have premarital sex, (fornication - let us call it what it is) and have enough sexual experience than get married and be tied down to one person for the rest of your life. When did we become this way? At what point did we begin to think that we are wiser than God, his statutes are old fashioned and this generation is exempt from obeying them? I decided to write this post to celebrate two people that have decided to honour God and to encourage others on this journey - there are still prophets of God that haven't bowed to baal.

Current Situation: Vesuvius is erupting!

"Late that day he said to them, "Let's go across to the other side". They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up.Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern! Head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?"
- Mark 4:35-38

How can the creator be afraid of his creation??

Let's talk about timelines, shall we?

Like the phoenix II

Hello everyone!

Happy new year!!! It’s not too late to say that is it?

I haven’t put up any post since November and in a weirdly funny way, I miss you guys.

So…let’s get to the business of the day!

There is something about me and sequels, maybe it is my desire to always look for happy endings in every story or the fact that I believe that all things work together for good for the children of God. Whichever it is, I have come with another sequel.

Thanksgiving.

It's thanksgiving week. Yay!
If you come at me with the "Nigerians don't celebrate thanksgiving" line, I will...nvm.

This picture is so unrelated to this post, but oh well...

A Lighthouse

"A lighthouse doesn't save the ships; it doesn't go out and rescue them, it's just this pillar that helps to guide people home"
- Lea Michele

A lighthouse is a tower or a building designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and used as a navigational aid for sailors at sea or on inland waterways.
For sailors navigating the water ways, Lighthouses helps them identify:
#Dangerous coastlines
#Hazardous shoals 
#Reefs
#Safe entries to harbors
#And also assists in aerial navigation

As I studied about lighthouses, I discovered something interesting, regardless of how big or tall as a light house is, it is powered by a  simple "lamp", in the pre-modern era, the  lamps were fueled with Whale oil and kerosene but in recent times, most lamps are powered by electricity or gas.

I read the quote from Lea Michele  (Racheal Berry of "Glee") and I remembered a portion of scripture. The scripture likened Christians to lights and cities set hills. Do you know that  before the development of proper sea ports, sailors were guided by fires built on hilltops? Since raising the fire would improve the visibility, placing the fire on an elevated platform became a practice that led to the development of the lighthouse.

Dear Christian, do you know that to quite a number of people you are like a light house? You may not know it, you may not feel like a "Super-Christian" but...remember that friend that called you after she had an overdose of drugs and thought she would die? Remember that you were the first person your sister called after she had an abortion and she felt like God hated her? Remember how a colleague wept uncontrollable in the bathroom after telling you that he was confused about his sexuality and he couldn't tell anybody else?

When you profess Christ openly, people take note of you and in a weirdly funny way, they look up to you, they may make fun of your beliefs and values but trust me, they look up to you. An assignment every Christian has, is to be a light WHEREVER we find ourselves. Yes, it might be inappropriate to talk about our religious beliefs in some places but we can stand for integrity, we can show kindness, we can speak words of encouragement to people. I have never been to a place where such things are inappropriate.

Remember that the source of light for a light house is a simple "lamp"? However, there is this thing called a lens, it magnifies the light from the lamp and makes it visible to Sailors at a far distance. We are humans with flaws, how can we stand out? We have the Holy-Spirit (our lens) he magnifies whatever effort we put (no matter how little) at standing out and being lights. Like Lea said, lighthouses don't necessarily save ships or Sailors as the case may be, they are just pillars that guide people home, home to Jesus.

One last thing, have you ever noticed that a lighthouse stands alone? Or have you ever seen a cluster or Lighthouses? It might get lonely being a Christian, but I'd rather hear God say "Weldone my good and faithful servant" than have a bunch of friends that will takeep me away from Jesus.

I pray this meets you where you are and that you have the strength to stand for God no matter the consequences. 

Matt 5:14 "YOU are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden"


Love and Light,
xoxo. 

10 things I love about Nigeria

Happy independence Nigeria!

I thought about all the things I love about Nigeria and Nigerians and I came up with this list. When I started, I thought it'd be hard to get to ten but it was so easy and I even got more than ten!

1. Nigerian music: I am not referring to Nigerian  music that sounds foreign, I'm referring to "afro-pop, fuji, high-life, etc - Nigerian music that sounds indigenous. One of our greatest exports as a country in recent times is our music! I love Nigerian music, there's something special about it, something happy, something unique! 

(I said music not lyrics because I can't for the life of me understand what "ske ske robo ske" means)

2. Food: I love Nigerian cuisine!  This might seem ironic because  I don’t eat much but that’s because I have small stomach. 😆 Nigerian food is the best in the world!  Do you want to argue about that? Then you haven’t tasted ewa agayin, pounded yam, egusi,  efo riro, moin moin, ogbonno,  suya, ikokore, banga,  ofe onugbu, afang,  suya, black-soup, owo, asun, (insert any thing)  peppersoup, akara, puff - puff, dodo...abeg leave matter for Mathias.

**Picture by Dooney of dooney's kitchen

3. Attire: my favourite Nigerian attire is the edo attire, (not because I'm from edo state 😊). Then I love that of the Yoruba people. I love the way geles look on women but that thing is STRESSSSSS! 

Former Miss Osas Ighodaro

4. Movies: gone are the days when watching Nigerian movies would make your IQ drop by 30%, Nollywood is doing a great job and I commend them for it.

5. Nigerian churches: I just had to go there! No one does "church" better than Nigerians.  If you're a christian you must have the Nigerian church experience. During prayer sessions there is always that one Bro. Paul that is sweating profusely, and spitting on people because Pastor told everyone to shout at the top of their voices and command the east wind to blow blessings their way. Sister Patience is always slain in the spirit even before "laying of hands" start and Sister Nkiru the choir mistress will always sing through her nose. What of the "Wassup Jesus" (as someone put it on social media) churches? Ha, everything is always on fleek! #ChurchFlow #Onfleek. What about the Sunday-Sunday daraprim people? It is only on  Sundays they remember to be Christians. Posting scriptures and motivational quotes on social media. Making statements like "today is Sunday, let's all be truthful, don't get me angry, I don't want to fight". So it's okay to fight every other day of the week. Ok.

"Today is Sunday, I don't want to use the "f" word"

On a serious note, a lot of Nigerian Christians are DEVOUT! Regardless of how we go about it, we love God and will not hesitate to shove it down the throats of whoever cares to listen.

6. Weddings! : Oh my gosh, how could I forget! I'm so sorry Aunty Bella. This should be at the top of the list. Nigerian weddings are sooooo colourful! Lord! The party scene (weddings et al) in Nigeria is "turnt" (forgive me for using that word Esther). Shalla to all the Yoruba people, no tribe does it better when it comes to owanbe.

7. Language: About 510 languages are spoken in Nigeria but my favourite are Esan (beacuse I'm Esan) Yoruba and Igbo. I love the way those languages sound. They sound...special. I'm always awed by the fact that within a one hour driving distance, you will find groups of people that speak different languages and there are no similarities in the languages whatsoever! Case in point Edo state. Nigerian languages are beautiful, forget the fact that some sound like a stainless steel plate bouncing off the floor several times.

8. Our sense of humour: who remembers "political twitter?" I died from laughter that time. Nigerians are not just the happiest set of people in the world we have the best sense of humour...ever!

9. Our "political activism": have you ever seen a newspaper stand in Nigeria? Those stands news paper vendors display the dailies to sell or allow people read any paper they want for a certain amount? Ha! If you see the way people gather round to argue about news headlines? They won't but any newspaper o, they won't even pay to read it, they'll just peep at the headlines and start arguing. Serious arguments for that matter before you know what's happening, people will start hurling insults at each other. I remember one particlar scene, a man was shouting at the top of his lungs and the veins in his temples wanted to pop out! His eyes were so red, as if someone put hausa pepper in it. There's one close to the building I work and the only time you won't see them there is when it rains. Every Nigerian is a political analyst and activist and I love that, it is our "activism" (however misguided it may seem) that got us to this point as a country. 

10. Nigerians are fighters: Nigerians are the most resilient set of people in the world. No electricity? we find a way to generate it ourselves. Bad roads, we find a way to navigate or find alternate routes. Another angle to this is that Nigerians are everywhere in the world! This is a fact. A friend recently relocated to "one county like that", a very remote place that you hardly hear about the country and I thought he'd be the only Nigerian there. Story! 

If I hadn't set the limit at ten, I would have said more. I didn't get to mention that I love the way Nigerians dance and our dance styles, I love the fact that Nigeriansa are beautiful people or that we have very beautiful places in this country.

I love Nigeria!

Nigeria is beautiful and blessed!

God bless Nigeria.

Please share to every Nigerian you know and add to this list in the comments section!

xoxo.

Dawn



Dawn will come...the night can only last for so long.

Those that wait on the Lord...
We wait, because it is dark and we don’t know which way to go.
We wait on you because we are weak and our strength has failed us.
We wait because we tried to do it on our own and in our own wisdom but we failed.
We wait because all hope is lost, we had put our trust in chariots and horses but we lost our way.
We wait because there’s nothing left to do, we have tried everything we know, we diligently applied every knowledge we gained but it failed us.
We wait because there seems to be no way out of this tunnel because we are stuck.
We wait on you because we’ve made so many mistakes already and we do not desire to make more.
We wait on you for your word, instructions, directions. ..anything.
We wait because we know dawn will come,
The night can only last for so long.

They shall renew their strength...
You have exalted my horn like that of a unicorn, fine oils have been poured on me.
You have taken my sorrow and shame away,
You have put a new song in my mouth.
You have given me strength,
You have made me smile again,
You have mended the pieces of my broken heart,
You have healed my body, like the balm that you are, you have soothed my aching bones.
You have done what no man can do because you have strengthened me from within.

They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary,  they shall run and not faint...
I can run against a troop with the help of my God.
I can leap over a wall with the help of my God.
I can do all things because my God has given me strength from within
I am a bright and shinning light because from within me burns the brightest fire.

This piece is dedicated to my friend Esther, dawn has come and it is time for you to soar. You went through the night and your light only burned brighter, it never dimmed. Soar baby, soar, nobody can stop you because God himself set you on this path.
To whoever is reading this, always remember that no matter what you’re going through, dawn will come, night can only last for so long. Never compare your journey with that of others because we are all on different paths, we all have different stories to tell. If people are getting breakthroughs that you desire for yourself, never  despair, never give up hope because when hope is lost, what then do we have left? Always remember “anytime you wake up is your morning”.
Dawn will come.

Isa:4 vs 31 
“those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint”

xoxo.