….And We Get To Rest.

December 2, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha17 Comments

Oh Yes! In the presence of the Lord,
I will bring my gift,
In thanksgiving and joy,
There is joy in my heart,
It is flowing like a river,
And I will praise the Lord,
In Thanksgiving and Joy.

For today’s gratitude challenge, I am thankful that I don’t have to jump out of bed early for a couple of days and rush around like a headless chicken, to ensure that the children are ready for school.

It’s National Day celebration over here, so we get today and tomorrow off school which spills right into the weekend. Yes!!!

I am thankful for the season that we are in. I feel the joy in the air. Even in this city that is Muslim dominated, there is so much liberalism at this point.

Christmas decorations are popping up at the malls and Christmas tunes float in the air from several shops. It’s amazing and I am thankful that we are in a city that is tolerant of other peoples’ religion.

I am quite sure that you have something to be thankful for today.

Blessed Love.

“If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness, it will change your life mightily.” – Gerald Good.

Family · Hope · Life · Quotes For You · Success · The Daily Post · Writing

When I Was Just A Little Girl…personal

December 1, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha38 Comments

I have to hum this song of Doris Day in my head while at it:

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother what will I be
Will I be pretty will I be rich
Here’s what she said to me

Que Sera Sera
Whatever will be will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que Sera Sera
What will be will be

When I grew up and fell in love
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
Will we have rainbows day after day
Here’s what my sweetheart said

Que Sera Sera
Whatever will be will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que Sera Sera
What will be will be

Now I have children of my own
They ask their mother what will I be
Will I be handsome will I be rich
I tell them tenderly

Que Sera Sera
Whatever will be will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que Sera Sera
What will be will be
Que Sera Sera

Doris Day Que sera sera

Like most young children, I had as many aspirations as my diapers were changed, ranging from being a newscaster, an actress, a mother, a singer, a nurse, a pilot, a lawyer, a writer, a fashion designer….just about everything that you could think of in the book.

I don’t recall wanting to be a police officer, because the Nigerian police of my growing up years were not particularly inspiring.

We hardly knew what fire service men looked like, because if someone’s house unfortunately caught fire, they would attempt to quench the thirst of the licking hot flames with buckets of water while watching their properties turn to cinders, so I had no aspirations in that direction.

I fancied being a doctor at some point, because of the films that I watched, where they looked so capable and nice in their scrubs.

I dabbled a bit here and there in living my childhood dreams.

A bit of novice modelling and amateur acting, debating and writing for young magazines.

I learnt how to sew and realized that I would rather draw the designs than sew the clothes.

I studied law but I am not a practicing lawyer.

I went into international relations/French language and spent over a dozen years working with Multinational and Diplomatic corps.

After my children arrived, I waded into entrepreneurial ventures and found it to my liking – I love being the boss of me and having time for my young family.

In all my multi desires, the strongest desire which has not fallen by the wayside over time, but has only grown stronger has been my writing aspirations.

This is the flame that I want to keep stoking so that it can burn as high as possible and I think that my cumulative, diverse experiences brings a lot to bear into my writing.

I feel as if my writing is an embodiment of all my past aspirations and even those that are still at incubating stage such as some of my interests in Life coaching and Entrepreneurship. We shall see how it goes.

Now, I find several me’s embedded inside one me: Me (myself), me the wife, me the mother, me the child of my parents, me the writer, me the friend, me the life student and many more me’s to discover.

Life is a consistent transition and as I roll with the constant fluidity of life, part of the affirmations I make to myself are that:

I will live and not die wishing that I had lived better. I will live to declare the goods works of the Lord in the land of the living. I will live moment by moment, loving my life as it is and loving those around me. I will not live in fear of daring to succeed but will dare to succeed and fail forward.

The Daily Post Ballerian-Fireman-Astronaut-Movie-Star

When you were 10, what did you want to be when you grew up? What are you now? Are the two connected?

Image credit: Pinterest

Devotions · Family · Hope · Musings · Personal story · The Daily Post

Was I Truly Guilty Or Is It My Mind?…

December 1, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha18 Comments

There are moments in life that I look back on and wished that it could have turned out differently and this is one of those guilty moments: a letter to the young man that died.

However, with the realization that the past is where it belongs, one can only strive to a brighter present.

I have managed to get above and beyond these feelings by first and foremost, conscientiously working hard at forgiving myself for something that was beyond of my control.

At times, no amount of penance can get rid of the burden of sadness that weighs down on my mind when I ponder on some of the guilt-ridden episodes in my life but the amazing thing is that I have found that the more I reach up and look up to the sky, the less burdened I become.

Through Grace and Mercy which are not of my own will, but by succumbing to faith, hope, prayers, I can actually say, that I have the peace of The Lord which surpasses even my own understanding and that the haunting has ceased.

”My Grace is sufficient for you; for my Power is made perfect in weakness: 2 Cor: 12:9.”

The Daily Post prompt The Guilt That Haunts Me.

Share a time when you were overcome with guilt. What were the circumstances? How did you overcome you guilt?

A link to my neighbours/Community · Creative Writing · Fiction · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Love · Photographs · Short Stories

No Shoe Chromosone!..He Said, She Said…

December 1, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha26 Comments

Jennifer at INK and QUILL has invited me to participate in 5 day photo story challenge.

Thank you my fair lady Jennifer. I appreciate the nomination and I am excited to jump into this challenge!

Challenge Guidelines:

Post a picture each day, for five consecutive days. Attach a story to your image.

*can be fiction / non-fiction
*poem / short paragraph
*each day nominates another blogger

“Oh look! Isn’t that just gorgeous!” she said.

“Not another shoe!” He whined.

“It’s not just another shoe.” She emphasized.

“Can’t you see it’s lovely red and those cute buckles and bows.”

“They go quite well with my other bag.” She affirmed.

“Which other bag?” He asked in a half-hearted attempt to sound like he even noticed the bags.

”The red one with the purple and white trimming and the feathered straps” She responded offhandedly.

He looked utterly lost.

”Oh never mind! You just never bother to notice.” She chastised.

”How can I keep up with the 100 pairs of shoes in 20 shades of red, 50 shades of black and blue, plus a dozen other shades of colours not described in the colour palette along with so many bags?” He countered.

“How many shoes and bags does a girl really need?” He muttered under his breath.

She: Pursed her lips in pouting thought, he had lost her to shoe chromosome which he seemed to lack.

“Oh Come on! Be a darling and just hold on to these bags while I try it out.” She cajoled.

In a sigh of deflated defeat, he sank into the shop chair and prepared his mind for a round of appropriate admiring oohs and aahs!

I nominate Deb to join the photo story challenge. I look forward to reading from you if you choose to participate. Enjoy 🙂

Dubai · Success · Travel

We Have A Record…

December 1, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha24 Comments

We may not be Emiratis, but we do live here and we feel proud to share in breaking the Guinness World Records along with our host country, especially as my daughter was among the almost 7,000 United Arab Emirates pupils who formed the World’s Largest Human Sentence.

We beat China, the previous record holder by several hundreds.

In the sea of whites, my daughter is a shiny white dot among the letter D.

Now, this has made my traipsing from shop to shop like a mall rat, while looking for a no-frills white shirt and the daunting feat of engaging a selfish selfie taker in the restroom/washroom – that’s what we mainly call it here, worth all the trouble.

Remember, no selfies in the washrooms please. Thank you very much.

I am still smiling and feeling very magnanimous, I may just be a bit more forgiving to indiscreet toilet photographers if and when I catch them 🙂

Image Credit: The National News

Creative Writing · Life · Photographs · Poetry/Poems · The Daily Post

The Transitions Of A Neighbourhood…

November 30, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha28 Comments

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The cycles of a neighbourhood,

Are the same, even in Hollywood,

And I daresay, also Bollywood.

Dawn to dusk, Year after Year,

We break our backs with wear and tear,

As we aim to make it good.

The Daily Post Photo Challenge prompt Transitions.

Reblogs · Uncategorized

Those Who Cannot Remember the Past Are Condemned to Repeat It

November 30, 2015November 30, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha4 Comments

When we keep doing the same thing, it should not come as a surprise when we don’t harvest any changes.

Blogging · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Inspiration - Motivation · Musings · Success · The Daily Post · Writing

Yippee! It’s Over Now…singing a song

November 30, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha63 Comments

Tra la la la! Yippee!

I did it, Oh yes I did it!

I am doing a jig and a boogie-woogie at the same time 😉

I managed to finish the NaBloPoMo with a flourish.

Not a prompt missed.

Honestly, there were some mornings that I woke up and wanted to play truant, but the little effervescent encouraging voice in me kept prodding me to try, and this was in fierce contest with the little imp of discouragement that kept saying ”come on, just a day’s kicking back won’t hurt.”

It seriously, wasn’t easy trying to do this, coupled with other posts that I usually make, in essence, each day, I was posting 3 to 4 original articles per day.

Some of the prompts were fly by the seat of your pants prompt like The Daily Post; I love participating in The Daily Post because you just never know what the prompt is going to be all about, so it helps my thinking quickly on my feet.

Somethings did suffer a bit with all these writing and the very first one was my butt. This is my little ditty about a writers flat butt.

The second thing that took the flake was my book. Instead of a thousand words a day, I was limping in at 500 words.

Each night, by the time I read two paragraphs of the John Grisham that I am currently reading, I am out cold and I bet I was snoring too – mind you we ladies don’t snore, we just make delicate noises.

My hubby is too nice to tell me that I am snoring. He knows the side that his bread is buttered on *wink* if he wants his nice hot meals 🙂

Now to celebrate, I am just going to kick back for a couple of days; I will still post each day as usual; but not with the rabid intention of the past few days.

Where is my Irish cream and some deep tissue massage?

Hmm! I feel the relaxation coming on before the next upheaval.

Thank you for staying with me my dear friends and for all your beautiful support.

To persevere and to finish is really a good feeling 🙂

NaBloPoMo prompt – Monday, November 30

What do you like to do to celebrate an accomplishment?

Creative Writing · Fiction · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Short Stories

Fiona’s Friends

November 30, 2015November 30, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha12 Comments

Which friends? Bob asked Fiona. He peered at her through his reading glasses with more concentration than normal.

Out in the country, their nearest neighbour was miles away.

Since her feverish bout, she has picked up queer habits, muttering to herself, getting into arguments with his mother, wandering off to the woods with a picnic basket and spouting nonsense thereafter.

The past few days were worse. She rambled in a silly fashion.

He shook his head sadly. Mother was right. Fiona was losing her mind.

Such dampening thoughts made him decide to go for a walk.

He wandered deep into the woods, enjoying the quiet and peaceful sounds of nature, but today he felt as if eyes were watching him!

Ever so often, he turned sharply when he heard the crinkle of twigs.

Just when he chalked it down to his disturbed feelings, the crinkles grew louder and a smiling, odd looking alien tugged at his trouser leg.

Have you come to play with us Mr. Ford? It asked.

He yelped in fright and raced back home. He was utterly speechless.

Inlinkz code

In response to the FFfAW photo prompt above. Thank you Etol bagam for the photo and Priceless Joy for this challenge platform.

Devotions · Hope · Life · Poetry/Poems

Barbara

November 30, 2015November 30, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha15 Comments

The pain stung her flesh,

But couldn’t pierce her soul!

Ha! She laughed in it’s face.

Her defiant laughter, a taunt in pains face.

Fiercely she fought,

Giving it her all,

Victorious she won,

Depriving pain, the gain of it all,

Though this flesh is gone for good,

She has exchanged it for a better one,

Her spirit lives on,

Her laughter shall echo in the winds,

Her unfading presence,

A cloak of comfort,

To those she left behind.

In memory of Barbara Beacham

inlinkz

As most of you know by now, Barbara Beacham, the lovely host of “Monday’s Finish the Story” flash fiction challenge, passed away from cancer, on Sunday, November 22.

Because she was a beacon for many of us, several people have asked that a flash fiction challenge be done in her honor and in her memory. This is a ‘special’ challenge and does not replace the normal weekly challenge which will be posted as normal.

Thank you Priceless Joy for presenting this humbling idea. May she rest well.

Image credit: Pixabay