It’s Never Too Little…

December 9, 2015December 10, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha18 Comments

My heart is glad for the pretty things that surround me in this environment. The flowers are blooming all over the place and the birds are flocking all around.

For the simple things of life, like a warm bowl of chilli and vegetable soup brewed in my kitchen, for the crispy cool Sahara air; even though we are all sneezing and coughing, I give thanks.

Above all things today, I am so grateful that we were able to find Prednisolone at 3am this morning, when my young boy woke up with sudden bad allergic reaction and a swollen face.

We used all the normal stuff for him, but to no avail.

He is allergic to certain environmental factors and it occurs more with weather changes like Summer with all the pollen or the dusty Winter air in this climes.

I did not want to use EpiPen which I keep for only extreme reactions.

Mercifully, the allergic reaction has been arrested and we have every cause to smile.

For what are you thankful today? ”Remember that feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward.

Would you like to join Colline’s gratitude challenge? Just click on the link and join the party.

Family · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Life · Personal story · The Daily Post

Twiddle Dee…Truant Me…personal

December 6, 2015December 6, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha24 Comments

Mum, now that I have grown old enough to know better, I am sorry for wasting your funds in the past; this apology was long overdue. Thank you WordPress for reminding me.

You painstakingly paid for several sessions of holiday piano classes with my primary school music teacher, but it seemed like a waste of precious childhood vacation time in my eyes, not when some of my playmates were busy playing hopscotch next door.

So, I hopscotched away my time and never got past clumsily tapping little ditties and the ‘do re mi fa so la ti do’ of piano things.

In simpler terms, I played truant with my piano lessons and I received a thorough telling off, a note-worthy smack and cancelled piano lessons since it appeared that I had no appreciation for the fineness of music.

Who knows, maybe if I had stuck to it, I might have struck the right chord and become a musical child prodigy.

Please don’t dare chuckle when I say that I am now expending my own money trying to play catch up with the piano lessons that I should have learnt back then 😃

However, I am not totally a lost cause, I did learn how to play the flute quite well and it’s not such a bad thing, just that it leaves me breathless.

The Daily Post prompt Strike a chord.

Do you play an instrument? Is there a musical instrument whose sound you find particularly pleasing? Tell us a story about your experience or relationship with an instrument of your choice.

Devotions · Family · Gratitude · Love · Personal story

To The Daughter Of My Heart… personal

December 5, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha47 Comments

Wearing a crown painstakingly made by my younger brother :) — Wearing a crown painstakingly made by my younger brother 🙂

My dearest darling daughter,

I watch in awe as you edge on the cusp of teenage-hood, so fast, so soon, since it seems just like yesterday that your cute, squiggly and warm self was handed into my arms and you truly became mine.

I still relive your valiant struggle to surmount all the challenges faced by a tiny preemie and as I look at you today, my tall elegant child, it is in amazement of God’s goodness and grace over your life.

Daughter mine, my gentle unassuming child, in my minds eyes, I remember your tiny arms outstretched to me so many times as you uttered, ”carry mama” always a toddling step behind my feet.

Now, look at you! My beautiful budding young child, full of her own dreams and aspirations and bright as the morning star.

The love that I have for you cannot be expressed fully with words and my heart burgeons with so much delight with The Heavens for allowing you to be mine.

I say this so that you may always know, that even if you look back tomorrow and I am no where to be found, that I love you to the ends of time.

That I love you unconditionally and irrevocably.

Know that as your wings grow and are stretching to fly, that I pray for you today and always.

I pray that your star will always shine as bright as The Heavens created it to be.

I pray that you will soar like an Eagle and that wisdom will always follow you.

I pray that deep peace that flows like the oceans of time will always be your portion and the flow of your joy shall be like a river.

I pray that the generosity and compassion of your heart will continually expand.

I pray that abundant Grace will be your daily cloak, that favour will be your portion and that the Mercy of God will never depart from you.

I pray that your courage will be boundless as you grow into a confident, strong lady, filled with faith, hope and love.

I pray deeply that life will treat you well. Be blessed. Be happy. Be well.

Happy 12th my precious girl Nnenna, Adaobi, Christine, Mmesomachukwu.

You truly decorate my life and my heart.

I love you loads and loads.

Mummy.

Dubai · Family · Gratitude · Inspiration - Motivation · Love

….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?

Family · Life · Love · Musings · Quotes For You · The Daily Post

It Got Stuck On My Hips…

November 28, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha46 Comments

Believe me when I tell you that I ate so much humble pie in the earlier years of my marriage, that it’s not a surprise I got a bit more ample and humble over time.

There were so many instances, that I cannot even begin to recount.

At the start of married life, I assumed that my husband was an Almighty Druid who should be able to read my mind; this was regardless of the 6 months compulsory per-marital counseling classes that we were made to attend.

I think that my mind was doodling wedding gowns in the clouds and what not, when they talked about that communication part.

Well, after the lovely wedding and the romantic honeymoon, we got into the real deal. I had never lived with a man prior to that time, I had never had a husband, so it was trial by error 😉

I see things in brilliant and different hues of colours and my husband sees them in grays and black, so, I learnt that men are truly from a different planet; maybe Mars like they said and women in a World of their own. Though I can say that some of my colours are beginning to rub off on him 😉

After several erroneous assumptions, mostly on my part, and several courses of eating humble I-am-sorry pies, I had to re-calibrate as I realized that:

No, my husband is not a mind reader, though it seems that years of being together are now turning him into one.

No, he is not a druid but, like in the first instance, some magic is happening now.

I realized that in order to make it work, our communication had to get better than my sitting on my high horse with my nose stuck up in the air, expecting him to know those things that lay within my heart and mind, and I daresay that after 15 years, I think we are getting somethings right, since we even finish each others sentences these days 🙂

Now, it’s time to shed the pounds of the humble-over-the- years pies that got stuck on my hips.

The Daily Post Humble Pie

Tell us about a time you found out after the fact that you’d been mistaken and you had to eat a serving of humble pie.

Image credit – pinterest

Family · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Inspiration - Motivation · Personal story · The Daily Post · Tips for the day · Weave that Dream · Writing

If I Teach You Something, Will You Reciprocate?…

November 26, 2015November 26, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha21 Comments

There are things that I do often and quite enjoy doing. A lot of these things are physical and some are not.

I cook every day to keep myself and my family well nourished. One of the dishes that features in most West African homes is Jollof Rice. Maybe, some day, I will share the secrets of Jollof with you 🙂

I dance a lot too. Not the gymnastic, acrobatic tumbling all over the place, but I dance virtually everyday to the tunes of my music of the moment. However, I guess except I turn to you-tubing, I may not be able to teach you much about my dancing.

I write ever so often. I don’t bother tallying the amount of time that I spend penning something because writing to me is akin to breathing, laughing, reflecting and crying through my fingers.

I have been known to write on serviettes or tiny bits of receipts to catch that fleeting thought – and you need to see me on the days that I am scrambling through my bag trying to find that little piece of tissue on which I wrote something 😉

I actively search out ways to maintain a balance of my inner peace of mind in a chaotic life.

I am not a religious fanatic, but I am unapologetically a Christian.

At most times, I am a peaceful, humorous, friendly, loving and hopefully a kind human.

Let me share with you the little things that I do to create peace within and around. Maybe, we share somethings in common:

I dwell on positive thoughts – even if it is just one thought that I meditate on each day.

Walking or finding an hour to exercise either very early or much later in the day. It clears the cobwebs in the head and helps my health as well as the waist line 😉

Those thoughts that bug me, I write them down and them take time to tear the piece of paper into bits. Its a way of releasing and letting go for me.

Sometimes, wacky it may seem, I go into the bathroom, face the mirror and just speak my mind, make faces …

I say my mind if someone has hurt me and I move on. I let go of grudges as quickly as before I go to sleep.

I am always quick to apologize if need be. No need aggravating and dragging an issue that can be quickly nipped in the bud.

I doodle, draw and reflect as I draw. The doodle in the picture was my last work done two days ago.

Writing happy stuff.

Searching out amusing things to read or watch and laughing out real loud. I like people who can make me laugh.

Having a date with myself at least once a week. It could be going to the park, spa, museum or as simple as a cafe alone.

Rest when I am tired (still working on this though, because sometimes other events overtake my intentions).

Honesty is a key in life that I don’t compromise on and practice. Especially in my relationships.

Talking to people and not just family and friends. Total strangers too.

Minimized drastically the amount of time spent watching TV.

Keeping away as much as possible from negative and toxic conversations.

Working consistently towards my passion and financial goals.

Avoiding the spirit of envy and jealousy as much as possible and giving myself a hard telling off once I see the green eyed monster rearing it’s ugly head.

Accept those things that cannot change and leave bad memories in the past where they belong.

Learning to be more patient and tolerant with family, friends and everyone else.

Trying to focus my mind on what needs to be achieved at the moment and living in the moment and keeping it as simple as possible.

These things translate to my inner peace which leads to external peace. What one does not have they cannot give.

So what will you teach me today? I am listening 🙂

The Daily Post prompt Teach your bloggers well.

We all know how to do something well — write a post that teaches readers how to do something you know and/or love to do.

Family · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Personal story · Photographs

Chef Extraordinaire…personal

November 26, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha29 Comments

Bending over to stoke the firewood, blowing at it with gusto and fanning the crackling flames till they lit; putting kerosene into the stove and lighting it’s wicks with an ignited single broomstick; manipulating the gas cooker to lower the heat from burning the beans or rice while I snatched a quick five minutes read in the bathroom, were my early forays in the kitchen. I was caught young!

Naturally this has gravitated towards keeping my brood and my dear Himself nourished over the years and I believe that in most homes this is usually the case – the mother automatically assumes the kitchen chef position.

I certainly know the way to his heart by keeping his tummy nicely sated with good tasting yumminess 🙂

It has been my primary responsibility over the years and I dare say that I can whip up a decent meal and efficiently too.

Since that is the case, it goes without debate that I am the best cook in my domain.

However, there are have been days that Himself develops a desire to become a culinary artist and Myself simply puts up her feet and watch’s my kitchen transform into an operation desert storm 😉

I don’t mutter a word of discouragement so that the waves of culinary want-to-do will hit more often.

I simply go ahead and enjoy eating every bite whipped up by Himself, with a deep hum of appreciation and a sink load of dirty pots and pans.

Do you enjoy whipping up some yummy stuff or is there a Himself in your life, who is a culinary artist turning your kitchen into an area hit by a thunder storm?

NaBloPoMo – Thursday, November 26

If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving today (or even if you’re not!), tell us about the best cook in your family.

Devotions · Family · Gratitude · Hope · Inspiration - Motivation · Life · Love

Across The Seas…

November 25, 2015November 25, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha23 Comments

I am thankful for those celebrating Thanksgiving. I am still waiting for the invite from you, to come over to baste and eat the Turkey, since I am too far away to join the fun, I will simply drool over the photos.

For journey mercies, I thank you Lord. These are no longer days where men set off nonchalantly, undertaking far distance journeys without a thought given to the safety of the journey.

As I continue to be grateful for the simple things of life, today, I am most grateful for the safe return of my husband from trips across Continents.

Yesterday, close to 10p.m when he was boarding his flight after the usual security checks, he called to tell me that they would soon take off.

We had a little chat and in-between, he started talking about his life insurance scheme (I knew that he was saying that to me, just in case of eventuality, but I did not want to fill my heart and mind with any negative thoughts), I simply said to him, we will talk more about that when you get home and in my heart I silently uttered another word of prayer for mercy and grace to be their guide.

I refuse to let the spirit of present fear dictate the pace of my life because that will simply suck the joy juice out of it.

I choose instead for my mind to remain in the state of praise, thanksgiving and grace, since it is a gift that I can give myself and expend without fear of it finishing irrespective of whatever the situation of things might be.

Have a grateful heart today. I want to thank Colline and Maria Jansson for the gratitude challenge platforms that you both present.

Regards,