Hope · Life · Midnight motivation and musings · Self Help

Midnight Motivations and Musings # 78

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Now and again, I read articles that people write or listen to people where they sound as if there’s nothing good about their lives.

I have been privy to desperate cries of help and despair, but what saddens me is not the desperation, what saddens me is when the despairing soul feels so hopeless that they’ve given up hope on themselves, that no amount of counsel and reasoning seems to penetrate.

No one is guaranteed a breezy life that’s not laden with struggles, for it’s out of our tests that we obtain our testimonies.

The truth is that no one can walk through individual tribulations for another. No two people have the same mantle or message, but what they can do is to hold your hand while you wade through the mess.

Sometimes, you may not even be fortunate to find someone to hold on to. You hold on to God. He’s the ultimate fortress, refuge and present help in the time of need.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha


Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Out of the silent breath

Brand me whole as only you can

That the entire score of me

Knows nothing but the fullness of you.

Family · Personal · Photographs

To my child of promise…

Ikenna[1]

Your legs are stretching longer

each day extra inches are added

as you gallop out of cradle-hood

into the years of boyhood.

I marvel at the speed of time

so fast, you’ve already turned nine

tears prick my eyes in wistful thoughts

as I go back through the years.

Through the years of your babyhood

holding on to mama’s hands

you are always close

hugging and dogging her footsteps.

You, my greatest cheerleader

my fiercely protective one

my loving support

my son and my friend.

You are always quick to notice my looks

never failing to pay heartwarming compliments

“you look beautiful mama, the bestest mother ever,                                                                                      

 I love you to the moon and back always,” and indeed you do.

My Chiemerigo – The Lord has won                                                                                                                

you are a beautiful child through and through

a generous, kind soul and considerate one

your earnest eyes are eager to help me

and quick to forgive and apologize

My child of promise

you’ve promised me everything under the Sun

your words “I’ll always take care of you, mama,” which are older than your days, never fails to

make my heart expand in love and                                                                                                                  

makes me wonder at the wisdom bestowed to such a young one

May the arching rainbows of your life remain vivid and bright

may the Lord’s lamp remain at your feet and direct your steps.

His Grace and Mercy shall never depart from you

as you journey through life, the Lord will uphold you.

He will surround you and will remain your right hand.

To my Child of Promise,

your days are blessed.                                                                                                                                        

Today as you turn nine, I give God all the glory.

Happy birthday my boy.

I love you to the moon and back, if not further.

Love, Mama

Ikenna[1]

Memes · Midnight motivation and musings · Self Help

Midnight Motivations and Musings # 68…

Loving Yourself

Everyone deserves to love and be loved and true love first starts with you.

Loving yourself and accepting that you are whole and worth it, is not being self-centered.

You should know that you are enough without expecting someone else to complete you. It’s a fallacy to anticipate that. No one can complete another.

They can only complement what you already have, thus when you feel inadequate, your sense of inadequacy emanates from within and this is not something that someone else can fix.

What happens when they are no longer there or when they fail to fulfil all your expectations?

How long will someone else have to patch you up?

When will you realise that you are worth loving you for you?

If you are unable to love yourself for your own sake and treat yourself appropriately, then it will be  difficult to cascade a non-existent blessing to someone else, for it’s really out of what you’ve got that you can give others.

God’s love is free and without encumbrances.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Blog · Featured Blogs · Share A Link

Featured Posts # 35…Let me share your post links.

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‘PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN THE LINKS.’

Today’s featured blogs are:

Family, parenting and beyond Joan’s posts bring it home and keeps it real. Please pay a visit and say hello.

The meantime How do you wait? What do you do in the meantime? I suggest you read this.

Shipwrecked adoption and PTSD POETRY, bares the soul of its writer.

Train up a child I can’t even begin to describe this article from Michelle. It’s an excellent, well-articulated piece. If I could like it more than once, I will do so severally. I enjoyed it.

Letter to God There are words that make you sigh and tear up a bit and this is my comment to this post ‘It takes courage to share vulnerable parts of us and our challenges. He will surprise you. Just keep your faith. I could feel your pain in these words.

Broken Heart How do you mend a broken heart? A beautiful and simple write filled with sound advice.

Discovery When you discover a carnage from robbers, yet they didn’t make off with the loot, what would be your conclusion? Vengeance? Retribution? Well…

Please visit their blogs and say hello. A few minutes may gain you a friendly support.

‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’

Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.

P.S. Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.

Thank you for your understanding and regards.

‘We create a cohesive community when we come together.’

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Family · Gratitude · Personal

The Spirit Of Doubt…personal

Waking up with the spirit of doubt trying to invade my mind is not my idea of a fun way to rise in the morning. This spirit of doubt was implanted by events outside my control, which affects a member of my loved and extended family *unfortunately, I can’t disclose nor breach their confidence, but nonetheless, this issue weighs heavily on my mind that I found myself entertaining seeds of fear and worry.

Fear and worry add no value, but rather, they take away from the person inflicted by the noisome presence.

They are like creeping plants that grow so fast and try to smother everything good along the way. I am still a fledgling Christian in the sense that I cannot lay claims of having it all sorted out spiritually, but I am so grateful that I have matured enough in the spirit to always remember that God gave me the spirit of love and of sound mind and not of fear.

It may sound juvenile to some, but please believe me, when I say that I deliberately started recounting the positive things of just the previous days and not only did I drown out the voice of fear and worry, but I experienced such upliftment inside me.

The Spring break is over and we are back to the hustling shift of rising early, school runs and what not. I am so grateful for my children and the beautiful time spent together.

My babies are growing up, enough to slap gooey peanut butter sandwiches together, to flip pancakes and make light breakfast for themselves so that their mother can get a little extra lounge time in bed.

For a beautiful, caring soul in my husband who showed me lots of surprising sweet spots through his concern and ministration to my needs these past few days and brought loads of laughter to my lips.

I am thankful for Grace. Grace not to wilt in the sight of pressure. Grace that has stood by my loved one in their trying times and lest I forget, I am thankful for earning my first 34 cents in this blogging space as well as the sustenance to keep at it and not to lose focus.

A lot of times, life brings temptation that seems quite burdensome, but if we keep our face up, the load will slide off our shoulders.

I hope that you are thankful for something today. You can join Colline’s  or Maria Jansson gratitude challenge platforms.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Image credit: Pixabay

Midnight motivation and musings · Self Help

Midnight Motivations and Musings 58…

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There are times that I have been asked how I can prove that there’s a God and I have always responded with the same quote above.

God is God all by Himself. I cannot limit him by trying to define him in the human context, neither can I constrain his Supreme presence because I seek for him to appear before me so that the doubting Thomases can believe that he exists.

I would rather believe deeply in God and live my life serving him through my fellowship with others than to spend a thousand years drifting in disbelief.

Every day, I see God. I see him in the gurgling laughter of a little child. I see him in the brilliance of the shining Sun, I see him in the birds that roam free and feed on the fat worms of the earth, I see him in the flowers that bloom in glorious colours, I see him in the love of my children and husband, I see him in everything that surrounds me.

Do you see God?

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Lifestyle · Midnight motivation and musings · Self Help

Midnight Motivations and Musings # 56

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Planting a seed is a risk.

We are not sure that it will grow.

We are not sure that it will not be a diseased crop.

We are not sure some wild creature will not attack it when we are not looking.

Nonetheless, we have to plant those seeds that we have in our hands. Chances are, that a good number will grow and ripen for harvest.

We must take the time to till our ground, plant, and water and be patient for the God of Harvest to increase our bounty. Except we plant, he has nothing to work on.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

 

 

Mundane Monday · Uncategorized

Pinky Feet…Mundane Monday

Mundane Monday Challenge is created to find beauty in almost everything.

The challenge is simple : find beauty in everyday mundane things, capture the beauty and upload the photographs.

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Feet! Normal human features that we see every day.

Yet, the feet are the beautiful piece of artwork from the Master craftsman Himself.

They take us on our lifetimes journey’s literally and physically

As we leave our imprints all over the sands of time in pursuance of our dreams.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Fiction · Personal · Poetry/Poems

Dear Husband Of Mine… personal

Sometimes, I keep quiet
Searching for the words
To say that I love you.

Sometimes, my heart combusts
With the fullness
Of knowing you.

Sometimes, I doubt if word’s
Can really say
What I feel for you.

These times,
I utter words of thanks
To God who brought you to me.

Sometimes, I love you
Seems to be so small
A word for what you mean to me.

You mean the World
And so much beyond
My husband. You are a good man.

This time
I can’t keep quiet
But shout it from the rooftops.

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Uncategorized

Glorious Earth…

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