Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Purpose Who? Purpose What?

Welcome Back! So glad to have you in this space today *smiles*

In the previous post I gave you a very brief overview of my childhood as it pertains to me trying to discover my purpose.


Now, buckle up! And let's proceed....

I went through Elementary School (Primary School for my Nigerian readers) and Junior High School (JSS for my Nigerian readers) with this dilemma, it bothered me more in Junior High School because I attended what is classified as a 'gifted and talented school', admission was based on merit...yet I felt so ungifted and untalented! My classmates were flourishing in various subjects: Art, Mathematics, Sciences, Music, etc. I was just there, bored and uninterested in any of the above.

I was an average student that mostly lived in her imagination. In my imagination, life was perfect and I ruled the world!...I wasn't too fond of school but I knew it was a requirement for success in life (that's what mommy and daddy told me). I longed for something  more, something greater, something beyond the walls of a school building. 


Eventually, I joined the band at school but I didn't last long. My instrument of choice was the viola (similar to the violin) but I just couldn't get it...we had an excellent instructor but once I struck those strings, what you heard was catastrophic. Within a few weeks, my instructor told me to see her after class and she let me down easily. Long story short, she told me that I would be better off in the choir *insert-very-loud-laughter* Although I've always desired to sing (and still do occasionally...hehe) my voice needs more than training,  it needs a divine intervention! So yea, I just remained in the choir as an "alto" until I left junior high school.

The time came when we were about to graduate, so we began to look for high schools that we wanted to attend. There were various criteria for each school and some of them had a particular area of focus (i.e. Sports, Arts, etc). After much frustration I opted for a school that focused on Health Sciences (Dentistry, Nursing, etc), I chose this school partly because I knew people who attended the school and secondly because it was an easy school to get into.

Once I got to High School, a whole new world opened up to me!!! Chai, see life! (Translation: Omg, is this life!?!?) Trying to discover my purpose wasn't my only dilemma now, trying to stay away from negative influences and holding on to my Godly principles was more of a challenge.

There was a lot more freedom in High School, you could dress anyway you wanted...school was like a fashion show everyday and "keep up with the joneses" wasn't easy, high end designers filled the hall ways...from Jordans to GUESS, also your hair always had to be on point (a nice perm or weave would do), along with extra long artificial nails and cute pedicures. I also got introduced to a social life...there were parties every weekend.


During a regular day at school, it wasn't surprising to hear that someone got caught in the staircase while smoking weed. Drinking alcohol was the "in" thing even though most people were underage (21 is the legal drinking age), and oh yes there was sex...it was the norm..."everyone" was doing it...there was one year in particular when some people just decided to loose their virginity...of course with sex came babies, my school was notorious for teenage pregnancy. I attended Clara Barton High School commonly known as 'Clara Abortion' because of the high pregnancy rates.

Not before long I found myself caring less about my purpose. I figured, I'll go to College and study whatever, get a job or two, get married, have children and live happily ever after...after all that's what I saw around me, most of the adults that I knew worked two to three jobs barely having time for their families, leaving most of their children to fend for themselves and be raised by the streets, then they came to church on Sundays looking all dolled up, and spent tons of money on clothing, jewelry, shoes, and bags awaiting the next party where they would "fun won tan" (Translation: show off). I mean by this time, I've accepted it as reality. I wasn't happy about it because my dreams were so much better but, hey!


Shortly after, I got my first official job at Wendy's...most of my peers worked, that's how you managed to keep up with the joneses when daddy and mommy's money ran out...well that's for those that had father's...it was in High School that I discovered that a lot of people didn't grow up with a dad....I was shocked because I don't know what I'd do without my dad


So, I started making my own money...finally started dressing decent, managed to afford a few name brand items, get my hair and nails done, even though I didn't get paid much (Minimum wage then 

was about $7 then). As a result of working at a fast food restaurant plus my love for food my hips started expanding...sigh...no more skinny girl. I was becoming a 'woman' and I noticed that I started receiving a lot of attention from the opposite sex also, which was new to me....


And the story continues....until next time!


You're blessed!


-Bunmi


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Monday, February 23, 2015

God's Grace

2 Corinthians 9:8 (KJV)
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 

What is God's Grace?

In most cases, God's grace is simply defined as his unmerited favor. Which is true, however it's much more than that. It is God's divine empowerment given to man to live the God-kind of life. With God's grace, man is able to live the abundant life that Jesus came to give (John 10:10). A life where man is in total control, controlling circumstances and situations and not the other way around. 

God's grace is the key to all your desires, it's the solution to all your issues, and it’s the answer to all your questions. God's grace is sufficient, it's all we have as believers and it's all we'll ever need. 

God's grace covers every nook and cranny of your life: your finances, career, marriage, education, etc. His grace is available to make you that image of perfection that he has created you to be. God's grace is able to turn your wildest dreams into glorious realities. God's grace covers it all! 

Like a blank check, all you have to do is fill in what you need it for; it's already signed with Jesus' blood so it can never bounce. His grace will never run out, it's forever abounding. In 2 Corinthians 9:8, the key words are 'all', 'abound', 'always', 'sufficiency', and 'every', these words describe the characteristics of God's grace. It’s all encompassing, it's endless, it's more than enough, and it applies to all circumstances.

Furthermore, God's grace is void of human effort (2 Corinthians 12:9), you don't have to work, struggle, or fight for it; as a child of God it's your personal property, a divine gift (Ephesians 2:8). Jesus paid the price for our access into this grace with his life (John 1:17). This grace is able to establish and perfect all that concerns you in life (1 Peter 5:10), just believe it!

Confession: Heavenly father, I thank you because your grace is sufficient for me. It abounds towards me in: my walk with you, relationships, calling, finances, marriage, etc, meeting all my needs in Jesus' name. I AM BLESSED!!!

Prayer Starter: Father in the name of Jesus, I thank you for your grace. In any area of my life where your grace has not yet manifested __________ (specify that area) I declare by faith right now that there is a performance of your Word concerning that area. Amen


You're Blessed!

-Bunmi


Wait...Before you go: 

1. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

2. You can subscribe to this blog and receive email updates once a new post is published by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email' located on the right of this post.



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Monday, February 16, 2015

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

I am the first born of four children. I come from an awesome family, my parents are great and my siblings have my heart. I love my family dearly. While growing up, I was a very quiet child, I never gave my parents any trouble or reasons to be concerned. Being the first born, I had the responsibility of  being a role model. I took this responsibility very seriously and mounted so much pressure on myself from a young age. My goal was to be "little miss perfect".

My childhood was filled with a lot of grey areas, i was extremely confused about a lot of things. My parents did a pretty good job with raising me, they gave me moral principles to follow and of course infused the Nigerian culture in me. They also brought me up in the way of The Lord, I mean we practically slept at church (come to think of it, we actually slept at church sometimes, lol ).

The main source of my confusion was a result of  never having an answer to the "What will you like to be when you grow up?" question, I mean I just didn't know! And of course with Nigerian parents, a doctor, or a lawyer was the only acceptable answer. But I didn't want to be a doctor, I hated hospitals...every time I went to an hospital or was around someone that was sick I felt so sad, all I wanted to do was to help them get better quick. And being a lawyer seemed sooooooooo boring! (No offense to all my doctors and lawyers out there, I got love for ya'll!)

So what did I want to do when I grew up? I just knew that I had this burden for helping people who couldn't help themselves, people that have giving up on life, people that have been rejected and despised by others, people who were hopeless, lonely, lost, afraid, etc. I also knew that I wanted to be my own BOSS, saw pictures of myself in my head sitting in my lavishly furnished executive office, calling all the shots! But after my lengthy research, I couldn't find any profession to satisfy my yearning. I wanted to help people entirely, not fix one part and leave the rest broken...and there's where my dilemma lied, all professions seemed to fix different aspects but never the whole being.

During my teenage years, I wrote a lot of poetry. It was one of the things that came to me easily, I never realized that I was good at it. I just wrote as the inspiration came, I found some of these poems a few years ago and discovered that from my teenage years until my college days my poems were centered on the topic "Self Discovery". I was so eager to discover what I was on Earth for. I was surrounded by so many friends and family that knew what they wanted to be, they were determined and driven yet I was just there, going through the motions, I was unfulfilled.

I grew up in a neighborhood that was stricken with poverty, high school drop outs, crime, teenage parents, and drug addicts. At first glance, these issues weren't glaring in my community because it just seemed to be the normal way or life. 


Plus my parents did an excellent job with shielding us for all the negativity, we were instructed to never mingle with the other children in the neighborhood, our only friends were the children of the two Nigerian families that attended our church and also lived near by. Of course being children, we managed to mingle a bit but thankfully it was never to our detriment. However, some of the other children in the neighborhood got offended, it led to various confrontations because they felt that we thought we were better than them. The truth was that were afraid of the discipline of our Nigerian parents!

Being the firstborn was tough, I didn't have anyone to look up to and give me advice. I had to figure it out on my own. There were certainly no role models in my community and church wasn't any better. I was so confused about the discrepancy between how the bible instructed us to live and what I saw at church. So I felt alone, confused, and different from others. I was very quiet, timid, shy, unhappy, angry and insecure. My self esteem was horribly low...I thought my nose was too big, my shoe size was massive...my hair was short and unhealthy...my face was fat...my skin was unevenly toned...and the list goes on.


Also, my mother and I didn't have a good relationship when I was younger. She was very strict and mounted heaps of pressure on me because I was the oldest. If I did something wrong, I dreaded the things she would say. Her words hurt more than her spankings (we get along now and I now understand that she only wanted the best for me).
But you know what the good news is?!?!


I found Jesus and I found ME! I discovered my purpose in Jesus! And My Life Changed!



You're Blessed!

-Bunmi


Wait before you go:


1. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

2. You can subscribe to this blog and receive email updates once a new post is published by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email' located on the right of this post.



3. If you have any suggestions or personal questions that you'd like for me to address, please fill out the contact form on the right of this post and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

4. You can share this post and all previous posts on facebook, twitter, etc by clicking on the respective social media icon on the right of this post.