THE WINDOW

        A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning whilst eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the
wash outside.
“That laundry is not clean” she said. “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she
needs better laundry soap”. Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time the neighbor would hang laundry to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
      About one month later, the woman was surprised to see nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: “Look, she has learnt how to wash
correctly. I wonder who taught her this”! The husband said: “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows”! And so it is with life.
      What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look! Easy to discuss other people, their lives and
things that don’t really concern us.
Yet we tend to forget – our window isn’t that clean after all!

                                Dr. Ben Carson

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FROM BOYS INTO MEN.

There is a plague ravaging the world of men, which has destroyed many homes, it has turned many wives to be hooked to boys, it has made sons to be rebellious and Nations to be governed by boys. It is a wave of irresponsibility rocking the kingdom of Men. Man the crown of creation, the replica of God in flesh, charged with the responsibility of dominion over creation, love and protect his family and leave an imprint for generations to follow? why are the porches of Church filled with the tears of weeping women? Were women the ones commanded to lift up holy hands without anger? Where are the men in the scanty pews in our churches, were are the men of integrity that will rule our nations, protect the women and intercede for the land?
Boys are known for their toys, but men for their responsibilities. When I was a child, I spoke, thought and reasoned as a child, but when  I grew into a man, I threw away childish things. It is a shame to admit that many men in my generation are hooked to toys rather than legacies, men whose God is their belly, and have no sense of responsibility and vision for the future. Why won’t boys be running away from God, when they see their Fathers turning their backs on the things of God? why would boys not carry guns, when they see their Fathers beating their mothers at home, why won’t boys be drug addicts, when they see their Fathers as perpetual compromisers of standards and principles of godlessness? There is a war raging against the male seed by the enemy, and it has started from creation. And since God has been asking Adam, where are you? God trusted Abraham with 318 born slaves and he turned them into fighting men, and he earned the Father of many Nations, Joseph preferred not to lose his staff of dignity by sleeping with Potiphar’s wife, and overnight he hijacked the position of Reuben, the firstborn who slept with his father’s wife, Joseph was a man of integrity, and he qualified the task of fostering the Saviour of the world. Do we still have men of integrity today, men that will stand for truth and justice?
Exodus 1: 22, Pharoah asked all the male children to be killed and the females spared. Was the essence of a neck without a head? The target of the enemy is to displace men from their God-given role in their generation, to keep men being boys and slaved to material gains, without a glimpse into the future of the upcoming generations. Every man will give an account to God for his generation. I pray that men will stand in their positions and deliver the world from the yoke to boys, I pray that fathers will call out the men in their boys and also teach them how to love God, I pray that men will rise and become the priests over their home. Where are the men?

                               Ojebode Ayokunmi.

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DYSMENORRHEA

It’s been days since she visited the toilet last. When her tummy started churning, she was very happy she would be able to empty her bowel, so she dashed for the toilet. However, on getting to the toilet, the bowel was emptied in matter of seconds, she smiled in satisfaction. But just when she expected to be lighter, free, strong and healthy, the pain that gripped at her around her lower abdomen, more like in the upper pelvic region, say somewhere between the two anatomic regions, was so excruciating that she held on tight to water closet she was sitting on. Then sweat started pouring in, all over her face. “Is this really happening? All because it’s been long since I visit the toilet?” she wondered in her thought.
Few minutes after, she left the convenience to lie down on the bed in her room willing her stomach to settle because she had to go to work. As the stars would smile down at her, she was relieved a little and was able to dress up and off she went, to work. She got to work without much ado on the previous pain because she up to her neck with work so buried into the files she was handling that she didn’t get to take a check on herself till lunch time when she finally had the chance to pause and refill. So she made to stand up to go for lunch and it was; ‘no no no’ because her lower abdomen was aching but she struggled to stand up in spite of the pain. She smiled down at her colleague that was waiting to go with her to lunch, grabbed her bag and she said, “Let’s go, Williams”.
They settled down to eat, she ordered rice and soft drink along with it. She was just making a mental note on how her consumption of sugar especially of soft drink in recent past was becoming too much when she realized immediately what the genesis of the pain might be. Immediately she went paled and drained at the realization of what was happening. Her attentive companion commented on her change of countenance but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to smile to reassure him. She couldn’t hold it in any longer, she had started feeling uncomfortable because she was not so prepared. ‘Oh no!’ she thought then she remembered she always carry in her handbag a spare of what she needed especially for situation like this, not necessarily for herself but in case any lady is in a state of emergency as she was.
From underneath the table she dipped her hands into her bag, carefully so her companion will not see her tuck the item into her purse and politely excused herself and made for the bathroom. Quickly she went to prepare herself for the monthly ritual, it was a blessing it hadn’t started yet. She must have made it through the day with the work at the office by the help of a watching eyes, the strength of a guardian angel because she was wrecking in pain  when she got home and so she remained for the four days of the monthly rites.
On the fifth days looking cheerful, happy, chatty and playful, so full of mischief, Williams could not understand her. Just few days back she was moody, picky, easily annoyed and all, but now she looked like a different being. When he commented about her change in attitude, she just smile but answered in her mind “I wish I know but that is dysmenorrhea for you, it takes your comfort away, wreck you in pain, leaves you moody but when its gone you can’t  even remember the pain again. Many time she did asked herself if she was really exaggerating in the moment of pain.” But then that’s dysmenorrhea for you, she did thank God for hers, some ladies get admitted in the hospital over it and of course it’s a monthly sickness.
#wink!

Edited by Bimbo Ayeni.

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WHY DO WE SHOUT WHEN WE ARE ANGRY?

A Professor was teaching.
He asked his students, ‘why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?’
The students thought for awhile.
One said, because we lose our calm.
But why do you shout when the other person is just next to you? Asked the professor. Isn’t it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you are
angry? The students gave some answers but none satisfied the Professor.

Finally he explained, ‘when two people are angry at each other, there is a distance in their hearts psychologically. To cover the distance,
they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are,
the stronger they will shout to hear each other through that great distance.

Then the Professor asked,
‘What happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly. Why? Because their hearts are psychologically close.
The distance between them is very close. The Professor continued, ‘When they love each other even more, what happens? They don’t speak, only whisper and they even get closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look
at each other and that’s all….. So next time you shout on a loved one, know that you are creating distance between your heart and that person’s heart.             
                                          Uche Ekeh.

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, he who rules his [own] spirit than he who takes a city. Prov 16:32(Amp)

Do not be quick in spirit to be angry or vexed, for anger and vexation lodge in the bosom of fools. Eccl 7:9(Amp)

Image source- Google images

 

BEAUTIFUL BUT NOT MARRIAGEABLE

“If your character today has the potential of sending a man to the roof top in search of fresh air rather than putting up with you in the same room,
don’t rejoice yet over an engagement ring, you are not marriageable”.
.
“BEAUTIFUL”, BUT NOT MARRIAGEABLE!
Everyone had expected Lizzy to have settled down with the man of her dream by now but sad to say, she lost her relationship again. This was her 4th broken engagement within 2 years. The guys who showed up around her only endured for a while, and never attempted to move further.
The closest that even went as far as starting marital procedures towards her only got fed up with her often display of a very nasty attitude. Lizzy was extremely beautiful. Everybody was aware of this. She had an angelic stature, powerfully configured shape, soft-looking eyes and a better height advantage. To complement her pretty looks, God had specially endowed her with this sonorous voice that could sing to any pitch. She was no doubt the top lead vocalist in the REDEMPTION VOICES mass choir (not original name used) and the best preference at performing technical songs. Even the angels in heaven could confess that Lizzy had what it takes to catapult worshippers to
Heaven in worship. Many people got attracted to her on that premise
only to be shocked by her nasty display of childish, unpolished and unwillingness-to-grow character.
Why corrupt a beautiful outside with an untidy inside? Why plague yourself with closed doors in the name of pride? Outward beauty is deceptive when the fruits of a good character are in doubt. You are not yet beautiful until your simple character can keep a man in a home. A dirty heart will ultimately corrupt a beautiful face. A dirty heart will embarrass a beautiful body shape. A smelling character will contaminate a costly manicure. Will he still ask you out if he had yet another chance? His response will either question or recommend your current and true beauty level. If he is not drawn to your heart and character then, your outward beauty can’t keep him for long. “If your character today has the potential of sending a man to the roof top in search of fresh air rather than putting up with you in the same room, don’t rejoice yet over an engagement ring, you are not marriageable”.
When you deliberately refuse to fix new virtues than you fix nails, you are reducing in beauty than you know.
Ladies, don’t carry an empty head into a relationship. If all that is visible to the guy is your Brazilian hair, I can assure you that you are not yet an asset for marriage. He’ll soon get tired of you.. Prefer to carry wisdom than wear a new hair. Head without content is overload. Don’t get bored developing yourself. Solid reading will not kill you. You’ll only be adding true values to yourself if you faint not. Let your values outgrow your weaknesses and you’ll be his queen for life.
Keep your mouth and you can keep the relationship. Keep your mouth and you can keep the man. If you must talk, let’s see wisdom in your words. If you must talk, communicate your good virtues . If your hope of feeding the man is on Crunches and Tantalizers, kindly repent now else, hand over his engagement ring until you’ve learnt how to cook.
It is easier for God to accept you the way you are than for a man to endure through an unpleasant attitude for long but then, you can’t be married to
God in the body but to a man. GOD can put up with you and for long but does a man have that capacity? What virtues do you really want to pass on to your children? If you can’t answer this, kindly postpone the wedding till you are ready. Marriage is not for
children. No man can work on any woman that lacks mentality for growth.
                      Written by Godwin Kalu
Image source: google images

 

RETURN THE MAN’S WIFE….

Sometime in 2013, I shared a message with the above caption at a Brothers’/ Sisters’ service. It was in the Nigeria Christian Corpers’ Fellowship. Infact, it was tasty, delicious and with a strong ambience of humour. Everybody became the
preacher that day. After the service, the ripples from the sermon were still reverberating even till today. Most of the content of the sermon could have long been forgotten but definitely not “RETURN THE MAN’S WIFE”. It became a general recitation. On spotting a fellowship bro/ si-si gisting together
for more than 5 minutes , one needed not forget to jokingly whisper to the brother: “Guy, return the man’s wife o”. Even I was implicated too: “Uncle, return the man’s wife o” Lol. I’m quite sure that at any time “RETURN THE
MAN’S WIFE” was used, the message behind it was funnily passed.
Now don’t miss this: There is no guarantee that every lady GOD sends
your way is for a marital relationship. Any guy who can’t stamp his foot on self-control here is a future polygamist. King Solomon is his mentor. He can’t escape extramarital affairs. No daughter of Zion is now safe around him. They hear his horn from a distance and run away. Don’t go sporting with someone else’s potential wife. Stop encroaching into another man’s divine project. Don’t tamper with that beautiful answer to
another man’s prayer. Don’t be caught trying to enjoy what is not meant for you. Don’t wake up her emotions only with satanic intentions of tasting
the waters. Is she a restaurant?
The lady only greeted you innocently and that gave you sleepless nights. See what went up in your mind:
“you can’t be greeting me like this and not really really mean anything. Now, give me a hug…. Yes a hug…. Just a hug!” And see the way you are hugging her as if she is a pillow. Guy, will you speedily release someone’s daughter now before I count 3?
“1,2…”

See the way she just jumped out of his laps. You would have forgotten yourself there till I count 3. You see, the lady too can be suffering from
“mumu-lity”. He is calling you the only cockroach in his cupboard… The only spider in his web…. The only tomato in his garden.and you are behaving like Oliver Twist, wanting some more.
He’ll soon become the only boxer in your ring by the time he finishes with you and your face is swollen every morning because he is using you to
train for the next boxing competition.
Guy, If she is not good for marriage, why waste her time? Why lock down the traffic from other serious-minded guys? They can’t access her because of this dragon guy. Oga mi, kindly return the man’s wife before I vex.
Return the man’s wife and wait for your wife. Return the man’s wife so that you can recognize your own
wife.. This is the more reason many guys are still single for more than necessary: they are easily deceived, distracted, swayed by any lady that
displays her stunts around them. So that today, Nkechi looks like the one and tomorrow, it is Amina and there after, Bunmi is the most flashy of all.
Are you practising permutation and combination? I can’t continue beyond this point. My intention is not to keep these articles longer than necessary.
Read up what happens to a man that parades around life with someone else’s wife: Gen. 20:1-18. Prov. 31:3.
I trust that the Holy Spirit will make it clearer to you.
            Written by Captain Godwin Kalu.
Image source-Google images

 

TELL ME SOMEDAY MY LOVE WILL COME ALONG

Tell me, where is love?
Tell me, is there someone…
Out there searching for me?
Is he near or far away?
Tell me, where is love?
Is he at the seven seas?
Sailing in the boat of destiny…
Heading towards my way!
Tell me, should I wait?
For my love to come find me…
Or should I go and meet
Him half way along the way?
Tell me, is true love do really exist?
Or is it just a dream you can’t resist?
My heart was broken all the time
Left me shattered at all times!
Tell me, should I give up on love?
Or should I keep on believing?
Is he somewhere out there
On his way to meet me here!
I don’t want to give up…
I don’t believe love has forgotten me;
Deep down inside me I know
SOMEDAY MY LOVE WILL COME ALONG!
By: Temilola Erah Olalusi
**Copy Written All Rights Reserved (c)Erah Oalind/
Rhea Alidon 2015**

 

LOVE IS WORTH THE TEARS

At the shore of broken promises;
I let my tears flow without a miss…
Emptying my Soul from yesterday’s mistake;
Letting my pain go…
Letting my tears flow….
LOVE IS WORTH THE TEARS
…for healing
…for searching
…for retrieving
My tears will wash away the sorrow!
A promise of forever was given on a platter;
Platter of empty dreams and lies without falter…
I believed you…I trusted you;
Gullible me…
Stupid me…
LOVE IS WORTH THE TEARS
…for self evaluation
…for self contemplation
…for self redemption
My tears will find the way to find me!
Giving all of me, lost myself along the way;
Never thought I needed to save love for me…
Love without reservation they said;
But love yourself too…
Not just love that somebody…
LOVE IS WORTH THE TEARS
…I learned
…I wisened
…I recovered
My tears made me realized my shortcomings!
Love is beautiful no matter what?
Despite of the painful yesterday…
They said love is never love until you shed tears;
I have no regrets…
I learned to forgive and forget…
LOVE IS WORTH THE TEARS
…It made me stronger
…It made me wiser
…It made me a believer
My tears lead me to happiness in loving me first!
By: Temilola Erah Olalusi
**Copy Written All Rights Reserved (c)Erah Oalind/
Rhea Alidon 2015**

 

A CONDOM FOR THE HEART

I remember many years ago, reading an article about condoms. There was a big debate at the time as to whether condoms would slow down the sexual revolution and really make sex safer.
There was a quote from a Catholic priest which I’ll never forget. He said, “I’ll believe in condoms when they come up with a condom for the heart.”
We live in time when condoms are thrown out into the crowd, telling you if you’re going to have sex you simply have to protect yourself. But I have yet to find a condom for the heart. When I
say heart, I’m talking about you…your deepest emotions, the way you look at your self, and how you feel about the one you love. I have talked to hundreds of people who cannot
erase the regret and pain that has been brought on by having sex with their boyfriend, girlfriend or even a stranger. This is a pain that no condom can ever protect you from.
Everybody is looking for someone who will love them unconditionally. Sex alone will not fill that void. In fact, casual sex will just leave you empty,
but wanting more, making the ache deeper and deeper. Julianne says it really well: “Why have sex over a feeling that can come and then go.
Sure sex is fun and a thrill, but the heartache and worries are NOT WORTH IT!! Ride a roller-coaster
or go on a trip if you need thrill and excitement. [Lovers] come and go, but babies, STD’s, and regret stay.”
Condoms can’t protect you from feeling like you can’t ever get enough of the other person’s love. I received a comment from Lucy, who talked
about having sex for the first time at age 13, and the attachment she automatically felt for the guy: “When this happened, it was the biggest
mistake of my life. I lost something I will never be able to get back. I was so madly in love with this guy, had such low-confidence, and was willing to do anything to keep this guy in my life.
Having sex was what he wanted, and all he wanted. We did not use a condom, and surprisingly, it was not my biggest regret. I was used, and then dropped. I am still not able to get
over this guy. We don’t talk anymore—he hates me. Sadly, I’d still do anything to be close with him again. I wasn’t ready and now I’m so
emotionally attached.” Tragically, Lucy still does not understand she is
set up for more hurt if she goes back to this guy. Because, like all of us, she has not found a condom for her heart. She is playing with emotional unprotected sex. Anthony admits that guys don’t have a condom for their heart either: “Me and my girlfriend were going out for about a year and a half when we had sex for the first time. Every time after that all she wanted was sex. I didn’t want to but I
thought I loved her so I gave in. When she thought she was pregnant, things went down hill. Good thing for us she wasn’t. When we broke up she thought that I was using her for sex when I never really wanted to.”
Condoms don’t protect your reputation. When Tiffany was 16, she had already had sex with ten different guys. She painfully explains her situation: “After the third guy I was really wanting to kill myself because all the guys in my town were calling me the town ho, but I just wanted to get pregnant so someone would love
me. Well, I did get pregnant. But after the guy found out he beat me up—and like he was trying to do—I had a miscarriage.” Too bad Tiffany didn’t have a condom to protect
her reputation, but there’s no such thing. Condoms also cannot prevent you from feeling cheap. Mandi shares how she carries a lot of the heaviness and shame that came from having
sex: “I dated a guy who told me he loved me, and how wonderful things would be. He forced me to have sex and then broke up with me. I felt so
ashamed for going out with him and didn’t understand how he could do that. I felt like it was all my fault. I lost a lot of my self-respect. I felt like no guy would ever really love me.”
All of these stories prove a point. Condoms only do what are they are designed to do and that is to help with birth control and protect from STDs.
Sometimes they fail even doing that. But they are not designed to protect your heart from being broken with irresponsible and uncommitted sex.
Until you find a partner who will stay committed to you for the rest of your life, you will always experience the pain and regret of a heart without
a condom.

A Condom for The Heart

 

BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP THAT LAST

Is a relationship all about love. How does your partner sees or value integrity and moral character? What about issues of Sexual purity, Exam Malpractice, Moral Uprightness, Bribery, Corruption etc? What values have you built over the years? What has been your vision? What are your long and short term goals? What are you living for? Do you and your partner share the same values?
       This reminds me of a story of a couple who just got married. They got into a hot argument a day after their wedding which led to a divorce. Guess what caused their argument “Toothpaste”. The groom was angry because the wife pressed the tooth paste tube from the middle, and the husband was very angry. He said,”we press the tube from the bottom end in my family while the wife fired back “we press it from the middle”! After a hot disagreement, a fight ensued and it led to a strain in their relationship and they finally broke up. What will be your spouse reaction if you find a bag containing $8,000 in a cab which you brought home, you are suggesting that you will return it to the cops so that they can identify the owner? Now, little things count in relationships if you don’t want suffer a heart break. There is the place of wisdom, patience and understanding but more importantly a partner who shares the same values with you will save you from headaches and heartaches when issues arises.
     Be in relationship with someone with whom you share the same conviction,values and passions. If you are not yet in a relationship, don’t forget this lesson and if you are in a wrong relationship, I think you will need a counsellor with integrity. Your relationship is your life. Treat it with all sense of importance.
Olalekan Olamide.