HAPPY BIRTHDAY RODERICK!!!

Birthdays are special. They call for celebrations and most often than not are reminders that we are progressing. Today, I celebrate a great team player and person, Roderick.

May this day be a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness over your life. Wishing you the best is not just enough but we wish that the best will be your good and you’ll excel beyond your bounds in all you do and all you are.

This is cheers to the good life! This is cheers to a great man!! This is cheers to an amazing year ahead for you!!!

Happy Birthday once again, Roderick.

Chukwudi Isaac

TO LIVE… TO LOVE… TO LEAD

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Over the years, I have often thought about what it means to LIVE (I also sometimes read LIVE as LIVE; other times, I also read LIVE as LIVE… phew). Back to my point, I often wondered if living entails enjoying your life to the fullest and even at that, I still find it bogus and vague. I am bothered sometimes, that maybe we do not understand why we live and hence, we do not live intentionally.

I heard something today that I think will stick with me for the rest of my life. The person told me, don’t just be successful, be significant. I found out that maybe I have just been selfish all this while; wanting the best for myself sometimes and not caring about the impact on another. Maybe I just want recognition and accolades and not care about processes. Maybe I just didn’t care enough about smearing a smile on someone’s face, listening a little more, giving a little more here and there, encouraging and praying with someone just a bit more. Maybe it has just been all about me.

It’s a new year for me and a new day, hence I have resolved not just to live, but to love and to lead. So at the end of my life, let it be known that I just did not LIVE, but I LOVED as well as LED a wonderful life.

Remain Blessed.

(c) Chukwudi I.

ARE YOU TIRED (PART II)

Today 30th June, marks the end of half of the year. A lot of things have gone on in our lives that ‘should’ make us very tired and not willing to go on many things have also gone on that we supposed to be grateful for but many times, a lot of things overwhelm us that we forget to count our blessings. Therefore, it could lead us to doing things by our own strength in making sure our goals work and all meanwhile God is telling us to just rest (which doesn’t mean that we won’t work but this means calling on God to help us as we work and involving Him in our work and drawing strength from Him daily).

Last year, I had finished the mandatory National Youth Service Commission (NYSC) Scheme, as prescribed by the Nigerian Government. After I had finished, I wanted a job so I set out on getting a job. I had called almost everyone I had known that was in a position to help me out but all to avail. I went round my town to submit my CV as well as sending them via email to various companies both within and outside the country. I started to grow weary and tired until God reminded me that I was depending on my own strength and not on Him. Inasmuch as I was going up and down trying to make things work, I found out that it had yielded no fruit and God gave me various scriptures that made me learn to depend on Him and I will share one here. Psalms 23. It starts with ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need (GNB)’ and then God asked me, ‘If I am your Shepherd, why do you feel you are lacking anything because you do not have a job?’ and then I realized how much I had wanted to be my own Shepherd and have already taken the wheel of my life. From then on, I sought to enjoy the Grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Sweet Fellowship of the Holy Spirit that abides; while basking in this, I was just resting in God, seeking Him on places I am to apply instead of just applying randomly, being hopeful and getting my hopes dashed.

In May this year, I had travelled to go spend some time with a family friend and then a friend of mine who owns a company just chatted me up and told me I was highly recommended by someone to come work for him. I was astonished and that was how I got my first job. I got it without applying for it. I got it by just resting in God and trusting Him to lead me on and on and on.

To be sincere, we can try and do things by our strength and it may work out but there will be many mistakes and weightiness of heart and sometimes, we could even get depressed but I want to let us know that there is a better way (which may not necessarily be the easy way but because God is in it and we draw strength from Him, our journey will be smoother)…

© Chukwudi Isaac

IN THE HERE AND NOW

IN THE HERE AND NOW
Many of us abide in the past
And in the future, get lost
Sometimes we forget there is a ‘here’
A ‘now’ that we live in here
So why go back and forth
And in the end, lose forte,
Of either battling the past
Or running to the future too fast?
In the here and now
We can grow in what we know;
In character and attitude
Like understanding gratitude,
In the here and now, there lies
The truth that indeed time flies;
Therefore be wise in spending time
As you live, while death tarries,
In the here and now
Enjoy your time with everyone;
With family and friends
With relatives and siblings;
Don’t go chasing fleeting things
And in the end, realize they are vanity,
When you lay on your dying bed
But a ‘goodbye’, no one is nigh to you to bid;
So make each second count
And spread love like a fount
It’s a new day; make the most use of it
Live simply and simple live… That’s it…

© Chukwudi Isaac

Attitude

While I was reading a devotion, I came across something that made me think. It said:

Did you know that your level of gratitude could have a direct effect on your attitude? What are you thankful for?

Some people are like thermometers; always alerting us when things aren’t right, and constantly a victim to the “temperature” in the room … which is never perfect. But others are more like thermostats. These people determine the temperature in the room. Their words, actions, and even their thoughts set the atmosphere. Which one are you?

Am I a thermometer? have I been one in the past? how grateful am I for what I have? you can imagine the number of questions that came to my mind. I then realised how we take so many things for granted and don’t realise how we affect others and how our perception of the world can be tainted through ingratitude.

Yes, we’ve all been through difficulties and storms but, we are still here!

In this month of appreciation April, I would like to appreciate those who are thermostats in our lives and add to it in wonderful ways. Not only do they boost and add light to us, but they also remind us of the good in this world. Such people are precious and rare.

I will leave you with the exact questions above. If you are a thermometer, maybe look for ways to change that or understand what triggers that side of you. We are not perfect but, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t become the best versions of ourselves.

Thank you.