We who look to Christ for strength

When I grow up, I want to be able to write as Deanna. Today started out as a great day, but suddenly I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders and all I wish to do is get up and walk and think until, am out of things to think. Or maybe walking and having a blank mind would be even greater.

 Life wears us down but thank God for Jesus Christ, He truly is a rock and refuge to anyone who calls to him. And so I have taken a moment and called to Him for strength. 

 Enjoy the read and your day! 

 http://deannadavis.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/normal-is-so-fragile-jesus-is-so-not/

Normal Is So Fragile – Jesus Is So Not

18 09 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What a difference a day makes. Less than 15 hours ago life was cruising along – at light speed to be sure…but cruising along nonetheless. Then, in a moment, life came crashing to a halt.
Most have had this happen. One moment all is fine. The next, it is not. Normal is so fragile.
Jeff has been sick for a while. We thought it was a bacterial infection, easily treatable. We kept waiting for him to get better. Turns out it was more than that. One phone call from the doctor and we were on our way to the operating room.
Fear. “What if’s”. Conversations husbands and wives sometimes never get to have. Never want to have.
Who knew our normal was so fragile?
So now we begin a journey into ‘next, into a ‘new normal’. And it is fragile too.
God makes promises to His children…but sometimes He answers them in such unexpected ways. In ways that we don’t see coming. In ways that take a while, maybe a long while, to wrap our hearts around. “Working things out for my good” sometimes isn’t anywhere near my definition of  ”good”. He promises to be near – but that doesn’t mean I’ll see Him. He says He loves me with an everlasting love – and it may be nothing like my experience with and understanding of love.
Yet…
Here are a few things I’ve learned through the years as I’ve walked with Jesus – through pain so deep I couldn’t breathe, through night so dark, I wasn’t sure the light would come on again. These are truths I have learned and earned and owned in the trenches of following Him wherever He has led. These, I lean on, cling to and cuddle up to sleep with at night:
My external circumstances are not an accurate gauge of how He loves me.  And whether He rescues or not, in the manner of my preference or not – that also is not an accurate gauge of how He loves me.
How He loves me was forever settled on the cross – not in the stuff of earth in which I so easily lose myself. How He loves me is measured in how He walks with me – into the unknown, into the full expression of my fear. In how He talks with me – when I desperately need to hear from Him. In how He tells me I am His own – even when logic tries to scream the contrary. And His presence is never nearer, His voice is never clearer than when He has my fullest attention. Pain has a beautiful way of focusing things. Of sifting and shifting what I thought  was so solid – and now realize is so sift-able and shift-able.
Normal may be fragile.
But Jesus is not. He lodges Himself inextricably, permanently in my heart, in my pain, in my experience. As I get knocked around and absorb the blows life throws, He holds me. Hugs me. Grabs my face with both hands and speaks love to me until I hear Him. He may not prevent the bruises and wounds. But He heals them. Blesses them. He makes them more than what they appear. He makes them a doorway – to more of Him. To more of what truly comforts. To a place where my feet stand solid in His presence. To a place where my heart rests.
He is where I eventually land in a free fall. And I am thankful that as I crash into Him, He is not fragile.

Sad tales of the never happily ever after

Mbugua banks hope on Wambui’s will

PHOTO | DANIEL IRUNGU Mr.Peter Mbugua, widower of the late Wambui Otieno at his one room house at Kitengela on 1st September 2012, after he was forced out of their Karen home.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

 

By BILLY MUIRURI bmuiruri@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, September 8  2012 at  23:30

In Summary

• According to the will seen by the Sunday Nation, Wambui wanted Mbugua to own at least one car to enable him “move around in his day-to-day endeavours”
• In the detailed will signed on June 19, 2011, Wambui distributed all her movable and immovable property and cash held in bank among her 10 children and eight grand children
• Wambui directed that expenses for her burial were to be paid out of her estate

The late controversial Kajiado North politician, Wambui Otieno, wanted her second husband, Peter Mbugua, to own two developed plots and a car, the Sunday Nation can reveal.

A will she wrote 72 days before her death shows the two plots are registered as Kitengela Kajiado Kaputei/13546 and Kajiado/Kitengela/ 2811, which she says she “holds together with my husband Peter Mbugua Nyambura”.

According to the will seen by the Sunday Nation, Wambui wanted Mbugua to own at least one car to enable him “move around in his day-to-day endeavours”.

In the detailed will signed on June 19, 2011, Wambui distributed all her movable and immovable property and cash held in bank among her 10 children and eight grand children. (Read: Mbugua thrown out of Wambui’s home)

It is witnessed by Wambui’s lastborn sister who lives in Canada, Esther Waiyaki, and a friend, Elizabeth Njeri Gichimu, and is certified by lawyer R.K Ng’ethe.

Although the will is clear on who should inherit what, a contest is likely to emerge over the ownership of a Toyota Harrier with registration number KBA.

In the will, the vehicle is supposed to be inherited by Wambui’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth Sophie Wairimu Otieno, even though official documents show it was registered in the name of Mr Mbugua.

The same will offers Mr Mbugua another vehicle, a Toyota G-Touring insured with AIG Kenya Insurance Company. This is the vehicle Wambui and Mbugua used for the better part of their life together.

However, it was sold and the proceeds plus an additional amount used to buy the Harrier, according to sources in the family.

A lawyer who declined to be dragged into the family’s affairs says a person cannot will what one does not legally own.

“I can see the car is registered in Mbugua’s name. Legally speaking, this ownership supersedes whatever else the will is saying about the car,” says the matrimonial law expert.

The division

The matrimonial home located at Forest Edge estate in Karen where the couple lived until March last year was inherited by her daughters Gladwell Otieno and sons Jairus Ougo and Fredrick Munyua.

The will also shows that the Upper Matasia home where she is buried and had wanted her first husband SM Otieno buried, “according to his wishes”, will be the property of Jane Nunga and Lewis Waiyaki.

A family cemetery is also to be carved out of the Upper Matasia home and will be held in trust by Gladwell, Sophie and Lewis. A prime plot in Ukunda in the South Coast will belong to her son Jairus Ougo.

Wambui further said the money in her current and savings account should be spent in the education of her grandchildren and great grandchildren and insisted that such children’s parents should otherwise be those who cannot afford to educate them.

In the will, Wambui directed that expenses for her burial were to be paid out of her estate.

wishing to out beat the legal system

 This is what happens when you think you are more smarter than the legal system.

Advertising firm loses Sh36m suit over prime space

By RICHARD MUNGUTI rmunguti@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Sunday, September 9  2012 at  19:19

In Summary

• Bid by Alliance Media to have Magnate Ventures pull down its structures near Museum Hill fails

An outdoor advertising company has lost a Sh36 million suit it had filed against a competitor.

Alliance Media (Kenya) Ltd, which was a tenant in a property associated with businessman Kamlesh Pattni, had urged the High Court to direct Magnate Ventures Ltd to pull down structures it had erected near the International Casino, Nairobi.

The company claimed that it had the sole right to place its adverts on the land since it had leased it, and had put up advertisements for clients from Azarel Investments.

As a result, the two companies urged the court to order Magnate Ventures and City Council of Nairobi (NCC) to pay Sh36 million in damages for loss of business.

But in a swift turn of events, Justice Majanja struck out the case, saying there was a duplication of suits.

He ruled that the two companies failed to disclose that “they had lodged similar suits seeking similar action — an abuse of the court process.”

The judge said Alliance Media had failed to disclose fully it had started earlier cases seeking similar action.

“An analysis of the facts of the cases filed in the surbordinate court and the present cases filed in the High Court revolve around the construction of advertising billboards by Magnate Ventures near Museum Hill,” said Judge Majanja.

He said Magnate Ventures had been permitted to put up its billboards by the ministry of Roads on February 12, 2010. The City Council approved the same. Therefore, the judge said, Alliance Media was not entitled to agitate for the same.

Litigated before

The judge agreed with lawyers Nelson Havi for Magnate Ventures and Titus Koceyo for NCC that “the case had been litigated before, involving the same parties.

In their case, Azarel and Alliance alleged they were incurring a monthly loss of Sh3 million and a compound annual loss of Sh36 million.

The plaintiff companies (Alliance/Azarel) had stated that Magnate Ventures had erected advertisement billboards on land belonging to Azarel without its authority.

Azarel stated that it had leased its premises to Alliance for purposes of putting up wall wraps and billboards.

Justice Majanja ordered Azarel and Alliance to pay costs of the case to Magnate Ventures and NCC.

Judge Majanja said he was informed by the plaintiffs lawyer M T Adala “ they were bound suffer damages, loss and expenses due to threatened and possible cancellations of advertisement contracts.”

Azarel, the judge heard would loose substantial revenue and rent as a result of illegal actions by Magnate and NCC.

Azarel and Alliance urged the court to order the defendants (Magnate and NCC) to remove the all the structures constructed infront of the International Casino situate around the former Musseum Hill Roundabout.

After finding that the same issues had been canvassed before the judge did not hesitate but “struck out the case lodged by Azarel and Alliance against Magnate and NCC. He dismissed it with costs.”

Justice Majanja ordered plaintiffs to pay costs of the case to the defendants.

Going for it!

What do you do when faced with the ultimate decision? the ultimate choice? the ultimate change? the change of all changes? When you know its time to move from your comfort zone and into the land of the unknown. Well these are the questions plaguing me and I sure wish they would go plague someone else because its very uncomfortable and truly exhausting. But there comes a time when move ahead is all and the only option you got. As Dr Wale said, 'You cannot keep input constant and expect a different output'.

I attended this lovely entrepreneurial women's ministry seminar at our church and got really enlightened and will share the points that came across for me;

-You passionately progress in your business when you know you are good and you know why you are good
-You need to have a more active imagination than memory, otherwise your mind is always going to be stuck in the past.
-You will stagnate when you don't have a vision that is more compelling than your comfort zone
-Thinking out of the box does not just mean thinking different but it means thinking out of the logic
-You establish motive by asking why
-The reality in your head must be way ahead of the reality in your life. This can also be described as innovation
-The person who does not read has no advantage over the person who cannot read
-Measure your performance in context of your capabilities. Potential is making maximum use of your capabilities. Capabilities are drawn from relationships, skills, knowledge, exposure
-Reward outcome not effort
-When your thinking of a business venture what attributes of yours can be leveraged to highest return?
- Find out what is holding you back, whats your problem, what would be the source and how do you solve it
-List the things you can do naturally verses your acquired skills
- Then go a step further and list the things you can do within your abilities.
- List also the abilities you can maximise on without needing a start-up capital
-Never put money before a vision
-Seek a mentor
-Establish what the differentiating factor is in your business as compared to the others

Well it was a very very educative and challenging Saturday and Dr. Wale impacted the above and much more knowledge into our lives. So in that period of time, all I have had to do is think and think and think some more. Watched someone who was saying that women think a lot while men can have those blank moments of nothingness and be just fine. We don't get that but we were created differently as God foresaw.
As you read the above and deliberate your most welcome to attend a coffee talk with Dr wale on Thursday, 9th at TinTin Restaraunt from 6pm-8pm. http://www.powertalks.biz/coffee-with-dr-wale/
Below are some other quotes I came across and had to share in context with this article and my many many many thoughts, enjoy!
  
Quotes by Shika Adabu Mwajuma

-Sadly, very few people ever live to become the success story they dream about. And there’s one simple reason why: They never take action!

-The acquisition of knowledge doesn’t mean you’re growing. Growing happens when what you know changes how you live. So many people live in a complete daze. Actually, they don’t ‘live.’ They simply ‘get by’ because they never take the necessary action to make things happen – to seek their dreams. It doesn’t matter if you have a genius IQ and a PhD in Quantum Physics, you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action. There’s a huge difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it. Knowledge and intelligence are both useless without action. It’s as simple as that.

Success hinges on the simple act of making a decision to live – to absorb yourself in the process of going after your dreams and goals. So make that decision. And take action.

 -The number one thing I persistently see holding smart people back is their own reluctance to accept an opportunity simply because they don’t think they’re ready. In other words, they feel uncomfortable and believe they require additional knowledge, skill, experience, etc. before they can aptly partake in the opportunity. Sadly, this is the kind of thinking that stifles personal growth and success

The truth is nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow emotionally and intellectually. They force us to stretch ourselves and our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first. And when we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t feel ready.

Significant moments of opportunity for personal growth and success will come and go throughout your lifetime. If you are looking to make positive changes and new breakthroughs in your life, you will need to embrace these moments of opportunity even though you will never feel 100% ready for them.

meal of the week

Wow okay, so we don't eat alot of starch and meats, being healthy is top on my (yes my) list, and through out the week the menu is on healthy foods. But weekends, well lets just say, having had a long hard week, it definately pays off to eat 'happy foods', lol! To the utter joy of my hubby. Anyway, the other day I wanted to experiement on pork (am loving pork everyday). So I will try and put the ingredients, you can measure accordingly, depending on the size of your pork. NOTE: use reasonable and appropriate ingredients. Oh just to mention, tried to make Grilled smoked Pork on our Microwave (that has Grill option) and it din't go as planned, next time it shall, so ended up pan frying the pork.

What was to be Grill Smoked Pork Ingredients;
Brown Sugar
Honey
Lemon Juice
Vegetable Oil
Red pepper flakes or Chilli Powder

Step one is to marinate the pork in all the above ingredients and refrigirate for at least 30 minutes. Once ready to cook, you can either grill or pan fry on a non-stick pan. I never add oil to the pan, just let the pork sizzle in its own fat.

Mashed Potatoes
Buy potatoes, peel and boil in salty water.
Once tender pour out water and add, cream or milk, butter, black pepper a bit of chilli powder lemon juice coriander (dhania) if you wish and mash it all up.

Peas
Boil them and either fry with onions and butter OR fry onion in vegetable oil add tomatoes and the cooked peas and allow stew to simmer in medium heat.

All done simple and fun, serve and enjoy!