To God Be the Glory

Every year at this time I hearken to the childhood days of my Chrstian walk and the songs and observances that I was taught. One of the songs we learned was this one I wish to share with you in video. It seems appropriate in this Easter season especially to give God the glory.

This Easter He has helped my mother to pull through an especially trying time at the hospital and I give thanks for that. Though she isn't out of hospital yet she has grown stronger and we are hopeful she will be released after the holiday weekend. I am still with her and visit her each day.

I pray that those who are of the family of faith will have lots of opportunity to pause and reflect over this busy weekend of what God has done for you. May He continue to keep and bless you and your loved ones.

I haven't been able to blog on those things I want to share but those posts can be saved for another day. Thank you to my blogging friends for continuing to read my blog, for commenting and for offering thoughts and concerns by email. I appreciate each and every one of you.

What's Happening in My World this Week?

I've been quite busy these past few days. Suddenly the other day I realized that I have a lot to get done within the next week or so: various blood tests, finding a podiatrist, getting my prescriptions refilled, writing to my sponsored children, getting my hair done, attending a diabetes clinic, coordinating my travel to visit mom and the business I need to do there, finishing and filing mom's taxes and mine, paying bills and getting some financial things in order. I've been good about keeping to schedule but today I needed a rest. I may not have much time for blogging over the next week but am not 100% sure. If I can I would like to post some more blogs about my Kenyan trip.

I'm looking forward to my quick overnight trip to visit my mom and niece. I have some business to do there at the same time so the trip needs to happen soon. I decided not to travel over Easter because everything in this small city where I'm going virtually shuts down on holidays and it will be difficult to get business done. Also my mom and my niece will each have Easter dinner to spend with others so they'll be gainfully occupied.  I'm trying to arrange for my niece to come and stay with me overnight and she sounded excited when I asked her about it over the phone today.  Maybe she can bring her swim suit and we can relax in the jacuzzi.

This photo I took during the last big snowfall.

We had unexpected wet snowfall here today. Wow! I can't believe it but in the province next door to use they had much more snow. Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny but right now with the low lying and thick clouds it doesn't look too promising. My garden has been cleaned and I've been waiting for the time to put the bedding plants out. Hopefully it will be this weekend.

Pretty red blossoms in my garden from another year.

Corn in my garden from another summer.

I was busy today looking for paper items to send to my 3 sponsored boys in Ethiopia and Kenya. I had one letter from little Peter near Nakuru, Kenya telling me what a wonderful Christmas he had this year due to the funds I sent for his family. It really warms my heart so much to know I've made him happy and probably alleviated some stress for his dear parents who can also enjoy their children's happiness over the holiday. I also heard from little John in Mathare, Kenya. It is his birthday in mid-June so I've sent a special amount of funds for his family to help celebrate his birthday. I had my first letter from young Haile in Ethiopia too. He is my newest sponsored child so we have only exchanged one letter each. It nice getting a letter to learn of his interests. 

I know that sponsored children love to keep their letters and photos and I'm not sure if any of these little boys have something to keep them in. I was thinking of how to address this. I came up with the idea to send a medium sized gift bag  made of heavier paper. I can fold it in a large envelope to send in my next mail out. I also sent the boys post cards of my city and maps of my country as well as lots of stickers and sticker albums. The boys are all young. One is 6, one is turning 7 and the other is 10. Since I don't have little children in my home, it is challenging for me to write to them of things that they will enjoy but doing good with ideas so far.  I'm sponsoring all 3 boys through Compassion International Canada. If you would like to sponsor a child please take a look here.  You can even write to a child if you don't have money to sponsor them monthly. Just ask the office to identify a correspondence child for you.  These are children that have monthly sponsors but no one writes to them. All children just love to hear from someone and to know that someone cares about them.

I've featured this photo before but I really like it so am showing it again. It is of a tree with bird's nests in Kenya. I took it on the drive back to Nakuru from Lake Bogoria.

PRAYER REQUEST:

No sooner did I post this then I got a phone call. My mom had to be sent to the hospital again. This is the 4th time she has had to go by ambulance to the hospital since February 1st, the day she moved into the nursing home. She has some kind of infection and appears confused and the doctor doesn't know where the infection is coming from. Every time I get a phone call, I get into a tailspin. It seems I barely recover from one episode and it happens again. I will be monitoring things as best I can so I can determine if I need to go and see her sooner and skip my diabetes clinic. Please keep us in your prayers.

Update: 
I am at my mom's. Thank you for your prayers.

My Land is Kenya

I want to welcome  Sunshine  who is my 91st Follower. Thank you so much for joining my blogging family Sunshine. It means a lot to me. I hope to visit your blog too!

Roger Whittaker was born on March 22, 1936 in Nairobi Kenya.  He is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician with worldwide record sales of over 55 million. His music can be described as easy listening and he is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability.

Roger's parents Edward and Viola, were originally from Staffordshire, England, where they owned and operated a grocery shop. His father had a motorcycle accident and then the family moved to a farm in Kenya because of the warmer climate. His grandfather sang in various clubs and his father played the violin while Roger learned to play the guitar.

I won't recite all of Roger Whittaker's biography as that can be found on his official website or on variety of other websites.

I just wanted to share that as a child I loved hearing Roger Whittaker's music. I grew up in the far north of Canada in a relatively out of the way, and obscure corner of the world. Yet even there the melodious voice of Roger Whittaker, made it's way to me from way over in Africa. I especially loved his song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".  It evoked the sounds and images that I thought made up Africa and it enticed me (among other things) to want to see and experience Africa for myself one day.  My childhood dream came true a few years ago when I travelled to Africa on a missions trip.  While there I was privileged to go on safari.  I got to see and hear the majestic beasts of the wild.  That first trip to the wilds of Kenya was something magical and mystical, that I will not soon forget.

Many of you will know that at this moment, Kenya is going through tumultuous times. It recently approved a new Constitution through national referendum and is now going through growing pains as a country. My trip to Kenya in November/December, 2011 was my first trip to Kenya since the passage of the new Constitution.

While there I often saw a television commercial showing the ceremony surrounding the passage of the new Constitution and the celebrations that went along with it. The televised images were set to a beautiful song that I had not heard before. No one I asked seemed to know who the singer was. I knew that I knew that voice but I could not place it. It haunted me. Finally when I got home the name of the singer came to me and with that and an idea of the song's title I searched for the song on line.

What a fabulous tool the internet is!   I was able to find out that the patriotic commercial is set to the Roger Whittaker tune entitled, "My Land is Kenya".  The song and the images were so beautiful that whenever I watched it, it brought tears to my eyes. I know and understand the struggle behind the words and the images and that makes them ever so much more poignant and meaningful to me. (Since I first published this post on April 12, 2011, the original video I posted is no longer available. Perhaps it has been replaced by the new government as I've noticed a newer version of it which I'll post in a newer post soon.  As for now, I'm posting a video of the song set to some beautiful images of the country, Kenya).

My dearest wish and prayer for Kenya is that Her and Her people would thrive and prosper and be a beacon of light and hope to the Continent of Africa and to the world.  Kenya is truly is a paradise on earth and I pray that the people of this great nation would arise and take their rightful place in the world. Long may Kenya prosper and may Her beauty shine bright for all of us to see.

God bless Kenya. 

Please click on the badge to see more of this great world.

Blue Monday, April 11, 2011

How would you like to take a spin in this little blue number? * wink.

On another topic altogether, I managed to get rid of the clutter below. Someone from the local Freecycle kindly came and took it off my hands. I feel so much better that someone else will get some use out of it. I never like to throw things away and would have to take it to the charity shop if I couldn't give it to someone. Next I'll be on to shredding all my old paper records.  This can be done a little at a time.

Have a HAPPY BLUE MONDAY!

Click here to join Smiling Sally and the gang for Blue Monday submissions.

7 Strategies to Overcoming Stress

I want to welcome and thank my newest follower, Becky! 

I hope you will enjoy your time visiting my blog. Please do feel free to leave a comment.

All around us there are calamities and wars or rumours of wars. There is drought, there is starvation, there is violence everywhere, there are natural disasters such as the recent earthquakes in Haiti, New Zealand and Japan. There is economic crisis and joblessness. Sometimes we just get overloaded with stress from what is happening around us and to us.  We can become fearful and not know know how to deal with the barrage of things coming our way. We can begin to feel hopeless and full of despair. 

It is for all of these reasons that it is important to know how to deal with stress.  I am no different than most people and so I also need to learn strategies for dealing with stress. I also need continuous reminders and encouragement for how to reduce stress so that I can live the best life for me and for my loved ones and friends.

Today I heard a sermon on 7 strategies for dealing with stress and I took notes while the preacher was preaching. I thought these strategies were good and so I wanted to share them with you. I'm sharing them because now more than ever, I hear from friends and loved ones about how they feel overwhelmed in these tumultuous times.

1. Face the future with faith.   Powerful events create fear and cause people to die of stress, anxiety and phobias.

And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars,   and on the earth nations will be in distress,   anxious  over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves. People will be fainting from fear  and from the expectation of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 

 Luke 21:25-26

The next verses however tells us that the Son of man shall come with power and great glory when these things happen and that our redemption draws near when he returns. (Luke 21:27-28)

Luke 21:36 tells us to watch when we hear and see bad things all around us, and to pray that we will have strength.

2. Exercise regularly. Exercise relieves stress by decreasing stress hormones like cortisol. Apostle Paul compared physical exercise with physical living. (1 Timothy 4:8). Godliness and it's fruit will last well beyond physical lives but physical exercise has value. The exercise doesn't have to be demanding. It can simply be a nice walk where you can enjoy the flowers, the birds singing, or walking your dog on a leash and enjoying how dogs love to explore everything they come across.

3. Claim God's promises. There are many such promises in the Bible. (Peter 1:4) God has given us in His Word exceedingly great and precious promises.  He promises to answer our prayers. (Matthew. 7:7-8) Promises to give us the desire of our hearts if we delight in Him. (Psalm 37:4-5)

4. Forgive one another. (Proverbs 20:22)  There have been studies to show that people who forgive someone who has wronged them can enjoy physical, emotional and spiritual well being. Forgiveness is defined as letting go of resentment and thoughts of revenge. See this article from the Mayo Clinic.

5. Pray about your problems with an attitude of thanksgiving. Acknowledge your fears and worries and ask God for his help. (Philippians 4:6)  Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Share your intimate thoughts with God. He knows them anyway.

 6.  Stay positive. Maintain a positive and tranquil mind.  The Apostle Paul talks about the beating he had received while in prison but he focussed on maintaining a positive attitude (2 Corinthians 11:24-25) . Even while in prison he wrote letters of encouragement to other Christians (Philippians 4:8-9).  We are encouraged to focus on things that are lovely and pure.  It is so important to keep a sense of joy and wonder about life and our blessings even in the  midst of trials and difficulties.

 

7.  Set the right goals. Not all stress is bad. Jerrold Greenburg who wrote the book Comprehensive Stress Management tells us that the goal of stress management is not to eliminate all stress in our lives. We can use stress to help us achieve our goals if we channel it in the right way. We need motivation to be successful in life and stress if managed properly can help us achieve our goals.  Jesus tells us in Matthew  6:33 to "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you".

I wanted to add that eating a healthy diet and getting enough sleep are also very important to how you handle stress on a daily basis.  I am still working on trying to implement all these strategies as consistently as possible. Some days I am more successful than other days. The important thing is I keep trying.

If you are dealing with overwhelming stress, 
I want to encourage you to keep hope in your heart.  
God says in his Word that he has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy  1:7)