Un-LEash

For the first time ever, I did Christmas dinner. It meant if I spoilt the food, the day would be ruined! That may be a little dramatic but the point is made. How did it all start? A week ago, I asked my aunt (the matriarch) what we'll be doing for Christmas. Her response - she's not cooking...at least not until Boxing Day when we do the (now traditional) family dinner. It therefore left a very obvious gap in a very important part of Christmas. Being the person I am (not a chef but the type to want problems resolved) I volunteered. This was an agonising decision! OK...a little dramatic, but I was nervous. I had never done the entire dinner before (or rather main part of the meal). I, more importantly, don't cook on a regular basis. I find it something I enjoy on occasions when I feel the mood. And I like the non-typical foods. Nonetheless, I spoke with my cousin, went to the supermarket, and the plan was hatched. In the final analysis, the menu was:  baked chicken,...

Shall I compare me to an aging tree? Why not! Trees grow…as do I. But since trees have so many characteristics and comparable qualities, I will focus on just one: they typically grow a ring for each year of their lives and thereby expand their girth (and strength). Scientists can actually determine the age of trees by the number of rings they have. And interestingly, an analysis of the rings can tell of the events that the trees had to experience – favourable or harsh climatic conditions (such as drought, rainfall), pollution, diseases, etc. Just like the trees, we all grow rings. We celebrate our “rings” when we celebrate our birthdays (or perhaps at the start of a New Year). And just like trees, the characteristics of our rings are influenced by external and internal factors – the joys, triumphs, struggles, fears, etc that we face. If we overcome life’s obstacles and live past our pain and pride, our rings will be stronger for the next one to come. All previous celebrations of th...

A somewhat cryptic title, but no worries...all shall be revealed. A few weeks ago, my Toastmaster's club was to host a contest for humorous speech and evaluation. I decided I would take a chance and do the latter. Unfortunately, the contest didn't happen. Nonetheless, I took a chance and said I would represent my club at the Area contest. I had never done a speech evaluation prior to the Area contest. I had seen many during meetings, and been evaluated several times. But never had I done one. To therefore go into a competition was a step in faith. But since this is the Year of Crazy, Radical Faith, I did step. To my surprise, I won. I think I blacked out for half of it, being as nervous as I was. But it was a good experience and I appreciated the feedback I got from persons afterwards. Next was the nationals...and that is where the nerves kicked up a notch. I did more research, read more presentations, etc. I was fortunate that I was invited to do evaluations at another c...

One of the devotionals I read today was from a lady named Jennifer Duke Lee. Of course, it was related to one of the issues I struggle with, but that's not the focus of this (long-overdue) post. I decided to check out her website where I could " Take the 'What's Your Happiness Style' assessment ". So I did. The result? I'm a Giver. According to the test, I "struggle with feeling physically and emotionally drained from taking care of others". Not only that, but I am "challenged when it seems that others aren’t as generous as they ought to be". It also suggests that I am best matched with other Givers or generous-minded Doers. Do I agree? I think so... What else was more interesting? I read another devotional and the Bible text was Proverbs 22. Verse 9 of the passage reads thus: The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor (NIV). Sometimes it's good to see that God does not forget when...

Freedom... it's a very interesting concept. In the natural, it means that we can do as like, when we like, how we like. We can say what we want, vote for who we want, etc. The list goes on. The problem with this is that our freedom to do - perhaps based on our morals or even that of our country or religion - may very well threaten or relieve someone else of their freedom. I found myself reflecting on this as news comes to us from Orlando about a mass shooting that took the lives of at least 50 persons, and even as we remember the many occasions before (both home and abroad) that many lost their lives at the hands of evil. I also had reason to reflect on this because of what happened yesterday. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend a few hours in Miami, specifically visiting the Dolphin Mall. It was one of those I'm-enjoying-some-Le-downtime, where I was free to do whatever I wanted - relax, window shop, eat... I was loving it. I decided with a hours to kill that I'd...

Pastor asked me to prepare perspectives on fearlessness from Luke 23:1-12 . I was actually excited once I got started. The below is what I prepared and presented at church today. I must say it was an honour to have been able to present in this way, and to know that persons benefitted from it. I certainly did. When one thinks of “fearless”, one may conjure the image of one who can face any and many challenges or life-threatening situations with confidence and a “I dare you” attitude. One may think of a man in a lion’s den like Daniel, or even David fighting the lion and bear to protect His sheep. My thoughts on fearless is well beyond this. Here’s how. When I started to think about fear and fearlessness, the Scripture that I was led to was 2 Tim 1:7: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind . At first, I wondered if this was because I knew this verse so well having heard it so many times before. But as I reflected, I saw the connecti...

2016 is my Year of Crazy, Radical Faith. There were some things I was relying on God to work out and that meant that I had to do my part and build my faith. In keeping with this thrust, I embarked on a special fast for 40 days. It started on Ash Wednesday and ended Palm Sunday. What was involved in the food fast: no flour, no sugar, no rice. The former two are pretty much in all processed foods which was the essence of my fast. This also meant no yogurt, no almond or soy milk, no juices from concentrate, etc. It also showed me how many of our foods are processed and contain these ingredients...quite a bit. What I could eat: all things natural, regardless of the preparation method. Milk (good ole cow's milk), banana, plantain, potatoes, oats, cornmeal, etc were included. As to proteins, I could eat fish, chicken, and nuts. The more important part of the fast was praying and spending more time in devotion. I tried to wake up for devotion on weekday mornings vs just praying as I...