RU OK? The unspoken answer…

Today is “RU Ok? Day”. Whist I understand & agree with the intention of the day where it brings to the forefront the importance of checking in on one another, starting the conversation & also creating opportunities to support & encourage one another, I don’t think it should be an occurrence that happens once a year. In fact, I make it an active intention to ask this question to those around me & those I meet regularly.

On the flip side, this question is also easily answered most times. “Yes, I am ok”, “all good”, “going well/great/awesome” are some of the common responses who usually then brings an end to the conversation.

But let’s take a moment to stop & truly consider ourselves before responding to that question… “Are you/we REALLY ok?” in all areas & aspects of our lives? Is there anything that we are struggling with or bothering us? Are we really that happy & contented at all things?

I am not saying that we have to spill our guts out or share our inner most struggles with everyone who ask us that question… Opportunities may come up that we are prompted to share with a person who do ask that question & that is great…

What I discovered this year though is that on RU OK? Day, let us not just ask one another that question but let us also ask ourselves that question. Let us inspect all areas of our life to determine if we are indeed really ok.. let us answer for ourselves the true answer to that question.

To grow, acknowledge the positives but also recognise the negatives…

We are told everyday to look at the positives, seek the positive in things, acknowledge what is done well, uplift someone, encourage them. I absolutely agree with this but I am also reminded that in order to grow, we need to take an extra step beyond acknowledging the positive, and that extra step is to recognise the negatives. Nothing we are going to do is perfect, no one we are going to meet is perfect, every event, every person, every team & every organisation has its positive & negative, its good & bad, its success and failure.

Celebrate the positives, the good & the success, but let us also recognise & learn from the negative, the bad & the failure so that it is not repeated, so that it can be corrected, so that it can be improved upon, so that it is an experience shared to caution others in the future from stumbling where we stumbled & more importantly, so that we, our team, our family, our organisation, our ministry, our business, our project, our church, our community can grow.

So let us remember not to fear the negative or deny its existence. Do not ignore the problem that it is highlighting. Instead, allow change to come from it. Allow lessons to be learned. Allow growth!

The importance of weeding

I grew up in the city & did not have a green thumb. For that reason, I am possibly the worst gardener around.

We recently moved into a property with a big garden. Excitement started the inspiration of what should be planted & the great ideas of having a veggie garden & a fruit garden… but before any of those could happen, I had to take a look at what I had.

I was first greeted with this..

I was intrigued with the look of the plant & thought that it was rather pretty & was excited to see it grow. My husband & friends were quick to point out that this was in fact a weed. 😅😂

I left it for quite a while thinking what could one little plant do plus, it didn’t look like weeds I have seen before. It looks pretty.

Before I knew it, more started growing which eventually led to today, when I went to get a weeding tool to pull them up.

As I was weeding, which was surprisingly somewhat therapeutic, I heard God remind me about how important it is to weed our “garden”, including the places where we have influence over (family, church, organisations) to ensure that our “garden” is fertile & primed to grow rather than to be covered with weeds that are suffocating & killing the growth. Weeds in this sense can be things, thoughts, habits & sometimes even people. Weeds drain from the garden, causes issues in the garden, distracts the growth. Some weeds may not be easily recognisable & may even look pretty to the untrained eye.

As I look into it, some weeds can have a use & purpose but it is recommended that it be maintained & boundaries are set so it doesn’t overgrow beyond control. Similarly in life, not all weeds have to be thrown out. There can be a use & purpose for it but within reason.

Here’s a handful of weeds that I have thrown out of my garden today.

You do not have an identity crisis

Have you ever caught yourself wondering who you are or find yourself questioning your identity?

The world tells us that we often have an identity crisis, everyone would have had one before & everyone have journeyed to find who they truly are!

Let me tell you a revelation I had dropped into my heart that caught me by surprise – God said to tell the world, in particular, tell the girls that they do not have an identity crisis! Their identity is found in Him because Genesis 1:27 said that we are made in His image!

We don’t realise this but we question our identity when someone or something questions us & who we are, our beliefs, our morals, our choices.

Each & every single one of us are uniquely created to reflect our Father, our King, our God! He reveals to us who He has called us to be. He holds us in the palm of His Hand & has good plans and future for us.

So if you ever find yourself questioning once again as to who you are, seek Him, remember that you are a child of God.

A simple gift

Half of a leaf

We were at a party yesterday afternoon & one of the teenage girls who I have known from her birth came up to me & gave me half of a leaf, the same leaf as the one in the photo. She said to me that I have to keep it as it is a gift from her & I without hesitation slotted it in my phone case which is clear.

Today, I sat here looking at it & something dropped into my heart.

This little leaf was the only thing she had on her at that very point in time to share with me.. this is like a gift that may be the only thing we have available at a specific moment to give God or to give to a person we love or cherish or respect or honour. It may not look like something of value & definitely does not have monetary value. It is drying out in parts & brown & there is little to almost no life in it, but no matter the look of the gift, it is the heart behind it that truly matters.

Then I thought of the heart of the young girl giving it to me.. she did so just because at that moment, she wanted to give me something, it’s that simple. She may not have thought any further about it or had any other intentions behind it, I am not sure. Maybe she was trying to determine if I would keep it to toss it away amongst the other leaves on the ground.

Then I stopped & thought back about my heart when I received it. I joyfully & gladly took it, said thanks, promised her to keep it & proceeded to do so. I did that not because there was a physical or monetary value to it, but I valued that gift & any gift for that matter because SHE was valuable to me, because our relationship had value, because she was someone who I had watched grow up, invested into, encouraged, supported, cheered on & loved.

I felt like I captured a glimpse of what God’s heart is like when we give Him what we have at a moment we feel like giving, whether it is praise, a moment, a word, money, time, prayer, or anything at all.. It has today reminded me not to overthink when giving God what I have in my hand & my heart because to me, it may look silly but give it with a child-like spirit, with joy knowing that it is not about the item or the gift but the heart.

Is your garden suitable for seeds to grow?

I was reading this verse the other day & God dropped a question into my heart which totally changed my view of this verse – is your garden/ground suitable for seeds to grow?

But He didn’t stop there – Most people, me included have always looked at it in the sense of a person’s heart as to whether the heart was rocky, gravelly, full of weeds or fertile ground, but have you ever thought of the garden/ground as your ministry, your family, your workplace, your relationships, whichever ground you have control over?

Seed are people, young and old, that can be scattered at any time but if your garden/ground is not fertile to accept them, those relationships will either die, live a short life of be strangled.

As leaders, we have a responsibility to nurture the ground we have been given control of.. it made me think that as a kids leader running a program, is our ministry fertile ground where the kids can grow?

As a boss/manager at work, is our workplace a fertile ground where employees can flourish?

As a person, can my relationships blossom for the better like a flower?

Definitely food for thought & a very much different view that is indeed eye-opening & heart-convicting.

Drip

Drip, drip, drip….

It has been raining pretty much non stop for the last 48 hours or so & there is a leak in my office where my window connection is. As there is more rain to come & it can’t be fixed until the rain stops, all we can do it to place a towel & bucket. But in the last day & half, it has taught me how a drip can affect my life!

A drip is not much. It is after all only just a single drip. But the noise that single drop makes, it can be heard. It grabs your attention & focus. It causes you to notice it.

A drop of water will still cause something to be wet – bucket, towel, carpet, even you. It has the power to change something.

Consistency of drips will actually cause a bigger impact, a bucket to fill up, a towel or carpet to drench.

This actually got me thinking… sometimes, there are things in life, decisions made, words said that may not be huge or for its impact to be immediate but like a constant drip, it is significant. It still changes, it has it’s value & purpose & its effect. Consistently going, its significance grows.

So if what you are doing may seem like a drop at the moment, don’t give up, don’t give in.. it already made a change.. to make a bigger change, make the drop into a consistent drip! A drip that eventually cannot be ignored!

Old ways, new doors

It is a new year & a new decade but are we stuck in our old ways of doing things? Old habits, old expectations, old manners, old approaches.. don’t get me wrong, there are some things of old which are of value, in fact, great value – those are the things that have stood the test of time, that worked & that are the foundation of things! There is value & worth in the priceless traditions, the basic morals of life which are timeless like politeness, kindness, generosity, love, care, respect. Those are the things of old that are set in stone that should not be departed from & should be passed & taught from one generation to another.

But then, there are still the other things, with a new generation of technology, kids & ideas, as the world change around us, should we not change too to adapt where there is a need to do so? When something isn’t working anymore because it has gone past it’s time or relevance, those are the things that need refreshing. Sometimes, it is not just the physical things but also the mindsets, being teachable, being open, looking outside the box so that things, businesses, ministries, relationships can be brought to a whole new level!

Change does not just happen because it is a new year

Just saying that it is a new year does not make things new 😅 we all wished it was that simple. I saw this post by Christine Caine & it helps put into words what had been on my mind for this new year & new decade.

There have been numerous things which we have accepted & allowed for the last year & decade which we know that change needs to occur but no action has been taken, this is the year to press stop & deal with it so that change can actually occur.

There are some things that are progressing like a bullet train towards a destination but have we paused to see what else is there around us that needs to be done or is everything going to just fly by like a blur & become missed opportunities?

Are there some things that need to be reset, rethought, refreshed, repaired, reanalysed, reassessed, reconsidered so that it functions better, that the foundations can be made stronger.. sometimes the base is set & is fine but the building that took place on top of it may have some weak points or some require some adjustment to ensure that it can support the further building on top of it, likewise, to pruning of a tree, to ensure that the growth happens in the right direction & the branch is strong enough to support it otherwise, the fruit eventually falls from the tree not due to ripeness but due to the weakness of the branch.

Lastly, the scariest one of all, is it time to press start… press start on those dreams that have been kept in the smallest & secret places, the ideas that we have pushed aside, the visions that God ha given us but we discounted not because of Him but of what we think our abilities are.. if not now, then when?

The ticking of the clock into a new hour/day/hour/week/month/year/decade does not mean that things will magically change. It is the intentions followed by the courage together with the actions & hard work that change occurs.

New year new bag

Received a new handbag & wallet for Christmas so tonight, before I start back at work for the new year, I emptied my old handbag & sorted through all the crap I had in there. My new handbag was a little smaller than my old one & initially, I wondered if I was going to fit everything in…. but as I emptied it, I realised as to how much crap I was carrying around in my bag everywhere & everyday for the last year! So many things that were not necessary, not useful, things that had expired, that I no longer had use for, broken, missing items that did not belong to me! As I sorted through them & tossed out what was unnecessary, my new bag was rather light & full of space for new things. It also made me realise that life can be a bit like that too.. we we travel through the year, we take things on board, where with ease, we place stuff that was given to us, picked up, held, shared, used into our “bag”, our mind, our heart, our spirit & we knowingly or unknowingly carry those stuff around with us. So as we begin the new year, let’s sort through our physical, emotional, mental & spiritual bag. Toss out the unnecessary, the things that are not important or of use or beneficial. Start the year light, with space for new things.