After doing some research, my husband and I discovered that there were many of these specialists in the United States.

Because we were in a pandemic, there were lots of travel restrictions – especially to the United States, coupled with other obstacles associated with that peculiar season. Nonetheless, I believed that with God, all things would be possible. But this didn’t change the fact that I was a tad bit worried.

God saw my precarious “faith-filled-yet-fearful” tumultuous state of mind, and He spoke to me through a series of dreams.

In one of the most significant dreams, He showed me a printed-out e-ticket with the Air France logo on it. He also showed me myself on a plane, surrounded by air hostesses in Air France uniforms.

When I woke up, I was confused! I was like “ummm, Lord, are we ‘bout to have French babies? Like are you telling us to travel to France right now? In the middle of a pandemic? Because, I’m not understanding this.” I started to reminisce about my primary school days, thinking, “well, I probably should have paid closer attention in French class back then! Perhaps I’d have been a fluent French-speaker by now. ‘Cos right now all I can remember is ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Je M’appelle.’”

After surmounting many hurdles over the next couple of weeks after I had that dream, my trip to the United States was finally confirmed. As I held my plane ticket in my hands with gratitude in my heart, I glanced through the flight details. It was a Delta Airlines non-stop flight from Lagos to Atlanta.

Then I heard the Holy Spirit whisper in my ear, “look closely.”  So, I took a closer look at the ticket, and saw these words in fine print “Operated by Air France.” And next to this phrase was a tiny Air France logo.

Puzzled, I did some research and discovered that Delta was partnering with Air France at the time, to provide travelers with more flexibility for where, and when, they fly.

What I learned from this experience?

Firstly, God loves speaking in riddles. It is when we seek in obedience that we find out the literal meaning of his directions.

Secondly, God will always make a way even in the most tumultuous situations. Just trust in Him.

Thirdly, yeah God has an amazing sense of humour! I mean, He really actually could have  sent me to France in the middle of a pandemic just to prove a point. Haha.

Seriously still thinking about dusting off my French skills just in case God actually has an assignment for me in France in the future. Or maybe a holiday. Or something. Right?

Merci.

Naturally, I’m an empath. So this situation really hit me hard. I was anxious and didn’t know how to properly express myself to let go of the anxiety I was feeling. Then my husband came up with this brilliant idea of making a song that would help people heal. So in very impromptu fashion, he wrote the song, I sang it, and he shot it – all in just a couple of hours in one day.

The song is called ‘hope’ and I truly hope it blesses someone out there.

I haven’t done music in about 7 years. But I just had to get back on the saddle to spread some good vibes in the midst of all this confusion in the world.

Stay safe guys.

A heavy wave of grief suddenly overcame every fibre of my being, not because I was a die-hard basketball fan or anything – but because I realized that Kobe and his daughter, could have been anyone of us or our loved ones or family.

I mean, he didn’t wake up that day with any knowledge that it would be his last day on earth. It was business as usual for him. He probably woke up, brushed his teeth, kissed his wife and kids good morning, and ate his favorite breakfast before dashing out of the door.

The unpleasant weather probably didn’t phase him because perhaps he had encountered grey skies while flying before because it was “no big deal.”

My point is that, the present and future were supposed to be promised. He did all the things he normally would because he was certain he would live to see the next hour.

The death of Kobe, his daughter, and all the other passengers on the plane just serves as a reminder that nothing is promised, we just need to live the best life that we can while we’re here.

Let us walk in purpose fearlessly because you never know when it’s your time to move on from here.

Nothing is guaranteed. The only assurance we can have is that God loves us all. And even when none of it doesn’t seem to make any sense to the human mind, some way, somehow, only God knows the higher meaning of the things that we deem tragic.

God bless the Bryant family and God bless us all.

-Kirk Franklin: Losing my Religion

Over the years, my perception of God has evolved.

From childhood to my early 20s, my relationship with God was an exploratory one. I grew up in a Christian household, but I wasn’t bound by religious dogma. I was allowed to question doctrines that I did not understand without feeling like I was committing some sort of unforgivable sin by questioning the authority of the acclaimed ‘Almighty God.’

During my journey, I would come across Christians who would proclaim that the only way to be “saved” or get to heaven or to hear God’s voice was by being a Christian. But somehow, I always found it difficult to wrap my head around this viewpoint. So like, are we saying that people of other religions or spiritual disciplines are somehow doomed because their connection with God isn’t achieved through practicing Christianity? Hmmph. I had a huge problem with that. And so I set out to explore God on my own terms.

But  I didn’t really need to venture too far to begin this exploration. The journey started right at home, where I lived. My father was (and still is) an avid reader, and so we had an impressive library filled with books that had eclectic subject matter. Some of which included books on Taoism, Buddhism, Mysticism, Kabbalah, Islam, New age spirituality, Metu Neter etc.

I was fascinated by the fact that irrespective of the divergent doctrines each of these people believed in, there were two elements that were common to all: Their belief in a higher power & the concept of having faith in possibilities that transcend human capabilities.

Attending school overseas, traveling and meeting people from different walks of life affirmed the theoretical insight I had acquired from those books in practical terms: Even in division, we are all one.

I love the fact that I grew up in such an open-minded household that encouraged me to explore and define my spiritual identity on my own terms. It allowed me to discover which spiritual discipline I wanted to follow, without anyone forcing their own beliefs down my throat.

I chose to be a Christian because it was through this discipline that I truly gained a supernatural connection with God. I actually truly found God outside Church. Many think that church attendance and visiting a pastor for prayers are the only way to connect with God. From my experience, it is not. Here is a summary of experiences that helped me choose the path of Christianity:

1. Divine Revelations: Throughout my life, whenever I would pray about any challenges calling on the name of Jesus and standing on the Word, God never fails to reveal the source of those challenges as well as solutions to me. Most especially through dreams. A lot of the time, these dreams come to me in figurative terms. But then when it plays out in reality, it all makes sense. Sometimes even when I don’t pray, God will just give me these dreams that help guide my path. Now I’m not saying the gift of prophecy can’t be obtained by following other religions. Not at all. I’m just telling you what has worked for me. When I would have these dreams, I tried to explore their source, thinking maybe there could be another source other than through Christ. I visited psychics and fortune tellers. But they couldn’t do anything for me. It was and continues to be in Jesus’ name that I’m able to have these prophetic dreams, and this God-given intuition. It blows my mind.
2. Overcoming insecurities: In Bible class in high school (CRS class. That’s what it was called back then. LOL if you know, you know… Geez now I feel old hahah) we would recite this verse from the bible “love your neighbour as yourself.” Back then, I had no idea what this meant. They were just empty words that held no meaning. But over the years, I truly began to really understand the full implications of loving your neighbour as yourself. Gosh I used to be so insecure during my college days. I got into college at age 16 and the pressures of living in a foreign country and trying to appreciate who I was amongst people who seemed so perfect… it really took it’s toll on me. And this affected my relationship with people, and even stifled my potential. I didn’t love myself. I wanted to fit in with everyone else. And by having this mindset, I inadvertently stifled God’s plan for my life because I was trying to be a part of other people’s destinies, instead of focusing on mine. But through divine discernment given by God, I was able to quickly remedy this situation before it could totally ruin my life. I began a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance that eventually led to genuine self love and the ripple effect was love and empathy towards others, and granting myself permission to succeed in life because of the love I had for myself which pushed me to attain greater heights.
3. God never gives me anything I have no capacity to handle: Now don’t get me wrong. Just like anyone else, I have experienced some really challenging periods in my life.  As Christians, God never promised us that our lives would be perfect. Nope. What we are promised as that no matter what the situation may be, God will give us the grace to get through it. And that’s been the story of my life so far. I’ve experienced some really sad times in my life but through some willpower that transcends human understanding, the grief never consumes me. What gets me through is I continue to stand on the Word, and God continues to reveal to me the purpose for whatever tough season I may be going through at the time.

I could go and on giving you reasons why I have chosen Christianity as my path to knowing God, but I think this article is long enough already LOL. Plus, I’m pretty sure that by now you get the point.

Anyways. Yes I am a Christian. But I will continue to respect people who choose to follow and serve God on their own terms.

My advice to you guys is that you should explore God on your own terms. Ask questions. Think critically. Don’t let anyone define your spiritual identity. Not your church, not your pastor, not your family, friends, or partner.

Lose the world’s ideology of who/what your God should be. Find your religion by yourself. By doing this, you will find true fulfillment.

For me, when I was over 20KG overweight, it was because I was an emotional eater. When I was stressed out, I would eat. When I was sad, I would eat. I also celebrated my successes with food! It pretty much became my panacea.

Till one day the obvious truth became so apparent. Food made me feel better only briefly, but the long term effects were sooo detrimental to my mental and physical health. I knew it was time to make a change. So now whenever I feel stressed out or sad, I just go to the gym instead of eating unhealthy food. It hasn’t been easy!

Been on this journey for over a year now. I hope that by sharing this, someone somewhere who is going through a similar journey will be encouraged.

I’ll be sharing my wellness journey with you guys here in my diary so stay tuned.

Love,

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my mind somehow can’t fathom how this mass of hair can be on your head for one minute, and then gone the next. It’s like they have a life of their own. And it doesn’t help that most of the wigs I see on people’s heads just look really abnormal. Like hair creatures ready to leap off their heads and attack at any moment.

So I can only do weaves. Till this day. I would rather withstand the pain of getting my hair cornrowed and the needle and thread mercilessly pulling on my scalp, than wear a wig because of this phobia.

I tried to get over this irrational fear by turning one of my favorite weaves into a wig. I must say the hair stylist did a great job but I got so freaked out that I had him destroy the wig the next day and get back my weave, which he subsequently sewed to my head.

Oh and it turns out that wig phobia is actually really a thing. It’s called MALIAPHOBIA.

According to this website:

People who suffer from maliaphobia, experience their fear somewhat like an acrophobic fears heights. It is an unnatural fear that paralyzes and inhibits them from engaging in the area of their fear.

It is not unusual for a person suffering from maliaphobia to feel as though the wigs could come to life and attack them, individuals battling this issue are encouraged to seek professional assistance…

So guys, help a sister out. How can I get over this fear? Hmmm…maybe I just haven’t met the right wig yet.