If you are reading this, you probably have an idea of how dear Smile Care Initiative is to me, and tomorrow we are celebrating a Decade of Smiles. Smilecare was founded in 2006 with one joint purpose of working in partnership with God to put Eternal smiles in the hearts and faces of people globally. Here is a not-so-short and not-so-long video telling our story:
Letter to my Unborn Child by Anonymous.
How does one pick out a name? I am finding it to be such a task. Funny, I had never thought about it, until well, you came along. How can I personify the most beautiful being in my eyes with a word? This is a topic I will simply have to revisit later.
For now, let me tell you a little bit about mummy; that way I won’t be such a stranger when you are ready to come say hello. Don’t think you will get away with not telling me about you. We have the rest of my life to get to know each other; God willing that will be enough time.
Mummy is currently a Family Physician, I love my work so much. There were times along the way I felt like giving up but thank God I did not, because I could not imagine myself doing anything else. Perhaps my first lesson for you is to always remember that no matter what comes your way, always look to God because with Him all things are possible. My work is very demanding but greatly rewarding, in all senses of the word. However, for you, Mummy would give up anything. You are my world now, so I am quite eager to leave work, to be with you (at least until you’re ready for school). You are so cute, I can tell. I am sure you have Daddy’s cheeks, I think he has strong cheek genes. Hopefully, God had mercy on you and gave you Mummy’s hairline, because Daddy’s hairline, well, you will soon find out for yourself. Yes, Mummy thinks she is hilarious, you will quickly learn that I don’t need anyone to laugh at my jokes because I do a great job all on my own.
I am certain by now you know how much Mummy loves to sing. Ever since the day I found out about you, I have been singing non-stop. I think I know your favorite song now too, because when I sing it, I feel you make such a fuss which I believe is you trying to wiggle and dance. Or it could be you trying to get me to stop singing altogether; let’s go with the former, shall we? Great!
God willing, you are coming to a great loving home filled with joy and much laughter. Mummy loves Daddy very much, and Daddy loves Mummy too. The best part is how much Mummy and Daddy love you. I know lately you have been experiencing several eclipses per day, well that is just Daddy’s not so small head pressed against Mummy’s tummy. He insists he can hear you talking to him when he asks how your day has been going (eerrm should I be worried that my husband may be hearing things?). I can see how excited he is to meet you. He has a new project he is working on right now, your room. Early this week, he banned me from going in, he says he wants it to be a surprise for both you and I (though I am sure I was starting to get on his last nerve always interrupting him by asking for foot massages and back rubs). I know you’ll love your room (but between you and me, I may or may not have a professional interior designer on speed dial). He is the most kind-hearted man I have ever known. I mean lately, I noticed he has been working from home more, especially the closer we get to meeting you. Yes, mummy is always gushing about Daddy all the time. He is so handsome.
Anyways, back to me. I look forward to so many things with you, like our first Christmas (this is Mummy’s favorite time of the year). When you arrive, I will tell you why it is such a special time, but a hint, it all started with a special baby, just like you.
I could go on talking forever, but for now, I will let you get some rest before dinner (it is our favorite, chicken fried rice and chicken wings with carrot cake for dessert). I am going to see if I can corner Daddy (literally because I am having to go through the doorways sideways now….just kidding, sort of) to see if I can squeeze another back rub out of him before he starts working on your room.
To our sweet baby, God bless you and make you all He has destined you to be. We love you.
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The Identity Chase
This may pass across as a long read, but do read. Every line is worth it. I promise. This post is one I personally like.
This post is dedicated to God, the source of Inspiration.
Enjoy.
Source: Google
Help me
All I can hear is the echo of my voice…
I can’t breathe! Help me!
But the silence just gets worse
The darkness gets thicker
I try to claw my way out of the darkness
It only suffocates me
The last thing I remember is a heavy slap on my face and then I recede into nothingness…
I wake up to find a man beside me
“Hello stranger, he pipes, what are you doing here?”
My spirits soar
At last some help!
I’m looking for something, I sputter in excitement; can u help me find it, I ask?
Oh I know just the thing, he says
Money! He screams
Money answers everything!
I look at him, my emotions in a jumble
Are you sure? I ask
Oh yes, he says, money is the way forward!
I was confused about how money could help me
He didn’t even ask me what I was looking for.
I wanted an answer so badly I just followed him.
…
No!!!
Don’t bring me back here!!!
Please! I’ll do anything to be away from here!!!
Help me!
I have all the resources to satisfy your whims!
Please take me away from here! Please!
But my pleas fall on deaf ears and the door clangs shut very loudly
Disillusioned I fall into a heap
Unaware of when sleep comes to claim me…
…
Darling!!!
Wake up!!
What! Wh.. Who… Me?
When did I get married?
I open my eyes to the very picture of Aphrodite all my senses became alert instantly!
If this wasn’t heaven nothing else was!
Are we married? I ask
My eyes heavily lidded in lust
Oh no dear she answers sultrily
But we will be soon…
I close my eyes in pleasure
Nothing beats this! nothing!
As she leaves, leaving me languishing on the bed I begin to relive our pleasure filled moments
Grrrr! My phone rings very loudly
Jolting me rudely from my reverie
Hello! I bellow in anger
Within a second my anger vanished. Even sweeter than the former was the voice over the phone
“I have perfumed my bed and I have your favourites on. My chauffeur will pick you up...”
Hardly had she finished speaking when a loud knock vibrates on my door
I dress up hurriedly to my destruction…
Ah! This is the life!
Life cannot get better!
Trapezing from girl to girl!
And none of them not having an inkling of what’s going on!
Ah I rub my hands in pleasure…
I love my life!
…
If you touch me!
Do you know who I am!
I will slap you!
The last thing I remember is a kick to my shin and exploding pain before the darkness envelopes me once again…
…
“Ade!”
“I’m talking to you!”
With rapidly blinking eyes I am jolted back to the present
“This is it, man”
“If you try this thing, no more worries for you man, this is the key to respect, man”
“Just take a sniff”
I don’t know about this, I stutter
“Don’t you trust me?”
With great trepidation I sniff a little
The feeling was indescribable
Nothing beats this
I must have all of this
I say in excitement
And I had all of it
I want more
I still want more
I must have more…
I swear I could smell it
I bring my nose closer to take a sniff
I open my eyes to relish the scene
And all I see is darkness…
…..
“Dance this dance!”
But I’m tired
“You must continue o!”
But I’m tired!
“If you don’t dance no one will accept you…”
With aching limbs I continue to dance…
I am dancing but my steps are not quick enough
Very loudly, whips land on my back
Ah! Have mercy! I cry
“Don’t you want to be accepted? Don’t you want to be part of us?”
I do not answer
I continue to dance
The dance of recognition
The dance to be accepted
This time I know exactly when I lose consciousness
And for the first time I appreciate the darkness…
…
What we are about to offer you is unparalleled
We hear of this darkness that consumes you
And we beat our chests to tell you that the end has come to the darkness!
Our only condition is that you agree…
This must be right I think
It has to be
It must work
It just has too…
The horrors of that time are indescribable
The evil lurking in the within is boundless
I do not wait to be thrown into the darkness this time
I walk into it with joy and pleasure…
…
My search is fruitless
I have searched and searched and my soul is weary with pain
This gaping hole deep where I cannot touch is sickening
I cry but I cannot cry out
I weep but my lips do not move
This darkness is nauseating…
Perhaps ending it all is the answer
I make haste to end it all…
Suddenly a bright light envelopes me
What is this I ask? Who are you? Who am I?
“You are who I say you are” a voice from nowhere answers
A voice unearthly
So sweet the darkness recedes at its echo
The voice of God.
@Its_Kash thinking on www(dot)obafuntay(dot)com
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Many of us face this every day, in different ways going through life in search of, who we truly are, chasing after an identity to call ours.
In this pursuit for Identity, to know who we are, we’ve succumbed to peer-pressure, seemingly ‘lived the life’, trying to fill up the void within, in anyway we can, we’ve made bad decisions, terrible resolutions, and eventually, have lost ourselves… Who we truly are? What we were made to do? Our purpose. Our Identity.
When you feel defeated, worthless and think you can’t amount to anything good? That’s the devil talking, lying, that’s his job and he has been defeated. Ending it all is never the answer. It’s time to listen to that sweet voice, the voice of God.
You are who I say you are – God
But then, this is what I think, what do I know?
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No Gray.
*Skips rambling on why I’m never here*
–
*Skips the part where I promise to be more active, and then I try to but then, we are back here again*
Good! Now that I’ve been able to get that over with, I’ll like to write on why this is up, not like I’ll be doing much writing anyway. I have work pending that wouldn’t get done by itself, but I needed a break and thought I should stop by here. Yay.
It’s been quite a year already. I really was going to do a quick review on how 2014 panned out for me, but you see, the way this procrastination thing is set up, that couldn’t happen. I’ve struggled with a couple of things, and doing pretty good in some other areas. I’m thankful for that. I have learned a few things about myself and like to think that I just might have grown up a little too.
One area I’ve been struggling in? You mean asides procrastination?
Ha, I’m not sure I know how to put it down right, with my words. However, this is why this is up. I listened to ‘No Gray” for the very first time by Jonathan McReynolds and he couldn’t have helped any better than this to talk about this long time struggle.
Now, this isn’t a post claiming that I have found out exactly how to end this struggle or me figuring things out and now knowing what to do or how to do things; this is just a song I can relate to. This is how I feel and frankly, I’m exhausted.
You can listen to the song here if you don’t know it already. I have also typed out most of it below (actually, copy and paste) to help save your data or if you just can’t give it a listen now. Here you go:
Cause I feel like at some point in everybody’s life, We feel like this:
Lord I’m split in two
Part of me loves the world
And the other loves You
So what do I do
I wanna be saved
But I got to stay cool too
And no I’m not a fool
I know eventually I’m gonna have to choose
And really I don’t wanna lose
My ticket into heaven
And a chance to be used by YouAnd if it’s God that I’m after
I can’t serve two masters
And before something happens
I got to turn it all around
Because I know
I can’t just have my cake and eat it too
Cause it’s real easy to stay on the fence and still do you
And it’d be cool if we could love the Lord and still go do our thing
But see it doesn’t work like that
You gotta to be white or blackLord see I’ve realized
when it comes to sin
You just don’t compromise
It’s a matter of death and life
Be weak and do wrong
Or be strong and do right
And I don’t wanna keep going to church
Singing all about how much You’re worth
And then continue doing my dirt
Living as if I didn’t care if You’re hurtIf it’s God we’re after
I just can’t serve two masters
And before something happens
I got to turn it all around
Because you know
I can’t just have my cake and eat it tooCause it’s really easy to stay on the fence and still do you
And it’d be cool if we could love the Lord and still go do our thing
But see it don’t work like that
You gotta be white or blackCause it don’t work like that
You gotta pick white or blackNo Gray
No shades of grayDon’t work like that
You gotta be white or black.
Bonne nuit.
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Crush(ed)
This is an old post I wrote on Alariwo a long while ago.
I thought I’d put it up here too.
Seat 51,
Eurostar,
London-Greece,
April 20th, 1993.
I never thought I’d have to write a note such as this. It’s not what I’d think to write, get all soppy and mushy. I have always seen the world through my dark shades and put a sieve to everything I hear.
I have never really enjoyed music and when I did, they were depressing, morbid songs, sufficient in lyrics of loss, the winds and storms of life and broken heartedness. There couldn’t be more to life and I was sure. I had to be right. I enjoyed dark places; I found my art in and through tears.
I had become friends with loneliness. My ever faithful lover; we hung out in the dark and on wooden benches beside leafless trees. I took her on walks, we wrote together, every day, side by side. She was my muse. Anytime I got sad or felt angry, she was there to comfort me with a pen and paper. I fell in love with writing, how she made it easy to manipulate words and create art.
Then you happened…
Dressed in white, you looked summertime fine,
My heart would race and stop racing,
Skip a beat, beat a little faster and then slower,
all at the same time.
I no longer sat on that bench alone,
A leaf sprouted by day and two by sunset,
Day by day, my muse, I lost.
Every fiber of my being wanted you.
You made me want to dance,
I do not know how to,
But you made my feet move, anyway.
To paint the clouds, seemed possible.
Your laugh was music to my ears.
I want to be funny, just so I hear it again.
It’s like the movies,
Slow scenes and background music.
Let’s dance forever.
I’d pick up a pen and write of butterflies and happy people, happy endings and forever after, of rainbows and of planes and of trips across oceans with you.
We’d start with Greece, just like you always wanted.
Or so I thought…
It’s been 3 years now, when the drunken driver took you away from me, I shouldn’t have called you. I really just wanted to say I love you; Alas, I never got the chance to say goodbye. I’m left with the echoes of your scream, before the line got cut. I prayed to have you back, but some prayers go unanswered. It haunts me each night. I never sleep.
I’m writing again, taking walks again; the leaves have fallen off, I don’t see the rainbows again, and I could never paint the clouds now, not without you.
I take a train to Greece every year, to walk on the beach and drop in another letter; this letter.
I hope they sail your way, into heaven where you belong.
I’m with her again, my former lover, my ever faithful lover. Her grip even firmer, she’s never letting me go, not this time.
But…
I love you, always.
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#31Thanks
So, I thought it should be a good idea to publish all the 31 things I have been thankful for through the month of July, on here. I had tweeted them with the hashtag #31Thanks and I’m glad that I did.
Anyway, here goes:
1: Today, I’m thankful for the first half of this year. It’s been tough but I have been learning to be tougher. #31Thanks
2: Today, I’m thankful for the “once upon a time strangers” that walk right into your life just when you need them. #31Thanks
3: Thankful for the times I have failed and the rejection emails that keep pushing me to get and be better. #31Thanks
4: Today, I am thankful for my parents. #31Thanks
5: Thankful for second chances and those who gave me another shot, another chance. Second chances can never be overrated. #31Thanks
6: Today, I’m thankful for the Internet; the opportunities it presents & how it brings friends who are miles away, a bit closer. #31Thanks
7: Thankful for the few friends who understand me and know my shortcomings; but stick around anyway. #31Thanks
8: Today, I’m thankful for this. #31Thanks
9: Today, I’m thankful for the projects (at work) I could finally finish today. #31Thanks
10: Today, I’m thankful for the gift of now. Not just the better days ahead / what the future has to offer. But, now. This minute. #31Thanks
11: Today, I’m thankful for the call I just received from Iya Agege. Some people never forget the little things. #31Thanks.
12: I’m thankful for d little things like being able to breathe w/little or no stress. I couldn’t tweet this, this time last year. #31Thanks
13: Today, I’m thankful for the service at church. A word in time does a whole lot of good. #31Thanks.
14: Today, I’m just thankful for food because let’s face it, food makes me happy. #31Thanks
15: Today, I’m thankful for laughter. Nothing is better than a good laugh. Thankful for the things and people who make me laugh. #31Thanks
16: Today, I’m thankful for my place after a day at work and it’s tranquility. #31Thanks
17: Never been good w/the rain; I have a cold but still, you cannot but be thankful for rain. Today, I’m thankful for just that. #31Thanks
18: Today, I’m thankful for God’s grace as I passed my CISA exams with a good score too. It’s been a grace filled year so far. #31Thanks
19: Today, I’m thankful for the success of @SmileCare‘s Retreat 2014 and the new friends we all got to make and meet. #SCIfamily #31Thanks.
20: Today, I’m thankful for my mother. She is stronger than I know and wiser than I think. #31Thanks.
21: Today, I’m thankful for the little break of days I get off work this week. #31Thanks.
22: Today, I’m thankful for noodles and how quick they get done when this hunger is no longer joking. #31Thanks
23: Today, I’m thankful for music. Good music, because she’ll always be there. #31Thanks.
24: Today, I’m thankful for peace of mind; which I find these days thru trust in God. I’ll take that any day over everything else. #31Thanks
25: Today, I’m thankful for the bad dreams that stay as bad dreams. Sleeping and waking to a new day is really a miracle. #31Thanks
26: Today, I’m thankful for my friends. It’s always a holiday with them around. #31Thanks
27: Today, I’m thankful for Sunday naps. On days like this, it’s a beautiful thing. #31Thanks
28: Today, I’m thankful for long weekends. Do I really need to explain why? It’s a Monday and I got to go to the movies. #31Thanks.
29: Today, I’m thankful for Family who just landed safely into the country; with the recent happenings. I better be thankful. #31Thanks
30: Today, I’m thankful for the meh days like today; I’ll be sure to appreciate the better days ahead even better. #31Thanks
31: Thankful for the month of July; all 31 days and the many reasons I’ve had to be thankful. Thankful for @4Laa for starting #31Thanks
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Taking time out to be thankful for something or someone everyday through the month of July has been refreshing for me.
It’s August!
What and who are you thankful for? Tell us!
There has to be something or someone.
But then, this is what I think, what do I know?
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Unsung Hero
Just watched this incredible video and I cannot do but share it here.
After watching, I hope you just don’t only like it,
but it makes you get out there and witness happiness.
What is it that you desire the most?
Enjoy.
P.S: Please join @SmileCare tomorrow at Asokoro General Hospital, 12noon as we show love to our brothers and sisters affected by the Nyanya Bomb blast. Your support and prayers are always welcome. Say one today. 🙂
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In His Hands
In His HandsBefore all is said and after all is done.
He remains the only Faithful One. The only Faithful God.
So wisdom only demands that I be,
In His Hands.
Where would you rather be?
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. – John 10: 27-29
obafuntay 