My reserved seat, and the end of an adventurous-not October.

Hi ya'll...been a good week for me, very busy, but good week. I got to visit my brother and his lovely family in England this weekend. Family is always a good thing hey :) Ofcourse until my brother decided to leave me to babysit for half the day haha, I absolutely adore my nieces, but hey, they can be a handful. Screaming and running on the couch, eating screws, crying and the list goes on, what a day! I love kids and hope to have my own some day, I wonder if I'll ever be ready, it's such a huge sacrifice especially if you're an african woman, the responsibility of raising the kids is on you.

Enough of that, I'm excited that October is over, and it hasn't snowed yet! Praying and hoping it won't snow until December when I'm about to leave this place haha. I'm really excited for November, I'm not travelling much this month because school work has just begun to mount, but it's all working out. I'm learning to live on a budget and actually be an adult, being faithful with the little things, so I can one day be entrusted with the big things.

So on my way back from England on Sunday, I sat in the wrong coach, but in the right seat, and only realized it after a while...these were my reflections- I hope they speak to you as well. Much love, Princess :)

Sometimes, there are seats reserved for us, but because we are afraid of bumping into people along the way, the inconveniences of trying to look for our specific seat, our calling, our place of destiny, where God has called us to, we sit in the closest seat, the most convenient one. But the thing is, this seat is reserved for someone else, and at any time, they can come and claim it. Even if they choose not to, we live in fear that at some point they will arrive, and we will be left out in the cold, wanting. If we look for our reserved seat, we find it, if anyone is seated in it, they will gladly get up and give us what is ours. We are comfortable, content, safe, we know this is where we are meant to be, we have the blessings of that seat, the respect- no one can make you get up, we have peace, and as such, we are able to flourish in that place…so find your seat, find your place, exactly where God has told you to be, you will be at peace, and it will be worth it. Find your calling, it is always waiting for you, no one can take it, but be careful that the journey may end without you in your rightful place, and as such, you won’t enjoy the ride, and you won’t get what was meant for you in that journey. But then again, sometimes it will be too late. Your seat is still there, but the train cannot have standing passengers while your seat is still empty now can it-certainly not. So at some point you will go seeking your seat and someone will have occupied it and gotten comfortable such that it will be beyond your own conscience to ask them to stand so as to take your seat…and you have a sad journey, full of guilt, if only, what if, and you generally lose out on an opportunity for a great journey, sad sad sad. It’s crucial to find your seat and your place when God tells you to do so.

A Second Chance at Life: I needed it!

It feels like it's been ages since I last blogged! I guess this has become one of my guilty pleasures! So, I'm alright, all is well. I'm on top of things, well, a little. It seems like the more I read and do my work, the more I have to do, and the more I see just how I can never be completely on top of things, I guess that's uni, or college :) I just finished doing a draft for a paper due on Wednesday, at least I'm not doing it the night before so yay for me!

Nothing out of the ordinary school week has been going on. Except last weekend I went to visit Stirling Castle, Linlithgow Palace, and the Falkirk Wheel. I went with Pomona people, a few of us, it didn't rain, so we had a great time! This weekend I hung out with a friend from church, we went to see a movie. And I am absolutely embarrassed to say this but yes I went to watch Lion King in 3D ha ha, and it was awesome OMG! I've slowly become a real part of Hope Church. I had forgotten how great it is to talk to people who understand the foundation of your life, and to just be me...grateful for that!

These past few weeks, have made me realize how coming to Edinburgh this semester was a second chance for me. It's as if I get to start college/uni all over again. Many different, random people would just absolutely deny that I'm a third year, insisting I'm a first year. And it's not because I'm quiet, that I definitely am not, lol. It kept coming up until my spirit quickened and in my heart I realized, it's not that I look 17 (maybe I do?? ;) ), or that I act like a first year, but it's the Lord telling me that I got my second chance. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed my two years of college, but they have been difficult. Being away from home was fine for me, but being away from home and friends, and people like me, was big. It was a complete cultural shift, everything was suddenly different, and I had not been prepared for that. I chose to retreat into a shell. If my friends back home had seen me they would not have recognized me. I was very quiet in class, scared even. I barely had any clubs I was committed to...and I felt small in a big, powerful US of A. I ascribed myself to the stereotypes associated with someone like me, and it didn't help that Americans talk very confidently, and they talk a lot, generally. So this was me, not good enough, satisfied with a B+ and thrilled at an A-, in a shell.

But once I got here, I found myself again. I found the inner voice and the confidence and the belief in myself. I decided to be Blessing, regardless of the standards people have set for me, or their expectations...I chose to come out of my shell. Oh the thrill of just saying something smart in class! Or of taking a huge risk or asking a question, or just knowing that I can do anything. And even better, the power to dream big, knowing that God, the almighty one, is living in me, priceless. So yeah, I'm a fresher again :) and I'm doing it right, doing it big...sooo happy! If you need a second chance, there's one for you too, you just have to ask, and not give up!

Do it, do it, do it...learning how to live :)

My sincerest apologies, dear faithful readers, for a late update. But, here it is! My oh my, learn from me people, do your work on time!!! I repeat, don't be last minute people my oh my, ahhhh. I had quite an eventful Sunday night and Monday morning, trying to write a Philosophy book review. If you know any philosophy at all, then you must know how boring it is, therefore the need to read it when your mind is alive and you are very critical, for me that's in the morning, so needless to say, my attempt last night was dismal! So basically I wrote a 6 page paper in 2 hours and submitted it one minute before the deadline, yay me! You have absolutely no idea, the adrenaline rush, the panic, my oh my...never again. Once again, hero of the day award goes to the Holy Spirit- my standby...He took control and I wrote one of the best reviews of my life.

I also didn't get many pictures taken because I wasn't my usual bubbly self, and I'm a very bad pretender...so you can see right through me. Why was I low? Because I hadn't done my work, and I was having a little bit of facebook withdrawal...but I'm all bright and shiny now, although the weather isn't. This weekend was spent indoors, doing work- boring ha...but today made it all worthwhile. I just got back from Debate, me and my partner came first! The motion was: This house would allow individuals to sell their organs, and we were for the topic. We had so much fun!

I entitled this post "do it, do it..." because I just found out that secret and I thought you should know it too! When I am under pressure, or stressed, either I sleep, I watch something on tv, or I eat a lot! Eventually, after drowning in the misery, I realize I have no choice but to pray, and do it, or sit down and work out a plan. Obviously, the latter plans yield better results. So this week, I just learned to do it. Many of the times, I don't feel like it, I don't want to, and I could easily find an excuse...but I still have to do it, and the thing is, I don't die! Everything about life and especially the Christian walk, is about doing...do good works...work out your own salvation, run the race, do praise, do love, do forgive, do good works, do walk in righteousness, do follow Me...it's all about doing....the moment you stop doing, you start dying...cause we were created to do good works...we were created to be with God, created for a purpose...And there are so many things that stop us from doing, fear is the obvious one...laziness another. But I've just resolved to be like Esther, who said...if i perish, i perish. So I'm gonna debate even if I don't know what I'm saying, write the paper no matter how impossible it seems, speak out, even if people may hate me or judge me for it...if i perish, i perish...buuut, what if I live, what if I win, what if it all works out...so I'm gonna do it, and I hope you will too :) Have a blessed week!

What do you do when all the emotion and excitement is gone?

Once again, a fun-filled week has come to an end! Wait, did I just say fun-filled? That might be a bit of a stretch, it was actually a study-filled week! Oh my my, after 4 months of summer I forgot just how boring reading can be, and it so happens that this semester there is no Economics to save me from the readings and essays, 4 reading classes...can you imagine! Of course i'm not complaining, I actually love the classes I'm taking, if only they had lesser readings, I'd be cool. But apart from the obvious...this week has been all about, what do you do when the initial excitement and emotion of new things has gone...what do you do?

As all the settling down has been done, it's time to get down to work. I sat down recently and realized that I've been in school for 17 years of my life! I'm like na-aah, I'm tired, and for sure I am. Before, in High School, I delighted in doing extra work, and reading more than required...I loved to wake up really early, sleep for 3 hours studying late and early in the morning...wow, but now, I'm basically doing the standard, what will get me through...and obviously that's not what a child of God ought to do, I'm meant to shine hey! And by His grace I still do...went to two classes, Philosophy and Politics, and I hadn't finished my readings, but I contributed the most and made really substantial arguments...all glory to God. I do know it's not a healthy lifestyle, because the word says, as you sow, you will also reap...so I wanna sow generously, sow wisely...and if the feeling is gone, what do I depend on? I depend on the cross and the purpose to which I have been called...I remember my vision and my passion...and that it's not all about me, but about my family, about nations, and most importantly, it's about heaven! Sometimes you just gotta push yourself, the harder it gets, the greater the reward.

Oh did I tell you I went to Comrie and the southern highlands this weekend? That was one of our Pomona-planned trips and I also invited a friend who is studying in Edinburgh...he's the one in the green coat in my pictures below. We had a great time, the rain was very unfriendly...and as a result it was really muddy, otherwise known as I kept slipping and 'almost falling' lol. Also, if you've watched Harry Potter 2, you know that bridge where the Hogwarts Express passes, yup I saw it :)

Other things I've learned this week, my friend Sonja says I "soak in the world." My friend Que says I "think like an American" -not so sure if that's good or bad... My friend Tendo says I "am deep", and I "have wisdom of someone 10 years older". Above all, I discovered that just because I am strong, I have strong opinions and I am not afraid to share them...my gift enables me to draw attention to myself when I speak...just because I'm like this, doesn't mean I get to have my personal beliefs and cares, opinions represented above others, rather, it falls upon me to do the better thing and represent the voiceless, the not so brave...and be their voice...Great word that is! Happy October lovely people, this is the month of moving ahead, and taking what God said before was yours!