Before I met my husband, he was a total stranger to me and me to him. I didn’t even know his name let alone his history or dreams about the future. While I believe in first love, I would not say ours was close to it. If there was a picture of what I thought my husband would be, he would miss a mark or two.

Spring is here and as I was going through the plans for my landscape, deciding the flowers I wanted and where I wanted them placed, I could not help but take a pause to acknowledge the burden millions of people in Ukraine face. War is at their doorstep, and they did not call for it. For a nation under siege, and with all they are contending with, if they can just go to bed in their homes without the fear of being killed, they will be grateful.

It was a long bus ride from Yobe to Lagos and as I stepped off the bus that afternoon, I was overwhelmed by the journey ahead of me. It was the end of college and the Youth Service program; the end to the life and routine I had grown accustomed to. There were no more lectures to attend or classmates to study with. No more government monthly allowances or stipends to live on. The world was ahead of me, and I had to face it or be drowned by it.

I have participated in so many Christian conversations that always end with us talking about how people viewed Jesus. Regardless of what the topic is, it is always convenient to shift the focus from ourselves to the inadequacies of others. We embrace the comfort of merely knowing Christ as a good God and disregard the need for us to constantly focus on our personal walk with Him.

There is just nothing like God’s presence! In Exodus 33, God told Moses to lead the Israelites to the promised land without Him. He told Him that although He would not go with them, the land would be flowing with milk and honey and that He would send His angels ahead of them. Despite the promises, Moses refused to lead the Israelites into the land until God said in verse 14 “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

I woke up to a loud whizzing sound outside my window. It was so loud and constant that I thought there must be more to it than just air, so I opened the window to see. As soon as I lifted the window, I was welcomed by a gush of breeze so strong that it lifted the curtains. Yes, it was the wind, the invisible companion of humanity and the proof of life for every living thing. Until you take that last gasp of it, you are welcomed among the living.

In this tech age of living behind our computer screens, we have grown accustomed to taking the judgment throne of our self-designed castles to condemn others. We live like hunters looking for the next prey to fall into our bucket of “the unforgivables.” The moment we hear someone somewhere is caught on camera doing something wrong, we scramble for our justice wand and banish them from the circle of “the perfect people.”

In a world as busy and unpredictable as ours, it is easy for us to lose focus and be pulled from different sides and by different daily demands of survival. A typical day for anyone is downright hectic and most of the time exhausting, now think of a man or a woman who has to work multiple jobs to keep his/her life together.

Dear God,

As your people, we come to you with a heart of gratitude and worship. Thank you for seeing us through all the dark holes and lifting us above all the hurdles of the year 2021. It is by your mercy and grace that we were not consumed.

Comprehending the story of the birth of Jesus can overwhelm our human minds. It is hard to fathom why the creator of the world would leave His throne to be born as a vulnerable little baby just to save His creations. Although everything was made by Him, He laid them all down to walk the path of humanity.

God’s word is enough to lead, guide, teach, uphold, and sustain us as we journey through life. It is not just a bunch of words and letters written in the dusty book on our dressing tables, or the polished one we only pick up on Sunday mornings.

As we follow our shepherd and big brother, the Lord Jesus, our life should reflect who He is. When He walked the earth, though He was a man, He was different. He loved different, He looked different, He talked different, and everyone that came in contact with Him knew it.

How often do we tell God, “If you answer this prayer, I will trust you forever?” But the next discomfort we face leads us scrambling over everything and cowering in defeat. The fact that God delivered us from the missteps and troubles in the past does not count towards His faithfulness, and we search for alternatives outside of His grace.

The whole point of the Christian faith is to spend eternity with Christ, and nothing in the world can match that expectation. With all we deal with here on earth, as Christians and non-Christians, where we end up is determined by our response to the cross of Christ.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines fear as “An unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.” No matter the form it takes, fear is unpleasant, and it sends our minds to the darkest alley of thoughts. Fear connives with our insecurities and limitations to render us hopeless.

Life is a battleground, a mysterious obstacle course filled with thorns, muddy paths and “unthreadable” turns. The lights on the trails come on and off without warning and different forces throw darts at you as you journey through.

A while back, I received a piece of news that overwhelmed me to the point of exhaustion. It was like being in a cage with all doors locked and the keys far from reach. I paced from one room to the other, sitting for a while then standing again.

Each time I turn on the television, read an article or hear about Christians making news for reasons other than for the kingdom, it breaks my heart. I find myself ashamed of the conduct because of how it clouds the cross of Christ.

I still remember details about that day like it was yesterday. I received a call from my uncle, asking me to stop by his house when I get off work. It was not the first time I visited him and his family.

If you’ve ever filled out one of those forms, informing people about yourself; at the DMV, the passport office, or at the bank, your identity is summed up with about ten checkmarks. You are defined by the color of your skin, your age, your address, your salary range, your gender, and a few more things.