Stay put...not out

When this common quote: "Go where you're celebrated not tolerated" crossed my mind, the first 2 words in the title "responded". I pressed rewind in my mind and then decided to unwind it...
The impression in my spirit was that we can't, and actually shouldn't, always leave where we're tolerated for three reasons:

How to raise your standard of living

I am yet to meet anyone who does not want to raise their standard of living. Yes, even I want to.
The world - people, internet, books etc. - is overflowing with tips on how to raise our standard of living. Funny enough, the focus is more on standard of living and the standard of life is ignored.

Before we dig in, let's step back to look at what "standard of living" and "standard of life" mean:
The former is a term used to define one's social and economic well-being and an objective measure. On the flip side, standard of life is subjective and relates to one's level of happiness i.e. quality of life.

When people talk about raising their standard of living they focus more on how to become richer versus how to make their lives and others' lives richer. Becoming rich is a lofty goal but there's more to life. The Bible is very rich...and tells us how to raise our standard of living and standard of life.

Isaiah 33: 15-16 - The answer’s simple: Live right, speak the truth, 

despise exploitation, refuse bribes, reject violence, avoid evil amusements.

This is how you raise your standard of living! 

A safe and stable way to live. A nourishing, satisfying way to live. (MSG)

When we align our standard of living to the word of God, our standard/quality of life will improve.

Zig Ziglar put it this way: 

If standard of living is your major objective, quality of life almost never improves, 

but if quality of life is your number one objective, your standard of living almost always improves.

Our standard/quality of life is evidenced by being a channel of blessing as Proverbs 11:25 tells us - 

The generous man [is a source of blessing and] shall be prosperous and enriched. 

And he waters will himself be watered [reaping the generosity he has sown]. (AMP)

Bottom-line:

Each of us will one day be judged by our standard of life, not by our standard of living; 
by our measure of giving, not by our measure of wealth; 
by our simple goodness, not by our seeming greatness. 
~ William Arthur Ward

We must strive to improve the lives of others around us and our standard of living will follow. 

What's your assignment?

No matter how attractive someone else's assignment may seem, it is not your assignment. 

What's wrong with the zipper?

Nothing.

With that answer I concluded that it means something's wrong with the "sipper".

Don't eat...

...to your death

You won't believe how and where this topic occurred to me. No I wasn't people watching...but you know, thinking about it, I may have come to the same topic doing that.

Focus

...on your race.

Cut it...

A few weeks ago I needed to redo my hair. When I undid my braids, I noticed that my hair had suffered damage such that some parts were shorter than the rest. So I mentioned to my husband that I want - more like really need - to cut or at least trim my hair. I did this of course to get his buy-in and, more importantly, his permission. As I pondered and wondered about the purpose of cutting it, the Holy Spirit dropped an enlightening life lesson in my heart - hence this post.

Beware of wondering...

...then wandering.

Communication tips

Let me start by wishing you a "Happy World Communications Day"
(Guess what: I just found by chance - reiterating the importance of following the Holy Spirit's leading)

A lot has been said about communication and I can't help but wonder if anyone is listening. Personally, I believe we'll be effective communicators if we take Dianna Booher's advice on communication:

"When you listen first then speak your heart with clarity and courtesy, you can lead others to change attitudes, behaviours and situations."

Over time I've written about communication - starting with the Secrets of Success* series.

Indeed it's an open secret that good & effective communication is a key to success.**

Communication is basically the exchange of information...and to be effective you must: 

• Spend time to consider what is being said and what is not being send i.e. listen
• Speak from your core (heart) - be careful that what you feel is real
• Speak with clarity - ensure that you know and mean what you say
• Speak with courtesy - your words should be laced with kindness and "salt"

Better communication is not the same as more communication. We must focus on improving the quality, not necessarily the quantity, of our communication - here are a few tips:

Communication works for those who work at it. ~ John Powell

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said. ~ Peter Drucker

The two words 'information' and 'communication' are often used interchangeably, 

but they signify quite different things. 

Information is giving out; communication is getting through. ~ Sydney J. Harris

I also enjoyed reading this Message from Pope Francis as part of the celebration of this year's World Communications Day. It has so many nuggets of how we all can and should utilize and maximize this period of lock down - as we communicate through stories. Keep communicating.

References:

*http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2009/10/esther-effect.html

http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2010/03/secret-4-communication.html

http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2010/03/secret-4-communication-speech.html

http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2010/03/secret-4-communication-script.html

http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2010/03/secret-4-communication-signals.html

http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2010/03/secret-4-communication-silence.html

http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2010/03/seven-sayings-on-speech-and-silence.html

http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2010/04/secret-5-character-ace_23.html

http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2010/05/secret-4-communication-addendum.html

**http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/12675/communication-most-important-key-to-leadership-success

Step out - and up

I had the privilege of praying with a couple of my high school mates where one of us, Dr B, shared something that I felt that I needed to share further.

Working from home...

It's been 10 days since the WHO declared COVID19 a global pandemic. 

Some organizations have had to shut down 

while others have their staff now working from home.

Working from home is not the preferred way of working 

- especially when your children are home from school.

So it helps when everyone is helping 😊...

"I could have gotten that for you."

That was the statement I heard from a young lady after an older man had bent down to pick up something that dropped from his hand a few years ago. When I saw that I wondered whether it wasn't better for the lady to have said nothing rather than say she could have helped. 

Spring forward

Yesterday was the first day of Spring and I know that it may not quite feel that way in these days of #SelfIsolation and #SocialDistancing.

However, there are many things you can do to spring forward.

What are some of those hobbies you put off until when you have time? Well guess what? You have the #GiftOfTime now - unwrap it and make something beautiful out of it.

What about those people you have been planning to catch up with? You can have video calls, virtual coffees and even virtual family time (not if you're all in the same home of course).

Talking about family time, how are you spending your time with your family? Board games are one way to ward off boredom and bond as a family. (@adaleke #101 Quips and Quotes)

You can and should be deliberate and spring forward...do not let the environment replace enjoyment of life.

Getting out of the "boat" - 2

10 years ago, Beryl and I were talking about getting out of the boat. Beryl then shared some highlights from the book, which I finally got around to reading (a few years ago):

The boat can represent different things to different people.

• For Peter, it was his "place of employment";
• For Jonah it was his "escape from employment";
• For Noah it was his "place of security/salvation";
• For Paul it was his "mode of transportation" and 
• For Jesus, it was his "platform" and "place of rest"

Despite the various uses of the boat, they each had to step out of the boat at one time or the other to fulfill their missions in life. None of them stayed on the boat forever.

What is the "boat" to you? What do you need to do in order to get to that next level God has prepared and called you to?

As we inch towards the the end of the year, what are you doing to "get out of your boat" and walk on water.

Feel free to contact Beryl or I (Sapphire) if you want to discuss further.

Other posts to read:
- If you want to walk on water
- Getting out of the boat
- Licence to walk on water

10 years!!!

Today marks 10 years since we started this blog.

Beryl (Dr Chinyere Almona) and I (Ada Adeleke-Kelani aka Sapphire) have had interesting times these past 12 years. It's taken a lot of courage to keep walking on water as stated in our first post.

Let us pray...

In the past couple of months, I've noticed that God has drawn me to a new level of prayer. The interesting thing that I have not necessarily started praying for longer times at one stretch, rather I have been praying more often within different stretches of time.

Thinking to the root of this, I can attribute this partially to the knowledge I gained from a a book: Prayer as a Way of Life - I read several decades ago. Although I don't remember who the author was, that book was definitely a seed which took root and is now ready to bear fruit. Addtionally, God has used several people to help me grow in this area of prayer. I have been blessed with a few ladies who have directly or indirectly watered and encouraged me. It is definitely a benefit to have others that you can partner with in prayer. My prayer partner and I pray together regularly and touch on the various dimensions of our lives - spiritual, emotional, marital, professional etc. 

Corrie Ten Boom articulated the place prayer should take in our lives when she said:

"Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer 

is too small to be made into a burden."

If you need to talk to someone about how to identify a suitable prayer partner, feel free to contact Beryl or I by email.

"You lost weight?!"

A few weeks ago, an acquaintance said to me: "You (seem to have) lost weight?!"

Which is it...

...advice or warning?

That was the question that kept going through my mind as I pondered on a Business name I saw.

Are you God's Battle Axe?

Last month, our theme in church was "I am God's Battle Axe" based on Jeremiah 51:20.

'Went', 'Sent' or 'Kept'?

A few years ago I  had in interesting 'Thank you' situation. As I pondered on it, because it really bothered me, the Holy Spirit drew my attention to Jesus' experience in Luke 17:11-19; let's read:

11 While Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee.  12 As He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance;  13 and they raised their voices and called out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  14 When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were [miraculously] healed and made clean.  15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying and praising and honoring God with a loud voice;  16 and he lay face downward at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him [over and over]. He was a Samaritan.  17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten [of you] cleansed? Where are the [other] nine?  18 Was there no one found to return and to give thanks and praise to God, except this foreigner?”  19 Jesus said to him, “Get up and go [on your way]. Your faith [your personal trust in Me and your confidence in God’s power] has restored you to health.” (AMP)

He then went on to expound this saying that when it comes to giving God (and men) thanks, we all fall into one of three categories:
- Went
- Sent
- Kept

Some of us, take the time and effort to "go" directly to God to express our gratitude and appreciation. When it's a human being, we want to thank, that person hears our voice - either face to face, via a call or even a voice message. These are in the 'Went' category.

The 2nd category are those of us who use an indirect medium to express our thanks without expressing it ourselves. As an example, asking someone to thank God or a person on your behalf without having direct contact with the Him or the person i.e. without reaching out to God or the person ourselves. For me, depending on the depth of the relationship, text messages fall into this 'Sent' category (pun intended).

The 3rd category is the 'Kept.' Essentially, we fall into this group when we do not even bother to say 'Thank You.' These people keep the thanks to themselves.

As I meditated on this, it occurred to me that the word that represented each category was further in the alphabet; almost as if it was commensurate to the level of effort required at each one: K ->S ->W.

At the end, all I could do was ask God to forgive me for when I have 'sent', or even worse 'kept', my thanks to Him or to others. I pray for grace to be in the 'Went' category more often than not.

Note: I recognize that sometimes the line between the 'Went' and the 'Sent' categories are blurred. However, I know that we know when they are not the same. Whatever happens, don't be or stay in the 'Kept' category.

May you and always have multiple reasons to say 'Thank you' to God and others.

Happy Thanksgiving...may it not just be a day in your life, rather a way of life.