MENTAL and EMOTIONAL gender based VIOLENCE is one of the most normalized forms of violence within the family unit. It manifests in many ways:
*Parent against Parent
*Parent against Children
*Children against Parent
*Children against Children
Last year (2017) my son had his third ear infection in a span of months. I took him to a nearby hospital and got, you guessed right, antibiotics.
This time I insisted on a specific brand because another brand he had been given the second time had not worked which had led us to have him moved to a different hospital and onto injections.
Well, before we left the doctors office, he suggested we see an ENT doctor in their doctors plaza a stone throw away. He even went further to suggest that what my son needed was to get his adenoids removed.Big words. Surgery was thrown into the mix and I was left confused yet wanting the best for my son.
“You did a paper in what?” Exclaimed my fried Timothy.
He looked at me half amused, half horrified.
“I wrote a paper on computer viruses”, I responded with a grin. “And I seriously need you to read through it and tell me if it makes sense before I hand it in.”
I could read the multiple questions flying in my friends mind just from the look he was giving me. You see, anything technology has never been my forte. Timothy my friend on the other hand has been good in techie stuff ever since I knew him in college. And he did look through my paper after getting a confession from me of how I managed to write such a paper; I had literally lifted stuff from the internet and paraphased it.
But guess what, I got a grade for that paper. That was before the plagiarism checkers came in, otherwise I might have paid a hefty academic price for it.
You are saved. You got saved a while back. So what? Then what?
Once you are sure of your faith the next step is to deal with growth.
Are you growing in your faith in your walk with the Lord?
Your overall Spiritual Disciplines health is a good measure
Here let us break down Spiritual Disciplines into two parts:
There is one spiritual discipline that in my observation ties all of them together. I call it the discipline of OBEDIENCE
In the Old Testament we find this in 1 Samuel 15:22-23
But Samuel replied
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
Here we observe that the opposite of Obedience is not disobedience but Rebellion
The context is Saul’s outright rebellion against God when given simple instructions to completely destroy the Amalekites. Not only does he not destroy them he has the audacity of carrying flock from their city and bringing it as a sacrifice to God. Such disrespect! And then he goes ahead and decides to conduct the sacrifice claiming Prophet Samuel is taking too long. Woi, his judgement was clear and decisive: Because you have rejected the Word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king Boom!
We are clearly told here that as far as God is concerned obedience supersedes everything. Including Sacrifice. If you take a moment to reflect, we would rather chose sacrifice than obedience It is easier to give God our money, our bodies, everything but so hard to OBEY His Word when He says love your neighbor. Love the Lord with all of you. Everything outside of you but not YOU
In the New Testament the Jesus explicitly talks about Obedience in John 14:15
If you love me, keep (obey) my commandments
The Apostle of love in 1 John 5:3 reiterates this:
In fact, this is love for God: to keep (obey) his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
To love God is to OBEY His commands. His Word – Genesis to Revelation – is His commands. That is why we must Study it. Learn it. Meditate upon it. Memorize it. Then OBEY it. And the other spiritual disciplines all helps us in this pursuit of OBEDIENCE – Prayer. Fasting. Solitude. Silence.
Jesus Christ is the perfect example of OBEDIENCE We are told about this in Philippians 2:1-11. In vs.8
. . . He became obedient unto death, even death on a cross
Jesus OBEYED the Father in Everything.
After we speak the confirmation of our faith then we must continue to grow in this faith through spiritual disciplines And OBEDIENCE is at the core of it all.
Reflection – Are you walking in OBEDIENCE to God?
Today the 15th of October is PAILRD2018 -Pregnancy And Infant Loss Remembrance Day.
I am drowning
I am drowning in sorrow
I am drowning in loneliness
I am drowning in expectations
Society’s expectations
My own expectations
I need a break
I need to step out
I need a timeout
I need to breathe
Breathe without effort
Breathe and fly away
Do you see my swallowed tears
Do you hear my silent wailing
Do you see my hollow heart
Do you hear my veiled call for help
Calling without opening my mouth
Calling yet pretending not to need help
Can you see beyond the smile
Can you see beyond the laughter
Can you see beyond the accumulated wealth
Can you see beyond the physical
Can you see me?
Do you want to see me?
Can you hear me?
Do you want to hear me?
Maybe I should just float away
After all nobody knows me
They only know what they see
They will not miss me
They will only miss what they saw
#WorldSuicidePreventionWeek
#WSPD2018
#MentalHealth
#PPD
I have been writing this post in my head every weekend for the last couple of weeks. Because this is the time I am reminded of this continuing battle in the heart and mind of every parent and child caregiver – Do I prioritise My Child or The Public?
A couple of years ago, my husband and I attended a Parenting Class by the legendary Dr. Stanley Mukolwe. At the time we were pregnant with our second child and were excited and eager to learn everything we could on how to raise them up well. Unfortunately while still undertaking the Parenting Class we lost our son Thayu Kiheo through a miscarriage. We however decided to continue with the class to completion.
During this class we learnt maaany things from how our upbringing greatly influences our parenting to disciplining the children. One word from my encounter with Dr. Mukolwe however has been seared into my mind and I always refer to it in my parenting : EXTRAPOLATE
The world seems to embrace entertainment and comedy more than any other time in History. It is becoming harder to gather the youth to listen to anything without a measure of entertainment. While the liberals find no harm in excess entertainment, the conservatives condemn even any slightest sense of humor. These two extremes cause unhealthy tension in the modern Church. This seminar therefore, seeks to draw the balance between the intemperance.
The session could seek to explore what the bible says in regard to entertainment, Highlight the excesses on each side while suggesting a good middle ground backed up by scripture. Dangers and negative effects of each side could be explored. Provide a biblical response to the current state of affairs especially where worship and praise tends towards sensual and somehow promoting immorality.
Life as we know it in Africa, in East Africa, in Kenya is changing. The social structure is not what it used to be. The communal kind of living and communal belonging is unknown in the urban areas and in the rural areas is slowly fading away. We are losing one of the greatest buffers and anchors of days past when life deals a blow on anyone; we are losing the gift of being in a physical social village.
