Rain

[Image via Flickr]

The first of the rains came today
We sat and waited in the heat of the noon till we heard the thunder and felt the cool breeze
Happy were we
Happy was I

I love the water from heaven
It is a reminder of all things joy, purpose and hope
They say it is as pure as they come but somewhere between the clouds and the brown ground it chooses it's own color

I love the waters heaven pours
It is a refreshing, for the traveler of the dry seasons and the human who has never tasted water
It is a reminder of the promise
You will grow
You will grow again
At the scent of heaven's water
So here I am praying for growth and harvest after the rain has ended it downpour 

Here I am with open hands asking for a new tree in place of the dead tree in our old garden
But we must always ask ourselves if we planted seeds before the rain
Man does the natural , and God in his infinite mercies would add the super making all we have and do supernatural
The rain would come but have you planted seeds?

iRecommend [Anchors & Silhouettes by Nicole Croteau]

 

I woke my Facebook and Twitter up on Monday morning with an update that read something like this

"Looking for thaat album that would creep into your heart and help you say all the things you really want to say which you haven't found words for this morning? iRecommend Nicole Croteau's 'Anchors & Silhouettes'. Beautifully crafted music, you don't want to miss this one, it's a 5 star :)"

 And honestly I couldn't have described it better cause Nicole's album is really one you don't want to miss out on. Please go get Nicole Croteau debut album, Anchors & Silhouettes  . Words cant describe the beauty of it. No matter what genre yo listen, I can assure you, you would love it. My best tracks on the album are Falling, Amazing, Sacred Romance, Devon, Butterflies . . . Okay I'm almost writing the track list but really it's a press play album, you know one of those you just don't get to skip any track.

You can read a review of the album I penned here

Till next time on iReccomend, always remember

U R LUVED

And don't forget to tell me about what book you've been reading, what movie you recently saw or what's been on your playlist lately in the comment section. :)  

Foresight

 [Image via Pinterest]

Mama always told me how essential it was for me to get my things ready for the future
Near or far
Where are you going in life my dear?
Do you have the things you need to get there
If you don't get it and be ready

Pack your bags
Be ready for the future

I have held on to this all my life
And I have always been poised for the next leaving nothing 'un-calculated'
Even to shopping, buy one for now, buy another to keep for latter
And maybe this very thing
Maybe this very virtue is what holds me back every now and then to trust sometimes a God who leads through a cloud
Maybe this is the very thing that wants me to decipher Him like logic

Solve Him like arithmetic

and pat my brains when the task is done

 Cause sometimes unlike Mama, He invites me on a journey and warns me on not bringing any supplies along
He is two steps ahead and I'm still questioning how I'm going to survive with no supplies of mine.

"God promises bread for a day then another, then another. Most times I want my store house full for a year. I think real faith is receiving today's bread and knowing He would provide tomorrow"

Loved!

The Handwritten [A Guest Post At The Michael Perkins Blog]

[Image by Seventytree]

Today, I have the great privilege and honor to write at The Handwritten, one of the most unique and artistic blogs I've ever come across run by Michael Perkins.

Please also  download Michael's Handwritten book titled  Starting Over : A Manifesto on Being Yourself , a very succinct handwritten book but packed with truths. Michael hand writes volumes in a few words, and he has also encouraged and inspired me to do the same. 

This post is exclusive and you can't read it any where else. So today all roads lead to The Handwritten. Go go go go.

 Click here to view my guest post

Heavenly [ A Mother's Day Special]

Today is mother's day and I was privileged to write something for my church which I thought a great idea to share with you.

A big 'THANK YOU' to pastors and churches that allow art to thrive even in the four walls of the cathedral. This is what I came up with. It's called 'Heavenly' and I hope you enjoy it and it reminds you the uniqueness and sacredness of motherhood. Give your mum a long hug today and if she's far, a long call. Happy Mother's day. Blessings. :)


Loving and Kind
Gentle and beautiful these are mothers not anyone else
No matter where yours is from
They are the same
Special and unique
Sincere and true
It takes so much to be a mother
Something happens when they carry us for nine months
They are a part of us
We are a part of them

If any one is wicked, it isn't mothers
They knew us
Even when we didn't know ourselves
They carried us
Even when we couldn't carry ourselves
And they fed us
Even when we couldn't eat

Heavenly and pure
Mothers are a gift
A world without them would stop
A home without them is no home, just a house
Looking for God, find a mother, she would show you a part of his heart.
His obsession about us His children
And how he would do anything for our good and well being
They say God is everywhere. Mothers are a proof he is here with us.

On Finding Rings And God In The Small [An Interview With Sheila Lagrand]

[Image by Shawn Hoke] 

Remember Sheila from last week? Our Guest from GodSpotting With Sheila. Please take some time (if you haven't) to read the awesome story she shared with us over here at 'The voice' 2 weeks back. That said, I had the privilege to chat with Sheila (thanks to the miracle of the internet). You don't want to miss this. Read on.

The Voice:  The beauty of your story is its realness it happened to you. It isn’t fiction but did you ever pinch yourself finding the ring? Like ‘someone please wake me up, is this real?’

Sheila:  Yes! After I found it, I probably snuck up on my jewelry box every day for at least a week, peeking to see if the ring was really there.

The Voice: So why story telling? Why do you choose to communicate God to your world in one of the most vulnerable ways?

Sheila: That's a good question. People who will turn away from a sermon will listen to a story, won't they? I've discovered a little niche among my readers: people who've left the church, or lost their faith, seem to feel safe with what I have to say. I'm thrilled to serve people in that predicament.

And I am not qualified to preach. But we're all qualified to tell our stories, no?

The Voice: Wow! I loved that "we are not qualified to preach. But we're all qualified to tell our stories". In your story, you talked about finding a ring which some might count as trivial in the midst of a 'horrible' year. What has really helped you embraced the little things in life over time. I mean, we all want the next BIG thing.

Sheila: Hmm. I think perhaps the older we get--I'm 53 now--the less we crave the next BIG thing. And for me personally, contentment, being satisfied with the small servings, is a big part of my walk with Christ.

I should add that 2006 wasn't all bad. My grandson Cadence was born that year

The Voice: Tell us a bit more about your cousin and how she fits more into the ring story. From how I read your story, I perceived God was telling you more about 'finding' her than finding the ring. What do you have to say about this?

Sheila: Hmm. She died in 2000, six and a half years before the ring resurfaced. She was 32 years old. She left a little girl behind (who, by the way, is doing AWESOMELY well. I was reunited with her in 2010. She's about to begin university and she's a terrific student. Her father has done a good job raising her). I see the story more as a Romans 8:28 thing...the ring coming back was some small good pulled from the tragedy of her death. The tragedy of her life, maybe.

The Voice: Do you really believe God isn't in the business of parting Red seas anymore?

Sheila: Mmm, what I said was, "He doesn't part the Red Sea any more." I didn't say He's out of that business...fine point, I know. Perhaps I should have said, "He hasn't parted the Red Sea lately."

The Voice: You are an anthropologist (which is science based) by profession, and also a person of faith. Please tell us a bit about where this diagrams (science and faith) overlap and contradict in the scheme of things. Or do they ever contradict each other?

Sheila: I'm an anthropologist by training, but my employment is not in that field. In terms of contradiction...this is surely too simplistic, but it's always worked for me. God created the universe. Science is about understanding that natural world. God is essentially supernatural. So for me, I think of faith and reason (or faith and science, if you prefer) as being concerned with different orders of things--natural and supernatural.


The Voice:  'Miracles still happen, even in small ways we overlook' that one thing that keeps occurring to me as I read and re-read your story. But how are we as a society (even in the church) aren't poised for the miraculous. What part do we really have to play in seeing God move in our generation just like he did in Moses'

Sheila: I suppose it would be a cop-out to just say "Jeremiah 29:11," wouldn't it? But I really think that's it. We need to seek.


The Voice: What would you have to say to the younger generation, a generation fascinated with the BIG, we don't want to wait, I mean all these cute inventions (ranging from the microwave to the TiVo points to that) and we are also one quick to analyze everything that happens as quick as possible. What advice would you give to us?

Sheila: I think that fascination with the BIG is a condition of youth, rather than a characteristic unique to the current younger generation. So no advice is needed...age "cures" this condition, if in fact it needs curing.

The Voice: So what book are you currently reading

Sheila: I'm reading the Holy Bible (I read through it once a year; this year I'm reading the ESV).

The Voice: Thanks Sheila, It's a privilege having you over here. Looking forward to have you here again. :)

Sheila: The Privilege is all mine


Connect with Sheila : Facebook - Blog

Search

 [Image by Donna Irene]

[This Actually Happened To Me]

10:00 am
I stop at the door remembering a thing I need for the day ahead.
So I drop my bag and head back in  in search of this thing.

10:05 am
It's not where I thought it would be so I'm headed for the store place. You don't want to know how much my store place scares me. No you don't want to. Inside the store place, I start moving things and start searching the first pile. I need this thing for the day ahead. It really can't wait.

10:20 am
I'm back to where I thought it should be and I can't really thinking of where it could be apart from here. A thought of somewhere far away comes to mind, I discard and head back to the top pile I left in the storehouse.

10:40 am
After numerous and futile searches I decide to bring down the whole pile and search the place that came to mind for the thing. I'm sweaty and my day clothe dirty. I'm angry, angry at no one in particular, maybe boxes and scattered papers. Arghh! But this is painful.

10:50 am
I get to the bottom pile. The lazy part of me wants to start rearranging without checking the last pile. Putting my stubbornness aside I open up the last box and there is the document I've been looking for  for almost an hour now.

Sometimes we know where what we want is but we just don't want to do the hard work of getting it. It applies to a dream to

Epilogue

11:00 am
Looking well it isn't the right one, I have had an upgrade after this very one, its that that I'm looking for.
Still angry, I start rearranging the pile and putting things back in place. I get to the first pile and somehow I ruffle the first pile mindlessly, I don't know why, maybe to say goodbye. There, just beside some old paper sat what I wanted, the original one.

Sometimes, we have no idea of where what we really want is. Sometimes we are searching in all places, even the wrong places for what we want. We need a Light to show us how to get it. It applies to life and the desires that come with it too.

A smile broke on my stern face as it dawned on me. I picked up my tote and walked into the sunlight.

"You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me" - God (Jeremiah 29:13 NCV)

That Moment of Moving Forward

[Image via Arachide]

That moment of moving forward could be a hard one, a very hard one
At that moment we see the good that has to be left behind
Sometimes the issue isn't leaving it all behind
Sometimes the issue is the attachments we make
With the good and the bad
The progressive makes no attachment
The progressive knows he's on a journey
Life would move on
Time would flow like oil from the widow's jar
Its us that choose to stop
Its us that choose to get stuck at times
That moment of moving forward comes with very hard decisions
For me its leaving the good behind, the beautiful I have crafted with my hands.
The songs I have spent hours to write and stories I have had sleepless night to tell well
One thing
One thing we must remember; to build a monument out of the mountains we  have climbed brings us back to the valley we have been to pick up some  building blocks.
We must build altars and move on
That moment of moving forward
What really helps us move forward and leave all behind is when we know that for the beautiful we have crafted, we are only vessels 

P.S. - For all writers, artists and anyone involved in creative processes, whether we hear the loudest clap or accolade after that we just made, the truth remains: The best is still yet to come. Would you let the fear of 'would it ever be this loud again' hold you back?

iRecommend [Download Some Upcoming New Music]

I'm glad to present to you some new upcoming music. These artists are giving off one free song off their new albums that is to come. Download and Enjoy!

Instruction: You right click on the links and 'save link as' or 'save target as' depending on what browser you are using.

For Todd Agnew's "Letting Go" from his album 'How to be Loved' dropping March 12, 2012, click here

For All Sons & Daughters' "Oh Our Lord" from their album 'Season one' dropping March 13, 2012, click here

For The Vespers' "Better Now" from their album 'The Fourth Wall' dropping April 3, 2012, click here

And For Lindsay McCaul's beautiful tune 'Take My Hand' from the album 'If It Leads Me Back' which already dropped January 17, 2012, click here

Enjoy!
So what's currently on your Playlist?

The Satisfaction of Small Servings [A Guest Post by Sheila Seiler Lagrand]

Today I'm excited to have Sheila Seiler Lagrand, Ph.D., wife, mother and grand mother. Sheila is a contributing writer at the Bibledude's Place where I'm also a contributor. She blogs frequently at Godspotting with Sheila.

[Image by Rayani Melo]

2006 was a horrible, rotten year. As the holidays rolled around, I was relieved to be leaving that year behind me. For Christmas, the man I later married gave me a new jewelry box, a lovely replacement for the collection of plastic compartmented trays I’d been using to keep my treasures.
I sat on the floor and transferred my baubles from their makeshift storage containers into the beautiful wooden box, fitted with proper drawers, a velvet lining, and rolls to hold rings. It felt peaceful, neatly arranging my things at the end of this year that had brought so much upheaval and displacement. Rich watched me. I knew the look on his face: satisfaction that his gift had brought me joy.
Then I burst into tears. “What’s wrong?” he asked me, with that panicky voice men get when women start to cry.
I held up a small, thin, worn gold band. “This,” I blubbered, unable to push more words through my sobs. He came to me, wrapped his strong arms around me, gently pressed my head to his shoulder. I cried until I’d used up all my tears.
Then I explained. “This was my grandma’s wedding ring,” I began. “’Pa gave it to me after she died.” I took a deep breath, reached for a tissue, blew my nose. “When my cousin got married—Marcie, the one who died—I gave it to her to use. I never saw it again.
“I have no idea how it got back into my jewelry collection. I was sure it had been sold.”
My cousin, my beautiful, precious, cousin, the youngest of us all, had died of a drug overdose. And junkies don’t keep gold rings. They sell them.
They sell everything.
Since that Christmas, I’ve struggled to remember the occasion when that ring was returned to me. My conclusion is that it wasn’t.  I am convicted:
The ring’s reappearance is miraculous.
It was revealed to me at bottom of a long, rocky, downhill slide—just when I needed to see that beauty could be restored, that things (people?) that appeared forever lost might be recovered.
Maybe God doesn’t part the Red Sea any more, but He still works miracles.
I should know. I have one in my jewelry box.

"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,  God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will."

Hebrews 2:1-4 (NASB)

When Freedom is Staring You in The Face: Dead Kings [Part 2]

This is the second part in the 'Freedom In Your Face' Series. To read the First part titled 'Opened Prisons' Click here

 

[Image by Priom]

Dead Kings

What happened to the king who was overthrown by his brother is a good question to ask if you read the first part of this post. Did he ever walk out of the open prison? Did he ever embrace the freedom that was so close to him? I would answer that. He never did. Plates after plates of food that came he consumed. Bottles after bottles of wine that was brought he poured in, promising to not touch the next. Maybe tomorrow he said till there was no tomorrow. He died having with him the key to life. He died with the possibility of something else outside the door he chose to never walk out of. 

Friends, the time is always now. Nothing happens overnight. Success at anything isn’t a leap as most portray it to be. It’s more like a slow crawl that finally gets you to where you’ve always wanted in the end. And if it doesn’t happen overnight, our duty isn’t to give up our duty is to keep pressing on.

I wonder if this king had started the journey of denying his appetites, of walking out of his open prison by just refusing what was brought close to him. One of the worst nightmares anyone can come across in the future is the opportunity that could have been theirs if they made a different choice. 

The difference between a reigning king and a dead king sometimes isn’t just a crown worn; it’s sometimes in denying our appetites to walk into freedom.

Happy New Month to all my readers. Welcome to March, a whole new level of freedom awaits you. Take a walk into your destiny :)