Decision time

I am thinking of getting a hair cut!!! Drastic I know but I think I am ready for it. I just hope that the hair dresser gets my hair cut well. I love my long hair but I am tired of it now and need something different. I am hoping that I will be able to manage my hair better without all that hassle of worrying about tangling my hair. I am going to book the appointment and if the hair cut does not suit me, I'll go back to fixing extensions!!!

How to dispose of a dead fox in the garden

Well! Well! Well! What did we find at the back of our garden? It was a dead fox!!! It was just lying there as if it was still sleeping. We think it was poisoned and died at the back of our garden. Poor thing!!! Well, the next thing that came to our mind was how to get rid of it. Simple question but complicated answer. First idea was to go on-line and get answers. Went on-line and found out that the council will not dispose of a dead fox in your garden except if it was by the street. So what do we do with a dead fox? There were loads of hilarious answers on-line. Some said to make a fox soup with it, others suggested tying the tail to your neighbours car and take pictures as your neighbour drives away. Others suggested burying it but I didn't fancy that idea. I was prepared to pay to get rid of it especially if it was poisoned. Well, called the council's customer services and they were very helpful. Explained to them that I think the fox was poisoned and I didn't really know what to do and they sent pest control who were very efficient. Within few minutes, they arrived at my address and got rid of the fox. The guy thought it was poisoned in another person's garden but died at ours. So, if ever you get a dead fox in your garden and you suspect it may have been poisoned, call your council customer services and they will help you out. Just thought I should share this since there are few answers on what to do with a dead fox in your garden.

Better health

I have taken up some new healthy habits which involves swimming and eating of fruits. How long I can sustain that, I don't know but I feel better for living a healthy life style. Yesterday, I swam about 30 lengths. I felt great when I came home and slept peacefully. I am looking to joining a gym with a swimming pool that is close by where I live. So, when I get back from work, all I have to do is just walk down the road and get into the swimming pool. This will definitely need a lot of motivation. The healthy life style is not for being slim but for feeling better with myself. I have gotten to the stage that being skinny does not really matter to me as long as I am fit and healthy. I am currently a size 10-12 and I am happy with it. Before, I'd starve myself to be a size 6 but I thank God for deliverance. I think part of my life style then did contribute to my stomach problems. All that starving and living like a zombie just to conform to the ideal body size sold to us in the media. I would say, the older I get, the more confident I am in the way I look. I love every aspect of getting older and I embrace age with gratitude.
So, once, I have had some work done, I am going to go on the net to look for a gym I can join to use their swimming facilities. I hope I can afford it lol!!! Wish me luck. Have a productive day!!!

Lily

Power of thoughts

I woke up this morning with my thoughts everywhere. Before I knew it, I was already having a pity party. That did not last long because I got myself out of it quickly. Sometimes, I just sit down and think of all the things that have happened to me and all the pains that I have been through and I begin to cry. I must confess that I have asked the questions WHY as well as WHY ME? But I don't dwell on those thoughts for long.My life is full of wonderful things that have happened to me and are still happening to me. In fact, my life is a miracle and I am blessed all round. I have love all around me and I am in a happy place now. I cannot begin to count my blessings because they are just too many. Where I have got some issues is with my mind and thoughts. My thoughts can go sooooo deep. For example, if I feel a slight pain in my body, I begin to think all manner of thoughts. I shared this with a friend from church and she said to me to stand on the word of God . I know it is wrong to just keep questioning God and complaining of any slight pain. I found out I was filled with the spirit of fear which was tormenting me day and night. It got to a time that I could not sleep because of fear and I'd go to the doctors who would do all manner of tests and tell me nothing is wrong with me.

I knew that every time I experienced fear,  it was as a result of what I had read in the papers. I looked back to when I started experiencing pain and it was as a result of what I had read. So, when I read magazines or papers about someone's tragic experience, my thoughts just goes crazy and I begin to think what if it was me, this happened to a fellow human being, and I begin to fear and it begins to affect me. So, last month, I said to myself, if what I read has this massive effect in my life, I must fill my mind with the words of God. I must fill my thoughts with the words of God. So apart from reading my bible, I bought myself a digital radio. So before, I go to bed, I tune into premier station (A Christian station). So, the last thing I hear before I sleep is the word of God. When I wake up, the first thing I want to hear is the word of God. I have since felt liberated. When negative thoughts wants to take over my mind, I subdue it and speak the word of God. When my mind wants to question if there is a God, I chose to believe there is one because I have felt God's love and I'd rather be in God's camp than to be anywhere else. I am happy that I have the wonderful words of God to fall back on. The part I love to quote now is Galatians 6v17 "Therefore let no man trouble me, for I bear in me the marks of CHRIST" What a blessing!!! There are so many things that can affect the mind so I chose to be affected by the words of God which says that I am the apple of God's eyes and that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am loved by God and He is always with me, holding me and speaking sweet words to me. I don't want to hear any voice apart from that of my God Almighty!!!! It keeps me safe!!!
Have a fabulous weekend and keep your thoughts clean of all the pollutants out there!!! God bless!!!

How do you deal with boastful people?

I have got this question that I need an answer to. How do you deal with boastful people? There is nothing more irritating than for someone to keep boasting about little things. I fail to understand what they want to get out of it. I don't mind someone telling me about their achievements and how they got it. Those people with great achievements deserve to talk about all the hard work they put in just to get where they are but for someone to keep telling me about mediocre stuff such as what they've bought, the money they've got blah! blah! blah! I find very irritating.  Why do people think we want to know every single thing about them. Is it to intimidate others with things such as 'Oh look at me, I am having such a wonderful life and you are not'?  LOL!!! Or 'it is all about me, put the spot light on me'. People like that are the ones with little self-esteem and self confidence. They want to get praise off people and would tell any tale to get that praise. Sometimes, people like that have empty lives and what they do is try to belittle others so that they can feel better about themselves. There are people going through one difficulty or the other and people have to be sensitive to those people especially on facebook. I am very careful what I put on facebook because I know that I have friends who are going through one trial or the other. If I keep boasting and telling everyone how great life is (which I know is not always the case), I would hurt people's feeling and loose some good friends. But I guess boastful people are selfish people and do not care about anybody but themselves. So how do you deal with such people?

♫ Yet I Will Praise You Vineyard Music ♫

I came across this lovely song and thought I should share it with you. The words are so powerful and I was blessed. I hope you are blessed too!!! Enjoy!!!!

♫ Yet I Will Praise You Vineyard Music ♫

Work continues!!!!

Yesterday's international food day went well. There were loads of food from different parts of the world. I had a fantastic time. I felt so tired after the event because I woke up very early in the morning to prepare my dishes. The fried plantain went down well with everyone and I loved the fact that people actually enjoyed it. I shall uploads some photos hopefully. These events are arranged so that PhD students can take a break and network with other PhD students. But whether this works for all PhD students in reality, I am yet to know. I was talking to a friend yesterday and he said he is not relaxed and his mind is still on his PhD even with all the delicious meals lined up for us. I guess everyone in the final stage would feel like that. To me, right now, everything I do is all about completing my PhD. I really do not feel like socialising. All I want to do is just sit on my desk and get on with the work. God, I can't wait to finish this PhD and move on with my life. If you are reading, please do say a prayer for me for strength, health and sound mind. I really will appreciate. Many thanks and God bless.

Lily

Food glorious food!!!

Today is international food day at my Uni and I prepared jellof rice (vegetarian option) and fried plantain. I am looking forward to sampling other meals from other nationalities. I am going to go swimming to burn the extra calories that I will be eating today. I will report back to you and maybe upload some pictures too!!! Have a wonderful day!!!

Today!!!!

I am sat on my own at home, cracking my brains and really not getting anywhere!!!! This really frustrates me and the only way I can vent my frustration is to write about it.  It really gives me time to get away from my research and focus on how I feel. Yesterday, I took a break and went for a walk. That helped a lot because it gave me time to reflect on what I have done and what I should do. I might take another walk sometime today just for the fresh air. Here is wishing you a lovely day!!!!

Question of love!!!!!

I attended an amazing wedding this weekend and I had a fantastic time. When the lovely couple were exchanging their vows with each other, I felt the enormousness of those words, those commitments made to each other and how many couple actually keep to each of those words. I just started thinking about love, what it means and where one can get the greatest kind of love. My spirit just spoke to me that the greatest love I can rely on is from God Almighty!!!! I realised that my spirit was right. I started remembering how people have let me down over the years.  I remembered all the friends I thought were friends who stabbed me in the back and spread horrible lies about me. God would never do that sort of thing to me. God has been there for me through all the pains and betrayal from so called 'friends'. God picked me up when I felt like dirt and still loved me for who I am. With God I can be myself without being scared of loosing him. He alone knows all my idiosyncrasies and only him in the whole wide world will not listen to gossip or lies about me because he knows the truth. 

Every single day of my life, every second, God is there with me looking out for me, fighting battles (both seen and unseen) for me, pleading my cause and preserving me from evil. How many people can do that for me without wanting payment? When it comes to relationships, God has never and will never cheat on me or flirt with another woman. He is a jealous God and knows what it is like to have a bit of jealousy. He treats me like I am the only woman in the world. He tells me how beautiful I am and how wonderfully made I am. He has promised me the whole world and will keep his promises unlike man. His love is there for me all the time and when I call on him, He is never too tired or busy for me. He holds me when I cry, hurt and feel like I can't go on. This God loves me so much!!!! I can go on and on and will never be able to write all the different ways He has shown me love. I pray that God will help me to be the best that I can be.

Can't seem to think straight!!!!!

I've been sat at my computer all day and can't seem to do any tangible work. I have got to submit this piece of work tomorrow but nothing is flowing out of my head. I have taken short breaks, given myself rest to see if I can get new ideas but nothing. Don't know what to do!!!! I am going to do some more reading to see if it will jump start my brain. Hope you are having a more productive day?

Peace

There are so many people that I have come across recently and have also spoken to that are going through trying times now. It is really difficult when someone that does not know your pain tells you that everything is going to be all right. You may be feeling all alone, sad and depressed now. I can tell you that I have been in that place where all you think you see is darkness. But I must say that there is always hope. I am always inspired by the illustration of this particular tribe where the boys go through this amazing ritual towards being a man. The boys are blindfolded and left in this secluded area that is filled with all manner of danger. Once the boy emerges from this ritual the next morning, he must never share what happened to him to others. So, one day, it was the turn of this particular boy. He was so scared. He was blindfolded and taken to this spot. He was shaking with fear but he stayed through his trial till the following morning when it was time for him to be a man. He took off his blindfold and opened his eyes to see his dad in front of him.He was shocked!!! His dad was with him all along and through his trial. His dad saw his fears and even his tears but his dad was still because he knew this ritual was necessary for his son to be a man. All along, his dad never left his side. His dad was there with him all through his ordeal. The boy was never alone throughout that ordeal. His daddy was watching over him and making sure he was there to protect his son from all the dangers in that place. The same happened with every other boy that went through the ritual. The moral of the story is that we are never alone in any trial or pain we go through. God is always with us. He sees each tear that we cry. He is a loving and forever merciful God. Each trial is to make us stronger and wiser. We may question why God doesn't help us when we are at our lowest but the truth is that he loves us!!!! He is allowing us to go through the ritual of being the best of who we can be.

I write this today because, like you, I have been through life's journey of learning from experiences and being stronger with every battle that God victoriously delivers me from. God has NEVER failed me and I know He will NEVER fail you too!!!! In your pain, take time to pray and bless others who are going through unimaginable pain and sorrow now and be sensitive to those around you. Have a blessed day and God bless.

Lilian

Finding Peace: God's Promise of a Life Free from Regret, Anxiety, and Fear

Question about certain personalities!!!!

Why is it that some people are so full of envy? I mean, they try to belittle or even bully people that they are envious of. I love to watch and analyse people's behaviour. For example, some people never stop talking about other people. Every conversation has to be about other people. There are some people that are so full of hatred that they manipulate others to hate you too with false stories about you. If there is anything that I dislike in people, it is the spirit of manipulation and bearing false witness against others. Some people even make up stories about others in their small minds and really believe it. They make sure that other innocent people get a taste of their poisonous tongues. I really don't allow myself to get too close to nosey people who use stories about you to make friends or make themselves seem important. My question is, can such people ever change for the better and do they really know that they are hurting other people or are they so consumed in their own selfishness?

Road rage!!!!!

Hi everyone, I hope you are all having a lovely day and that the weather where you are is fantastic? It is snowing over here but I am indoors in the warmth of my home doing some of my research work. I woke up today still a little shaken from the road rage I witnessed yesterday. I think some people should not be driving at all or be let out of their homes because of the amount of anger in them. What I witnessed yesterday could have caused a lot of damage and I hope and pray that God visits this young man and help him with his anger. He was sooooooo angry that he left his lane, did an emergency stop just to prove his point and made offensive gestures. If the car behind was not just careful, this mental case would have caused a lot of fatalities. I have seen angry drivers come out of their cars and go for the bus driver just because the bus driver overtook them. As a new driver, other drivers have done things that made me question whether they went to driving school or not but I don't get angry and drive in front of them to bully them and make offensive gestures. I honestly think that those who go mental with other drivers should be banned from driving. they are a danger to other people and drivers. Have you ever witnessed a road rage or were a victim of road rage?

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Hello Everyone, It has been a long time since I posted on my blog. Life has been teaching me some few things in the last few months. It has not been easy but I humble myself to learn from the University of Life. I hold strong to my faith which carries me through all the storms. I am so happy that I am alive and healthy. That is one of  the greatest gifts God has blessed me with.I have no new year resolutions because I am just happy to live my life every single day. But I have a focus this year, which is to be closer to God and fill my mind, thoughts and actions with the word of God. I want to change the way I think (I want to think more positively)!!!! I want to enjoy life and I want to be happy. I pray that the New Year brings you the abundant blessings of God. May you live in good health to enjoy all the blessings that come your way!!! Have a fantastic 2011!!!! Any New Year resolutions?????

Love, Lily