Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 13, Issue 29: Keep Knocking

Here's what came to my mind a few days ago. Should I keep knocking on a door I am hoping to stay open a little longer until it's crystal clear that it is closing? What do I have to lose by continuing to pray for something even when I know there's talk to give it to someone else? I think until the decision is communicated, I'll keep trusting God for it, asking Him to grant it if it's His will for me.

At this point, I know full well that I may not get the opportunity. In fact the odds are clearly against me getting it, given the writing on the wall. But isn't this the point to press in even harder? Isn't this the recipe for a great testimony in the making if God chooses to make things work in my favour?

I will keep seeking and knocking until it's clear that I have it or don't have it. Then, and only then will I shift my focus to pray for something else, for the next opportunity. Equally important, I will not be heartbroken if I don't get the current opportunity I am seeking. But I will not have regrets either for not giving my all in trusting God for it. And I will have built my faith muscle in the process.

When David's child from the affair he had with Bathsheba fell deathly ill, he fasted and prayed desperately for days for God to heal the child. As soon as he heard that the child had died, he got up, cleaned up and went to the sanctuary to worship God. He then went back home and ate. This is illustrated in the twelfth chapter of book of second Samuel from the fifteenth verse.

Even when the future looks bleak for what you are seeking, keep on seeking until it's clear that the door is closed. You never know what God might make happen in your favour. But prepare your heart for the possibility of not getting it, so that when all is said and done, you are ready to be grateful and upbeat irrespective of the outcome.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 13, Issue 28: Cultivate Positive Emotions

When something happens that brings negative emotion, you need to coach yourself out of the negative emotion and pursue positive emotions. Look at the bright side of things. Remind yourself of God's faithfulness to make all things work together for your good.

Don't end your day in a sulken state just because you got a phone call with bad news on the other side of the line. Get yourself back on a high with self coaching. If you have seen God work in your corner time and time again, you have no business wallowing in negative emotions. Encourage yourself in the Lord and trust that in His infinite wisdom, He will make all things work together for your good.

It helps to accept that things are what they are. Don't be hang up over decisions that are out of your control. I am coaching myself to accept that if my season at a place has come to an end, I cannot force an extension. I may want more time to wrap things up. I can wish it, but the outcome is not up to me. So it's an injustice to myself to get hang up on an extension that wasn't mine in the first place.

Whatever your circumstance that has aroused negative emotions, rise above it by coaching yourself to help you see things in the right perspective, in God's perspective. Don't wallow in negative emotions. Take actions that cultivate positive emotions instead, for therein lies your success.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 13, Issue 27: God-Incidences

I have found that there are no coincidences for me, only God incidences. How do you explain going out in search of something, only for it to be revealed to you after you have given up on the search?

There's an item I had researched for weeks and set out to purchase through a local importer after having failed to find it locally online. When I was finally ready to do the transaction, I felt an urge to first visit the two locations I imagined I could find the item at. I wanted to make sure that I had confirmed the unavailability of the item locally before proceeding with importing.

After searching for awhile last Saturday morning, I was ready to go back home. I was tired, my feet were starting to get sore, but I got the nudge to walk past where I had packed my car to one last shop at a mall I usually frequent when in that location. I scanned through the items on display at the shop and didn't see the item. I decided to look for other things there, and it didn't cross my mind to ask the shop keeper if she had the item.

As I was almost ready to leave, a shopper came in, and standing behind me, he asked if the shop keeper had the item I was looking for, showing the image from him phone. I turned and took a quick glance and my delight took over when I heard the shop keeper say she had the item, only 10 pieces left from a stock of 400! The shopper wanted 3 and I wanted 6 pieces. And hearing the price, I took a seat and relaxed, grateful that I had not only found what I had gone there for, I was going to spend half the amount I would spend importing the item!

You might say that was a coincidence. I disagree. I could have sent the importer the funds for the purchase the day before. Or, I could have gone straight to my car after searching all over the place in vain. Or, I could have gone to that shop at a time when the shopper had come and gone, or left the shop before the shopper arrived. Or, I could have found the units depleted.

That was not a coincidence. It was God-incidence. I believe that God ordered my steps from the very beginning when I hesitated to send the funds to the importer, even long before that. To the point of my walking past my car tired, to that mall and shop. To the point of the shopper showing up while I was there, asking for the item in my hearing. To the number of units left being more than enough for both the shopper and I at that time. That was not chance. That was the handiwork of God.

Have you missed God-incidences that happen in your life by labeling them coincidences?

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 13, Issue 26: Necessary Arrangements

When we pour out our hearts to God in accordance to his will, he makes the necessary arrangements to engineer answers to our requests. God makes arrangements to make a way for us. To give us a good outcome.

When we reach out to him to act on our behalf, God begins to make the necessary arrangements to bring to pass our requests. In many instances, the things we want to happen or to turn out a certain way are out of our control. But nothing is out of God's control.

At the beginning of the first chapter of the book of 1st Samuel, Hannah was sad and dejected. The story changed when she pulled herself together and went to pray. Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried inconsolably, telling God exactly how she felt and what she wanted. Then she went away and ate heartily, her face radiant.

When Hannah's family returned home, the Bible records that Elkanah slept with his wife Hannah, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked. And before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. How about that?

“Up before dawn, they worshiped God and returned home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked. Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, “I asked God for him.”” ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭1:19-20‬ ‭MSG‬‬.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 13, Issue 25: Coach Yourself

What do you do when the atmosphere around you changes suddenly and without notice? What do you do when someone you were relating well with suddenly goes quite and withdrawn? Do you mimic them and go quiet too, or do you keep your lively disposition? What are the rules of the game in such situations?

I think having the capability to coach oneself is so important to remaining afoot when things change around you, sometimes with no direct contribution from yourself. Without self coaching, you can feel guilty about other people's change of disposition or insecurities and lose your joy.

With self coaching, you talk to yourself about the situation, ask yourself questions and consider the course of action to embrace. With self coaching, you are able to determine to maintain your energy when the energy around you drops. Self coaching enables you to fortify yourself against false guilt and joy stealers.

Learn how to coach yourself to be able to pick yourself up when you're down, as well as to keep yourself from being pulled down when the energy around you drops.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi