Financial blessing from above

Today has been a great day. No today has been a fantastic day!

If you have ever read Matthew 6:25-34 and doubted these verses, please don't!

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Matthew 6:25

Today out of nowhere, God did a great miracle for Mr E and I and we are truly thankful!

p.s. If you're in doubt whether to pay your tithe, or think you can't afford it, just do it and see what God does.

{sorry if this sounds so cryptic - I will fill you in soon}

Commuting disturbance

So I'm on my way home from work about to settle down to 20 mins of tranquillity and a guy walks onto the train, music blaring.

Why do people think its appropriate to play their dance/house/garage/hip hop (delete as appropriate) music without headphones, for all to hear. No mate, I do not want to hear your music!

The daily commute is supposed to be a time of peace, reflection and catching up on my sleep. However, more often than not, it is disturbed by the youth of today who think I do not have access to MTV and wish to hear their latest offerings live. I'm sure it's not just me. Looking around the train I can see others who are just has frustrated.

What can one do? You daren't say anything for fear of being knifed/attacked/beaten up/mugged (again delete as appropriate) because clearly someone who has no issue with 'blasting out the tunes' with no consideration of others, will have even less of an issue, giving you 'what for' if you challenge them.

I dunno what do people think? What would you do?

Count it all Joy

'Count it all joy, always remember, life will get better it's gonna get better
No matter the weapon it will not prosper, things will get better it's gonna get better'

How many of you recognise the above lyrics? They're taken from the Kirk Franklin's song, 'Better', one of my favourite tracks on his 'Hero' album.

(source)

James 1:2 tells us to 'consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.'

I read this on Monday in the Word for Today and it really touched me. Sometimes life throws us curve balls and believe me the balls have been curved recently but the great thing about this verse is that it reminds me of why we go through these situations. God wants to make us stronger people, help us to mature and become well developed and through the trials of life we learn to lean on God's grace and trust Him to deliver, as he always does.

Through human eyes we don't always see the big picture, but God does and He always wants the best for his children. 

So remember if you're going through a trial today, count it all joy, life will get better it's gonna get better.

The long and short of it!

Keeping with the obvious hair theme of the past few days. Check out this great article on long vs short from Boundless.

Patiently waiting...

Apologies, if I'm generalising, but why do black salons think it's okay to keep you waiting for ages? Anytime you want to get your hair done, you need to book out a whole day for what should only be a two hour appointment.

(source)

Scenario 1:
I went to a place last Friday for a 3pm appointment. At 4:20pm I was still waiting to be seen and there was still someone ahead of me.

I walked out.

As I was leaving the guy at the front desk shouted out to me, 'could you not wait?'

'COULD I NOT WAIT! I'm sorry but I think one hour and twenty minutes is long enough time to wait if you ask me! This is so not good!'

'Sorry' was all he said, as if it were normal. I was so annoyed!

Scenario 2:
On Saturday I visited another salon, on recommendation. My appointment was for 2pm and I arrived at 1:55pm. And get this - I was seen at 2pm on the dot! The whole salon experience was completely different from start to finish.

Call me a cynic but this second place was not a 'black' salon and their approach to customer service was poles apart, amongst other things.

Now I'm not saying all Black salons are bad, but how hard can it be, to not overbook clients and to stick to time. Salon owners of the world, I plead with you!

Anyways, hair has been done and it's now a lot shorter than when I went in, (but in a much healthier state). Think Chanelle from BB or Posh Spice. I'm still getting used to it and I'm not sure I completely love it, but time will tell and it will always grow, right!

Ladies, share your salon stories, what's the longest time you've had to wait to be seen?

The 'Mane' attraction

So I've been thinking about wedding hair, well actually hair in general and what to do with mine. My hair is relaxed at the moment and has been for the past two years.

Prior to that, it was natural, after I underwent the 'big chop' at University. For those of you who don't know, the 'big chop' is when you decide to go natural after having relaxed or permed hair and rather than transitioning (which takes ages), you chop off all the relaxed bits and let your natural hair grow out.

I honestly couldn't remember what my natural hair looked like and it was so ravaged by relaxing and poor maintenance, I literally went back to my roots, with no regrets about how I would look. You see that's the great thing about University, people just accept you for who you are!

I kept my hair natural for three years, wearing weaves and braids to keep it manageable, often confusing people at work with the variety of styles!

Over the years I have learnt a lot about hair care, particularly around the right products to use and how to take care of my hair properly, whether it is natural, relaxed, braided or weaved. Whilst it hasn't always been easy, patience is key and I am pleased to see improvements in my hair all the time.

Some of the things I have personally learnt:
- you can wash you hair more than once a week
- ingredients such as petroleum or mineral oil, do nothing for your hair except coat it with product (Lusters Pink Cream - you know who you are!)
- products work differently on different people
- too tight braids are bad
- bonding glue is bad
- natural oils are good
- regular trims are good
- co-washing is good
- hair does not need to be 'retouched' exactly on week 6 (I have gone up to 12 weeks)
- you should always wrap your hair at night (can't promise I do this religiously)
- sometimes it's good to air dry (but not when you're going to work the same day!)
- a good hairdresser is hard to find, but once you do find them, they will be your friend for life

I thought for good measure (and for laughs) a trip down memory lane was in order. Check out some of my hairstyles from days gone by.

Simple is best

First visit to the Big Smoke

Not really hair, but a cute pic!

Rockin the braids - Aged 7 with sis

I think I had braids here and then cut them

Braids again

My first 'bob'

The day I met 'Yaki'

Hair extensions ('extensions' being the operative word!)

The Big Chop!

My Afro!

Graduation canerows!

2007...

Holiday braids which I rocked a lot post holiday

My friend

My first and last encounter with bangs

The 'poof' and back to the 'creamy crack '

2008...

Super sleek extensions 

My Rhianna inspired look

2009...

25th Birthday

Ten Guidelines from God

I came across this on my daily blog roll and it really touched my heart. It is all so true!

Effective immediately: Please be aware that there are changes YOU need to make in YOUR life. These changes need to be completed in order that I may fulfil My promises to you to grant you peace, joy and happiness in this life. I apologise for any inconvenience, but after all that I am doing, this seems very little to ask of you. Please, follow these 10 guidelines....

1. QUIT WORRYING:
Life has dealt you a blow and all you do is sit and worry. Have you forgotten that I am here to take all your burdens and carry them for you? Or do you just enjoy fretting over every little thing that comes your way?

2. PUT IT ON THE LIST:
Something needs done or taken care of? Put it on the list. No, not YOUR list. Put it on MY to-do-list. Let ME be the one to take care of the problem. I can't help you until you turn it over to Me and although My to-do-list is long, I am after all... God. I can take care of anything you put into My hands. In fact, if the truth were ever really known, I take care of a lot of things for you that you never even realize.

3. TRUST ME:
Once you've given your burdens to Me, quit trying to take them back. Trust in Me. Have the faith that I will take care of all your needs, your problems and your trials. Problems with the kids? Put them on My list. Problem with finances? Put it on My list. Problems with your emotional roller coaster? For My sake, put it on My list. I want to help you. All you have to do is ask.

4. LEAVE IT ALONE:

Don't wake up one morning and say, "Well, I'm feeling much stronger now, I think I can handle it from here." Why do you think you are feeling stronger now? It's simple, You gave Me your burdens and I'm taking care of them. I also renew your strength and cover you in my peace. Don't you know that if I give you these problems back, you will be right back where you started? Leave them with Me and forget about them. Just let Me do my job.

5. TALK TO ME:
I want you to forget a lot of things. Forget what was making you crazy. Forget the worry and the fretting because you know I'm in control. But there's one thing I pray you never forget. Please, don't forget to talk to Me - OFTEN! I love YOU! I want to hear your voice. I want you to include Me in on the things going on in your life. I want to hear you talk about your friends and family. Prayer is simply you having a conversation with Me. I want to be your dearest friend.

6. HAVE FAITH:
I see a lot of things from up here that you can't see from where you are. Have faith in Me that I know what I'm doing. Trust Me; you wouldn't want the view from My eyes. I will continue to care for you, watch over you, and meet your needs. You only have to trust Me. Although I have a much bigger task than you, it seems as if you have so much trouble just doing your simple part. How hard can trust be?

7. SHARE:
You were taught to share when you were only two years old. When did you forget? That rule still applies. Share with those who are less fortunate than you. Share your joy with those who need encouragement. Share your laughter with those who haven't heard any in such a long time. Share your tears with those who have forgotten how to cry. Share your faith with those who have none.

8. BE PATIENT:
I managed to fix it so in just one lifetime you could have so many diverse experiences. You grow from a child to an adult, have children, change jobs many times, learn many trades, travel to so many places, meet thousands of people, and experience so much. How can you be so impatient then when it takes Me a little longer than you expect to handle something on My to-do-list? Trust in My timing, for My timing is perfect. Just because I created the entire universe in only six days, everyone thinks I should always rush, rush, rush.

9. BE KIND:
Be kind to others, for I love them just as much as I love you. They may not dress like you, or talk like you, or live the same way you do, but I still love you all. Please try to get along, for My sake. I created each of you different in some way. It would be too boring if you were all identical. Please, know I love each of your differences.

10. LOVE YOURSELF:
As much as I love you, how can you not love yourself? You were created by me for one reason only -- to be loved, and to love in return. I am a God of Love. Love Me. Love your neighbours. But also love yourself. It makes My heart ache when I see you so angry with yourself when things go wrong. You are very precious to me. Don't ever forget that.

(source )

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