Go, Tiny, Go!

During my IT days, I had the opportunity to serve in the Computer Department of a fairly large firm, this was during the era of dial-up and ISPs(you Gerrit?).

If there happened to be any hiccup with the devices, we had to wait for the computer engineers to come around, this sometimes took days, that meant no work. I was intrigued and a bit bothered by the situation because it sometimes meant boring days at work, or probably more time to read my novels. Why must we always wait??

I decided to go up to the Head of Department, a female, to ask if I could follow the engineers whenever they come around, learn the ropes at least. She obliged, and learn I did! I would go with them, ask questions, Uncle Bola(one of the engineers) was a delight, he didn’t look down on me, a lil girl wanting to how to fix computer devices. This changed the paradigm.

Culled online at Dreamstime.con

Fast forward a little bit. Whenever there were issues within the company, I would carry the tool box(bigger than what I could easily clutch), and march to the department that called for help. I remember the sneers from a lot of quarters and the outright rejection from a minute few. I remember a particular manager asking my Head of Department, how she could even think of sending ‘this tiny girl’ to fix their system, my HOD retorted and I can’t forget, “if Bisi cannot fix it, you’d have to wait for the engineers to come!”. He calmed and granted some space. I could feel my HOD’s aura around me, though she was far away in her office. I set to work.

Did I fix it? No, I couldn’t, but it sure earned me some trust and I was being called upon from other departments. I became the liaison between the engineers and the firm. My bosses gave me a go at it. I won some, lost some, spoilt some the more, but I kept at it. One of my coaches in the department taught me to be fearless, the computer is man-made! These fantastic people gave me wings!

My knack for fixing systems have long waned, but not my knack for fixing things. I wear several caps wherever I go and seek for ways things can work or improve, longing to be the true help-meet. I get hired for one thing, spread the tentacles to another. One of my professional mantras is, “Learn the ropes and then improve on much more, life isn’t meant to be static! Another is to offer wings to those who desire to fly, and never look down on potential, regardless of how fickle it appears.

And if you’re feeling like that lil girl with a big head and nothing more than a desire, keep at it, pay day is a day less!

Thanks for reading!

One Size Fits All

Image culled online from http://www.theodysseyonline.com

Growing up, one of the perks of being the last child, is the opportunity to have lots of  clothes. The downside is the fact that a huge percentage will be hand-me-downs. I have two elder fashionista sisters (not sure about that right now though, they seem to have grown more comfortable in their own skin), and their dresses and shoes always looked pretty awesome on their bodies. I usually looked forward to when they’d be handed down to me.

The only chubby part of me as a kid were my cheeks (they still are), I was quite slender everywhere else. My two sisters were sizes apart, one was beautifully plump, with a great height to go with it, and the other was a fine and tender stalk, slender and tall. Yet I would look forward to the beautiful clothes on my body and how nice I’d look too.

Covetousness was not in any way, the root; it was just a desire to look good too, and the dire need for more clothes, need, not want. The clothes do get handed down after several wears and cleaning, still looking good on the hanger but , alas, not on my body!  It was usually too big or the wrongest of fits. “What happened to these clothes?”, I had often wondered. Over time, as I grew older, I realised one size doesn’t always fit all.

Be careful what you desire, it might not be the right choice for you. That job, which is perfect for your neighbour, may not suit your personality. Your friend’s loving wife with the right attitude may not suit your future. You are intricately woven and unique, not every lifestyle suits you!

The desire to live up to certain expectations and put up a front has robbed many of their true shine. Many stars shine dim, trying so hard to be like others. You were woven so differently, don’t conform to the standards you don’t even like, just because! Make up your mind to be content in your own skin and form, you’re too unique and loaded to be a copy.

Image culled online from http://www.coolcatteacher.com

As moments waltz by, defend your uniqueness and shine with it. You love to sing? Don’t cower because you can’t dance. Do not fuss so much about the inability to write a book if you are creative by nature, working more with your hands. Keep striving to be the best in whatever you do, get comfortable in your own skin. There’s no better version of you.

Make up your kind to do YOU! Your size fits you.

Life As A Dough

Culled from Cooking Classy

My husband (and a little bit of ‘I’), have been experimenting on home-made pizza. It has been a time of fun for the family, from sourcing the ingredients to getting the pizza out of the oven. Then, there’s the sumptousness of the taste, either it tastes like Debonairs’ or not, at least, it was our daddy that made it!

He’d most often get the dough ready and then get a chunk of what he needs for the day’s pizza. So, there is usually some dough sitting in the refrigerator.

Last night, he brought out the dough just for checks and I quipped that I’d love to use some for puff-puff(or puff pastry). His response hit me, “of all the things you could do with the dough, you chose puff-puff”. That statement never left me. The more I pondered, the more lessons I got.

Culled from Pinterest

Life is a dough. It is in its raw form, maybe kneaded here and there and with various ingredients in the mix, but it is a dough, ready to use to either make something of value or something that’s inconsequential.

Do not get me wrong, there is a delight in the little snack, but it can’t be compared to the amazing things that same dough can produce.

Your dough is in your hands right now, mixed and kneaded to suit whatever you want. What will you make out of it? At the very end of the day, what matters is a life that truly counts! You may think your dough is worthless but I tell you, a rejected stone can be the sturdiness or doom of a building. Get deliberate with your dough, make it count for all its worth. You can make a difference, but only if you aspire. What’s your dough making today? What’s your dough making for a life time?

  • First Pizza by Chef Daddy 😃

Unmerry Christmas?

If you have known me long enough, you’d know my love for the Christmas season is at uncommon heights. I would be one of the first to sniff  ‘Christmas in the air’, caring less about the apparent wonder in the faces of whoever my audience is at the time. They, the world, never seem to be able to decipher the Christmas aura until the lights go up, not me. I believe strongly, I was divinely blessed with the gift of smelling Christmas from August!

This attitude is not something picked a couple of years ago. Being the last in a family of seven, this sentiment is shared by everyone in my family. Bonny M’s  Christmas songs boom on the stereo as early as September, right after my birthday. Yes, that far back! And we have expanded that culture to our individual homes through the years. A culture preserved and propagated.

Then 2020 happened…

This is November, and my six-foot Christmas tree is still sitting atop the top shelf of the pantry, the urge to decorate seem gone. You’d agree it’s been quite a year. The busy-ness excuse could be used but I know it’s been a year of many surprises and shocks. The most dramatic year I’ve ever experienced. Ups, downs and Midlands. Personal experiences have weighed me down, other people’s stories have touched me deeper. It’s been a year of extending and receiving tremendous support and glaring gloom, across the world.

But, there are many blessings all around us we must not fail to count. Despite events being as uncertain as how the tides will be, we can still spread a Christmas cheer for all to share. We can be a blessing to people and the reason there’s a smile on a face. People have been through a lot, their very breath hanging in a thin balance.

This Christmas, visit someone, share a smile with a stranger, hold someone’s hands, hug a fellow, lend your ears, and speak kind words. You just don’t know what burden that fellow is carrying, or how much they have actually lost. Christmas should be merry…be deliberate about your part in it!

I promise to put up my tree, it will be a Merry Christmas definitely! What will you do differently this Christmas?

Undecorated Christmas Tree culled from Goodhousekeeping.com

God…I’m Trying (A Poem)

God…You know I’m trying
You know my pains and secret tears
You know my wishes and how I yearn for answers
I know You’re able Lord, please hear my cry…

God…You know my deepest desires
You know how much I really long
What I ask I know You’re able
You’ve done so much oh yes I know
This one too Lord, it needs Your hands

God…You know I’m grateful
All Your tenderness I don’t belittle
But Lord I know I pray and ask
Or wish I pray a little harder than before
Peradventure I need to PUSH a little more

God…You know I’m trying
I fight the tears and force the smiles
I catch the drop so it won’t fall
This again dearest Saviour
Grant this request dear Lord I pray

THREE Os OF EVENTS PLANNING & MANAGEMENT

Are you planning an event soon? Hosting an event can be both fun and overwhelming at the same time. Large scale or petite, there is no event that should lack the touch of proper planning. There are several points to note when planning an event, but we’d consider these three today. Let’s dive in!

Openness

One of the major challenges event planners and clients alike go through is incomplete disclosure of the true state of things. The Event Manager is not telling the client how limited intellectual or creativity resources are, neither is the client discussing how much the budget really is. The events manager is like your lawyer, you don’t keep important information away from him (or her). The Event Planner is your best buddy for six months or a year or for as long as he is planning your event, it is important you stick really close so budget lapses can be covered. Same goes to the events manager, letting your client know in record time, about the inability of that particular decorator to deliver as promised is just as important! Open up on everything that is necessary, hold nothing back, it does more harm than good in the longer run.

Organisation

This is the very core of any event. Client and Planner alike have got to be organised. Being organised or otherwise does not start to play out on the day of the event, it does start on the day of your first meeting, online or offline, and cascades down to several other interactions that come afterwards. Organisation is displayed at punctuality, reliability, people management (e.g. remembering to invite the caterer for a pre-event meeting with the vendors) and being able to keep it all together when things don’t go as planned, an example on my mind is if the trusted Compere is running late for a company’s AGM. A lack of organisation can pull down all the months of hard-work, like a pack of cards. Proper organisation ensures all ‘Tees’ are crossed and necessary ‘Is’ are dotted.

Originality

While admiration of a concept might be so cool, the ability to use creativity to bring out the uniqueness of an event depends on both the client and the planner. Its no use asking for live hanging-angels as part of décor for an outdoor event scheduled for a rainy season, just because it was seen at Sharon and David’s indoor wedding reception. Be original, emulate a great concept only if it can be applied to the event you are working towards, even at that, make it yours. You can avoid copying hook, line and sinker, put creativity at play and put your signature on that one event. Avoid the temptation to plagiarize someone else’s creativity, more often than not, it robs you of your shine.

There are several other factors to consider when hosting or planning an event. It requires dedication, strength of character and an unwavering commitment to the success of the program.

Planning an event or in need of further clarifications? Do not hesitate to contact OrangeBerries Events Managers. THANK YOU!

+234-8099507903
@orangeberries_em
@orangeberriesng

Before the Fragrance Turns to Fire!🔥🔥🔥

First it was Fragrance 🌀🌀

Then it turned to Fire 🔥🔥

My Worship is my Weapon🏹💣⚔️

This is how I win my battles✔️🏁💪

Scholar sent this song.

I have had this song title by Pastor Dunsin Oyekan on repeat all day. It has been a huge blessing to my soul. Infact, I stopped it from playing to connect to Church Online, and lo, same song was being rendered by the choir online…the mood continued…

I drove several kilometres and this was the only song I listened to all the way down and back home, I just couldn’t let go…

I was in the bathroom late in the night and I had a discussion with the HS, when will my Fragrance turn to Fire??? As I waited for an answer, I asked again, what will I be doing the period between the Fragrance turning to Fire??? I had put my trust in God some and worshipped God in careless abandon, just being in love with my Father.

The answer was very succinct and applicable to me. The HS took me back 14 years to the dingy kitchen we had at Ebonyi State NCCF (Nigerian Christian Corpers Fellowship) Family House at Abakaliki, Nigeria. Despite our sophistication, we were limited to the use of firewood for daily meals. Prior to that time, I had learnt how to use firewood to cook but thanks to God and the sisters around me, my skills were perfected that blessed year.

We would place wood one on the other, setting it masterfully to aid quicker spread of the fire from beneath. After being lit with the regular support materials (kerosene, paper, plastic, ‘Ogunso’- a local combustible substance, etc), the smoke will rear it’s head and then the real work starts. FANNING IT TO FLAME!!! I was reminded of what Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6, to fan to flame the gift of God within him(Timothy)

I caught it! In between the Fragrance and the Fire is a Fanning, a continuous effort, in this case, a continuous flow of worship and further instructions…till BOOM, we have a weapon of Fire !!!🔥🔥🔥. Of course there were other methods but I got the gist 👌

No relenting, no distressing, no complaints, no distractions, no worrying, no whining…but rather, a Fanning to flame. That Fragrance is not ordinary, it’s got potential to become a fireball as was the case of Elijah(2Kings 1:12) or a firewall as was promised Jerusalem(Zechariah 2:4-5), or both, depending on what results you desire to see! Either way, you can never loose with Worship!

God bless you!

Culled from Shutterstock