My School

This is my last official semester. I guess I’m getting nostalgic, and lazy too because dragging my butt to class is a huge challenge for me right now! (Mom if you’re reading this, I always go to class, I’ve never skipped!)

Anyway, I often say transferring to City Campus was the best choice I’ve ever made. I’ve talked before about how going to my particular school wasn’t exactly my choice, as in I’d already gone for orientation at the school I wanted to go to and all f a sudden, my family’s like, “don’t go here go there”. I’m responsible for choosing to be influenced - this isn’t a blame post!

Anyway, I hated, HATED, my old campus. It was HUGE and the walk from the gate to class was like 20 minutes. My class had like 200, maybe more people so the scrum-down that happened when people practically stampeded over each other to find a good seat was ridiculous. It was a 2 hour trip from my house. The buses/mats to that place were mostly old, rusty, smelly and badly driven at least at the stage where I used to go to. Well, you get the idea, I didn’t have a lot of love for the place.

I got used to it a little by 2^nd year, plus I got to move out to a great little apartment which I loved and it made life a LOT easier.

Beginning this year though, I got the chance to transfer to a new Campus. This is in the city center, a great building, and fewer students, like 1 15-50 max class size, better or at least closer administration, 30 minutes from home, great class schedule…

The quality of my life changed drastically, I’m a hundred times happier here. I’m so grateful to God for that, and grateful I can finally say, “I love my school!”

xo

Jo

Our Kids

Judging from my nieces and nephews, my family has some pretty great genetics! J

My nephew (sis), my nieces (bro), my extended niece and nephew (my cousin Monica)

Can’t wait to have my own!!! I think being a mom will just be the hugest blessing to me!

xo

Jo

Sky-Watch

Get it, because we're going to go see Skyfall next week...no? Yeah guess it's not that funny :-)

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of cloud gazing recently. I don't know, if anything can show you how beautiful, majestic, awesome, creative, spectacular, awe-striking, amazing God is, it's the colors of the sky.

Took these with my phone.

Took this at the Greenspan Mall Parking Lot...my sis and I were half expecting a face to appear like on the TV show "V"

Sunset Over Greenspan

Honestly those colors, pinks, blues, yellows, greys...PERFECT!

God is beautiful.

Took these next 3 sitting in the bus on the Jogoo Rd. Bridge, I looked to the right and literally saw the rain coming (see the rain pouring down at the back of the picture?)...I love that

Love this!

Took this one on my morning "jog" I run up and down this street like 15 times and I think that's good enough for me ;)

This is an old one, loved the light in the middle.

Anyway, yesterday I was praying and just said, "God help me never take it for granted. I want to catch as many glimpses of you as I can"


xx
Jo

Orange for Church

I wore this long sleeved orange top that was a gift from my mom a couple of weeks ago. I paired it with the dark denim boot-cut jeans and my beige jacket that I love – also gift from my mom. So I got dressed at around 7:30 since it was so cold and cloudy. When I got outside, 20 minutes later, the sun was out full force! So I had to go back upstairs and change into this orange vest.

#UnpredictableKenyanWeather!

xo

Jo

Summer Vests

We’re in a season here I like to call Kenyan summer. Right after cold July and before November short rains. 

So, I bought these vests at Bus Station and they’ve come in quite handy! I’m even planning on going to get some more!

xo

Jo

Let's Just Take A Minute...

Contemporary Family Room design by Detroit Interior Designer Jeffrey King Interiors

AMEN GOD, AMEN!

Natural Hair

I am 100% African. No British colonialist blood somewhere in my family line. As such, I have 100% African hair.

In High School, I had this Straight kit thing going on, you know where you straighten your hair then you have to use gel to style it. After High School, I still hadn’t figured out the whole hair thing, (blame 4 years of boarding school where you went to the salon once in 3 months) So, I had this experience one time back at Strath Uni, my friends and I were walking on campus heading to class and we saw another guy who used to be my friend back then. This guy was bi-racial and had great hair, so when we passed him, this so-called friend of mine that I was walking with said, “Joanne, even [can’t remember his name] has better hair than you”

Can you believe that?!

Of course I laughed it off, but I got home and cried like a baby! Then I angrily wiped the tears away and went to my mom’s room and searched her stash for a weave! Got my hair done THE NEXT DAY! Let’s just say, that girl hasn’t commented on my hair since!

Since then I alternate between weaves, braids, straighteners (not straight kit, never ever!) but, I don’t know, maybe it’s the whole growing into my own thing, but I’m liking keeping my hair natural. I wore the curly afro a while ago and felt great.

Who knows, maybe next year this will be a permanent thing?

xo

Jo

Blessings and Declarations

It's never too soon to start praying for the people you love and if I'm gonna tie myself down to anyone for the majority of my life, he better be crazy blessed, I wanna live the good life :-) :-) :-) hehehe.

So my darlingest darling, wherever you are, this is what I'm believing in for you:

• Strength 
• Godliness
• Anointing
• Flourishing
• Productivity
• Vitality
• Unshakeable faith that the Lord is Your Rock

Love You Always,

Jo

My Thoughts on Jeremiah 44 #OneYearBible

Jeremiah 44 is pretty interesting. 

We actually had to do Jeremiah in High School CRE (Religious Ed. but right now, I don't get it at all, it's taken me skipping through 44 chapters to finally see what's going on...apparently that A I got on my exam was a miracle, haha!)

God tells the Israelites, “Do not do this detestable thing that I hate” but they did not listen or pay attention and turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. So the anger of the Lord is poured out and the nation is left desolate. (Jeremiah 44:4-6)

God says again, “Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made. You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach among the nations of the world. Haven't you learnt from the past? Didn't you see this happen before with your forefathers and kings and queens who came before you?” and he adds, that because they've absolutely refused to recognize Him, punishment is coming their way. (Jeremiah 44:8-10)

The nation of Judah, or rather the remnant of the nation of Judah says: “We will certainly do what we said we will do” no, not obey God, they said, “we will burn incense to the queen of heaven, we will pour out incense and drunk offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. At that time, we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm, but ever since we stopped burning incense and pouring drunk sacrifices we've had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine” (Jeremiah 44:15-19)

Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Alyse on Pinterest

Hello, God said He would punish you with sword and famine, so the only reason you stopped burning incense is because you were dealing with the repercussions of burning incense in the first place! It wasn't your choice!

Moreover, if the queen of heaven was a viable/real god, wouldn't she have saved you from the famine and sword so you could keep devoting yourselves to her? Why do you want to worship a god who wasn't there for you, who apparently only seeks to be appeased without giving anything – not love and not protection in return?

Whereas, you have an offer from:

• A God, who is obviously strong enough and true enough to His word to destroy you just as He said He would,
• A God who has kept pursuing you even as you constantly reject Him,
• A God who tried to correct you and who like a loving parent, felt grieved at you forcing His hand into that correction (Jeremiah 42:10).
• As in a God who has more good in store for you than you could imagine!
• A God who when your fathers obeyed in the past, He prospered them and gave them more than they could imagine,
• A God who’s promised to restore them, despite everything, if they'd only listen to Him and stop burning incense to this other thing.

Jeremiah’s trying to make them see sense and He’s like, “Guys! Don't you get it?! Don’t you see it?! The only reason you're living in this disaster is because you're ignoring the one true God!”

It’s absolutely easy to read this and think, man, why were they so blind?! The truth is though, how many times have I said those exact words? Do any of these sound familiar in your own life? Yup, I'm guilty.

• “There’s no way I can get saved right now, I'm too young and I still have tons of partying to do! I’ll get saved when I'm married/I'm a parent.”
• “There’s no way I can become a Christian, I'm in love of this person, if we don't sleep together we'll break up, I can't break up with them, they're ‘the one’!”
• “There’s no way I can serve in Church, then I’ll be on the spotlight and my behavior outside of Church has to match my behavior inside Church!”
• “There’s no way I can quit watching porn/reading those novels/watching those steamy scenes, they make me feel better and they give me ideas, shouldn't I be well educated in all areas of life.”
• “Life was so much easier when I wasn't saved; I had about 100 people I could date following me, now I have to wait for ‘God’s plan’”
• “My parents just don't get it, fine; they made their mistakes, why should I learn from them? Shouldn't I make my own mistakes to learn from?!”

I could go on and on.

I love how the issues we face aren't anything new, putting other things before God started thousands of years ago and we have the Bible to learn from. I’m absolutely sure that a lot of the time we're blinded by our situations. I look back on some things I did, I'm like, “WHAT WAS I THINKING?” Yet at the time, they seemed like the best idea to me. Now I'm just thankful and constantly think, “Wow God please forgive me and thanks for getting me out of that – alive!” Ha!

I’m so fearful of becoming ‘blind’ again, life then and life now – incomparable! In a good way…a great way.

Really, I think my prayer/our prayer should be, “Lord open my eyes so I can see things like you do. I have ‘queens of heaven’ in my life that I may not see as such, but in your eyes, they are. You are my God, my only God and you're the only one who loves me as God. Help my heart remain sensitive to your word alone God.”

With that knowledge comes this privilege and responsibility, that

1. The Lord knows those who are His - {awesome! That a) He knows me and b) He calls me “HIS”, ahhh, the 'romantic' girl in me is swooning! Ha! }
2. Those who confess the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness (2 Timothy 2:19)

xx

Jo

Checking Out My Favorite Song Be My Love by Justin Jarvis

I want to introduce you to the song that inspired this:

I cant find anyone like you, that satisfies quite like you do, n my heart is burning for you... #JesusCulture #BeMyLove #FavoriteSong
— Joanne Furaha (@Joannefuraha) October 7, 2012

said it before n i'll say it again #BeMyLove by @nwardii has to be 1 of my fave songs to worship to on #JesusCulture's #EmergingVoices
— Joanne Furaha (@Joannefuraha) October 12, 2012

@joannefuraha actually Be My Love is @justinjarvis but I agree with you %100!
— Nate Ward II (@NWardii) October 12, 2012

How gracious is this guy! I LOVE his songs on here as well by the way. We'll definitely have 'em on the blog soon.

Nate Ward and Justin Jarvis tweeted me, and Justin Jarvis totally favorited my tweet...I know I'm a dork, but let me be a screaming fan for a second!

Ok, I'm done.

So I'm gonna introduce you to this amazing song and ask you to join in a collective prayer, "More Lord Jesus, more music that raises the standard, more gifts, more talent, more drawing closer to you in worship. More of your presence more, more more!" 


First of all, get to know Justin Jarvis:



Then listen to this and tell me if the Holy Spirit doesn't whack you in the heart...I will give you $100 and by $ I mean, Kenya Shillings (again, just kidding).

Seriously though, this song does a number on me.

"I can't find anyone like you, who satisfies, quite like you do and my heart is burning for you!" 

"We just love you God!" 

That is it, that sums up worship, God loves us amazingly and there could be millions of words and millions of songs to describe that but, the point is, "We JUST love YOU God!" I'm glad they extended the worship with the reprise on another track on the album (Track 6 is the reprise)

I wish they had a video, but this is the best I could find. Please check out the album or you can get it here. SOOOO worth it!






xx
Jo

Mizizi Week 3

I wore the maxi skirt again a couple of weeks ago, and teamed it with this top I’ve had since I was like 14. My mom buys really great stuff, she has an eye for quality and I’m really appreciating that because a lot of the stuff she and I wore in the past are making their rounds back into acceptable fashion. The silver ring, I got for my 21^st birthday.

Mizizi this week was insane! I’ve talked before about how I wanted to maybe go into Pastoral Leadership as a career, so a couple of months ago I decided to get a head start and start serving in Church. So I joined Worship Tea, (yayy!) and I signed up to teach/understudy a beginners course at my Church called Mizizi.

Yesterday it hit me that it isn’t about going and working. Serving is a major Spiritual burst! What I mean is, it pulls so much out of you, you’re constantly expected to grow and change and move out of your comfort zone. Last night I just felt the weight of it. I was just drained. Putting myself out there, sharing my heart with a group of practical strangers, having them share their heart, just the weight of all that.

Then there’s the feeling of, “God, they are so close! Please let them encounter you, please let them encounter you, please don’t let them leave here discouraged and not knowing all that you have to offer”

Then with Worship Team, again a bunch of practical strangers, trying to fit in, having to go all the way across town for fellowship and again, investing relationally and pushing myself out of my shell. Then these thoughts come in, “Why are you doing this? This isn’t a requirement! You’re getting tired for nothing! How safe is it to walk around town at night when you could be at home?”

The fact that I feel like this is an encouragement to me. Christian life isn’t about having this cushy, comfortable, status-quo existence, its active and action packed. Otherwise, stagnate and die. About the stress, I was watching Francis Chan and he said something along the lines of, “Mizizi/Worship Team, this isn’t my party that I’m inviting God to, this is His party that He lets me be a part of. I’m not the one on whose shoulders lie the responsibility of encounter, God is.”

I have to let God come and do what He does, that is, love in His people.

My only job description is to seek God, and put myself in a place where He can fill me up, so that I can pour into others. I have to rely on Him more than ever now because in my passive-church-once-a-week life, I’ve never been in this space where I’m technically “leaking”.

It’s also great because when I start dating and when I get a family, I’m gonna be “leaking” all over that too, so getting into the practice of getting filled up by God so I can pour onto others is a POSITIVE thing.

xo

Jo

Friday's Letters

It's been awhile since I've done one of these! If you're here for the 1st time from the link-up, bienvenue, welcome, welcome, welcome, feel at home or as we say here in Nairobi, "Karibuni" look around, grab a button if you'd like, follow and join my adventures and lets have fun.

Moving on:

Dear Week,
I am glad to see the end of you! Laundry's done, house is cleaned, I'm ready for some rest!
Dear Church,
I'll be on stage leading (background-ing as it were) worship for the 1st time from next week, please go easy on me, I'm still new! :-)
Dear Music,
I'm loving you more each day, writing you, hearing you, singing you, and looking forward to Saturday's vocal training classes.
Dear School,
You've stressed me out this week, ridiculously! But, also learning a lot of life lessons from you.
Dear Mom,
Thanks for being there for me to love on!
Dear Sister,
I miss you, that's why I called you, not for my letter!
Dear God,
Can't fail to see your provision this week, from mom offering to buy me a 2000/= dress, to her not freaking out on me about the school thing, to finding good deals on clothes. Yes!
Dear Nerd,
Thanks for treating me to lunch, I totally needed that after the week I had...pasta and ice cream makes me so happy!!!!
Dear Future,
Applications have been made, my part is done, now all we can do is wait on God to show up and provide!

Finally, to you my elusive man who I'm yet to meet...

xx
Jo

Date Night Ideas: Love Letters

Source: vi.sualize.us via Mary on Pinterest

This is a good one,

Source: etiquetteforagentleman.tumblr.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Imagine with me for a minute, if occasionally during the week, when either you or your special someone feel inspired, or touched, you wrote each other a little note and put it in one of these, set up somewhere in your house:


A mason jar:

Source: marthastewartweddings.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Or a good looking mailbox that fits your decor:

Source: braidmetojune.tumblr.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Then once a week/fortnight/month whatever your date night rules are, you carried these out with you on your date and went through them?

Source: via Addie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Mandie on Pinterest

Source: insomniaticthoughts.tumblr.com via Wandile on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Wandile on Pinterest

Source: woolcotton.tumblr.com via Wandile on Pinterest

Source: highestcommondenominator.tumblr.com via Wandile on Pinterest

Source: highestcommondenominator.tumblr.com via Wandile on Pinterest

Ever the Hopeful Romantic,
Jo

Maxi Skirt for Summer

We are officially in the middle of Kenyan Summer, right? It gets hot and sunny by like 9 a.m. By 12 noon, it’s CRAZY hot! Like, walking in an oven hot! Don’t get me wrong, I love the gorgeous, strident blue Nairobi sky, but wah!

Anyway, I had to get over my arms issues (all the fries I eat go straight into my arms) and thank God for that because these vest have saved my life! Ignore the ridiculously huge smile.

I wore this to town this week and I felt really good, all feminine like. Again no make-up, (my sweat plus mascara don’t mix rule). I absolutely love this hair! If only it was mine! I wore this with my brown flats, but I felt really uncomfortable, like it didn’t look right, next time, SANDLES!

Ok, here we go:

Denim half-coat and Brown shoes – Muthurwa (very new though!)

Grey vest – Bus Station

Maxi skirt – Used to be a dress of my mom’s but I tailored it into a skirt.

xo

Jo

Letters

We Interrupt Scheduled Posting to Bring You...

...the worst week in history!

I've tweeted a whole bunch about the past two days being a royal suckfest...

Tuesday Night:

Jus overwhelmed wth this absolutely horrible day! It started out great and all went downhill from there...;-(
— Joanne Furaha (@Joannefuraha) October 16, 2012

Wednesday Morning:

Scared to get out of bed n face this day, cant take anymore disapointment n stress, jus keep reminding myself (cont) tl.gd/jm1bj7
— Joanne Furaha (@Joannefuraha) October 17, 2012

Wednesday Afternoon: Wherein I was crying in a bathroom stall in City Campus

And the suckfest continues.....
— Joanne Furaha (@Joannefuraha) October 17, 2012

The worst of it, or the most confusing of it was that that Tuesday, we normally fast as a Mizizi class all day. Speaking of which I even missed my Mizizi class!!! I woke up with crazy syk, totally pumped up, spent like an hour and a half just praying, reading the Bible, worshipping, then I step out of the door and BAM! It all came crashing down...I got caught in a lie with a friend, I had issues registering with school, had to schlep across the city for a class at another campus, the matatu (bus) conductor guy told me he was going to one bus stop (B.S) and he stops the bus at another bus stop 15 minutes away from where I needed to be (OTC) so I had to walk in the hot midday sun, more issues with registration, police through tear gas at some demonstrators so I'm sneezing and coughing through town. Yeah.

Today, woke up for class to the other campus away from the city. Managed to get some notes so I'm like, wow, ok maybe today won't be so bad. Get back to the city, and BAM! Registration issues again, it turns out, I'm not allowed to go to classes at 2 campuses at the same time...ummm....should have told me that before I started attending classes don't you think?! Anyway, I'm just beyond pissed off and just sad. Actually I'm not sad anymore, I'm over it. My mom who should be sad, cause well, she pays the fees, is like, "Get over it! Take life as it comes" and you know what, I will.

Anyway, just thought I'd write this all down so that I can remember I went through this and came out OK in the other side {hopefully}

This whole trying period was good though, this morning I just had to google, "Is it normal to live for God and still have horrible days?" I mean, I was confused and mad, like where's the benefit, if I can spend an hour with God and proceed to have absolutely no favor that day?

The thought/voice/answer/whatever you'll call it, came so clear to me,

It's not about WHAT I have to face, it's about WHO I have to face it WITH!

That's the benefit. God is love, He's not out to ruin my day or not protect me from irritation. I guess I had to learn that I'm not praying/fasting/serving in Church or any of it for what I can get out of it. I'm doing it because LOVE, is utterly in love with me, and I never walk alone...(liverfools! lol)

Anyway, all this inspired the following letter, originally intended for God, but, find your own meaning.

xx
Jo

Mango – Orange Smoothie

This is technically a juice blend, because there was no dairy in it, but Mango – Orange Juice blend is a lot of words. Anywho, cut it up, take the seeds out of your oranges and blend till it’s done.

For a great twist, you can throw in some watermelon and a couple of fresh tomatoes for an extra vitamin c burst. I bet you’re like “Tomatoes? Like the one you cook in stew?” Yes! That one, its sounds weird, but trust me, it’s good. For a whole blender-full like this I used 2 medium sized tomatoes and next time, I’ll use 4, because it was THAT good!

xo

Jo

Mad Love - Move Tour Concert

I just realized I never posted these pics! This was such a fun day, I already talked about it here. I think I dance a lot, like at Church, during Praise and Worship, I’m very expressive. At home, I’m about a thousand times more expressive, jumping around in my room and across the corridors, so at this concert, I was right at home!

Outfit of the day:

1. Had a lot of denim going on which I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but I rocked it anyway, including the denim across the shoulder bag (a must to keep my stuff safe and my hands free)
2. Blue pearl drop earrings I got from a guy at Donholm Market
3. Side View
4. Jewelry for the day plus freshly manicured nails
5. No make-up; mascara and sweat don’t exactly go together; and, I changed my hair, I love this long and curly look, it’s my fave hairstyle of the year

Performers:

The guy in the middle is Sean Simmons. He was my fave performer of the night! First because he had the crowd shout “Hi” to his wife and he taped us (aww! )Gotta love a man who remembers his wife and does something like that for her!) Second because of his song, “We astronauts, we outta here”. I have to find that song and put it on The Sound! Another performer I loved was Jahaziel and he did this Ragga-ish song that sounded amazing! And of course, Adawnage leading Worship! Gah! Amazing! Plus the crowd responded, the Holy Spirit moved, and this was at a Hip-Hop concert! God is amazing! We left before Da Truth finished his set, Aggie and I were both car-less and live far, so we couldn’t stay late L

Aggie and I:

Fun day, but next time…VIP!!!! We’re getting to old for this standing and getting pushed around by kids for 5 hours business J

xo

Jo

Joyous – Makes Me Happy

I had a photo shoot last month, so I’ll be posting a bunch of pictures and all those “You’re so vain, how you post pictures of yourself, attention seeker” people are going to hate this! Or love this, either way, I’mma get ‘em talking!

Anyway, I like pictures, I feel like 40 years from now I’m gonna love looking back and saying, “Wow, there was actually a time I didn’t have wrinkles on my face” So, it’s not for attention seeking or anything, it’s for me.

Wait, why am I explaining myself? Let’s move on!

xo

Jo

Photo booth

Went for a glam look here, full make-up, including bright orange lipstick! I got this purple dress for my 20^th birthday at Jamia Mall in town. I love the gold thingies on the straps, I didn’t get a full length image this time, but I’m sure I’ll post it at some point. I got the gold drop earrings from a guy at Donholm Market.

xo

Jo

Faith / Quarter Life Crisis / God

I won't lie, these last couple of months have just been tough. I find myself having a headache every Sunday afternoon because the thoughts just come piling on!

Quarter-Life Crisis is a REAL thing ya'll!!!

Anyway, I feel like God's put it on my heart to grow my faith. Everyday I see, read, hear stories of how God did something miraculous in someone's life and I'm like "Yayy! God, thats awesome" but at the back of my mind it's like, I believe God can do stuff, crazy amazing stuff, just not for me. That's a sinful attitude to have in a way, because,

1. it's calling God a liar, 
2. it's putting your own pride/lack of faith/devil's lies above God's truth, 
3. it's diminishing the work of Jesus on the cross since He died so that we could get the glory and live in the promise of being sons and daughters to God. Sons and daughters don't get "barely enough to survive on". They get to enjoy everything their parents provide for them.

If for example, I believe I'm called to do something, despite the fact that there's no earthly way that it's possible for me to do it, yet, I know God prepared me and led me to do this thing, why should I stress and agonize over how it's gonna get done, the nitty gritty of it, almost like telling God, "OK, now...you're going to do this, pull this string, talk to this person, open that door, and then you can do what you said you'll do, got it God?"

Then God's like, "Sorry, could you just go slower, I'm taking notes, so after I pull this string who do I talk to?"

NO! Can you imagine?!

Me. Joanne Furaha. 22 years old. Mistake-maker. Regret-haver. Rude, Sarcastic and Defensive. Basically imperfect only made perfect by His works not mine. Joanne, giving instructions, making a plan for, the planner of planners, {sunrise, sunset, seasons, tides so surfers can surf, oil discovered just as Kenya is planning Vision 2030} really?

Anyway, so I'm going to force myself to just chill AND get filled up on His "juice".

Don't get me wrong, I'll still pray for stuff to happen. I'll still buy the proverbial "lottery ticket" but, I won't stress. {Remember the story of the guy who prayed everyday for years, 'God let me win the lottery'; finally God comes down and says to him, 'Dude, please go buy a lottery ticket'}

We say at Mavuno, when God shows up, there's a showdown. So, I'm going to focus on God showing up in the day to day devotion life, prayer, worship and then in the other "seemingly impossible" stuff, to just let Him come and do what he does.

The Complicated Mind of Joanne

I read this blog post the other day that really reflected what I'm saying, here's a clip and please click here to read the rest.

I believe when a word is released, there is also a grace released for whatever was said, to be. 

I love the story of Jesus and Peter walking on water. The disciples are on a boat in the middle of a storm and Jesus walks on water towards the boat and says "Take courage, don't be afraid, it is I. Come." And Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking on water towards Jesus. 

Ahem. Let's just pause for a minute...

... a bunch of guys are on a boat in the middle of a storm. A STORM! And they were SCARED! And then, out of nowhere, Jesus appears on the water... NOT in a boat on the water... but WALKING... like.. with His feet... ON TOP OF THE WATER! And THEN He says "Don't be afraid, come". Come walk on this water in the middle of this scary storm. 

Except He DIDN'T actually say "Come walk on the water in the middle of this scary storm." 

He said "Don't be afraid... come."

We've heard this story many times... and we know how it ends. But Peter didn't. We know that Peter doesn't die that day. We know that He walks on water and then when he takes His eyes off Jesus and focuses on the storm instead, he begins to sink. But Jesus reaches out and He saves Peter.  What Jesus says next just amazes me. He doesn't say "Oh Peter, good job. That sure was a scary storm!" Or "Gosh, I'm sorry for having you come out on the water in the middle of that storm... that wasn't very nice of me."

NO!

Jesus says "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" Why didn't you trust in ME?

Jesus told him not to be afraid, and He expected Him to listen... to believe... 

I think of so many things in my life that scare me... dreams that I'm stepping in to, roles that I'm taking on... and Jesus has asked me to trust Him, to believe Him, to follow Him. 

He expects me to listen.

He expects me to follow Him.

He expects me to respond with faith.. because HE has released grace for me.

I had a dream a few months ago where a Lion came into my house. I was so afraid and ran upstairs closing all doors behind me. The last place I could go was the bathroom and I shut the door. I could hear the lion coming up the stairs and I KNEW that He had the power to break in. Sure enough, He broke down the door and there I was standing face to face with Him. But to my surprise, He wasn't a scary Lion... He was friendly! In fact, instead of His tail flickering like lion tails usually do, it was wagging with excitement... like a happy puppy! I realized in the dream that it was a friendly lion! Still SO powerful, but friendly and happy! In the dream, the lion said to me, "you are too afraid"... and I knew He was beckoning me to step away from fear , and to step IN to COURAGE. 

So what now?

 Storms and scary circumstances come in each of our lives. We can stay in the boat, or we can lock our gaze on Jesus and move towards Him. I know that no matter how scary and impossible a situation looks, that Jesus is my safe place. He is faithful, He is good, and He is a powerful, friendly Lion :) So... I'm getting out of the boat. I'm locking my eyes on Jesus, and moving closer to Him for the rest of my life....

Here's to walking on water... :)

Right, so come and do what You do God!

xx
Jo

William Matthews singing Freedom

Guys, Bethel have a new album!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited, I'm just counting down the days til I can get it!!!!

Anyway, they've been releasing a couple of videos from the album (which by the way is a CD/DVD) to whet our appetites and my appetite has been sufficiently whetted :-)

Worship and Enjoy...

p.s you might have some Kim Walker-Smith/Jesus Culture flashbacks listening to this song *wink*




xx
Jo

Bring God into your Health Journey

I love blogging, more than that, I love reading blogs, blogs about people trying to work out God into every area of their life and I Love Life Massive is one of those blogs. Found this post that I LOVED and thought I'd give you a glimpse into the type of writing Michelle does and why I love this blog.


"This past month I've started to crave that lifestyle again. Noooo not joining the cheer squad again... getting healthy. 
Working a desk job all day means little movement and to be honest, I've felt week and tired. Enough was enough and I decided to make a change. I didn't want to trumpet it to the world like I usually do when I start something new... (call me an external processor)... because this time...it was for me. 
I never realized this until recently, but any time in the past that I've started to get healthy, more active, or eat better, it was always because I felt obligated to do so... like I owed it to the world or something. I felt like I had to because it was the right thing to do...  not because I had any internal motivation. 
God has been doing SO much in SO MANY areas of my life, and I've just recently come to realize that a genuine desire to be healthy and strong is a natural overflow of what He has been doing in me. 
I've been waking up eeeeearly to work out in the mornings. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't believe in getting up before the sun. I feel like I am a sun... and I like to rise with it, and sleep with it ;) My point is... GRACE has been covering me! Sure, it's not always easy to roll (and I literally mean roll) out of bed in the morning, but once I get up and going, It's GLORIOUS!! I feel GREAT after a work out! I feel stronger and I feel like I made the time count! I've also been doing Body by Vi. If you haven't heard about it, you can learn more here. I absolutely LOVE drinking the shakes every day. They are SO yummy! Everyone calls it the shake mix that tastes like cake mix :) I actually have to remind myself that I can't just have it for all 3 meals a day... otherwise I WOULD! Ha!! I love it :)

My success tools have been...
1. Working out with a friend... we help keep each other motivated and encouraged... plus its FUN!
2. Body by Vi (it's making my meals EASY!!)
3. Water
4. Hope & Vision for a healthy me! (You have to believe it's possible)
5. Self worth (because I AM worth it!)

If you feel unmotivated or disconnected from health in your life, ask God to give you vision for it. When I let Him in the picture, everything changed for me. I just wanted to share a bit of my story in case someone, somewhere, needed a testimony to remind them that it's possible. I have enough hope for all of us :)

Happy Health!!"


The parts in bold are the parts that really got me. Make sure you head to her blog and read her thoughts on God too.

xx
Jo

Dealing With Heartbreak

We all go through it at some point, except the lucky few who married the boy they met in 10th grade!!!!!!!! {Really?! 10th Grade?!!!}

Heart got broken. It sucked. I cried. I lived.

I know it's cliche, but:

I took this picture on my phone yesterday on my way to church, storm was rolling in. Grey clouds, but the light was still shining through. 

You never know what your struggles now will give way to in the future. I have to remind myself that the second I got saved, God sanctified all my afflictions, messy message, testy testimony et al. The absolute best thing is that now, I'm living in the fruit if that/those many moments, never been happier or known more love than now.

"Keep your head up, don't let up, the storm's gonna pass you'll be ready for the next one." Toby Mac

xx

Jo

My Identity as a Child of God

I always say I'm lucky that God's put a lot of "spiritual fathers" in my life, if I can use that term. Growing up, there wasn't that much of, you know, the Christian Man with Godly advice on all aspects of life, my dad was awesome, but not a Church guy. Now though, I'm lucky to have people to look up to, whether at Church or mostly through the great internet. I'm talking about men like, Bill Johnson, Mark Driscoll, Danny Silk, Banning Liebscher and the guy I was listening to last night who inspired this post - Kris Vallotton.

Kris is an awesome, no-nonsense, I know who I am, deal with it, or get out kind of guy. He and his wife Kathy are senior leaders at what I call my heart's church, Bethel Church and he also instructs in Prophecy at the Bethel Schools.

Feel free to print out {try to ignore the slight grammatical error}

My Identity as a Child of God

I always say I'm lucky that God's put a lot of "spiritual fathers" in my life, if I can use that term. Growing up, there wasn't that much of, you know, the Christian Man with Godly advice on all aspects of life, my dad was awesome, but not a Church guy. Now though, I'm lucky to have people to look up to, whether at Church or mostly through the great internet. I'm talking about men like, Bill Johnson, Mark Driscoll, Danny Silk, Banning Liebscher and the guy I was listening to last night who inspired this post - Kris Vallotton.

Kris is an awesome, no-nonsense, I know who I am, deal with it, or get out kind of guy. He and his wife Kathy are senior leaders at what I call my heart's church, Bethel Church and he also instructs in Prophecy at the Bethel Schools.

Feel free to print out {try to ignore the slight grammatical error}

xx
Jo

Date Outfit

No, my friends, I’m still very much single! However, a girl can’t help but look at her closet and dream. When I’m back on the scene, I don’t want to be jeans every date like I used to be, especially after all the growing up I’ve done!

I’m feeling very feminine now…and the girl has turned into a woman…Haha!

Anyway, I figure this is a cute outfit for grabbing lunch or coffee…out of the city center and if I’m driving, those stories for girls being howled at (or even stripped) in “down” town or those sides for bus station, when they wear short skirts or short shorts, I don’t want none of that!!!

Grey vest - Bus Station

White belt – Gifted by mom

Grey skirt – Bought those huge 1990’s skirts on Thika Rd and I got it tailored

Zebra print flats – Muthurwa shopping trip with my mom (no way I can go to Muthurwa alone J)

xo

Jo

Fearless Summit 2012

I don’t remember if I ever did a recap for Fearless Summit at Church I went to in June. I was going through my computer and found these pictures and I got happy all over again:

1. Swag bag
2. First Day Outfit
3. Meeting my most favorite Kenyan singer Atemi Oyungu (Please come sing at my wedding!)
4. Me and Pastor Daniel from Mexico; this guy was awesome!
5. Swag bag
6. My friend Sally (from Worship Team) and I

We got to hear from some amazing speakers!

1. Kenton Beshore from Mariners Church
2. Esther Obasi-Ike (Eish, this woman was IT!)
3. Session hosts were Gowi Odera and Angie Gichuhi
4. Pastor Simon shares with us
5. Background pic, camera, equipment and crew
6. We had a game where we had to throw balloons at each other across the dome
7. Prashan Devisser spoke for like 10 minutes but he was unanimously the person guys remember the most, all the people I meet who went remind me about him.
8. Swag bag + my first Delegates badge = me feeling like the coolest person in the world

xo

Jo