Sunrise in Narobi: Eastlands

 Took these photos leaving the house for work on Wednesday. It sucks having to wake up at 5 a.m. but this day was definitely worth it. I wish I lived on a farm or on a hill somewhere where I could get the perfect view, but this was more than great enough for me.

So I’m wondering if it would be crazy, when I get engaged if I make everyone get up at sunrise so we could have a sunrise photo shoot. Just thinking out loud here, potential suitors don’t be scared off, it’s just one day!!!

You know how in Revelation there’s people or heavenly hosts or elders, I don’t remember which, who walk around the throne singing “Holy! Holy! Holy!” and every time they see a new side of God, they’re just overcome and sing “Holy, Holy, Holy!”

I think sometimes we get a little bit of that, God just showing different sides of His personality: creativity, love, joy, grace…

It just depends on where you look.

xx

Jo

My Testimony

To celebrate my 2nd Baptism Anniversary, thought I'd re-write my testimony. God is so amazing and everyday, I live in his redemptive power.

 

I got saved when I was 11 years old at Donholm All Nations Gospel Church (PEFA) where my then best friend and I asked the youth pastor to pray for us after being heavily convicted watching Colby's Clubhouse :-) :-) I spent my High School life still committed to God; ask my roommates my favorite thing to do in the world was writing down TBN sermon notes and Christian Rock lyrics in my journal and waiting till Sunday night to get on my bunk and sing them. I remember being overtaken by emotion in a CRE class and making a public announcement to my class in Form 1 (9th Grade) how "I want to be a Pastor!" and it was the most embarrassing moment of my High School life, except the time I was in a play and my costume halfway fell off, I felt it and believed it, but it's not the type of thing you want merciless teenage girls knowing the 1st week of school...I digress. My relationship with God then was real and raw and it was just the two of us. It didn't look like anybody else's. He was my best friend and all I had. Those were honestly the best years (till now, obviously)

After High School, life got a little tricky. Coming out of a girls boarding school where every Sunday you HAD to got to Church and every Wednesday you HAD to go to Bible Study, and the only boys you saw were 3 months out of the year during short holidays, all the new freedom quickly got to my head and a combination of that and my dad's cancer struggle led to what I refer to as the dark years. Like, seriously, so dark I've-blocked-most-of-those-memories-out, dark. I made some choices I wish I hadn't and went through some stuff I wish I didn't.

Then March 2009 happened and I started going to Mavuno. Pastor Simon was preaching the "Man Enough" series and that helped me work through a lot of issues. I started going to the youth group there (YORK House) and made some solid friends who stood by me even when I was one foot in and one foot out of the Church. 

2010 was the biggest blurry year every wrong choice, every wrong done to me, every heartbreak, mourning for my dad, it all just piled up and at the end of it I was done. The only belief I had about my life was that I wouldn't live past 25. I was in such a dark place I remember calling my mum at midnight ne night and telling her to pray for me because I just couldn't do it anymore. She tried to take me to see a therapist, it didn't work, so one weekend she forced me to go back to Mavuno and it was the last service of the year - the Thanksgiving/Testimonies service. I was hearing all these testimonies of lives saved and I was just crying thinking "Will that ever be me? I'm too far gone!" I signed up for Mizizi (a 10 week course about how God relates to everyday life) and started that January 2011.

I went to that class every week, I was hard headed and asked a lot of questions, I was determined not to walk out of that class without answers. At the very last day, our Graduation Retreat, the person leading called out the exact cause of my depression and I went forward and I BAWLED! I could not believe God had a word for me! I got saved and baptized on April 10th 2011.

I understood the concept of loving God which to me was "I believe you are real, I acknowledge you are real." I followed the rules and felt horrible when I failed and my new Christian life was more of a job that I reported to and clocked out of when something "better" came along. I struggled to make it look like the relationships other people had. I failed. Miserably.

January 2012 happened. I was sitting in my sister's house flipping through channels then this song came up and I just thought, "Wow, I've never seen worship like that!" and I wrote the name of the band down on my phone to check them out later. February, I Googled them and discovered it was Chris Quilala of Jesus Culture singing. I spent the whole month listening to every song and getting my hands on every album. I was rocked. Afterwards I got on to Bethel Music as well and my life has never been the same.

I understood loving God wasn't just acknowledging His realness. It was getting an encounter with His love and loving Him because He loves us SO INCREDIBLY MUCH. I realized that He looks at me and doesn't rate me based on my mistakes and how well I've cleaned them up, He looks at me and sees me as lovely and whole and funny and beautiful. I realized who He really is and in turn He showed He's showing me who I am. He's showing me that He put a sensitive heart in me, I see Him and I feel Him in little things like light hitting a cloud a certain way or a chord in a song or a picture or painting. He's showing me that He's created me to be a dreamer and to awaken the dreamer in people. He's given me a passion to see dead or broken things come alive.

I auditioned for Mavuno's worship team, something I dreamed of forever but never dared to believe could happen. I got in. I subscribed to iBethel TV and watch their worship and sermons every week and in short...I've just come alive. As you can see, it didn't take a day or a single prayer, it took years for me and I think many times a lot of us give up on God too quickly, I'm still a work in progress and there's so much more of Him I want to experience that I haven't yet. Same way God sees a lot in me that I can do but I haven't learned I can do yet, but, He makes me come alive.

Now, God placed it in my heart to go back to the dreams I had when I first fell in love with Him back in High School. To be involved in Church and ministry, to write music, to sing and to love on people and show them God's love, even on this blog. Like I said, He's given me a passion to see dead or broken things come alive, (relationships, lives, marriages, hearts) and I can't wait to see what that looks like.

 

Hair {on the} Brain / New Hair Regimen

As you might have guessed, this blog is all about....hurr!
Before this year, I had all but given up on my hair. I didn't see my hair ever growing beyond a certain length and I chalked it down to genetics. At least up until my sister (who used to commiserate with me over our shared hair woes) cut her hair a year ago and it grew back longer than mine, which rules out genetics.

All My Natural Frizzy Hair (No Make-Up...yayy for self esteem...not quite, but still) Glory :-)

So it all came down to hair - care. I realized I haven't really been putting much time or money or effort. This all changed when I saw this blog by Megan. She had absolutely gorgeous hair and she totally inspired me to put a little more effort in.

This is my new treatment/conditioning system, I add some natural oils to the Miadi treatments above and use do a 15 minute treat before deep conditioning for an hour.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the ORS Replenishing Conditioner, it's the one thing that didn't make this whole hair process flop. The moisturizing lotion was all water and no oil/moisturizing properties at all. Same goes for the Motions Nourishing leave in conditioner This was hard to spray on and again it was water, I'd rather get a creamier leave in conditioner that makes you feel like you've actually used some product on your hair. (Update: The Motions Nourish Leave-in is actually GREAT as a detangler, it worked wonders, my hair which usually breaks quite a lot as I de-tangle, barely broke)

I tried to do the whole avoid heat and air-dry instead...with these products it was a little difficult {read frizzy} but I'm not stressing out about it too much because it was my 1st time. What I will change next time is probably to stay off of shampoo for a while and "conditioner-wash" because my hair is really dry.

Anyway, I'll keep you guys posted.



List of Characters (All Bought at Tuskys)
Castor Oil Ksh. 177
Coconut Oil Ksh. 61
Olive Oil Ksh. 77
Miss Africa Olive Oil Moisturiser Ksh. 175
ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner Ksh. 525
Miadi Treatments Ksh 225 each
Motions Nourishing Leave-in Conditioner Ksh 325

xx
Jo

Build 'Em Up: Remembering You

Linking up today with these beautiful talented women, so if you're here from there :) Welcome! Can't wait to meet you.

 I'm not a mom neither am I married, so at first glance, you beautiful married people might think, "Why do you need to remember you, isn't your life all about you?"  Haha, well, yeah...totally a little bit...

Here's the thing though, at this stage of my life, I spend 100% of my time thinking about my future and how I'm going to get to where I need to be so I can get married and have kids and start raising a family. I think about traveling and getting things checked off my bucket list. I spend a considerable amount of time stressing about finances because it is just me. Apart from that I work 8-5 and go to a night class 6-8P, AND this month I sing in 3 services at Church.

So, I'm "on the grind" financially. Mentally, those concerned voices start playing back in my mind, from my relatives at every wedding you attend "So when is it going to be your turn?" The fear that I'm going to be smiling and saying "Soon!" until I'm old and grey.

Physically, there's always that extra 7 kg hanging over my head, (or below my feet as it were)

So, what do I do to prevent myself getting run down? How do I take care of myself and keep my identity?

Well, I'm definitely lucky because it is just me. When I get overwhelmed, I can take a step back and re-evaluate. Some things that give me some "me-time" and renewal.

1. Keep Things In Perspective: This for me just means prioritizing the things that are important to me. I'm not working right now because I necessarily love my job, but I need to put in effort since this is the ministry assigned to me at this point in my life. I hope to see it grow more into things that I'm passionate about like Church work and/or raising a family, but here's where I've been blessed for now and I need to remember that. (Especially on cold Monday mornings)
2. Singing: I LOVE to sing. Whether it's every couple months when I'm on stage at Church or alone in my room or driving around. I LOVE it. It makes me feel happy and fresh afterwards. Some music you should definitely check out is Owl City for a fun pick me up or Bethel Music for some renewing, happy worship. While you're at it, kick your shoes off, forget your two left feet and dance!!!
3. Reading: First up, your Bible. This makes me happy, especially when I get some insight that I hadn't gotten before. When God speaks, it changes everything about the course of my day. It realigns me completely. Another book I'm currently reading is, "Face to Face with God" by Bill Johnson. It's taking me a while to get through because I'm always crying - this book is almost all about the goodness of God.
4. Pampering: Take a looong bath/shower. Do my nails, deep condition my hair, do a moisturizing face mask. This always works. Especially if you use great smelling products. And, SHOPPING! I don't know about you, but a great pair of earrings makes me happy  :D

*Bonus - Movies: I try to get out and watch a movie once a month or every 2 months. The rest of the world disappears for a couple of hours which is great sometimes. Some of my best memories happened watching a great movie...I can't remember the stressful parts of those days, just the rush I got when the hero saved the day.

So that's just a couple of things that work for me and could probably work for you too, even if your schedule is a little tight.

God Bless,
Jo

How To Tuesdays: Option 1 - How to Add A Signature to Your Blogposts on Blogger

I've been doing a lot of research in improving the look of this blog and I thought I'd share some stuff I've learnt along the way.

First thing you need to know is this:

Step 1: Got to Layout on the Blogger Home page
Step 2: Click Advanced
Step 3: Go to "Add CSS"

This menu is about to be your best friend :-)

Option 1: How to Add A Signature to Your Blogposts

Step 1: Create a signature on Paint/Picasa/Photoshop or whatever other app you have that can add text to picture. (I simply went to Windows Paint, made a white background rectangle and uploaded that to Pic Monkey for their wide selection of fonts to add the words "God Bless, Jo" and the heart.)

Step 2: Upload this "signature" to Picasa or flicker or other web based album.

Step 3:  Copy this code to "Add CSS"

.entry-content:after {
content: url(YOUR IMAGE URL);
margin-left: 5px;
}

Step 4: Right click on the picture you've uploaded and select "Copy Image URL"

Step 5: Paste the URL where it says, "YOUR IMAGE URL"

Step 6: Check it out :-)

Your welcome :-)

Next time, we'll check out, How To Center Your log Title and Description.

xx

Worship on Sunday: Worship Team Performance

I’ve been lucky enough to spend the past couple of Saturdays at Church with my worship team. We’re in the middle of a 10-week class just built around worship and the life of a worshiper and all the practicalities of being a worship leader.

This past weekend we had the amazing singer/songwriter, probably the best or one of the best singers in Kenya who’s also a worship leader at my Church, The Neema Ntalel, come and talk to us. Her talk was on “Performance”. This was probably the best session yet, we worked out together, did a little tae-bo and some stretching exercises and afterwards ate a lot of mandazis in short we had tons of fun.

There was a lot of material we covered and I felt like it was worth a couple of blog posts, so that’ll be fun to do over the next few Sundays, right?

I’m going to split them up like she did:

1. Preparation
2. Presentation
3. Rest and Relaxation

Then also add my take and a little research where applicable, then we can all relearn this stuff together. Be sure to stick around :-)

xx

Jo

Luke 9 - Just Say Yes!

I'm still working though the One Year Bible and journalling a lot on what God's been speaking to me. Lately my quiet time has been at around 9 at night, and I just read and write. It really is true what they say that the more I've been doing it, the deeper the love and the hunger for Him grows :) I love it, it's crazy in the Kingdom the hungrier you get, the better you feel which is completely opposite in the physical.

Anyway, a couple of nights ago I was reading Luke 9:51-62. I was stuck on verse 59-60 and I didn't know what it meant or what to write about it, which is normally when God just shows up and speaks to me so much more in the "difficult to understand" concepts than the seemingly straightforward ones.

Luke 9 [NET] v.59 Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” v.60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

So this is what I wrote in my journal:

Jesus called me to follow Him, but many times I hid behind excuses. "Let me try and fix myself / let me try and heal myself from these broken, dead parts of my life / I need my me-time so I don't use God as a crutch against life's problems / I need to commit to deal with myself before I commit to deal with God or my most famous and most-used one "let me try and see if this relationship is going anywhere then once I'm happy with this boy, I can focus on you." Yes, I'm embarrassed to say I said that a million times and I hate that I said that.

But, I've been called to life and to leave the dead things behind. I don't say this callously; I've buried a father. I can't imagine Jesus telling me not to stay and comfort my family or be there for them, but from that experience, I know that this verse is meant as a call to life, a call to not allow death to be the victor and the star of the movie, but to allow the Kingdom to take center stage.

It's letting go of the sadness, depression, brokenness or other issue you've dealt with and choosing...
instead to focus on the Kingdom, attacking this not from the viewpoint of death but from life. A great example I remember is when Bill Johnson's brother in law passed away last month and Eric came out to preach the message on the fruit or the report, based on how when the 12 spies went out to check Canaan out, 10 came back with a report, 2 came back with the fruit. He compared that passage to how Bethel goes after cancer and sickness yet cancer has taken away one in their family, that's the report, but he urged us to look at the fruit of this ministry and made it clear that what had happened was in no way a setback but a stepping stone. Eric and the Johnsons still mourned, he wasn't callous, he was real, but he preached from the Kingdom view rather than the "death has won" view

This verse is calling us to life, calling us to live out of Life, life here being the proclamation of the Kingdom of God and stepping out of and letting go of the dead parts of our life. The kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom is the presence of God and that presence releases freedom. Jesus said to mourn with those who mourn, so this verse wasn't telling the man to ignore his family or pretend everything was alright, but to live out of Life not death. Seek first the Kingdom and all else will be added unto you. God wants to be the source of comfort, He's said a million times He's father to the fatherless and brings comfort to the widow. This was never this man's burden to bear.

This really spoke deep into my heart. There are dead or broken parts in all of our lives and this just called me into remembering to change my viewpoint. I'm saving money for school and living expenses and I can choose to look at this like this man did and say to Jesus as He calls me, "let me figure out a way to sort out my finances or agonize about how to pass this interview, then I'll see if I'll be able to come" but God is always reminding Him to seek Him first, to see things the way He sees them, what I struggle hard to do, He does easy.

What areas have you guys struggled to change your viewpoint? Lemme know in the comments/email.

P.S
I just got a picture in my mind of how this guy could have said back to Jesus, "OK yes, of course I'm going to go with you, thank you for calling me! But here's my heart and this is what I'm dealing with, please help me heal from this and know how you want me to handle it." Maybe, someone reading this needs to say that. That is honestly how simple it is to experience everything God has planned for you. Just saying yes. I'll be really excited to pray for you, email me/comment and I'll get back to you.