My Walk with God 🌱

  "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God."  -Revelation 21: 2-3 I can't wait to walk down the aisle ... and hear the words: "This is your captain speaking...✈️" 😉 I don't know about you, but I enjoy getting on a plane, travelling, being a tourist and exploring this big wide beautiful world we live on, observing and learning about various cultures and seeing different people. So when I discovered that today was World Tourism Day, my curiosity was peaked. I learned that the United Nations sets aside this day (September 27) every year to promote awareness of the benefits of tourism to personal development, local, regional and international collaboration and the wo...

"I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving." - Psalm 69:30 Have you ever heard the expression "Ungratefulness is worse than witchcraft" ? I have heard this being said time and time again where persons share about having helped or nurtured others, only to be on the receiving end of quite the opposite - acts of unkindness, carelessness or neglect. While we all may have benefitted from the kind care of another at one point in time, many either felt they were entitled to it anyway, or were too wrapped up in their own self to appreciate the effort of another. Imagine the irony when the opportunity presents itself to help someone who has helped us, and we let it pass us. While being helped doesn't necessarily mean you are indebted for life to the person who helped us, sometimes we are guilty of causing hurt and disappointment to others when we behave in a way that shows outright thoughtlessness and disrespect, or demonstrates ungratefulness. I...

  "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory." -Revelation 16: 8-9 These days, I have found myself having to step out of my home for various reasons, and every single time, I am either looking for shade or air conditioned comfort as often as I can while I am outside, or extremely relieved when I reach back home, out of the sun but not without first being properly toasted. Words that I hear around me that are being used to describe the sun's heat range from brutal to scorching to stinging. Can you relate? I don't know about you, but I have started asking myself if this is normal. Is this a new norm? Or am I the one slowly but surely becoming increasingly intolerant or less resilient when it comes to regular heat from the sun? I even ventured to ask some pers...

  “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? -Jeremiah 32:27 A few weeks ago, hurricane Beryl made her way through the Caribbean. While parts of the region were spared from the full extent of her impact, others were not so fortunate. Several islands experienced devastation, with many homes flattened or damaged extensively. One such location was Union Island, St. Vincent. The island's infrastructure was completely destroyed... and yet this photo emerges out of the landscape of rubbles. The home of Joseph Franklin, resident of Union Island. Photo courtesy The Guardian:   https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/12/solitary-wooden-house-on-union-island-escapes-fury-of-hurricane-beryl Allow me to indulge you a bit further with a news report and interview. The Little House That Went Viral on Union Island Persons may have varying opinions or perspectives on this story, but there is no denying that a house continues to not only stand, but sta...

  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." -Galatians 5:22-23 Welcome to Mango Season!  Mango trees that were once flowering, now are delivering on their promises, bearing mangoes plentifully. Tree owners cannot keep up, persons selling mangoes are capitalizing on the season, and even the birds and the animals are guaranteed a good meal from the many mangoes high up in the trees. It's mango season where I am. Is it by you too? According to research, this fruit originated in Asia, and has even been declared the national fruit of India. There are also over 500 varieties of mango. This means, that no matter how selective we might be, there just might be one variety that can suit our taste. There must be more to this fruit than only what meets the eye. 🥭 3 L essons I 'picked' from a Mango Tree 🥭 🌳Every good mango comes from a good tree. Did you know t...

  "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps." -Matthew 25:7 What do you use to give light? Many use a light bulb or an electrically powered light source. However, there are other traditional light sources. For example, consider a wax candle that we tend to seek out when the electricity goes, or even a scented candle when we want to set a mood. In my country, during the Hindu festival of Divali, deeyas (small cup-shaped oil lamps made of baked clay) are placed all around the devotee's home. Consider also, even before electricity was the standard form of power in homes, many would rely on what we call oil/kerosene lamps. These traditional light sources tend to have some things in common. They have a supply of fuel, and a wick, that serves as a conduit for the fuel, which is lit and burns to give light. On doing some research, I realized also that the wick does tend to get charred, and if not trimmed, tends to smoke or not give off as bright a light as desired. I...