THE BIRTH OF MY SON

Today at 230am. My son was born.it was quit unexpected how he came to this world.But then again few to none birth ever go as planned. As we got to the end it became abit of a theatrical dance rather than a labour dance. Every one kept shouting breath! Breath! Breath! .and all my body wanted was to push the baby out.sometimes it felt like he wasted to come out through my mouth also...i was shouting like a mad person I couldn't seem to keep my mouth shut no matter how hard I tried..my midwife would give me the stern warning that if I keep it up I won't have any energy to push the baby..Got to the delivery room to the surprise that my son was crowing. It then took like ten minutes and he was out. He's the most perfect sweet calm boy ever and I can't wait to be his mommy

SECOND TRIMESTER

It felt like I had snoted up some coccaine. Despite the nause and Vomiting that was lingering from the first trimester , I felt like I could do anything, this was good especially because I had to go back yo work and I needed my strength

I felt great, I was happier, my mind was clearer. My skin was glowing, it felt like I had been bathed in the blood of virgins...

The best moments were in the 20th week when I started feeling my boys kicks, no matter how much he did it. It brought me soo much joy to feel him growing in there

Going for my ultrasound was always such an exciting time for me, it ment I get to see how he's coming along, and he was beautiful, what a blessing to hear that all was well, music to my ears

I couldn't wait to hold my bundle in my arms

FIRST TRIMESTER

I can confidently say that I ment to get pregnant this time, I had lost too many pregnancies and now I was at a point where I just wanted to hold my baby whether the father wanted to be part of it or not. I dint expect my boy friend to be soo excited about it.. we had just meet and dint know each other soo well

Any way.. I did the test and it was not very clear whether I was actually pregnant or not so I went to the doctor and did a hcg test. The results showed that yes I was pregnant but he said it might be ectopic I felt like my heart had sank to my intestines but I remained strong he had said might so there was a chance all would be well. I went home and prayed ,I wanted this baby I knew God would not want me to go through the pain I had endured before. And gor sure after afew weeks it was inconclusive.. I was with child

And hence the first trimester started.. my aunt always described it as a period where it feels like you've swallowed a frog, I did not understand what she ment until I was in my first trem, I hated food I hated the smell of everything. But I was realyloved to be close to my man . So it was realy great when he flew me out to stay with him during that period in Holland. I really need him . Am so grateful for his family looking after me during this period.

My mood were also all over the place. I would fall apart over very little things,I think it was hard for my man because he has never experienced pregnancy before but he tried to keep it together

It was generally a hard time but am grateful for a great support system

It's amazing how if your patient things fall into place as they should in time.

Dare I Hope For More? [1/2]

I just wanted

For once

In this dreary life

This chaotic paradise

To create memories

That didn’t consist

Of truama

And numbness

To believe

That there is

A future

Where I live

With my wings

Wide open

Fire blazing fiercely

Love enjoying my company

•Written: Oct. 3rd, 2022 || 2:28am•

I quite recently joined the infamous dating apps,purely out of boredom and frustration. I wasn't expecting it to be different from all the other times I have done it, but ,i like to say, the universe has a twisted sense of humor.

One afternoon am sitting on my bed chatting to a stranger about what's wrong in the world,and what a refreshing feeling it was,something far from the usual forced conversations about sex and weird stuff.We talked till late hours of the night

NOW it happened that I was about yo catch my very first international flight to London and was quite scared about it, and this perfect stranger offered to accompany me to my travels, infact he said he would go before me to make sure sure everything was set for my arrival. At this point I thought for sure I was taking to a serial killer ,but I kept the faith.

We meet in London and looking back I honestly don't know what I could have done if he had not offered to come along,I had the best time of my life.

That was February. In March flew in to meet me in my country and in April I flew in to meet him at his.We got married

Its July and we are expecting our first child,and what a joy it is to see it all come together. I honestly cannot wait to see how our life pans out.

Its like cupid has developed an appetite for hitting me with all the poisonous arrows. But may be i just have terrible taste in men. Either way my love life is no where i ever thought it would be. Life has a way of surprising us.

IN THE DEEPTH OF MY SORROW

Here the world unfolds both in colour and in grey

Here i discover how deep how far pain can take you

Is it really possible to experience joy again once youve traveld soo far down the path of sorrow. .

How can you tell?

When you read the Bible, you’re going to run into a lot of ideas about it.

Some of them are helpful. Some of them are just weird. Some of them are anything but helpful.

Some of the most harmful? The ones that boil down to making the Bible say what you want it to.

Sadly, no one has a monopoly on abusing the Bible this way. The people who do it come from every political and theological corner you can think of.

One of the worst? Picking and choosing what parts of the Bible to read literally (this happened, here’s what God said, etc.) and what parts to read as allegory or myth (a story is being told to make a point, a legend that reveals something about God, etc.).

Not that we shouldn’t do that. We should read the literal stuff as literal and the allegories as allegory. It’s just that the some of the ideas about how to do that are so easily abused. And easily used to abuse.

So how can you tell? It’s easier than you think. You don’t need a degree in literature or theology. Because you’re already doing it. Here’s what I mean:

“A sower went out to so some seed. And as he sowed, some of the seed fell on…”

Right. You know that this one is an allegory. Even before Jesus unpacks it. If the farmer was an actual person, that’s not why Jesus is telling the story. Jesus is not critiquing first century agricultural practices. Jesus is using the story to make a point. And we all know it.

Today’s Gospel is the bread of life discourse, where Jesus tells people that He is the bread of life. And then goes on to explain exactly what He means.

There are a lot of people who want this to be an allegory. For a lot of reasons. It’s not.

How can I say that? How can you tell that Jesus is being literal about this one? The reactions it gets. And way the way Jesus responds to those reactions.

The first time Jesus announces that He is the bread of life, no one who heard it understood it as an allegory. How do I know this? Their reaction – “How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?”   

Making it clear that they have it right, that this is no metaphor, Jesus doesn’t explain the symbolism (like He does with the parable of the sower). Instead, Jesus doubles down on what He said, on what they’re hanging up on. “Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you.”

Making it clear that they understood Jesus to be speaking literally? The way that people respond to Jesus doubling down – a bunch of them quit following Jesus and leave.

That’s not how people respond to an allegory. Nobody leaves after Jesus explains the parable of the sower.

If you ever wondered why Catholics are so hung up on the Eucharist? Why we believe what we believe? This is what’s behind it.

We’re just taking Jesus at His word. And then trying to live it.

That’s the formula for everything that’s right about our Faith. And something we cannot do enough.

Today’s Readings

I share in the same sentiment

someone tell me to do my homework

We are in a constant state of flux. Changing with every minute every day. Its in the contract of life. To change so as to adapt. To change so as to accomodate. To reinvent.

Alice in wonderland once said" i am a different person from the person i was this morning" and "there no use in going back to yesterday for i was a different person then"

Change is indeed inevitable. Why then must one dwell in things past? When break of day brings with it new delight, new adventures a new version of you to explore and enjoy.

Life is beautiful and its for the living

I’m curious, do you have any sort of overarching plan/outline for any of your larger prompt stories, or are they all purely spontaneous and being created just as you get prompt asks for them? Or a combo of both all around?

depends on which one, some i have large plots for and others i don't

MOVING ON

Here is alittle something i said to myself once as a way to push my self out of a relationship i felt wasn't yielding

"sly his actions today are not going to change just because its tomorrow.Actions speaks louder than words.

Things are not going to go back to normal. Because time does not move backwards it moves forward

Whats is normal any way? .. Things as they were in the past?.. But the past is just that past.. Learn from it and let it go. Just let it go

And let peace and the sweet mystery of tomorrow guide you for every day brings with it new tidings.

SILENCE OF LIFE

Life is long if you dont waste it_we spend alot of our time going through the motions that we forget that there is a life to be lived.

Silence is a great way to get in touch with ourselves and tap into our purpose and sense of being. Silence can also bring us back to how we were. In our primal times when things were much simpler. Inthis we can find ourselves again

In silence you might find that your mind is bigger than the world and nobody can take away what you choose to put in your mind. You can creat a world of calm and kindness in yourmind and be at peace knowing nobody can take it away from you

In silence we face the biggest secrets in life

In silence we meet ourselves

In silence we meet God

The greatest silence in the world is the one inside our mind. Inner silence provides grounds for peace

Inability to sit in a room and do nothing is the beginning of alot of world problems. Because we are compeled to do something and that can sometimes lead into negative cycle of thoughts that lead into negative actions.

All negatively needs a refill turning the situation back into positive notes.." I know easier said than done" . But consistently it can be achieved. And in silence you can take control of your mind and be an observer notice as the negative thoughts sneak in.. In this you have the power to stop negative vibes

Can we take a minute to appreciate the music presented on #

Do you ever just feel like giving up on love? Like may be you were just destined to be alone for ever....

#heartbreak

Faith or works?

“You can’t earn your way into heaven.” On my way into the Catholic Church (I’m a convert), this was one of the objections my Protestant friends raised. It’s grounded in the classic (misguided) idea that for Catholics your relationship with God is all about doing things (works of mercy, certain prayers, etc.) with little or no actual personal connection or faith. It’s usually followed up by an assertion that salvation is a gift from God (that part is true). The point being that (as they saw it) the supposed hyperfocus on “works” in the Catholic Church was unnecessary at best. At worst, it was a distraction or even an obstacle to faith. Were my friends right? That there’s a conflict between faith and works, and in that conflict the Catholic Church has it wrong? Actually, the Catholic Church isn’t focused on works to the detriment of faith. More importantly, there is no conflict between faith and works. Sadly, this is one of the classic ways that Christians mess things up. And end up turning Christianity into something it was never meant to be. Here’s what I mean: With the best of intentions, people try to make the Faith simpler and easier – by taking one positive good (like faith) and putting it above all other positive goods. With the idea that if they do this one thing well, then everything else will work itself out. It’s a very understandable impulse, because the Faith is complex and nuanced (just like life, just like people). But in the long run, hyper-focusing on one positive good almost always ends up putting it in conflict with other positive goods (like works). BTW, this same sort of thinking is the source of the (very not Catholic) manufactured conflict between faith and reason. Back to faith and works. Against the “faith alone” perspective, St. James pushes back hard in today’s first reading when he says, “faith without works is dead.” If that’s true, then what is the relationship of faith and works? Pope Leo the Great put it simply, “while faith provides the basis for the works, the strength of faith comes out only in works.” Faith alone is not enough. Not because you or I have to earn God’s love (hint – we can’t earn it, it’s freely given by God). But because works are the unavoidable result of a living faith. Here’s what I mean. My mother owns some woods that have a small creek running through them. One day, I decided to walk up the creek to find its source. I eventually found the place where it comes up out of the ground. I put my foot over the spot, and for a moment the water stopped flowing. With no new water coming in, I could see the bottom of the creek start to emerge as the water drained away. And then it started to fill back up. I looked back and saw water welling up around my foot and starting to flow again. The living spring that fed the creek was more than a match for my feeble attempt to disrupt it. That is the relationship between faith and works that Leo the Great is talking about. That is, if you have a living faith, works will well up out of you. Like me trying to block the flow of the spring, you will not be able to prevent yourself from living out your faith through corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Just as the water in the creek points to the living spring, our works point to the living faith in us. It’s not faith or works. It’s faith and works. May God bless you richly with both. Today’s Readings