"Trip on some Grace Juice, Baby"

This is what Marsuvees Black, a weird character in Ted Dekker’s book Showdown drawled when he was about to do something strange. I’m not going to talk about the book (I cannot remember much about it- only that it was the first of his books I considered too weird for my liking).
I just needed a cool title for my post ;-)

We hear about it a lot. We know we need it, but its definition is still somehow vague(at least, to me) so I’m asking, “What do YOU think of grace?”
It’s a kind of tough question, esp. if you haven’t been thinking about it, so if you need a little assistance, here are a few perspectives on it courtesy Scandalous Grace, by Julie Ann Barnhill. The more you read, the more you understand, I hope!

“Grace happens to me when I feel a surge of honest joy that makes me glad to be alive in spite of valid reasons for feeling terrible. Grace happens when I accept my wife’s offer to begin again with me in love after I have hurt her. It happens when I feel powerfully free to follow my own conscience in spite of those who think I am either crazy or wicked. Grace is the gift of feeling sure that our future, even our dying, is going to turn out more splendidly than we dare imagine. Grace is the feeling of hope.” – Lewis B. Smedes

“Grace is uncontrollable, arbitrary to our senses, apparently unmerited. It’s utterly free, ferociously strong, about as mysterious a thing as you could imagine. First rule of grace: grace rules.” -Brian Doyle.

“God gives his gifts where He finds the vessel empty enough to receive them.” – C. S. Lewis

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 3: 23- 24, NASB

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” – 2 Corinthians 8:9, NASB

“When we open our hearts to each other we allow grace to enter. It is as simple as that. And suffering – events that break open the heart- can become the refiner’s fire that leaves us fully open to the truth about love and compassion.”- Kathleen A. Brehony

“We are to be dispensers of grace, not dispensers of judgement.”- Dr. Ben Carson

“Grace overcomes shame, not by uncovering an overlooked cache of excellence in ourselves but simply by accepting us, the whole of us, with no regard to our beauty or our ugliness, our virtue or our vices. We are accepted wholesale. Accepted with no possibility of being rejected. Accepted once and accepted forever. Accepted at the ultimate depth of our being.”- Lewis B. Smedes.

And of course:

“Grace: it’s the name for a girl. It’s also a thought that [can] change the world” – U2, from their sloooow song Grace.

P.S: Actually I understand “grace” better when it’s an experience, rather than a definition. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any experiences at the moment :- (

Anyhow, "may the grace be with you."

Sycophant Business Can Be Slow

“Ita zata shiga Aljanna, amma ke ki fadi cikin wuta! Ga kayan ki baki kamar zuciyar ki!”
“She will get into heaven, but you! Fall into hellfire! See your dress, as black as your heart!”

At most Northern weddings, you meet different kinds of people- a large crowd of old friends, colourful dancers, happy Bride’s maids, gaily-dressed Groom’s men, and, depending on the social class involved, sycophants.
From the moment the wedding service is over, they start singing loudly and beating their hand drums to VIPs.

“Ranka dade!/Live long!
“Everybody knows you; knows your good deeds!
You have the masses at heart!
Kai, may you live long…”

As long as you don’t put your hand into your crisp new garé (designed brocade) and bring out some cash, they will only sing louder. They don’t mind overshadowing the MC or the music playing. When you still refuse to ‘shake body’, they’ll stop and speak:
“After all our work, you are supposed to give us something. In all this heat fa! See how we are sweating.”

When the notables still ignore them, they add: “Toh we are not going if you don’t give us something. We even had to get high before we could do this. Haba, pity us!”
At this point, some people give them something, because they are causing a scene. As soon as that group goes off, another group comes. Country is very hard.

It was when one of such men continued harassing a notable’s wife, that the woman seated next to her said (not harshly), “Go now. Can’t you see you are disturbing her?” And he blasted her, saying her heart was as black as her suit. That the woman he was even asking was not complaining. She just looked past him and never replied. He kept coming back and showering black looks and new abuses on her. Of course, he never got anything from either of them.
Syco. business (and other more dangerous businesses) will continue being a nuisance as long as our money doesn’t get distributed fairly.

In unrelated news…

How to Manage Motion Sickness
I’ve tried eating well before traveling; I’ve tried not eating at all; I’ve tried taking liquids only, but I still get very car sick when the road is bad. I recently discovered that I get slightly air sick too. Baba tried to console me by saying I don’t have “baboon stomach” like the rest of them who don’t experience this (as per, baboons can swing from tree to tree without feeling sick). Harhar! Didn’t know you had a baboon belly did ya ;-) ;-)
At any rate, my “refined” stomach and I decided to look into the matter:
1. Motion sickness cannot be cured.
2. You can only limit its occurrence by employing some of these coping strategies-
a. Look straight ahead rather than at side windows
b. Get a lot fresh air
c. No reading, as “the movement your eyes detect can conflict with the movement your body is detecting, and result in motion sickness”
d. Take peppermints and ginger tea
e. Apply pressure to your upper wrist (acupressure treatment)

I have tried a – c without success, so I hope the last two will help. I got this info from http://www.googobits.com/articles/p2-2939-motion-sickness--understanding-coping-and-ten-ways-to-seek-relief.html

Tagg

Hellow! I’ve been tagged by Spesh and NaijaGirl –thanks!- and here it is:The rules;*use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions.*they have to be real....nothing made up! if the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers.*you cannot use any word twice and you cant use your name for the boy/girl question.*dont google youranswers.*make it as interesting and fun as you can.
1. What is your name: Cider
2. A four letter word: Cozy
3. A boy's name: Chidozie (one of d guys I admired in Sec. School :- ))
4. A girl's name: Chinyelu (she made my day recently)
5. An occupation: Cook & Cleaner(limited to my home sha)
6. A color: Cream
7. Something you'll wear: Clear lipgloss
8. A food: Coated yam
9. Something found in the bathroom: Conditioner.
10. A place: “Crazy Place” (in my head, for >5 minutes everyday)
11. A reason for being late: Cooking disaster.
12. Something you'd shout: Chai!!
13. A movie title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Johnny Depp
14. Something you'd drink:Chocolate-flavoured Viju Milk
15. A musical group: Coldplay
16. An animal: Cangaroo... jk… Cat
17. A street name: Challenge Street.
18. A type of car: Civic
19. The title of a song: Consume Me; dc Talk

This was a nice exercise! Nos 15 and 18 were hard, bcuz I don’t know much about cars (I nearly made one up: Chybrid for China Hybrid- they’re certainly innovative enuf)

I pass the luv to: Saved Girl, Walkwater, IceQueen, Cappuccine Baby and Adaeze.
Cheers!

Did you know that 'Easter' means new dawn/beginning? It also marks the passover festival for Hebrews (Pesach). Most importantly, it is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. As I've neglected my spiritual life for a while now, this is a good time to start over. Thank God for His grace. Meanwhile here's word from Max Lucado. I'll be traveling to my hometown tomoro, so have a Good Friday and Easter in advance.

"God's greatest blessings often come costumed as disasters. Any doubters need to do nothing more than ascend the hill of Calvary. Jerusalem's collective opinion that Friday was this: Jesus is finished.

Such was the view of the disciples, the opinion of the friends, and the outlook of the enemies.The Master who sits behind the wheel thinks differently. God is not surprised. His plan is right on schedule. Even in--especially in--death, Christ is still the king, the king over his own crucifixion.Can't he do the same for you? Can't he turn your Friday into a Sunday?Some of you doubt it. How can God use cancer or death or divorce (or recession)? Simple.

He's smarter than we are. He is to you what I was to four-year-old Amy. I met her at a bookstore. She asked me if I would sign her children's book. When I asked her name, she watched as I began to write, "To Amy ..."She stopped me right there. With wide eyes and open mouth, she asked, "How did you know how to spell my name?"

She was awed. You aren't. You know the difference between the knowledge of a child and an adult. Can you imagine the difference between the wisdom of a human and the wisdom of God? What is impossible to us is like spelling "Amy" to him. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:9).

-Max Lucado, Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

War Against Biting Hunger

A bill is about to be approved by the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly regarding the sorry state of the Nigerian economy.

The Senate has decided to call it “A Bill For An Act To Provide For Responsibility By The Federal Government To Directly Intervene In Matters of Production, Provision, Importation, Supply, Sale and Equitable Distribution, Trade And Commerce In Certain Categories Of Goods Deemed Essential Commodities To Render Them Accessible And Affordable To Nigerians And For Matters Connected Thereto.”

Cramming and citing this long name may pose a problem to the hungry man that the bill is targeted towards, so feel free to call it ‘The Bread and Butter Bill’, or BBB when you are really hungry.

-fapped from The Saturday Sun

Traveling Light

By Max Lucado

I fell asleep in the Louvre.
The most famous museum in the world. The best-known building in Paris. Tourists are oohing and aahing, and that's me, nodding and snoring. Seated on a bench. Back to the wall. Chin to my chest. Conked out.

The crown jewels are down the hall. Rembrandt is on the wall. Van Gogh is one floor up. The Venus de Milo is one floor down. I should have been star struck and wide eyed.
Denalyn was. You'd have thought she was at Foley's Red Apple sale. If there was a tour, she took it. If there was a button to push, she pushed it. If there was a brochure to read, she read it. She didn't even want to stop to eat.

But me? I gave the Mona Lisa five minutes.
Shameful, I know.

But it wasn't my fault. I like seventeenth-century art as much as the next guy … well, maybe not that much. But at least I can usually stay awake.
But not that day. Why did I fall asleep at the Louvre?

Blame it on the bags, baby; blame it on the bags. I was worn out from lugging the family luggage. We checked more suitcases than the road show of the Phantom of the Opera.

I can't fault my wife and daughters. They learned it from me. Remember, I'm the one who travels prepared for an underwater wedding and a bowling tournament. It's bad enough for one person to travel like that, but five? It'll wear you out.

You think I'll ever learn to travel light?

I tell you what. Let's make a pact. I'll reduce the leather bags, and we'll both reduce the emotional ones. After all, it's one thing to sleep through the Louvre but quite another to sleep through life.

We can, you know. Do we not dwell in the gallery of our God? Isn't the sky his canvas and humanity his magnum opus? Are we not encircled by artistry? Sunsets burning. Waves billowing.

And isn't the soul his studio? The birthing of love, the bequeathing of grace. All around us miracles pop like fireflies. Souls are touched, hearts are changed, and…

Yawn. We miss it. We sleep through it. We can't help it. It's hard work carrying yesterday's guilt around.

It's also enough to make you miss the magic of life.Then let's get rid of the bags! Once and for all, let's give our luggage to him. Let's take him at his word! "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28 NLT).

From Traveling LightCopyright (W Publishing Group, 2004) Max Lucado

Cider Schemes

It is not good enough of me to associate going to my hometown (Mubi) with torture, but I do. It’s supposed to be five or so hours from here, but because of the horrible road, it is nine plus hours. There was a way someone described that stretch of road- that it has been lifted up and thrown aside, dragged off in chunks, twisted, squeezed… - I cannot remember how she said it. Last December I threw up violently four times, and all they said was sorry. I wish they added ‘next time you don’t have to come’.

It’s not just the journey that makes me miserable. When we finally get there, there will be so many people… so many things to do… unending kitchen work as troops of empty stomachs come and go… no one to rant to (all my sisters are married now)… weeks of gathered positive mental attitude will be decimated in the face of great resentment… my face will grow long and they will say I should smile because I look ugly when I bone, which will make me bone more, which will vex them more… and so on. It is bad enough that we must go every new yr, but now for Easter/weddings. That’s not fair.
But when Sgt. Baba says ‘yes’ nobody can say ‘no’.
Unless… I fall sick a few days before… he is a reasonable man, so that should save me. Now, I just need to conduct myself well/not behave suspicious. Then two days to go... bam!