namwano

       The end of another 365 is almost here. I picked a few life lessons that remain etched like tattoos both on my mind and in my heart. I picked a few out of the many overwhelming ones I would have shared, and I hope that you can maybe pick and carry one or two (or five or ten) and share them too. 1.       Learn to see people the way God sees them. I have always thought there is a reason why the famous 1 st Corinthians 13:4-8 begins with “Love is patient.” It is the foundation for all else that love is. Patience has fibres of grace, compassion, correction and truth. 2.       Do not just have goals in common, have God in common too. 3.       If you stay long enough with people that are determined to stay the course, they will brain wash you into believing that nothing is impossible. That nothing is difficult. That some things though not pleasing at first, are worth the pursuit, w...

To exude elegance under pressure is an art that one learns. It does not come easy. It comes with fear, sometimes in overwhelming measure. But I have and I am still learning, that you never really live completely unafraid, you simply learn either how to control it or go about your business in spite of it. I used to think that I needed big platforms with big crowds to use and validate my voice. Looking back I realize that it is not about the numbers or the wide stages. There are people who rarely go to the crowd to get the message. But they are searching, and they are hungry for that personal, relatable interaction. They are willing to be open to one who can reach them where they are at. My most impactful ministry just happens to be to people I barely know, people I will probably never meet, but they will come up to me or write to me, telling me how they admired my dressing and love for God, that they wanted to be like me. They will tell me how they vowed to ...

“It is one thing to win, it is another thing to win as the real you”. This is my theory of the real me; The real me is not an end, it is who I am now and everyday. The real me is growing; the real me is becoming. And in order to become it, it may take time. In that time it will require, on my part, a resolve to stay committed to the process , hard work that requires sacrifice , and belief that sustains in the seasons when the best version of myself feels like a fallacy. The real me is and will continue to be challenged. My frailty will be inflated, my fear magnified and on several occurrences, I will be greatly mortified. Because I know how deep the cracks of my enmeshed brokenness run and I remain uncertain of the genuineness or fake state of my circle. And by the time I make peace with the reality that ‘This is Me’, I may have lost a couple of things, and sometimes people. Nevertheless, the real me will make good of the wholeness that is crafted by th...

“How are you?” For those who may attempt to be courageous and compassionate enough to ask this good question, allow me to give you fair warning, you may want to brace yourself to carry a burden. The answers from the people you ask may include the following,  “I am tired…” “I am sad….” “I am angry at God …” “I am giving up…” “I am worried…” “I feel hopeless…” “I feel alone… “ “I feel like I am losing my mind …” A lot is going on at the moment. And while it is easy to push each other to praise despite our feelings, as I did in my previous blog, I am aware of the reality that sometimes good words spoken in tough times can be more toxic than healing. We may expect people to brave out this pandemic and quite a number may be. However, while hope is said to be a working strategy, on the day when the crack hits bottom, breaking is a strategy too. “How are you?” We ask this question pretty flippantly these days, with an expected “I’m fine”, ...

Photo Credits: @kilographyke There are a couple of reasons why I do what I do the way I do it. I think the main question here is more the “why” than the “bother”. It is more a question of motivation and an open door to witness what is considered valuable to a person. You get to see what one considers worth it. So here is why I bother; I bother because I do not belong to myself. I belong to God. Any person that has accepted Christ through salvation comes under the authority of Christ. Authority gives instructions while at the same time providing choice and consequences. The choice to live for Christ and belonging to his kingdom comes out of a love for Him. I put God first, then put myself next in line before I let others in. I bother to love because God cared enough to love me too. I bother because I do not conform, but rather I am transformed. My mind is the hub in which dreams and visions are conceived. My mouth is the channel through which they can either be birthed or ...

There is something about care that makes a difference. Something about paying attention to the little things and having a genuine interest, particularly in people, that makes this world somewhat bearable. Genuine interest is an act that can only be tried and tested to be true by those that know you on a soul level. It is something actively shown, not something merely said. There is a famous quote by one John Done that states, “No man is an island”. It is an expression used to explain that self-sufficiency doesn't quite cut it for any human in life. That everybody needs somebody. That everybody needs community in order to thrive. American actor Ron Cephas Jones, in his role as William, in the hit series ‘This is Us’ mentioned a rather profound statement about community. He says, “Community, it’s a strange word on its own, a word not as warm as family. But that’s okay because we have each other. We have this place, and that’s not nothing, that’s not nothing at all.” Commu...

  Photography by: @kilographyke I read an interesting quote a while back that stated this; “In 6 months time, you can either be in the same place or a better place. Focus everyday on improving your health, wealth and happiness. It will take time, but you can make it happen.” As I pondered over the month that has gone by, I decided to do a kind of check-in with myself. Check- ins for me are important, to clarify patterns, habits and behaviors that have either improved and are reflecting a better ‘me’, or have changed and thus exhibited a version of me that has minimal growth. Honestly I can go about thumping my chest about how good I am… but that is not the case today. I think what we perceive as good is humanly relative. But what God says is good, whether or not we accept it as so, is true. There is something many of us including myself use as a tool to try and make us feel a sense of relief. The statement, “I’m not perfect.” Sometimes though, we misuse it as a weap...