The Mystery Guy in Proverbs 31
No one knows how to lay the pressure thick like the girl in Proverbs 31. Marriage counsellors love her, men want wives like her, parents want girls like her for their sons, girls break their backs and minds to figure out how to be like her. She truly, is phenomenal.
Men, there is a way to get a woman like her, by the way, but that's another post. Before I write a post on getting her, I'd like to point out a prerequisite. Is it just me or has any one read the first 9 verses of Proverbs 31 and discovered the existence of the Proverbs 31 guy? There actually IS a proverbs 31 guy! Why does everyone talk about the proverbs 31 girl and never the proverbs 31 guy?
Double standards alert * straight face*
They say to us, the Proverbs 31-girl wanna-be's:
"You have to wake up before dark and feed your family!"
"You have to be hardworking!"
"Be diligent!"
"Bring your goods from afar like the merchant ships!"
"Buy land with your savings!"
'ol up, people. There is a proverbs 31 guy! Let's talk about him. No more skipping over and acting like he doesn't exist. (That girl is pretty awesome though. Super-powers, mind-bending abilities and standards etc. I can't get over her)
Well, thanks to Lemuel's mum who wrote the first verses of Pro. 31, we have some achievable standards for the men too .
No more double standards.
First things first, as a man, you should know who you are and what you are worth. Regardless of pedigree, understand that you are royalty and created in the likeness of God, the one, the only. You deserve respect, first from yourself, and from that comes the respect from others. Self-respect and honor are all the swag you'll ever need.
According to the fabulous mother of Lemuel; Men (Kings) are strong, honorable, principled.
Being principled also involves not exerting yourself by sexing some random girl (they ruin kings). Kings have Queens, fact. Otherwise, card decks would be dominated by two guys who don't have a clue. O wait, plus a joker. Three clueless guys. Also, there are no random girls in a deck of cards. Bottom line, you need a Queen, not 9 randoms a week.
Don't be addicted to drinking or need it to accomplish tasks. Drinking heavily as a habit is great....... if you are dying. Any habits that impede cognizance and decision-making are not found in the characters of strong leaders.
People depend on you, people watch you and aspire to be you. Speak up for people who have no voice, no rep, no respect from society.
Be compassionate and strong for the weak. Defend the poor, the oppressed, the stranger, the women!
And THEN you can think about getting a proverbs 31 girl.
Much Love to Mama Lemuel, much love! ❤️
What are your thoughts?
Where's Jack Bauer When you need Him?
These days, i am the most alert citizen. With all the shootings, terrorist attacks and bombings, my eyes are peeled back constantly, staring everyone down.
I look at everyone's waist band for concealed weapons. I look closely at people who act strange; i'm on the look out for abandoned bags and packages; staring everyone in the eyes with my best street look. I'm like Jack Bauer's protégé! I should get my own Chloé.
I probably shouldn't be doing all that staring; pretty sure I look strange too, with my eyes huge and fixated on everyone's belt area.
How do we survive these crazy times?
Before we even existed, God had already given us tons of promises to keep us through these dark days. Simple promises. I wish they were complex but they aren't. Straight to the point and faultless ❤️ On those we rely and on them we feast.
“Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.”
14 Better-Me Habits
First, i just want to say if #9 is already a habit, we should be friends. Lol. Here are 14 habits to adopt that help with becoming a more wonderful you. I know. Just when you thought you couldn't be more fabulous. I hope it helps!
- Isolate anger from your decisions
- Spend on experiences not just items
- Celebrate the successes of others close to you, not just a flaccid 'hurray', but really mean it from within
- Tell yourself what you like about you!
- Shoot down all negative thoughts: Remember “Whatever you meditate upon you become.”
- Speak positively about yourself
- Do not complain but be grateful
- Set goals and achieve them
- Lay your bed
- Learn something new
- Visit somewhere new
- Get a pet (animate or inanimate)
- Enjoy what you do
- Do what you enjoy
Which one of these do you do already? What are your personal self-improvement habits?!
The Gold Standard of Beauty - A Fleek and a Half
My 5.45am self looks very different from my noon self. Ed can testify. 5.45am self looks a teeny bit disheveled; her scarf which she carefully wrapped around her hair last night has unraveled and is now hanging loosely around her neck. She's frowning because she's not a morning person but a recent early-bird convert. Her shoulders are droopy and she doesn't drink coffee, so she has to rely on her natural ability to perk up for the day. Her eyes are swollen because she slept late as usual. In summary, she just isn't the girl you'd see on the cover of Vogue. Now my noon-self, well, well, Charlize, scoot on over (and I might be over-estimating my appearance here, but bear with me for the post)! She doesn't look half-bad at all! I can tell you that within those few hours, some form of deliberate daily beautification ritual has taken place. Some water, toothpaste, lip color, eyeliner, some jewelry, some faux fur, heck, a cat in the crook of my arm to complete the look. All premeditated and done with the intention of banishing my 5.45am self for another 12 hours.
Here's the fun part of this post...if fun means reflective and joyfully thought-provoking.
What daily, deliberate rituals do I do, to make myself pretty on the inside? I hear people say this all the time, ' He's just cute, nothing else' or 'She's a fleek and a half and nothing else...just air inside. She's just pretty on the outside.'
I'd like to be my noon self round the clock both inside and outside! This inside bit is a little tricky though. How can we get pretty on the inside? By being determined to build character in ourselves; by deciding daily to be the better version of ourselves.
Now, my 5.45 self stares at a mirror and goes 'Nah-ah, we need to fix that', But how does my inner self see herself, or understand if she's airy and needs some substance? She probably needs a mirror; a character mirror, that tells her whether she's beautiful or not. Here's where the bible comes in. The bible is a funky, soul mirror. Loads of people hate to look into it, well, because they look a little like the 5.45am me! Well, sometimes my soul cringes when she looks into the bible too! Lol! The bible isn't designed to condemn or point at your wrinkles. It was written to teach us to develop pretty characters and even prettier spirits!
We shouldn't go out looking like our 5.45am selves and neither should we go out with disheveled, messy spirits!
“What matters is not your outer appearance-the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes- but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.”
If you missed the previous post, here it is!
Look Guys, No Toes!
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There's nothing more exhausting than getting offended, being upset, waiting to be pacified by an apology; then becoming offended again, upset again, loitering in the hall for an apology, then offended again....the cycle is endless..... It's gets more complicated when there are multiple cycles running at the same time. Everyone has the ability to upset you; friends, family, kids, colleagues, strangers (uhmm, strangers the most!). They all come with their little annoying wheels and the moment they annoy you, round the cycle goes.
To be rid of this tiresome cycles, I have decided to stop the silly centrifugal force powering them- my toes. I'm cutting off my toes! Now, no one can step on them. True, I still get upset but not for long. These days, I just look at the person for about 4 seconds, shrug and classify the situation as an code Magenta and I move on. And who doesn't love Magenta.
Here's what triggered this, a while back two people upset me and until recently, I had been waiting around for an apology from these people. When I told them how I felt about their conduct, they provided a counter-argument, defended themselves and well, they never apologized. However, since, i've stopped keeping any record of wrong , plus, the timeline of the offenses were becoming ridiculous, I had to do something about it. I apologized to myself on their behalf, bribed myself and cut off my toes! Who knows when these persons would get around to realizing that what they did to me was wrong. If I was still mad, well, that would be ALOT of anger plaque now, wouldn't it? No time. Words to live by:
✔️Forgive in advance.
✔️Make excuses for people.
✔️Don't wait around for an apology.
✔️Cut off the toes (metaphorically)
✔️When someone comes around with the intent of offending, point down and scream, 'Look, No Toes!'
How do you deal with getting over offenses? I believe there's a world where people just walk around without getting offended and wrong-doings just get dusted off their shoulders. If you live in that world, you seriously need to show us all the way! Comment below! xx If you don't, tell us about your journey there!
When your Husband tries to Escape with Penelope
Seated five shelves up, in my dark brown kitchen cabinet, is a large orange bowl. It's a pretty 6.5 litre salad bowl by the Italian brand Omada Designs, and I love it, a little bit too much.
For this post, let's call it Penelope. The day I bought Penelope, I snatched it off the shelf and wouldn't let go, it was the last piece at the store and I couldn't quite explain why I was drawn to it.
I usually reserve Penelope for days that I need to mix dough or days that I'm really in my culinary-beast Martha Stewart zone! In summary, this is my favorite kitchen bowl, so you could imagine my astonishment one day, when I saw Ed suspiciously holding my precious orange Penelope! First, he doesn't bake. Second, he was at least 10 feet out of the kitchen with my bowl in hand with a very determined look on his face! Third, he had mentioned an hour before, that he had some "home-improvement" activities he needed to get to! So like someone negotiating with a hostage-taker, i asked him carefully, 'What are you doing, babe?', I took a slow step towards him.
'I need a bowl', he responds and explains his project, which was to occur completely outdoors and involved every type of ingredient possible but kitchen ingredients.
Only heaven could sufficiently describe my distress to you. Lol. Penelope balanced precariously in the crook of his left arm, pleading with me to rescue it.
He had to be kidding! Anyway, we negotiated and he eventually picked out another bowl, which was previously a pedicure bowl and then we both went out to his home improvement project thing, to which i made zero contributions. Hehe.
You know, I never fully understood what happened that day until recently- whatever inherent value you develop in yourself is exactly commensurate with the situations you will find yourself in. I would never in a million years have let him take my bowl out to do anything other than kitchen-related activities. I was determined to wrestle it out of his hands, even. Lol. The inherent value i saw in Penelope made me insist that she remained indoors for "clean" use and not dirt.
Imagine we were all bowls? What type of bowl would you be? I'd like to be a gold dish.......wait, NO...... a ROSE gold dish with strong but delicate handles and intricate designs on my base, and I'd like to get polished every night!
“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
”
Every time I see the orange bowl, I remind myself that I have to rid myself of all those things stated in 2 Timothy, chapter 2, that are tagged as dishonorable, so I can be used by God for honorable things and so I don't end up being used for common tasks like feeding the dog or cleaning the toilet bowl or be that bathroom bucket with the white soap marks!
I'd rather be a fancy bowl that sits pretty high up the household duties but I have to constantly and consciously keep me clean; my thoughts, my heart, my motives. Clean. Always.
Might I mention that Ed has attempted to escape with Penelope twice. Lol.
What type of vessel would you like to be? You know God fights for you all the time, like I fought for Penelope, right?
Good Things Come to Those who Stalk
“Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who seek the LORD will lack no good thing.”
News flash: Even lions grow weary, give up, take off their running shoes and watch their dinner run circles around them, they go broke, go hungry and lack....but those who seek (chase, delve after, pursue, inquire, quest, search out, stalk) the Lord lack no good thing. Think of all the good things you can imagine, yes, even that random thing you just thought; none will be lacking, if we just choose to chase God ☀️
#stalkGod
SCREAM! Cupcake frostings, Cobwebs and Courage
On my bed, flat on my tummy, typing in the dark; thinking about my fears and masterminding their demise.
About 3 months ago, in my old apartment, I ran into a spider while taking a shower. It was a peeping-Tom spider, who in my opinion was too huge for the habit. Of course, I screamed and ran out of the shower. Then spent the next 30 minutes googling methods to kill a spider who just showed up randomly in your bathroom, and also gathering my ammunition, which included a vacuum cleaner, newspapers, a long, long, long, long, lon-ng broom, my spray deodorant (this I can't explain). I tried practicing my swats at it and I bounced from side to side, looking for the best angle to hit it, but still, after a full 40 minutes, I couldn't do anything. I just stood there terrified out of my wits. Then I started to pray. Lol! Jesus is probably like "Girl, seriously?"
The spider definitely didn't move by any divine power. It just stayed there. Then I realized, there was someone else right there with me.... Fear. This had quickly become a fun, crowded showering experience.
Note: I do not like crowded showering experiences.
I then decided- I would NOT let fear rule my bathroom. This is my bathroom! This, I said to the spider. Lol! If this was recorded, I'd have like 5 million hits right now on YouTube.
After another 15 minutes, I hit it with the famous long broom and that was all. Spider, gone; fear zapped; me again all alone, just the way I like my morning rituals.
Fear; it disappears with one swat, one slap, one flick of the wrist. It's a decision, you just need to decide not to share the shower nozzle with it, just the way you'd choose that chocolate fudge buttercream frosting on your cupcake.