Faith and Life Blog

Staying inside for too long often brings on a feeling of claustrophobia or cabin fever. The antidote is simply a change of location, to get outside, if only for a few minutes. Being outside has numerous benefits for our physical and mental well-being! Some of these benefits include: 1. Vitamin D boost: Exposure to natural sunlight helps our bodies produce vitamin D, which is essential for bone health and immune function. 2. Improved mental health: Being outdoors can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms while promoting a sense of calm and connection to nature. 3. Physical activity: Engaging in outdoor activities like hiking, cycling, or sports can improve cardiovascular health, strength, and flexibility. 4. Fresh air and oxygen: Breathing in fresh air can help purify our lungs and increase oxygen flow to our brains, improving focus and productivity. 5. Connection with nature: Spending time outside can foster a sense of wonder, awe, and appreciation for the natural world. 6. S

  How is your thought life? Have you ever taken time to think about what you think about? These are important questions that we need to ask ourselves. In the hustle and bustle of life, the things that matter are often overlooked, as we busily try to complete our to-do list and strive to make another buck, another dollar.  Dwelling on negative thoughts often leads to a downward spiral resulting in pain, distress and anxiety, while thinking positively leads to peace and joy.  While we cannot control what happens to and around us, we can control our reactions to them.  Thoughts determine actions, actions determine habit, and habit determines character. It behoves us then to carefully consider how and what we think. The Bible teaches that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7),  while Proverbs 4:23 cautions us to guard our hearts because everything we do flows from them.  These are words of wisdom that we should all strive to live by. As we take our thoughts captive and mak

  In 2013, I was diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia ( thickening of the uterine lining) and had to do a minor medical procedure to correct the condition. The problem surfaced again in 2020; this time, it was worse than in 2013. My gynaecologist insisted on repeating the procedure and I reluctantly agreed. A date was set, however, because of the Covid 19 pandemic, I was required to submit a negative test result before being admitted to the hospital. By God's design, I could not do the test on the day and as such, the hospital arrangements had to be shelved. I committed the matter to the Lord, asking him to reverse the diagnosis. A few months later, I repeated the ultrasound and it revealed that the measurement of the lining had reduced considerably and I was now in the safe zone.  In January of this year, I was again, out of caution, asked to do another ultrasound which, indicated that the lining was now at 5mm, which is the cut-off point., My gynaecologist advised that I should

  Don't jump to conclusions - there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw. Proverbs 25: 8 (MSG) There is a saying that if jumping to conclusions was an Olympic sport, many of us would be gold medal winners. This is a funny but very true statement. In fact, many of us, myself included, would not be just gold medal winners, but multiple gold medal winners.  On numerous occasions, I have jumped to a conclusion on a matter before getting all the facts, and then later found out that I was totally wrong. One day this week,  I picked up my phone and realized that I had missed a call from a friend. Based on the time of morning that she had called, I assumed that she had called regarding a particular arrangement that we had in place. Immediately my mind went to work trying to figure out various options that I could take. Before I could settle the matter in my head, she called back, wanting my opinion on a totally different matter. I had been seen wrong.  I'm sure man

  And  we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to  them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 The other day the insole of my slipper kept sliding up so I decided that I would have to take care of the problem. I thought to myself that some Patex would probably do the trick so I set out to buy a tube. Before that however, I called around to different stores in order to compare prices. I finally decided to make my purchase at a pharmacy near to my home. I arrived at the pharmacy but to my disappointment it was closed.  Then I had the idea that I could check at the store at the gas station near to me. I thought it was a long shot but decided to give it a try nevertheless. On entering the store, one of the first things I noticed at the cashier’s section was the packets of Crazy Glue hanging from a rack. Immediately I realized that this was exactly what I needed. Crazy Glue, not Patex. I gladly bought my Patex and left the store feeling quite

J eremiah 18:4   And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. I lifted the lid off the toilet tank to check why it was not filling up with water and to my surprise, it fell to the floor and broke in two. Shocked, I tried to figure out how this accident happened. I thought I had a firm grip but my hands failed me when I needed them most. I pondered what my next move should be. The rest of the toilet was in good working order, but I was not sure that I could source a replacement lid. It might mean that I would have to replace the entire toilet, which meant spending money I had not expected.  I gathered the broken pieces, intending to throw them away, but I needed a box to put them in. So I rested them in a corner of the bathroom and went looking for a box, a search which proved futile.  I advised my plumber of the situation and he decided to do some checks to source a lid but that

  Has this ever happened to you? You buy a newer, larger cell phone and then the old one looks so small.  You wonder how you were so comfortable with that little thing all this time and why you took so long to upgrade. Or another scenario: you leave your small community to live in a big town or city and later on when you return, the place looks so small that you can hardly believe that you once lived there In both instances, expansion has taken place. As you step out of your area of confinement, you embark on a learning curve as you grow into your new environment. You learn to adapt and change in order to become aligned with a new way of living, thinking, and acting. As your capacity for the new increases, you push past the growing pains and eventually conform to your changing environment and settle into the new norm.  When you look back at where you once were it's not uncommon to feel a sense of amazement that in your state of ignorance, there was so much that you were missing. An