Welcome to the February 12th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
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The Story of My Week
A big thought from my week was the importance of choosing the path of most God-honoring.
As simple as that thought sounds, it's probably one of the most difficult to discover.
The story that brings that home for me is the story of King Asa of Judah in the Bible when king Baasha of Israel came up for a fight with him.
Well, Asa takes a strategic position to solve the problem. He sends some financial incentive to king Ben-Hadad I of Syria so he can break his alliance with king Baasha.
This works perfectly.
Ben-Hadad attacks Israel, Baasha stops attacking Judah and Asa carries away all the stuff that Baasha had been using to build battle positions in Judah.
The only problem? This was not the full master plan from God.
God had wanted Asa to go to battle with Baasha so he could beat up Baasha and Ben-Hadad. According to God, His endgame was to take out Syria.
By signing up for friendship with Ben-Hadad, Asa had won less than God wanted for him.
And that is what I ruminated on during the week.
Just because the path might be more difficult, I hope I never avoid it.
It might be a path of most resistance.
But I'll get to take out Baasha & Ben-Hadad.
And honour God through it.
Things I Learnt
1-Never Stop Collecting Friends: One of the things I shared with my team when I first arrived was that we would be focused on collecting friends in the offices that have an impact on our business.
And these people don't have to be the top dog.
During the week, one of such friends helped us get through a door.
It showed the value of cultivating friendships.
Yes, I said cultivating.
It's different for different cultures.
It's what I learnt in Spain.
And I am still living through the lessons in Senegal.
Friendships are cultivated better when you show up in a way that aligns with their culture and preferences.
2-A Stranger in A Strange Land: During the Parents-School meetup this week, the school talked about an initiative that they are currently doing with the students.
They realise that most of the students go through various transitions - country relocations, multi-school changes, and friends relocating to new schools or new countries. The list could go on.
As a result, they have a support system to help the students.
Beyond that, they also recommended that we as parents need to have that.
This was the first time I was hearing this from a school.
I was happy.
Kids don't have the sophisticated vocabulary to express their emotions - they just act it out.
It's good to know that the school is not just going to treat every acting out as a disciplinary issue.
It could be a cry for help.
One of the many things that happen as a result of transitions.
Postscript
May you always find the courage to make the most God-honoring choice - even if it is the most challenging option you have. Amen
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Tola - The Everyday Disciple
I help Christians like you who want to live intentional lives incorporate their faith into everyday life so they can make Christ focused decisions in all areas of life and truly live to make an impact and make God happy.
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