Welcome to the June 26th 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
It's great to re-experience the wonders of African artisans.
Living in Spain had made me miss it.
They promise to show up at a particular time and you wait endlessly for them.
For one of them, I spent the better part of 3 weeks getting him to complete something in my apartment.
But I understand.
Things are not as predictable as living in Spain.
In Spain, an artisan could give me a time commitment and he knew how he would make it.
There is a fixed train/bus time - no need to worry about traffic.
There is a clear material inventory plan - no need to not be sure about when the part he needs would be available.
Most of the artisans in Africa are doing their best with what they have.
That’s why I paid some of them extra and for those to who I didn’t add an extra for them, I paid them their first bill without negotiating it downwards.
No need to try and save pennies with people who really need the money.
I tell myself that this is how I support the small-time entrepreneur.
It’s the same with the guy I buy fruits from. Some of them are cheaper at the supermarket chain I visit.
But I buy from him to support him, his business, and his family.
I can afford the extra he charges me without breaking a sweat.
So, I invest in people like these.
It’s all for a good cause.
Things I Learnt
1-Teaching Them When They are Young: one of my kids saw a toy that he really wanted to buy.
We could afford it but we chose not to buy it.
He really wanted this toy.
He has been praying to God to provide him with the funds to buy it.
One morning, he told me he had a dream in which God provided him with the money to buy it.
Every time we go to the shop, he takes us to the section and shows us the toy.
Today, he was wondering if God was doing anything about it.
We decided to show him how God does it by making him do it.
We offered him a contract. Dad and mom would give him different jobs on which he would earn money.
He would earn the money for his toy.
The concept was foreign to him “I’m just a kid and kids don’t make money.”
We upped his motivation by telling him he would be paid for something he just did.
Now he’s looking forward to “more jobs” from daddy and mommy.
We opened his mind to a new of seeing how God answers prayers.
By opening a door for him to work for the money.
The same God that gives manna for food in the wilderness is the same one who gives fields for them to cultivate in Canaan so they can eat from their labor.
Our kid is learning that.
2-When Saints March On: I got the painful news of the passing away of an older friend.
We had served on the board of an NGO for some years. He is someone I respect for his Christian experience.
It was painful news but not sad news.
Painful because I would have wanted him to stay longer - do more and see more reward for his labors on this side of heaven. Personally, professionally, and in his family and community.
Not sad because of the hope of resurrection that we all share.
The pain cannot completely disappear on this side of heaven.
I still grieve for the passing away of my best friend who died in a plane crash in 2002.
The pang of the pain may ebb and flow but it’s still there. There are unlived dreams for the future that we shared that will remain what they are - dreams.
The question of “why do saints leave seemingly unfinished business and cross over to the other side?” is a riddle wrapped up in an enigma
We will understand fully.
On that day.
When we know as we are known.
But until then, we live with the pain and grief for dreams fading like shadows in the morning light.
Only God can comfort us.
May the grieving find comfort in God.
Postscript
May we find the comfort which God gives for those seasons when things happen and we can’t find the right answers we need. 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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