Welcome to the April 17th 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
Happy Easter.
This Easter has been the busiest for us in recent times.
We have had an activity for every day of the holidays.
But it wasn't just having activities.
It was trying to create memories.
Memories that we will love.
Memories that our children will cherish as they grow older.
Holidays are useless if they don't deepen the family experience.
And this is what we hold to live by.
Things I Learnt
1-Donot let What They Will do Control You: One of the reasons why some people don't like helping others financially is because it opens the door in ways unimagined.
I had a similar experience during the week.
Someone I didn't know had reached out to me.
According to her, she got my contact through a friend. She gave the name - it wasn't someone I was in contact with any time recently.
Anyway, she had a medical emergency and what she needed was not excessive.
I sent what she needed and some extra.
Less than 72 hours later, she sends me another request.
She asks for money again for something I consider frivolous.
I took this as an opportunity to educate her.
It's discourteous to be running back and asking for money so soon from someone who just helped you.
Strangely, I have a couple who are friends of mine who complained about something similar.
They had made a significant donation to an NGO towards a project. Less than 45 days later, they got another funds solicitation request from the NGO for another project.
They didn't even try to educate the NGO - they decided to cut off future contributions to the NGO in their plans.
I decided not to just ignore the request I got this week.
I sent her a message in the hopes that she would learn how to behave better in the future.
2-Serving People by Connecting People: I learned that sometimes the best help you offer people in your network is just to connect them.
I saw the value of this at play this week.
A friend of mine was trying to expand his business into another African country.
I introduced him to someone who could offer him some local insights.
This past week he sent me a message that the guy I introduced him to had linked him with a local player in the industry.
In a few weeks, he will be traveling to the country and meeting with the local player.
My joy is that I have given two people in my circle an opportunity to create value between each other.
Even if there is no direct benefit to me.
As my circle achieves more, it could also offer me the opportunity to achieve more.
Postscript
May the power of the renewed life in Jesus renew your dreams and hopes for the future. May you never live under the shadow of a better yesterday but in the light of a glorious tomorrow. 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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