Ok! Its been a while, haven't come around here but the world has not stopped moving. While we are still trying to wrap our hands round one major event, another happens immediately after and we start again, it's a never ending cycle. For me the major event of the past weeks is the Boston Marathon bombing. Now, answers are sought as to what motivated two young men and Tsarnaev brothers; Dzhokhar, 19, and Tamerlan, 26 to plant twin bombs at the finish line of the Marathon injuring countless individuals and killing three including an 8 year old boy, Martin Richard; Chinese graduate student, Lingzi Lu and 29 year old Kristle Campbell.

While the world attempts to understand exactly what went wrong, it once again brings to the fore, the issue of home-grown terrorists with apparently no outside backing and the vulnerability of public places. Only God knows how many like individuals are plotting and planning another episode even while i type/you read. God help us!

We also had the Texas explosion at a fertilizer plant that killed scores of people, the cause of which is still being investigated. One silver lining was the story of the man who was at the venue of the Boston bombings, escaped death or injury and went back home to Texas, only to witness that explosion! Mr Joe Berti definitely has a lot to thank God for!

“It’s a miracle,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. “People keep saying, ‘Don’t you feel unlucky?’ and I was actually the opposite — saying not only do I not feel unlucky, but I feel blessed that my wife could be 10 yards from the explosion and not have a scratch.

So in the midst of all the chaos, there still so much to be thankful for.

On a lighter note, in Nigeria, number portability has finally been introduced. with none other then Saka (Afeez Oyetoro) as the first symbol of porting. He ported from advertising for Etisalat to MTN (from green to yellow). All of a sudden the advert is the talk of the town, the new oga@thetop-like craze. I loved the concept behind the advert. Simply communicated and Saka executed perfectly with his our port-ing moves! :) However, several questions have also arisen about violation of contract terms since he was advertising for two telcos in pretty much the same market. My take? Both parties would definitely have examined the issues of liability before getting entangled together, if they dont have a problem, why should i now? Them go pay me commission ni? Cannot take Panadol for another's headache jor! =D


Additional reports from thestar.com World



Takias!!

ok, so i'm trying to get a hang of this blogging business...not as easy as i thought oh.... there's some news, then some articles and even the diary-like write-up.

hmmn! the only thing i know is that i like to write and hopefully, eventually i will figure it all out!

*patience, patience*

LIVING IN A RUT OR...NOT

F

or me and I am sure for a lot of women out there, we have a picture perfect idea of the kind of life we want to live. Most definitely, a life of love with the near perfect husband, a wonderful job, a lovely home and beautiful children who come as and when we decide we are ready to welcome them, a great circle of supportive friends. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case as we obviously come to realise somewhere down the line. I am married to this wonderful man, I have a great job and two beautiful and boisterous children and did I mention a home complete with the proverbial white-picket fence. But on some really obscure level I still feel a teeny-weeny bit unfulfilled. I feel like I am in some sort of rut. Maybe it’s the famous (or infamous) mid-life crisis, (but I’m just 30?!). Maybe I am just lacking the necessary challenges, motivations which are sure to provide that constant adrenaline rush. Maybe and maybe and even more maybes.

 I know a whole lot of people who would give their right arms and even an additional leg just to be in my shoes. Friends, family and even foes congratulate me at every opportunity and tell me how lucky I am to be so blessed and fortunate to have all that I do at this point in my life.

A major thorn in my neck is that I cannot seem to find the most appropriate person to talk to. It has become like the proverbial saying expressed in my native language as ‘eni to ni ori, o ni fila’ which loosely translates to mean a person does not always appreciate what he has as against someone else who doesn’t have as much. Any one I try to confide in just has this expression of ‘oh, what an ingrate’ or ‘is she for real?’

You know it got so bad that I began rummaging through my husband’s medical journals, searching for the medical condition I seem to be suffering from but it appears to be non-existent unless and except I am the first person to be so afflicted, I’ve spoken to my pastor too, he just seems to think I should pray more and praise even more…

Don’t get me wrong, I actually feel very loved by God and enamoured of the mercies which he has chosen to bestow on little-known me. And beyond all this is the over-whelming realization that I am blessed beyond reason and above all my expectations. I am at the best period in my life and I must and should be thankful for that.

I have decided to make the choice that my being on this earth should be for the benefit of others too. There are so many people hurting out there and I feel I can reach out to help, improve their situations and the challenge of doing this might just be all I need.

I have come to realise that, possibly, the one way I can quench this seemingly unreasonable longing for constant stimulation is to reach out and touch the lives of those around me who are a little less fortunate or privileged. Come to think of it, my being on earth should not just be for me, myself and I, but for the benefit of others and spending time, money and effort with those kids in the orphanage in my neighbourhood or those health-challenged folks in the hospital down the road, orphaned and vulnerable children who are still discriminated against even in educated circles, learning about their lives, loves, challenges, happiness, sadness and looking for a means to make a difference positively could be even more therapeutic. This might just be the propellent for my own fulfilment in life and I can touch lives and make a difference along the way.

When the liturgy just isn't fun anymore

 i wrote this article for my church magazine a while back, but still see it as relevant after an event that happened last week...(that story is on its way oh :)

i titled it 'dis-enchantment with orthodox worship'

By orthodox, I mean traditional and in line with that I am referring to churches such as the Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian denominations etc. Basically, churches where there is a stated procedure of doing things, there is a liturgy or program for services (either Matins or Holy Communion), the priests or pastors dress in a particular way and such similar things.

While growing up, it seemed as though all the people I knew fell into one of the above categories and of course as kids, we automatically fell in line with our parents. However today, it is very rare to find a youth i.e. 17-30yrs of age who professes to be Anglican or Presbyterian whole heartedly and is happily so. Rather there are more households like my cousins’- their father is catholic, their mother, apostolic and the kids are members of different Pentecostal churches (one is a winner, the other goes to Global Harvest and the third attends BLW). Why is this so? Is there something fundamentally wrong with orthodox churches or is Pentecostalism merely a passing fad?

I personally love my church and it happens to be an Anglican cathedral. This does not mean that I am ok or down with everything that goes on within the echelons of the church or even some of its practices, but I like the essence of the church, the hymns, doxology, liturgy, benediction etc which have formed a major part of my growing up years are actually some of the reasons that endears my heart to the church for example I can basically recite the Eucharistic prayer1 by heart! But come to think of it, this is a major reason why so many young people flee. They don’t like the whole repetitive, traditional, ritualistic services; the boring sermons with priests dressed in more clothes than the average street bum, and hymns? No way! Give way to Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary and the Winans Phase 2!

Coincidentally however, a lot of the so called traditional churches are evolving methods and means different from the hard core rigidity that characterizes their services, there is more flexibility in their worship, more youth oriented preachers are given centre stage. A major contention point used to be that of dressing. These churches are no longer as strict so that now a female doesn’t have to cover her hair and could also wear trousers which was hitherto frowned at.

It is possible today to enter a Methodist cathedral and the only difference with God will do it Ministries would be the edifice and possibly the priests. Orthodox churches that are refusing to comply are losing their youths faster than one can blink. What to do? The only solution I see now is for the older generation churches to make their churches youth-friendly. This is not to say that they should lose their essence. To appeal to the youths who constitute a huge percentage of our population, free worship sessions should be encouraged more often than the predictable and sometimes boring monotonous services. Whilst a more liberal approach is ok with regard to dressing, they should not go over board by compromising and permitting sin in form of outfits, also greater interaction should be encouraged between the congregation and the leadership.

Above all it should be borne in mind that worship devoid of Christ is no worship at all. So in making all these changes and more, the greatest emphasis should be placed on the pre-eminence of the triune God.     

News!! April 11th 2013

whats new on today's news? a lot!

should we begin from the North/South Korean standoff or the latest in the Nigeria/Boko Haram/amnesty triangle? No! Think there's so much of that out there already....Lets move to several interesting news stories gripping the world today:

Cuba/America Child abduction case (April 11th 2013)

In America, reminiscent of the Elias Gonzales hostage crises, a couple: Josh and Sharyn Hakken, reportedly kidnapped their two sons Chase and Cole from their maternal grandmother (Sharyn's mother) after breaking into her home and tying her up, before whisking the boys away. They sailed away to Cuba triggering an international manhunt that ended this week. Sadly for the couple, Florida laws are not too lenient on child abduction and they could end up spending the rest of their lives in prison after sentencing. 

A court had awarded custody of the boys to their grandparents and terminated the parent's parental rights due to the increasingly erratic and unsafe behaviour of the parents.

The Cuban government was instrumental in getting the children back home due to the extensive cooperation between the two countries....the beginning of a new era? Lets wait and see..:)


Its time for yet another Madonna/Malawi war of words (why cant both parties just remain in their respective homes)

Pop star Madonna is in yet another bitter dispute with the government of Malawi following her 'goodwill' visit to the nation earlier this week. She was accused of demanding a five-star reception on arrival in the country and over-stating her contributions to build schools. Madonna has had a seemingly love-hate relationship with Malawi after adopting two children son David Banda and daughter Chifundo James, from the African nation and several projects including a documentary 'I am because we are' highlighting disease devastating children in the nation.

Madonna's manager Trevor refuted these claims stating that Madonna is the largest individual philanthropist in Malawi and would continue to fund programmes that support children in the country.

Only time would actually tell exactly how this relationship ends...


A federal judge in America ordered the US Food and Drug Administration to make the morning after pill available to all girls of reproductive age, even without a prescription. The pill is usually taken by women after un-protected sex to prevent pregnancy. The ruling has undoubtedly given rise to differing opinions on the rightness or otherwise of the pronouncement.

As expected, reproductive and women's rights groups have hailed the ruling as a plus for females who should have the right over their bodies and choice of reproduction. Conservative groups have however decried the ruling as encouraging early sexual relations without fear of consequences.

The debate continues...

(Additional information obtained from www.CNN.com, BBCnews.com, Reuters.com)

teach us to number our days

sometimes, i wonder, when people die and leave loved ones behind....what exactly happens? People, friends and family mourn for like ten days, weeks, months, years? then what next? life goes on. same is true for even a natural tragedy, an earthquake, a tsunami, a plane crash...everyone is sad (for a while) and then they 'forget' and life goes on.

i lost an uncle some week ago and after the shedding of tears, calls, comfort....some days my thoughts go to him and the family he left behind and some days not....i guess, that's life....

After the Dana plane crash in June of 2012 in Nigeria, i penned some thoughts, which i now share...times and seasons have passed but the story remains constant. The most important thing is - how effective can we lives our lives here on earth being mindful all the time of the world to come and as they say in my church, *being earthly-impactful and heavenly-focused*.

Above all, i pray, *Lord teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom*. Have a beautiful week ahead. God bless you!

http://facebook.com/busola.idowu

From my facebook page 6th June 2012

I posted a comment yesterday about the transience of life and how there is very little that can be done to change the course of nature…it didn’t come out exactly that way, but that was the message I intended to convey. So many comments have been made, criticisms, insults, curses and a great deal of righteous indignation has followed the crash of the Dana Airlines Flight 9J 922. There is a renewed feeling, thought of how fickle life actually is, how in the blink of an eye, it could all be over…

When I leave this earth, the sun will not cease or even pause for a moment, the stars will not neglect to gleam at night, the clock will not stop…it would just be business as usual, for nature, for billions of people around the world who have no knowledge that I ever existed.

After the crash, there was such a great outpouring of grief and pain and hurt, broadcast messages, profile messages, display photographs showed just how affected we all were, then slowly, things have begun to return to normal…

Slowly, the pictures have begun to change to the pre-Dana portraits of happy, fulfilled individuals; the black, dark, sad images that characterized the period have started to give way; the BCs blaming government, Dana Airlines and even individuals who seemed to have had some sort of fore-knowledge of the crash, as well as those urging us to remember to ‘live each day as though it were the last’, have gradually been replaced by jokes and comments on ‘the meaning of Dana in Yoruba’, the relationship between the renaming of Unilag and Dana aircraft as well as so many similar ludicrous correlations that bear no relationship to the issue at hand.

Above all, my thoughts have not wavered from those who are mourning at this time, those for whom sleep has become a scarce craving, for whom weeping and wailing have become the only solace at this time. Friends of friends, uncles and aunts of friends, colleagues of friends, the list goes on. I know when this period is long forgotten and the crash has become a vague memory, it is these fathers, mothers, children, brothers and sisters that would be left to mourn. Birthdays, Christmases, jokes, TV shows, clothes, memories abound in every space.

The government? We wait and see; but alas we have done that so many times before (big sigh). You? I do not know. Me? I spare a prayer and a thought for all those who departed this earth unplanned, uncelebrated and unexpected and also for those they left behind. Joy, Levy, Maimuna, Ehime, Ayodele, Christopher, Amaka, Dunni, Adetunji, Obinna, Chima, Tope…the list goes on… what else can I say? It is well. Even when all else fails, that is the hope we cling to. God bless.

First!!!

First blog!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!! Exciting stuff!

What you can expect:

Interesting, newsy, entertaining, head-butting, informative and above all inspiring

When I start, y’all will beg me to stop…have so much to say and share

Please keep the faith with me as we start this journey

God bless you all!