i give you this rose,
hand-picked for
you alone
as soft as it is scented
its nestled in the palms of
these hands that will
hold you
protect you
love you
forever
petals imperfect
beautifully designed
like precious jewels
i hand you this gift
in exchange for your heart
as you carefully reach out
i say a silent prayer;
that even when this
beautiful rose may
whither and perish
that our union
may not.
Tall and strong,
my soul is firmly planted in the soil
on which you stand.
Green and lush
My leaves dance to mother nature’s lullaby
As I feed the meagre creature
That scurries on the surface of the earth
While you produce pulp and paper
For your fiction
Speak to me
I live
As I give you the very breath that you breath
Willows, Lillies and lavenders
I was placed here by Him
He who created the Heavens and the earth
He who reigns higher than my majestic reach
And even when the wind blows
And the seas are rampant
And fires ravage the earth
I know that my soul in the soil is Evergreen
JanuWorry is what they call me
Because when they see me coming
All they do is worry
Broke is what they call themselves
when I visit
because they didn’t keep any
reserves for me
when they were partying up
a storm with December,
as if that’s my fault!
Long is how they describe me,
saying they can’t wait until this 31-day
visit is over
and I am only a distant memory
The only time they are excited is on the first day
of my visit
and even then they are riding on the wings
of the month before
They don’t know I feel sad,
neglected,
rejected,
Hated even
It isn’t easy to celebrate birthdays
because everyone simply says,
‘I don’t have money’
This means those who are supposed to celebrate
life with me, feel let down
All everyone does is count down the days
and plan for the rest of the calendar
February, the month of love,
with her heart-shaped chocolates and
fluffy red teddy-bears
April, celebration of Easter and new life,
A time dedicated to the Messiah
June, the long-awaited school holidays,
even the kids enjoy that one
and then of course my nemesis,
December
when everyone feels relieved the year has
come to an end and they can rest and be happy
And come together with Christmas carols and neatly
wrapped gifts
What they forget though is that I too offer gifts,
A new start
A clean slate
A reset button
An opportunity to forget the past
if that is what is desired or required
I offer strength,
resilience,
a chance to dream and hope again
And get that budget right for next time
and of course a reprieve from all that has
happened the month before
I am not JanuWorry,
I am January.
A chance to start again
Despite my lack of popularity.
I desire You more, Lord
More than I desire bread to touch my lips
and fill my belly to give me the sensation of being satisfied
I crave the satisfaction of Your presence wholly in my life
I hunger desperately after You alone
For You alone to give me the bread of life
For You alone to provide living waters
I thirst after you, Lord
For You alone are my sustenance
My provider
I will strip myself bare only to be covered and embraced by You.
I want to forget everything the world has shoved down my throat
Detox my spirit and be filled with You by You
Always
Worship has a way of humbling a person and at the same time, convicting you.
The truth is, we all sin, none of us are perfect so when I’ve entertained the world and laughed at people’s misfortune, made fun of others, gossiped, spoke ill of others and generally just had a bad heart throughout the day, a worship song will bring me to tears and then to my knees.
It will not just move me but it will convict me. Worship should be the true word of God, it’s not just there to make you feel good. It has the power to bring you back to God and back to the heart of worship.
It will bring you face to face with your sins and then you are faced with the truth of who you are and who you are supposed to be. You are reminded that you are a child of God and that there is a certain way you’re meant to carry yourself and present yourself to the world. When you’re in true worship of Christ, your heart has no choice but to change.
You will end up repenting and crying out before God and asking for forgiveness, atleast that is my experience.
Because that is what God does, that is what worship does. It changes you and once you’ve experienced it before, you always want to go back, even when you’ve strayed. Because that is the power of worship.
That is the power of God.
He waits for you to find your way back and then welcomes you with open arms.
Have you ever thought about the story of Jesus, really thought about it and
Tried to put yourself in his shoes?
Have you thought about how he was born into a humble family and home
Stepping down from His heavenly throne
He was never boastful or proud
To give His life for others was His vow
A king on a donkey
Into Jerusalem He rode
He walked amongst the earthly crowd
Service became His sacrifice
Despite being denied He was
Not once,
Not twice
But thrice
Have you thought about His life and
how He lived to serve those he came to save?
Jesus stepped down from heaven
And right into service He came
He taught and He healed
To serve is a gift
But to use your gift to serve others,
That is love
That’s all He asked really,
Is that we love others as He loved us
To be as He was, a living sacrifice
His body broken for us,
Whipped and tortured
But what defined His life was his acts
Of love through service;
How could you not love and worship
A man that gave everything so freely
So that you and I could experience
Joy, peace and His presence so deeply
He was found feeding a crowd of people,
Or washing the feet of His disciples
Touching the hands of the lost
And healing people with a soft touch
An example to us to follow and not
To sit idle
Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice
This is true worship
Not the glitz and glam that the world
Offers
Which is merely temporary
But an act so pure
A tortured heart it could cure
Yes, I know
The shoes of Jesus are much to fill
But to strive for such acts
Is truly God’s will
Take a minute and think about it
the world is already so dark;
Children are dying and hope seems so far
Families are being torn apart
And love is becoming a quote on a
Piece of art
Instead of it being a physical part
Of our daily life
I sometimes try to imagine what went on in
The mind of our Lord Jesus
And I can’t begin to imagine what He must
Have thought of us
To give His life, to die
On a cross with a crown of thorns
Dug into his head
Can you comprehend,
What willpower and strength it took
For Him to walk that long rode up
To Golgotha
Carrying His own cross
Knowing what was waiting when
He got up there
Can you do that for that person standing next to you
Even though you don’t even know him or
Her from the size of their shoe
But that’s the beauty in this whole story, isn’t it?
Jesus knew us before the world even
Saw us
When Jesus walked on water
It wasn’t just for show
But to teach us to remain calm
And keep our eyes focused on Him
during all of life’s storms
He lived out His purpose
And through us it should continue
A sacrifice at all costs
Through the life of a servant
Jesus was and is the ultimate influencer
His ways are not just trends for a season
But a way of life
Tried and tested
For more than two thousand years
Make that move now and
Step into service
This is the mission
That was given
Is that not what the word of God says;
That whoever say they remain in Christ
Should walk as Christ did?
We have been called, for Jesus suffered for us
Not just so that we can be saved but so that we might
Remember Him and live and love and serve as He did
We are to be imitators of our Lord Jesus
With hearts and hands open to the possibility of being
Able to give to others
Because at the end of the day,
Jesus did not come
To be served but to serve
Many stories have been told and so many artists have seen their dreams come true and so many others are yet to be realised.
A place where art is expressed in so many forms. A place where audiences laugh, cry, shout for joy, and gasp in amazement.
Where you and I can see ourselves represented through movement, dance, and storytelling.
A place where some enter for the very first time and others bow out for the finale.
The curtain opens and then it closes.
The stage is imprinted with the footprints of ballet dancers, musicians, and actors leaving it all on the stage, baring their souls in hopes that the stories they tell and the scars they share might be beautiful to someone.
And then it’s done.
The show is over.
The applause has died down and the theatre is empty.
The only remnants are empty wrappers and coke bottles on the floor
and a heartbeat echoing off the walls.
This life has moved swiftly
My hair has greyed
My skin has paled
i’m a little rounder
plumper
Objects may appear closer than what they are
i hardly wear make-up now
i tire easily
and I have aches and pains i picked up
Along the way
A train came and
i travelled the years
My story changed
as i turned the page
and in the middle of the plot
the characters too changed
i found myself in the middle of a poem
and then i stopped reading
not wanting to know how the story unfolded
Now i am here
Hardly recognising the person
i see reflected in the window
the strangeness of a dream lingers
familiar yet
unknown
A few cracks and bruises
no one could have seen it coming
Watching the world go by in a
darkened tunnel
But there is light,
there is always light
as long as you’re willing to dig
through the rubble
i see it now
as this joyride slows
everything comes back into perspective
i am not yet done.
Let’s laugh first.
Now we can cry.
Now pause and take a breath.
We are all human and we will make mistakes.
As you read through this, let’s remember that our mistakes do not define us, and what defines us is how we bounce back and learn from our mistakes, even when running a business
Having a vision for your business is very important. Write down what you want to see for your business and your employees.
Whether that is having a property, having more clients, or opening more branches, write everything down.
You need to have a clear vision and know which direction you want your company to go. You also need to have small goals that you will set out to achieve periodically to help you achieve those larger goals.
If you are unclear about where your business is heading, your employees, investors, sponsors, and supporters won’t know either and that will make it very difficult for them to get behind you.
Be slow to anger and frustration. Don’t throw your toys when things don’t go your way. Things will more often not go your way than they will go your way. Adjust your sails and keep moving.
Sometimes we tend to react in the heat of the moment and we end up making decisions based on how we’re feeling at that moment.
Whether we’re angry at a business partner or we are irritated at an employee or frustrated with a client. It’s important to make decisions when you’re in a clear and sound mind.
If it won’t matter or make a difference to your company in the next 2 to five years, stop pondering over it. Learn from it and move on. The quicker you get over it, the faster you can grow and improve who you are as a person and in your business.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help or advice. Some people have been running businesses longer than you have and they have more likely been through all the things you’re finding yourself in. There is no shame in admitting that you don’t know everything.
Every expert was once a beginner.
Listen to your employees, your clients, and your business partners. You are not an island. There are other people involved in your company. It may not be direct involvement, but you do have other people to account for.
Figure out what it is that they need or want from the company. Where it is that they see themselves in the future of the business. This will not only make things clearer for you both and the employee/investor or client but it will also give you a sense of understanding and clarity on the role you all play in moving the company forward.
Meetings are important. Don’t be afraid to set up meetings and appointments, either with staff clients, or business partners. Meetings are important to establish where everyone’s head is at and luckily we live in an age now where we can do things online. Do try and set up in-person meetings as often as possible. It helps to sort out grievances and also give appraisals.
Understand that your employees are not your friends and that they probably don’t even like you. It’s true. I’ve seen and been on both sides of the situation and can 100% guarantee that you are not your employees’ favourite person and that is okay.
You will knock heads with them but as long as the respect remains and things don’t get out of hand to an extreme extent.
Learn from other business owners and entrepreneurs. This goes with the same point about asking for advice. You can learn a lot from people who have been doing what you’re doing for a longer period. Watch YouTube videos, do research, read books and articles, and follow different business accounts on social media or accounts that are associated with your industry. The internet is at your fingertips and you have no excuse not to do the research. Information is abundant and readily available.
No one should love your business more than you do.
Remember why you started in the first place. Revisit your vision. Remind yourself what the motivation was behind all of it and that will push you to continue to nurture what you have.
That being said; you need to put in the time and effort to grow and strengthen what you have. No one else will do it for you.
It’s hard and sometimes extremely heartbreaking when your company takes a loss; whether financially or if it’s staff or clients. It’s never easy and no business owner wants that.
Pain however is a great motivator. Use that loss to accelerate to greater heights.
Also remember that not every idea you try out will work but don’t give up, something eventually will.
Take calculated risks and if it doesn’t work out, at least you can say, I tried.
Keep a record of everything, even if you don’t think it’s important. Make sure you have records or a paper trail of all your transactions including payments, purchases, employee details, asset lists, and more. You need to be able to account for everything in your business.
Learn everything you need to know about tax, policies you must comply with, contracts and legalities around your company, and everything in between. I’m not saying to become an expert on everything but I am saying, to be aware of what is going on in your company so that you can again, account for everything.
Lastly, remain humble and grateful always.
If you are in a position to create a job for someone else, that is a blessing.
Don’t take it for granted.
Have fun and always take every challenge as a learning experience.
Ego will make you forget your gift.
It will make you doubt if you even have one.
It will make you chase and covert for someone else’s portion.
Ego will make you place self-importance on yourself that doesn’t exist and get upset when no one else sees it.
Ego will make you lose your identity because you’ll be so busy trying to be someone you’re not.
It will depress you because you’ll end up unhappy in your skin.
Ego will make you chase after praise and adoration while you forget to praise and adore the One who made you.
Ego will feed you false confidence while serving you a buffet of insecurity.
Ego will make you want to quit the fight and then kick you once you’re down.
Ego will tell you that you’re not good enough while you’re doing what you’ve been called for.
It will harden your heart and build walls around you with bricks named;
“I don’t need help” “I can do it on my own” “I don’t need anyone else”
Ego will leave you lonely and isolated, with your nose turned up toward those who try to break down those very walls.
The ego is not your friend.
It’s the lie we tell ourselves when we look in the mirror and say,
“That’s just who I am”