Hi Fam,
It’s been a hot minute since I last reached out. I hope you are doing well.
Before I say anything else, let me start by wishing you (a belated) happy Mother’s Day.
Over the years, I have listened to and read many mothers share their experiences, and I always find it intriguing how different these experiences are. It makes sense because each child is distinct in a very special way and would require particular care and attention.
I woke up on Mother’s Day, and for some unknown reason, it dawned for the umpteenth time that I was a mother. Phew! That’s another way of saying God looked around the world for a woman he could entrust the lives of my kids (Ayobamiji and Olachukwu) into her care - and he found me. He knew I had the right skills, experiences, perfect dose of patience and everything else required to nurture these champions, so he delicately formed them in my womb. I find this thought humbling and overwhelming at the same time. Motherhood is a special ministry that requires the wisdom of God to make a success of it, and it is my earnest prayer that the Holy Spirit would be our teacher and guide on this journey.
It’s been a few weeks since I launched this newsletter, and I want to take a moment to thank you all for sticking around with me so far.
Last week, I prepared the lesson slides and recorded the voiceover for the weekly lessons for the kids, which I usually upload on YouTube. As I worked, I was really tired, but I was determined to complete the task before going to bed. Half-asleep and half-awake, I managed to complete all that I needed to do - just in time for my laptop to shut down for an important update. The plan was that I would send off the newsletter with all the links the next day. I woke up the next morning excited and ready to dispatch them to your inboxes, but to my surprise, I could not retrieve all that I had worked on the previous day - not the slides or the recording. Nothing. It was gone! I felt really bad (more like disappointed) and couldn’t get myself around to repeating the same process again, so I took a much-needed break which explains why you did not receive the newsletter last week 🙈.
Curated Resources
Weekly Bible lessons for the kids
Our Bible lessons for titled ‘a real winner’. In a world where there are many definitions of success, it behooves us as parents to clearly define the essence of life to our little ones. Yeah, there are many people who are considered to be winners in different spheres of life, but what does it mean to be a REAL winner as a Christian? Using this lesson as a guide, have real conversations with your child and help them to understand that though we are in this world, we are not of this world.
Here is the PowerPoint file I used to create the video and a pdf version of the lesson with activity sheets. There is also a segment toward the end of the video, which I call Parent’s Corner, with a fun activity you can do with your child - don’t skip that part 😉
Book recommendation for the kids
The book for the week, in sync with this week’s lesson, is Gobi by Dion Leonard. In this true life-based storybook for young readers, a stray dog wandering in a cold desert in China called Gobi unexpectedly meets Dion, a marathoner. Just before meeting Dion, Gobi wished for a friend - so you can imagine his excitement when he met Dion. While in the desert, the duo became good friends - one that would evolve into a long-lasting friendship, with Dion becoming Gobi’s owner. This story is a great way to have conversations with your child about friendships and compassion. Also, given that the story involves a race, I am using it as an illustration to explain the parallels between earthly races and the heavenly race (as I explained in the YouTube video).
Book recommendation for you
The recommended reading would be two books written by Stormie Omartian. The first book by Stormie that I read was ‘The power of a praying woman’. It has been several years since I read the book, so I will be reading the book again along with ‘The power of a praying mom’. In the coming weeks, I will share some of the insights I gained from the book. If you have read these books or you hope to read them, please let me know 😊
Fun activity for you
Laughter is good medicine for the soul (Proverbs 17:22), so spend some time laughing this week. Go on YouTube or any streaming service of your choice and search for comedy shows that would make you laugh. Alternatively, call that old friend of yours with a great sense of humour that cracks you up all the time. Be sure to laugh from the depths of your soul.
Prayer for the week
Declare with me:
Heavenly Father, thank you for the privilege of being a mother to these wonderful, gifted children that you have entrusted into my care. I receive grace, wisdom and strength to virtuously cater to the affairs of my home. I receive inspiration to create lifelong memories and impact that would outlive me and would be a tremendous blessing to my generation, the generations following and to my world. I am not even going to pretend like I know it all, or I have figured everything out, so I shamelessly ask that you teach me what paths to take and what to do at every point in time.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
James 1:5 KJV