Count your blessings

The past few weeks have been quite stressful for me. We had to meet several deadlines for the finl year project. Reports were submitted, presentations were made and re-made, the actual circuit had to be fully functional accepted as satisfactory by the various supervisors and on top of all that were the demands of other subjects we're taking so you can imagine how busy i was. I'm not going to narrate everything but i just want to concentrate on the challenges i had while doing this project.

How can you explain to people that a simple device made up of capacitors and resistors and other unfamiliar components can actually make them sleep? That was my task. I had problems getting the main component for the circuit which is an inductor that was not commercially available and the materials to make one not easy to come by, so for my first and second oral presentations i didnt have this main component. Only after asking some questions on yahoo answers did i discover that the wire can used to make the inductor is the same one used in transformers and fortunately i had an old broken down hair clipper in the house with a transformer so problem number 1 is solved.

Next came the connecting of the circuit which is actually the easiest part in the whole process. I had it working after several tries and finally showed the output to my supervisor who gave me the go ahead to build it on the Printed Circuit Board. I successfully connected everything after short-circuiting my first board. Usually we dont use the PCB in the lab so i was unaware of the current direction in the borad but on the second try it got it working and showed that to my Supervisor who was ok with it.

Now it looked ugly as it was so i got a casing for it and in the process of preparing the circuit for its new shell i broke something, the circuit wont work anymore. This is where the main problem started.

One day before we need to present my circuit stopped working, i felt like something out of the ordinary was happening. Initially i thought i must have blown one of the ICs so i got another one a few hrs before we were to present, changed the ICs and nothing. From this point on, i unleashed the power of tongues and started confessing the promises of God and exercised the highest faith i could come up with, i was very optimistic it would work but i had fear i would fail this course.

30 minutes before we go live, my circuit is still not working so i called sam to take a look at it for me and see if i made any errors but there was nothing wrong. All the connections are grounded but power is not flowing to all parts of the circuit. He kept checking and checking until somehow a solution came up and could finally go to the hall and present, 15 minutes late.

It was the most terrifying moment of my life. I couldnt imagine having to do all this again, what would i tell my father?

But i learnt a few things from this experience. We are more than conquerors in Christ! The sermons and tapes i've been listening are all saying the same thing; the kingdom of God is here among you, you possess the kingdom, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

I learnt to stand firm and confess the victory i already have in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. To press on until something happens, not to give up and fight another day but to take what is already mine. The bible says we are blessed with all spiritual gifts in heavenly places and the keys to the kingdom has been given to us.

So sometimes when it seems like the righteous are not progressing and the unrighteous are advancing, it could be that the people who have the victory dont even know what they have, so it was very encouraging to be able to go through that and come out victorious.

Sure enough we went for pizza later that evening just to celebrate new found freedom from the stress of project and i just want to thank God for sending his son to die so that we can have victory. Its true, we'll never know how much it cost to see him on that cross.

~good friday~

for su ee

This guy is amazing



~shalom~

Goodbye my friend

We arrived at the airport quite early, took a few photographs, joked, laughed, made fun of each other while waiting for him to arrive. As the waiting time increased so did the jokes some funny, some not so funny, but in all hiding the real emotion, the real reason, we're all going to miss him.

Men, boys, girls, women, young, very young, not so young, Nigerian, Ghanian, Malaysian, Malaysian-Nigerian, just kidding. They came from far and wide, bringing their cameras for that one last photo together, for that one last joke, that one last time with someone they respected, someone they loved, someone they're going to miss so much.

He held everyone together, and just like pastor said, his ability to walk alongside people and pour out his life for anyone, good bad, very bad, christian, muslim, non-christian, boy, girl, man, woman, Indian, Chinese, anyone made one slip to a quiet corner to sob for a while.

As it came the time to board the flight, more people came, just when you thought it was it, even more came and a grand farewell was made for this one, this one who's going to miss his graduation, this one thats going to miss the laksa and bible camps, friends and this beautiful country.

The final sets of photos where being taken, the clock ticked closer and closer to boarding time and a gentle haste was made. The entire entourage went to the departure gate, the tears suppressed could not be controlled again, even this one so celebrated had red eyes. Waves, goodbyes, stares continued until he was out of sight, then the tears got the better of me. I dont know why but i just cried like a baby. He's more than just a friend to me, so much that my tears needed a shoulder to support, johnson's shoulders. It took some self control to walk out from the departure gate and outside where some more tears are to be shed.

I was reminded of the time when i too had to leave my family and home and at the gathering when the wine was poured out, and the family gathered together, the sobs and tears and hugs that followed. I guess i feel what they feel now, even the hard man had some dirt in his eyes but was too tough to show 'weakness' :)

Mike is an amazing guy, i'm going to miss him lots but what he has left behind, the trails he had blazed, the legacy, the pattern he has set would guide me for some time to come and i guess thats what i'm going to take with me for the rest of my life. I think i would be safe to describe his life in one word, PEOPLE.

~shalom~

what is your worth

Let me ask some questions, what is your worth in the sight of God? Are you able to accept yourself with your deprevations, shortcomings, quirkiness?

I just listened to one of Dr. Ravi Zacharias' messages, and it has really blessed me so much that i must share it even though i was reading for my mock test tomorrow i feel i really need to share this because in many ways, at many times i tend to blend in and its dangerous because i leave who i'm suppose to be and be someone else that God does not endorse therefore he cannot use me for anything.

I will post a link to the messages soon but before that, a few points i would like to note here:

• Who I am should preceed what i do.
• When your life lacks focus, your death will lack focus too.
• If you dont set your boundaries by God's parameters, who's parameters will you use?
• Life does not only need starting power, it also needs staying power.

And i pray this will be a blessing to you as you listen and meditate on it. Some people's lives are put before us to show us what is wrong and give us a clear idea of what is right, and the life of Saul is one of them. I dont want my life to be like that, so my prayer today is for God to change me to be more like Joseph who feared sin and not just the consequences of getting caught.

A life that lost its focus: Saul (part 1 of 2)
A life that lost its focus: Saul (part 2 of 2)

~shalom~

being different

Source
~shalom~