Life gets Busy

Life gets busy sometimes… or rather I get my life busy. :) Admittedly, not all busy-ness is good or productive. Through it all, God remains faithful and good.

Last month, my less-than-2-month old digital camera got stolen while I was in a taxi and that is a looooooooong story. This month through my job, although I don’t own it, I get to use a digital camera-camcorder worth more than the one I lost. God has a way of restoring things to his people in tremendous ways. To add to it, I got the privilege and honour to organise, facilitate and participate in a weekend photography training workshop.

Now that seems swell, right! Yeah! But the more I’ve been gifted, the more I realize that more is expected from me. And that is a challenge.

You can see above photos taken from the workshop. These are not the edited or the best pictures, rather a peep into what I’ve been doing in the last 2 weeks and my latest interest.

A link will be created to the location of the best pictures in due time. For now, enjoy these.

Blessings,

Lady Akofa.

It's Raining all around me

I love rain. Yes, I do. At the moment, I’m sitting in my “small cute office” as in the words of one of my junior colleagues, listening to rhythmic sounds of raindrops as they stream down the roof. It doesn’t matter that some raindrops will splatter into the room, but the windows are purposely opened so that I can hear and smell this loving-kindness of God in this season.

I love the distinctive earthly aroma, the earth emits when rain nourishes the ground, making it swell with goodness. I do identify with the earth, because my body is of it and will return to it when my soul departs to be with my Father someday.

I also love to see plants, green and fresh as water linger on their leaves after the showers. I believe strongly that if they had lips, I would hear plants, trees, etc. sing for joy as they bathe in heaven sent rain.

So I look out my window this afternoon, watching God shower the earth with rain, marvelling at His Wisdom, Power and Love.

Lady Akofa

10-April-08

15:30

A New Look!

Well, my blog has also gone through an image change, just as I have… age wise. :) So I decided to commemorate the day after the event, by changing the look on this blog and with meaning.

I say I’m a princess, which I am, my Father being the KING of all Kings. Thus I have changed the blog title from Lady Akofa to Oheneba Akofa. Oheneba, in my mother tongue means, “King’s child,” but I’ll still sign my posts with Lady Akofa.

Purple is a colour for royalty in most cultures. Purple is also associated with nobility, purpose and spirituality. So being an Oheneba on the journey of life, the colour befits my blog.

You are welcome to join me on this awesome journey.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!

I had a mostly restful Easter, some interrupted by work tasks. Nonetheless, it was an extremely BLESS-FULL weekend.

I'm not sure I have an Easter message though :). But this morning, I recall the chorus of a famous worship song, "Above all," variously sang by Women of Faith, Don Moen and others. I'm not sure who the original composer/singer is- God bless him/her!

Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all.

May we appreciate the beauty of Christ's work for us:-The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world, through His death and resurrection.

Note: Yes, I know the picture is not of a rose, but it's a beautiful flower all the same! :)

Keep Praying

Keep Praying

Luke 11:5-13

We prayed. Quietly sometimes. Aloud other times. For more than 17 years we prayed. We prayed for our daughter Melissa’s health and direction, for her salvation, and often for her protection. Just as we prayed for our other children, we asked God to have His hand of care on her.

As Melissa rolled into her teenage years, we prayed even more that He would keep her from harm-that He would keep His eyes on her as she and her friends began to drive. We prayed, “God, please protect Melissa.”

So what happened? Didn’t God understand how much it would hurt so many people to loose such a beautiful woman with so much potential for service to Him and others. Didn’t God see the other car coming on that warm spring night?

We prayed. But Melissa was killed.

Now what? Do we stop praying? Do we give up on God? Do we try to make it alone?

Absolutely not! Prayer is even more vital to us now. God-our inexplicable sovereign Lord is still in control. His commands to pray still stand. His desire to hear from us is still alive. Faith is not demanding what we want; it is trusting God’s goodness in spite of life tragedies.

We grieve. We pray. We keep on praying.

Dave Branon.

February 27^th, 2008

Our Daily Bread, 2008-Annual Gift Edition

A Mystery as deep as the Sea

Eternal God, Eternal Trinity,

You are a mystery as deep as the sea;

The more I search, the more I find,

And the more I find, the more I search for you.

Catherine of Sienna, 1347-1380

Mango Season

The joy of seeing mango trees blossom has turned me into a photojournalist. In the past, I always took pictures of people, hardly of abstract or immovable things. But now, I take scenery and nature pictures as well. I think blogging has contibuted to the picture taking thing too. Feedback from loved ones indicate that they would love to see more pictures on this blog. Ok, I hear you! :) But, know that I'm a writer first, not a photographer neither a photojournalist!

Since we are in the initial stages of the harvest season I don't have a picture of a basket full of ripe, yellow mangoes yet, partly because I and other mango lovers in my house eat them straightaway!:) I been craving mangoes for several months now, need I wait anymore? So all pictures are of green mangoes for now.

Easter = Mangoes

I’ve always associated Easter with mangoes, not eggs, because it's also the season of mangoes in my tropical land. And I happen to live in a house surrounded by several mango trees. I’ve been watching those mango trees flower and blossom since last December. It’s a joy to see the trees bear fruit. I simply love eating mangoes. See a firstfruit of the season's harvest right up.

A downside to eating mangoes, is flossing after eating them, because the fibre (depending on which type) almost always gets stuck in between my teeth.:) But I’ll still eat my mangoes.

I only know how to eat mangoes fresh and unadulterated. So while the mango harvest is here, I’m soliciting for mango related recipes through this blog. Do you have any suggestions? For those willing to share, please click on comments below and type out the recipe. I’d be very grateful. Hopefully, during or after the Easter period, I’ll post pictures of my cooking adventures with my favourite fruit.

Leap, Leap, Leap! Hurray!!!

Happy Birthday to all who celebrate their birthdays in leaps! Today is your full day.

I got to know of an English legend and tradition which dates back to the 5th century where Saint Bridget made a complaint to Saint Patrick about deferred marriage proposals to women. As a result, Saint Patrick is said to have set aside 29th February, as the day when women are allowed to “pop the question” to their prospective husbands. In Scotland, a law was passed in 1288 to the effect that any man who refused a woman’s proposal would be obligated to pay a fine. Wow!
The assumption was that the leap day fixes calendar lapses, hence on that same day women would have the opportunity to fix lapses in marriage proposals.

In my side of the world, I don’t think this tradition will catch on. Culturally, it is a taboo, and looking at the prevalent religious practices, it is unacceptable. However, in reality it does happen and the young people call it, “giving a man a scholarship.” But I’d rather a man step up to the plate and be a man in this area, than a woman force him into a commitment that he is unwilling to make on a leap day.

Rejoice in the LORD always

Rejoice in the LORD always.

Oftentimes, I read this and I give an inward shout, Yey!-thinking that I’m rejoicing in the LORD. Sometimes, I think the outward expression really is what matters, so I jump, shout or clap. Somebody observing me in those moments might think, “Akofa is joyful.” Well, there have been times that I’ve been really joyful. And other times, it was all pretence and only God knew it. I think some of the pretending moments have been in big-church related gatherings where the MC will try to stir up the large gathering to “Give a Mighty Shout onto the LORD! … You can do it better for the LORD!” Frankly speaking, there were times I really didn’t feel like it and didn’t know why I had to join the rousing crowd… but I did it anyway.

In today’s window time, I learnt this: Rejoice in the LORD. Erm... I believe you’ve already mentioned that, so what’s new? You say. No, read well… Rejoice in the LORD. There is a focal dimension here. One is not just rejoicing for the sake of it, but taking delight in the Person of God. When you take delight or rejoice in someone, it presupposes that you know some things about him/her and that you know him/her. It is what you know of the person that makes you want to take delight in him/her.


So, who is the LORD? Do you know Him? Example:

He is our Father and God,
He is loving and kind,
He is faithful to all His promises,
He is the Deliverer and Protector,
He heals us from our diseases-Healer,
He cares for us-Provider,
and many more!

If we recall such things about our LORD and Father, then rejoicing in Him becomes purposeful and much easier. Then we can bring our minds, hearts and bodies into focus in expressing our enjoyment of Him.

I say it again, Rejoice in the LORD! Philippians 4:4

Lady Akofa