Enkounters

Gwendolyn Cole-World's best Grandmother :) World's best mother & friend :)  I've always believed that inspiration may be found all around. What better way to close out 2010 than by sharing my top ten inspirational persons. 1. Jesus 2. Yvonne Cole 3. Gwendolyn Cole 4. Rosa Parks 5. Oprah Winfrey 6. Ghandi 7 Julia Child 8. Anne Frank 9. Mark Zuckerberg 10. Helen Keller ~Live Life, Love God, One Encounter at a Time~

  Last night I had another very unusual dream. I must have had several dreams but the last one is the one that rang most vividly in my mind. I dreamt that I was on a big jutc-like bus...one of those that have the big vent like openings in the roof. Well all of a sudden we ended up on a narrow road that had a precipice on one side and rock wall on the other side...there was no protection at the side of the road and we had a clear view of vast rock and river. I remember having this feeling of uneasy which would soon escalate as we soon discovered that we had no business on that road. We some how got word of the fact that we were driving on train tracks that were once not operational, but apparently there was a train due to be coming down the tracks at that time and the train was coming fast with no braking mechanism. The driver was however confident that there was an enclave coming up on the road where the road would widen giving him opportunity to pull off to the side of t...

Sometime ago I encountered the Secret by way of my little sister, whose book club was considering it for a group read. I was like, what is this secret all about? She couldn't explain the secret, all she could say was that she heard that good things started to happen to people after they read it. I thought, a book with magical powers? This must be some new age or occult business...So, I decided to do a quick google of the thing and not being able to get to the gist of the thing after 30 minutes, I advised that this probably was not the most appropriate book for young teenage girls. I have since had opportunity, not to read the book or watch the film, but to explore the resources on the site and watch a few related videos on YouTube. What follows below is my non-theological review of the secret: First 20minutes of 'The Secret'-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8 What works... One thing that the Secret definitely has going for it is persuasive appeal and adverti...

Below is a poem I really love. I never wrote it but if I did I'd use these exact words. I'm not sure who shared it with me, but it impacted me so much that I decided to display it at a prominent place in my room. These are some very true and faithful words. GOD'S HAND SOMETIMES, WE MUST BE HURT IN ORDER TO GROW WE MUST FAIL IN ORDER TO KNOW WE MUST LOSE IN ORDER TO GAIN SOME LESSONS ARE LEARNT BEST ONLY THROUGH PAIN SOMETIMES OUR VISION CLEARS ONLY AFTER OUR EYES ARE WASHED WITH TEARS SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO BE BROKEN SO WE CAN BE TENDER SICK SO WE CAN REST AND THINK BETTER ON THINGS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WORK OR FUN, TRIP NEAR DEATH, SO WE CAN ASSESS HOW WE’VE RUN. SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO SUFFER LACK SO WE CAN KNOW GOD’S PROVISION. FEEL ANOTHER’S PAIN SO WE CAN HAVE A SENSE OF MISSION. SO, TAKE HEART, MY FRIEND, IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND TODAY, INSTEAD OF GRUMBLING, ASK GOD WHAT HE MEANS TO SAY, IN ORDER TO LEARN YOU MUST ENDURE, AND LEARN TO SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE. IN ...

People are generally compelled to succeed by something inside and yet outside them. There seems to be passion inside us all but that is only a part of the picture. The environment plays a role in awakening and unearthing passion. The literal physical environment, permanent people in our lives and the people we encounter on a daily basis, determine whether our passions and talents are unearthed. Perseverance also plays a significant role in making the best use of our gifts. We should always strive to make use of opportunities to actively engage our talents and to stay open to possibilities. We must persist in protecting and nurturing our dreams and ensuring that we are around people who will inspire us and encourage us to hope and believe in ourselves. Experience also plays a great role in arriving at our talents. We must go through a plethora of experiences; good, bad, unthinkable, painstaking and unbearable, in order to have a story to tell, in order to have something of va...

Publish Post Today is my birthday!! As I approached my birthday I have been going through a series of reflections and I am very thankful for all the many experiences and memories, good and bad that I have had in the past year and the years before. Somehow in my reflection I was led to reflect on my time spent in the West in solitude. I never realized just how many videos I made. This clip is one example of how much I enjoyed my own company in my 'minimalist' home. Lol. As I thankfully and happily embrace this new chapter of my life I want to dedicate this clip to this past chapter of my life... Good night sweetheart! ~Live Life, Love God, One Encounter at a Time~

The challenge was never offered to me to quit facebook  but I did it and for three weeks at that...that's right...three whole weeks! I feel now is a good time to share some of the thought processes that went into that decision, some of the reactions and how I spent my time being facebook free. The Decision When I decided to take a 'longer than 24hrs' break from facebook it wasn't a decision I considered and deliberated on. As a matter of fact like nike...I just pretty much did it. I know many people in my network were left feeling puzzled, curious or just down right worried about the decision especially with how I made that step. Like I said before...I just did it. These days when people say they are not on facebook they are normally met with the 'which planet are you from look', so you can imagine the reactions I got.  This statement I recently heard aptly summarizes the overall reactions.   'Whoever is not on facebook is sick and needs help.' The R...

After posting the last post I made about time , I went to sleep and once again had a strange dream. I have since been contemplating what to make of this dream. I mean how and when can we really ever tell when a dream is just a dream or a vision or even worse a warning? Last night I must have had a lengthy dream but what I can remember is being at this place, I am not sure where it was, but in my mind it seemed to be at this specific house. The house where my grandmother used to live in Frankfield. It somehow seemed different though as there were scores of strange people mulling about and as the stretch of land to get down from the road to the house...the 'driveway', had steps instead of stones and seemed much longer and steeper. What is even more strange was that people drove down the steps and there were three (3) vehicles down in the yard (bear in my mind that in reality the front and side yard of that house has no space for vehicles and vehicles have never been down there as...

I don't think it's any coincidence that God's time  seems to be the theme for this month. There just always seems to be a time line involved in everything we want to get done. Anyway, as my birthday is fast approaching I've been spending time reflecting, going through pictures, reading my journals just really reflecting to get some perspective. What was interesting was that while going through the journal I just happened to buck up this to-do list...yea...one of those goal to-do lists  where I need to do x by y time . Funnily, the list was written back in 2006 and it had check boxes placed next to the goals. I noticed that at least 3 boxes were still not ticked at the time, while others were ticked and dated...and now for the surprise the unchecked were: 1. Become a lacto-ovo vegetarian  2. Go Natural and 3. Something else that I can't quite remember now.. . It was very funny to me, as reading it marked the 8th day since I had gone vegan with no desire for mea...

There is so much in my life that I thought (I don’t even know what to think anymore) was wrong and then yesterday I got the most devastating news I’ve gotten this year. It was the icing on top of everything else that was not going right in my life. Then, just when I was beginning to think it was too much and began professing my hatred for this life, out of nowhere came unexpected peace and a strange blessing. I’ve never been more humbled by a blessing. Sometimes I get it and other times I don’t. It is easier to say it, (chant it even) than to live it…God is in control, God is in control, God is in control! This has always been such a hard concept for me to grasp as I have always been very curious, controlling and demanding ever since I was a little girl. I’ve never liked surprises because of this very trait…especially unpleasant ones. Yet God has been so patient in delivering them and through each of them teaching and shaping dependence and trust ...

A blessing given, a privilege taken... What would you have grown up to be? Who can say? You never lived long enough   To swim across the river like the bigger boys,   To climb mango trees, hunt for ‘swims’,   Suck cocoa seeds all day in the summer,   Collect bird egg, go to market on your own.   You never lived to learn how to play an instrument Maybe the drums or the guitar Or maybe the piano, the trombone They can never tell the tale of how you studied hard   For the GSAT or maybe the CXC, CAPE, SAT, GRE... Or even how you never loved the books but could sing, Dance, draw, cook, paint, fix tings good. Ever describe that look on your face when You get your first job, purchase your first car,   Start your own business, experience loss, bounce back ‘Check you first catty’, marry her Gracefully receive a position of leadership Walk into your own house, hold your first child in your hands. Who, what, and how can they ever explain why y...

Today I met a man...a man who caused me to look briefly beyond my own problems and place myself in someone else's shoe... for a change. This man was severely aged...not by time. It was the kind of aging that comes as a result of prolonged hardships and stress.His blood stained eyes encased in midnight black skin gave testament to the many   tears he cried at night. His salt and pepper hair was proof of all that he endured in those times when solace would only come after he would strip himself naked and cry out to God. His eroded skin, protruding jaw bone and lemon yellow teeth was evidence of the extent to which he forsook health and common sense to be wrapped up in the bosom of despair.   He spoke of the terrible accidents that he had been involved in that left him with a greater appreciation of the disabled among us and some memorable souvenirs - a steel rod in his knee, a metal plate in his foot and a slightly hunched posture. None of these however were able to leave as ...

The decisions we are faced with in life are often like multiple choice questions. Out of a series of choices, we are often able to weed out the blatantly incorrect choices...but then we are always left with two that just seem to be right...both could pass as 'the correct' response. The average person often fails because there is always that one response that, at face-value, appears to be a good answer (Proverbs 14:12). However, the learned know that the correct answer often only comes after a process of evaluation/discernment where both choices are compared. This comparison will reveal that the mere presence of the better answer makes the 'good answer' incorrect! A case in point is the story of Mary and Martha,recorded in Luke, where Jesus came to pay them a visit: "v38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. v39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening...

Lest I forget ... Last night I dreamt my sisters and I were on some house boat. We were talking about all sorts of things...athletes and what it’s like to be an MV player. We were talking about different athletes...their salvation and their insecurities and mess-ups then all of a sudden somebody started blaming it on a particular girlfriend (this part is still not so clear...in the dream it seemed like a sudden and out of the blue switch) then I started praying and stopped. As I opened my eyes I saw my sister-K covered up under a blanket and closing her eyes while somebody (a fourth person who I still can’t figure out who it was , the person seemed female) was talking...she was praying for so long that my other sister –R started praying too and finished praying before she did but the entire time I was there listening to the person talk. Then I, or was it that fourth person got the idea of starting a women’s ministry...the person pointed to the fact that we had already considered it ...