How Grey is your Grey Day?

Coming from the tropics where the sun shines almost 10 months of the year, I couldn't help noticing how grey it can be in the Northern hemisphere especially as you get closer to the arctic circle.

During this time of the year, here in the northern countries during the winter if you have 1 hour of sunlight, it is like winning a lottery. The daylight is scarce and the days are mostly grey (like when heavy rain clouds cover the sky in Malawi).

As the amount of daylight reduces every day due to the sun moving southwards from 21st June to 21st December, one can not help to appreciate what a great weather we have at home.

When I first arrived in Sweden I could not understan why people would run out and lay themselved in the sun during a beautiful summer day. With time I realised what an expensive entity and a scarce commodity the sun is on this side of the world. I learned to appreciate what I used to take for granted like a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies, a beautiful spring day, a golden autumn day and a snow white winter day. I learned to appreciate the little things that happen each day as it came and just be happy for another day that went by.

Sometimes just like me, I am sure we miss on some of the most beautiful opportunities in life because we overlook them or we think they are not so important.
Its just like how we take walking, breathing, seeing and quiet and calm peaceful moments for granted until we meet someone who cant walk, or cant breath without a life support, or one who has an ailment which cant allow them to stay still, you can add on to the list.

So if you think your day id GREY, know that someone else could be having a much more GREY close to BLACK day. Therefore let us learn to appreciate every moment of our days.

All the best as you appreciate this day, for the Bible says " This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it". There are no conditions that have been put in this verse, for example that "I will only rejoice and be glad in a day when ......."
Let us learn to be thankful eveyday.

Enjoy the weekend

ONLY BELIEVE!

How many times have you managed to lose something or not been able to achieve what you could only because you did not believe that it could happen.

Yesterday I found myself in an interesting situation, I had to connect between two buses to get to my destination. I find myself in a country where time is very important and everything happens or is done on time.

So here I was sitting on the first bus which was scheduled to arrive at my connection point at 9:13am, my next bust was at 9:19am. As we drove through the traffic, I could not help realizing that I will not be able to make it for my connecting bus, I was about to start thinking of my plan B, that is a nice way of saying I was beginning to get worried. As I was in the process of starting to think of what I will do in case I miss the bus, there was a Bible verse that just came into my mind " ..only believe, ALL things are possible..." I chuckled and told myself "I believe". I was still in a bit of doubt honestly, but I prayed and said, "God help my unbelief". I sat on the bus, I looked at the time it was 9:15am and we were not close to my connecting point, and to make matters worse to take the next but I needed to cross one of the major roads which happens to be the bussiest street as well. Time was not on my side.

I got off the first bus and did not bother to look at my watch, I checked the direction where the connecting bus was coming from, the bus was not yet in sight. I crossed the road and as I was just finishing the crossing there was my bus just about to leave the bus stop, I ran and guess what I got it, just on time. The interresting part was the driver saw me from a distance and he waited until I got on the bus.

Talk about believing, I thanked God for that moment. This continued throughout the day as there were a lot of things that I had to do, they seemed so impossible but the sentence kept echoing in my head "..only believe, ALL things are possible.." And at the end of it all, everything went well.

Indeed all things are possible if we only believe and have faith in God.

I thought I would share this story with you my coleagues.

Do your best to believe, today.

Blessings

A TRIBUTE TO PIYASONI KACHEPATSONGA

It was my birthday, my big birthday, I was so excited and happy, I thanked God for the life He gave to me. On the other side of the wolrd at the same time a great life had just been taken back to God the creator, my heart was broken and I was in terrible shock.

It was Piya, the same Piya, the God's Marvelous Creation (GMC) Piya, a son, a brother and a great friend. We all could just not take it in without expressing the shock.

Some of you reading this blog may not know him, but to those of us who knew him, its hard to believe that 2nd December 2008 was your last day Piya on this earth.

I met Piya at Chanco, when he came to join GMC theatre, a christian drama group that went out evangelizing and spreading the word of God through drama. When Piya joined the group we could not help noticing the talent that was embedded in this young man. He was a great director and play writer. He always had interesting imaginations and ways of acting which would always spark a heated discussion most of the times during the rehearsal. But at the end of it all it was just GMC.

I remember the time we had to act "KUMASANO", this was a great production which all GMC remembers. It was a play that we acted in many schools and we never stopped appreciating how each time we acted it came out different.

After Chanco we re-united as GMC alumini and called ourselves GMCA. We still had the same goal reach out to many young souls in schools. As time went by with age, most members got married but we still tried to keep GMCA together. Piya worked hard to keep GMCA together with several members who were in Blantyre, Lilongwe and many parts of Malawi, he did not give up on the dream of GMCA. There was a dream of having a film of one of GMCA plays I dont know how far you took that one Piya. Unfortunately, I can not ask you now, but I know you dreamed big for GMCA.

Some of the interesting moments were when we had to dance "Kumasano " on the weddings of members of GMCA. You were on the lead, with the "Kumasano chant". I am sure GMCA remebers "Kumasanooooooooooo eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh, Kumasanoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm."

There is a lot members of GMCA would want to write about Piya. And I have put together this tribute on my blog so that all the members of GMCA and all friends can comment and add on what fond memories we shared.

We are separated now physically, but you are always with us everyday, as we look at your photos, as we walk past St. Columba, as we walk past HHI, as we walk past Salima turn-off, everywhere we go you will always be in our memories.

We will always remember you Piya, as one of our GMCA members put it: May the great "Kumasano" rest in peace. The great Piya will always be rembered. He was so dear to us at GMC. He was a God's Marvellous creation! (EK)

Mnyamata wa pa Lizulu, wakwambewe, womwetulira bwino, nyamata wodziwa kuyankhula chichewa, wokonda chikhalidwe cha chi Malawi, m'ngoni woyenda ndi litchowa, sitidzakuyiwala PIYA!

I will always remember the last time I met you at shoprite in Lilongwe in 2007, you were just back from a youth conference in Kenya. I didn't know that that was the last time I was seeing you, in this life. You will always be remembered.

Piya, you were indeed God's Marvelous Creation.
We will MISS YOU SO MUCH!

MAY YOU REST IN PEACE.
LOVE GMC and GMCA