So let me steal this moment to wish you a blissful Christmas, and anticipate an amazing year 2014. So how did your Christmas celebration go? Did you leave any of the goodies for moi??

On my own part, I had an awesome time today. I helped in the preparation of the meal for the day and feasted as well. But I chose not to just focus on the merriment alone, I chose to reflect as well on the importance of the celebration. You see, setting aside time to celebrate the birth of Christ is a joyful and exceptional one, because personally, I know the indelible mark that the existence of Christ has made in my life.

The most acknowledged attitudes towards Christmas are exchanging gifts, family and loved ones reunion, feasting and celebration. All these mentioned attitudes can be related to God’s gift [Christ], because one thing that God gives is LOVE. So, the celebration of Christmas should be centered on showing love, but not just on the 25th but everyday. And whatever, we choose to do should be something that pleases the ‘reason’ for the ‘season’.

I just hope that we do not celebrate CHRISTmas without the appropriate knowledge of CHRIST. It is my desire that we strive to have a personal relationship with the ‘birthday boy’.

#BreakingNews#

For sometime now, I’ve been juggling certain things as well as blogging [I hope to share all about that in the future], my main aim of starting this blogging is to make an impact, which I know is taking place [and will take place]. But at this moment, I will be taking sometime off to take care of somethings and will blog as soon as I can. Why am I giving this information? I just want you to know that I’m not backing down or abandoning this project, I will definitely continue. I knew a time like this will come, and my desire was to make a start  before this stage, in order not to find an excuse.

So while I am taking care of other things, feel free to make suggestions and enquiries: pradake16@gmail.com. Also you can read other posts on the blog and share with family and friends: http://www.pricelessthinking.blogspot.co.uk.
Also, ‘Precious Thoughts’ is very important to me, so taking out time is a strategy for great things to come! Watch out.

Be good! Be priceless!!

In a world that seems not only to be changing, but even to be dissolving, there are tens of millions of us who want Christmas to be the same with the same old greeting, “Merry Christmas,” and no other.
We long for the abiding love among men of good will which the season brings… believing in this ancient miracle of Christmas with its softening, sweetening influence to tug at our heart strings once again.
We want to hold on to the old customs and traditions because they strengthen our family ties, bind us to our friends, make us one with all mankind for whom the Child was born, and bring us back again to the God Who gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have “everlasting life.”
So we will not “spend” Christmas or “observe” Christmas. We will “keep” Christmas – keep it as it is… in all the loveliness of its ancient tradition. May we keep it in our hearts, that we may be kept in its hope.

It is fair to say that the power of ‘choice’ cannot be underplayed in the making of a man [human being], so in the lil’ time I’ve spent on planet Earth, there are certain traits that human beings are drawn to and as well, find repulsive. Here are the few I’ve taken note of, and will love to share with you:

Man of integrity: when it comes to integrity, I feel its importance is really understated; it is not talked about nearly enough. Integrity entails a lot, from doing the right thing at all times to being a reliable person.

Let me share an experience that I learnt from- last weekend, I was opportuned to be in a gathering, and one of the agenda was to appoint new officials for the group. After the new officials were appointed, the Outgoing President sensed that the members of the group [especially those of us that were attending for the first time] were curious to know the criteria that was satisfied for the appointment of the new president. The Outgoing President said “If there’s anything I’m more than certain of, is the fact that Ms Axxxxx is very reliable, whatever you ask her to do, she will do. Whenever you need her, if she says she will be there, she will be there”.
Trust me, our curiosity/’quest to know’ was quenched. So what did I learn?? (i)When you’re a person of integrity, promotion is inevitable. (ii)when people are in doubt of if you deserve something/ a position, there will always be one person who will slam the doubt with trust.

A Leader: when the issue of leadership arises, the first thing that comes to an individual’s mind is ‘someone that is occupying an upmost position’. Well! I have a slightly different opinion on that. I see everyone as a leader; why do I say so? Leadership has a lot to do with influence and anyone is capable of influencing another; positively or negatively. One follower is another leader.

For instance, a father may like Mr Obama’s principles of life and may directly or indirectly instill these principle in his children. In this scenario, the father, a follower, has become another leader and the cycle goes on as his children influence other people. So in all, just being a leader does not just ‘make it alright’ but being a good leader for something ‘positive and impactful’. So even if you’re a follower, you are another leader!

A Wise Person: so the bible in Proverbs says ‘that whoever wins a soul is wise’. This is a very ‘heavy’ statement, but I will not be dwelling on the spiritual connotative meaning. Wisdom entails a lot but specifically to what I’ve learnt, I’m referring to the ability to pass on knowledge. I believe there is not a dull person on this planet [you may not agree], everyone knows something, and passing on the knowledge is very key. Imagine if Parents just had kids and never told their kids the lessons they’ve learnt from life; there’s a high probability of the children making the same mistakes or even worse mistakes than the parents. Basically, you know something, share humbly and confidently; therefore, passing on knowledge is winning a soul-being wise.

A Grateful Person: it is quite sad that the concept of ‘being grateful’ is ‘you have to do something that is a big deal‘ before gratitude can be exhibited. People are beginning to forget that most times, the ‘little thing’ is the big deal. A person does not have to give you a Bentley for gratitude to manifest.

For a person to spend 15 minutes with you, having a chat or a person gives you a pencil; gratitude should still take its place. I fear that we live in a world where gratitude is seen as a ‘no big deal’, and I must say it is severely disturbing. Nobody owes you anything not even their time, so we should not degrade the sanctity of gratitude.

I know these are few tips [I like to refer to them as ‘my one kobo thoughts’, they are priceless as well], but more importantly, these are not all; you’ve something to add.
So what kind of person do you strive to be yearly, monthly, fortnightly, weekly, daily, hourly, etc?

Have a joyous weekend even as you go about the finale preparation for Christmas!!

Hello, How has your week been? I’m sure you’re looking forward to a lovely weekend. I’ve just got a lil’ something for you this weekend, courtesy of Ms Francisca; who has decided to share her story with us and most of all; to encourage us with it.

In her own words:


It happened sometime ago, I lost my irreplaceable mother.  Long before she passed on, she suffered a lot of’ illnesses and things were pretty hard for the family. We were finding it difficult to attend to some basic needs including my Mum’s hospital bills. I suffered a lot of emotional trauma as the only girl. (From low self esteem to poverty) this went on for a while and she passed on. It was worse for me because her constant illness never gave her time to teach me some basic things I needed to learn from her as a woman. I ended up learning these things elsewhere. 

But God showed himself mighty, soon after she passed on,a lot of breakthroughs manifested. Though, I was wondering why everything happened after her death, but who am I  to question my creator? My dad immediately got a very great job, we [the children] have all graduated from the university except our last born, people that despised us because we had nothing to offer then, now want to associate with my family. 

Personally, I cannot fully express the happiness & joy I feel everyday, everyone that has crossed my path, has benefited in one way or the other. God is using me to touch a lot of people through my personal experience( I give Him all the glory). God has always been on our side,victory songs have never ceased from our mouth. Indeed everything is now beautiful. I miss my Mum everyday but I know her death occurred for a reason, just like Jesus Christ that had to die for us to be free from sin. Wherever she is, I know she’s happy.

 I just want to use this opportunity to reach to someone out there going through a similar experience, Hold on & Hold tight. At first, it may seem like the world is coming to an end but it won’t! The plan He has for you, are of good and not evil to give you a future and a hope. Remember God is still saying something in the midst of the trials. It doesn’t matter how u started the journey, remember the end will be better than the beginning. Stick to God, He won’t leave you nor forsake you.

Let us remember Isaiah 43:2- ‘when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze’.

              Your most effective ministry can emerge from your most painful experience! Do you agree?

Have a blissful weekend.