"All About the Kingdom"

Hmmm....

What to write, what to write.

Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you"

The Lord called something to my attention today- I'm always making it about ME.

ME ME ME ME ME

ME ME ME ME ME

Lord, what can you do for ME today?

Lord, how can you give ME wisdom today?

Lord, when will you bless ME in my day today'?

Lord, can you help MEEEEE with MYYY plans for the future?

Lord, can you help ME lose MY weight?

Lord, can you help ME with MY finances and MY bank account?

Lord, can you help ME with MY hair and MY sense of fashion

Lord, can you help ME with MY boy issues?

Honestly, this one-way selfish conversation could go on for DAYS

The point that the Lord was showing me is that He didn't create me for my own pleasure- He created me for HIS pleasure and HIS alone.

So when I do anything and everything that goes against pleasing Him, things WILL go haywire.

If I do what He is calling me TO DO, He will take care of EVERYTHING else. Job, car, money, boytoy, mom, hair,clothes name it HE WILL TAKE CARE OF IT.

RESOLUTION: DO YOUR JOB AND GET BACK INTO GOD'S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE.

It may not be glamorous, it may not be the high life you were dreaming of, but the 'things' and 'status'  but who you have by you side will decide whether the fame you gain will wither away and you will be easily forgotten or if you will be memorable for generations to come.

Living a life for God is worth more than any status or 5min or fame you will ever get because the reward is...ETERNAL, yes I said it EEEETTTEERRRNAALLLL

Ok folks- so let's get it together, snap out of it, stop sucking our thumbs (as pastor would say) and GET OVER IT.

It's not about YOU.

You can't see the big picture right now, and THAT'S OKAY!

TRUST IN GOD, RESPECT HIM AND OBEY HIM DAILY

Stop whining about what so and so did to you, how you were beat up in the fifth grade, how your mommy almost killed you.

YOU'RE STILL HERE

WHY?

BECAUSE GOD HAS A PURPOSE AND A CALLING FOR YOUR LIFE.

If you don't know, now you know...and if you still need to know, ask the man upstairs Himself.


That is all...GOOD NIGHT! xo

The Morning After

Woke up feeling sick and it went right down to my soul
This was last night`s aftermath, where my friend was the toilet bowl.
I had hugged it nice and tight and spilled out my darkest secrets.
And after I was done, it was enough to give you jeepers creepers
Just to see the mess I made and the bed in which I had laid.
This is the story of a girl,
who didn't cry a river and drown the whole world with tears,
But instead she silenced it with her fears.

Then came a hero, in a white and shining armor.
He filled her with joy and promised never to harm her.
You can tell from her smile that she's come quite far
And if you compared His love with others you will see they are all sub-par
Jesus Christ is Lord,
Need I say more?

Patience during\after prayer

Dearest friends,

I've been mulling over this concept for awhile and I think it's something the Lord would like me to share with you.

I work at a dispatch call center and in essence we deal with clients that need us to either turn up or turn down the heat, fix a toilet, mop an area, fix a door, change light bulbs...the list goes on.

NOW

This job can get pretty mundane and routine if you don't find a way to keep yourself busy or sane ( reading, sudoku, crosswords,) but overall, it's a great opportunity to learn how to multitask.

BUT HERE'S THE THING

Some calls\complaints MAINLY come from either one specific building, and if it's one specific building, there's usually a regular client that is calling to complain.

Here's what I've learned about how this co-relates with prayer:

When you ask the Lord for something, He's already working on it!

The Bible says that He already knows what you have need of! So it doesn't discredit your prayer or your request.

However, I noticed some clients will make a request and 15 minutes later, call in again to ask why the work hasn't been done yet.

Mind you in the span of that 15 minutes, we have either probably spoken to the technician/cleaner/building manager about the issue and SOMEONE IS ON THEIR WAY.

SO:

In the same way, please know that after you have prayed, HELP IS ON THE WAY.

Now, it doesn't mean go ahead and try and fix the problem by yourself while waiting * I do this alot *

Or that you should stop praying about it if you don't see results right away.

KEEP Praying Until Something Happens

PRAISE AND PUSH, PRAISE AND PUSH ,PRAISE AND PUSH PRAISE AND PUSH& PRAISE

Honestly, waiting is the best time to be praising and worshiping Him for answering your prayer(s)

So make the best of it!

That is all

#goodnight

Adventures In Trusting God (PART II)

So we check into our hotel, pack away our clothes and just relax in our hotel suite. Did we mention that it had a kitchenette, dining room, cutlery, cooking and dining utensils.

...

Oh yeah...

We forgot to mention how we got to our hotel...

Well...by cab.

 OH YOU MEANT BEFORE THAT...?

at the Greyhound station in Rochester?

OHHHH WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY BEFORE THAT?

at the Greyhound station in Buffalo...

OHHHHH YYOUU MEAN EVEN MOOOORE BACK THAN THAT?

At the US Customs border?

Oh yeah that.

As Mbula was flirting up a storm with Officer M and I was sending up prayers, another officer stepped into the picture and looked over Officer M's shoulder as he reviewed, inspected, double checked and scanned our passports.

RASSSS...

Folks,

There was literally a PAUSE where Mr. M looked at me and I KNEW HE KNEW THAT I KNEW THAT THE PASSPORT HE WAS HOLDING WAS EXPIRED.

I was sure he was going to say something at that moment. I was literally watching his lips.

Why he only chose to say "So Mbula, how long will you be in New York for?"  we will never know.

He didn't even ask for the plethora of documents that I had stashed and prepared for this exact moment.

I was ready to prove my citizenship, birth certificate, place of residence, place of education, bills with current and former address... A WHOLE PORTFOLIO OF PREPARATION... AND NONE OF IT WAS NEEDED.

*claps hands*

THANK YOU JESUS

--) Before we continue we just need to take a moment and thank Jesus

Thank you:

For laying it in Jessica's spirit the desire to be in your presence this weekend

For allowing all of the arrangements to be financially possible

For showing us how to trust in you

For showing us the key to doing your perfect will

For allowing us to be free in the spirit

For allowing us to be in your presence

For helping us to step into a new year with a new understanding and appreciation for the intimacy we now have with you.

For bring us onto a NEXT a level

For teaching us that prayer and praise WORKS

For showing us that you will always make a way for those whose hearts are set apart for you.

Fast forward to getting back on the bus, our 2hr wait in Buffalo (Uhm never again), to our arrival in Rochester.

Can we just talk about how COLD IT WAS? RAWTID...

And on top of that, a certain conductor of the Greyhound bus (Buffalo to Rochester) by the name of JAMES, approached our cab window (Mbula's side to be exact), who then proceeded to POUND his fist against the cab window. As the window rolled down and Mr. James introduced himself 

And I quote:

Him: Hi, I'm James. What's your name (as he looked in and stared at me expectantly and creepily)

Me: Jessica

Him to Mbula: Give this to her. This is my number. Call me anytime.

Mbula's thinking: when the RASSS did I become Jessica's personal secretary to be takin' mens numbers that are chopping her ?

So we're in the cabbie spelling our hotel address (a good 4 mins) for our INCOHERENT cab driver. Lets just say our efforts to understand each other was all in vain, as he turned off the GPS claiming to know EXACTLY where he's going...*Biggest sigh ever*

He knows where he's going alright....to another city! Henrietta to be exact.....We end up in the outskirts of Rochester @ 4:40am! After our slight indifferences with our cab driver and outbursts of frustration, we arrive at our hotel...in Greece! (about 20 mins from Downtown Rochester).

The hotel looked interesting as it was kinda in the middle of nowhere but had all the luxury anyone could want including kitchenette, dining room, cutlery, cooking and dining utensils as we mentionned above..

How about we tell you, we woke up BRIGHHHHT and perky @ 10:30am...only to find out we had missed the 1st service of the day! LAWDDDDD...

We're in Greece! Lets..............................UHMMM........ What DO people do out here...?

Mbula indecisively shifts her focus on getting her hair done to getting our nails done.....NONE OF WHICH HAPPENED...SHAME!

All in the same, we decide to get some food....sleep....and wake up in time for our service at 6:30pm.

Let me tell you from NOW.....Greece does not have a Pizza Pizza, Popeyes does not deliver and Chinese food is questionable....(As always)...But aye....Pizza Hut is familiar to us Canadians so we order our presumably delicious large vegetarian pizza, cheese sticks and soda.


PAUSE:
 Tell me why this so called large vegetarian pizza, from the looks of it, turns out to be LAST NIGHT`S pizza, just reheated. The crust, cheese, tomatoes and greens all looked DRY!!


Clearly Jessie's stomach was not 'down' with that and decided to tell Jessica what was 'up'  - true story

NEVER AGAIN


Fast forward to AFTER the service where Jessie was able to link up with our friend R.C (who 'happened' to be staying at the hotel across from where the service was being held) and spend time in fellowship

GOD IS GOOD

NO COINCIDENCES THERE


Then our 'designated' cabbie, came and picked us up from the hotel and drove us home.

SIDENOTE:

Our cabby was a very interesting character. On our first ride for the evening service, he drove us through some  boricuan gueto (puerto-rican ghetto neighborhood)  Honestly it was just awkward. He said he would give us a tour, not the opportunity to put our lives in danger yeesh!

 And as we conversed with him he kept mentioning how when he visited Toronto he liked to visit the show girls and the strip clubs.
.... I'm sorry, were we supposed to say to him: yeah next time you visit we'll tag along and even show you a couple of our spots?

Then apparently when we went to withdrawl money, he asked Jess if we were lovers :| Really though?

 Then after Saturday night's service when he came and picked us up from the hotel (mind you it was almost 2am), he asked us if we had been in the room with somebody :o  I thinking: grandpa,you don't know me like that! If you think we're the kind of Christian girls that just 'act' Christian but are REALLY down low then you got another think comin!

Fast forward to Sunday morning service where we came in a bit late for worship but still caught the word. The message was calling us to chose who we would serve- God or the world.


After service we went to a grill restaurant ( I forget the name but they were PACKED) So we ordered the food to go.

I ordered a fish platter and Jess got some goooood chicken.

Sunday was my turn to have a churning belly that was disagreeing with the food.

Fast forward to us just sitting on our hotel bed, reminiscing and thanking the Lord for such a wonderful laid out experience

WE WANT MORE OF YOU JESUS

MORE EXPERIENCES LIKE THIS

TO SEE YOUR HAND MAKING ALL THINGS COME TOGETHER FOR GOOD AND FOR YOUR GLORY ALONE

Then we decided we would catch the midnight greyhound so we could well be back in Toronto by Monday afternoon and perhaps even on our way to Ottawa.

And indeed it was so.

I'm sorry if I've cut out so much of our experience in Rochester but needless to say, WE SERVE A GREAT BIG GOD THAT DOES NOT HAVE THE WORD IMPOSSIBLE IN HIS DICTIONARY OR VOCABULARY.

We learned that the key to getting in God's will for your life is to TRUST Him in all things and at all times.

proverbs 3:5-6

He taught us that as long as we keep praying, praising and steadfastly focusing on Him, He will do the rest.

He taught us that if He brings us to it, He will bring us through it.

The key to this whole weekend was that in our heart of hearts, he KNEW and SAW that we were seeking nothing but to be in His presence, not to receive some kind of blessing or healing, no JUST to be SOAKED in His presence was all we asked, and He honored it and went above and beyond to make our wildest dream come true.

Trust in Him my friends, whether it's a minute detail or the goriest most horrific thing that could happen to you in your life.

Let's leave it at daddy's feet and say " Honestly, I donno what to do about this" or " I can't seem to get up when I fall over this block"

No daddy can ever compare to this ONE. So take his hand, it's always outstretched, ready and willing to help you get up onto your feet.

He is so good.

We love you daddy Jesus xo <3

PAGE BREAK!

Ladies and gents,

Sorry for the delay for Part II, but we figure the climax build-up is totally worth it for you guys :)

In the meantime, I would like to testify and briefly say "Thank You Jesus"

Anyone who knew me last year at my worst knows that I ended up being hospitalized after
an anxiety attack\mental breakdown.

Not only was there a change happening physically, but spiritually, there was a spirit that was seeing it's way out of my life.

I could go on and give your the gritty details, but we shall leave that for a coffee date.

For now,

I just want to thank the Lord. Since my breakdown, it has been an uphill battle of crucifying flesh, letting go of people and letting go of old ways and STILL there is more to do as I grow in him and He grows in me.
I want to thank Him for giving me :

->Mental clarity, focus and awareness.
->peace that surpasses all understanding
->time
->compassion

but most of all...

HELPING ME UNDERSTAND WHAT TRUE LOVE IS REALLY ALL ABOUT

I am daily learning this, daily getting deeper...and I'm just honored that He would even consider me a candidate to work with Him to complete His work\plans.

He is good.

He is loving.

He is kind

and get this...


HE IS A GENTLEMAN :)

So ladies and gents,

let me leave you with this:

Don't give up! I know the storm is raging outside and you can't even look up to cry out to the heavens or even complete your prayer because you're so lost in what's going on but I've got something to tell you.

HE'S ALREADY FIXED IT.

HE'S ALREADY GOT YOU COVERED/PROTECTED

So, be still, and know that He is God and HE is in control.

On the real though, aren't you glad that it's someone like HIM that's in control and not someone like Lucifer?

I thank GOD! LOL

Good night and God bless you all xo

-Mbula Enobong

Adventures In Trusting God (PART I) by Mbula and Jessica

If you had asked either one of us what we had planned for the weekend of Febuary 17th to the 19th, we probably would've said :  " I donno, church?" OR "Uhmm going shopping?"

But...

the good Lord had something else up His sleeves.

Jessica says:

I pretty much woke up with a feeling and a need to be at Winterfest 2012. Mind you, I had offers to attend Winterfest all paid for, but declined because the interest wasn't there...Until of course, the day of the event...*Sigh*

SIDENOTE: For those of you who do not know what this is, it is a Christian Youth Convention held annually in Rochester, NY.

I then updated my bbm to see who was up for the last minute trip.

Mbula says:

After battling dramatically with whether or not I should go to work, I decided to call in sick and sleep it off.

Upon awaking, I noticed Ms.SimplyGorjess's bbm status and inquired as to what Winterfest was about.

and I quote...........

Jessica: Lets go to Rochester for Winterfest...

Mbula: Who would I be to say no? Running away once again (I have a tendancy to run to her house in Toronto when ottawack is toooo maacchhh)

After describing to me what Winterfest was about, I was hooked and immediately set about to search for rideshares from Ottawa to Rochester.

TRUESTORY: I'm typing in the kijiji search bar rideshare from Ottawa to Rochester and Rochester NEWYORK...pops up

UHMMMM BUT WAAAAAIIIIIIIIITTT!!!! This whoooolle time I thought Rochester was somewhere in the Glebe of Ottawa or even T.DOT OH!!

Too late I've already said I'm down...Jess is already hyping up....

and I quote

Mbula: As in Rochester NY?

Jessica: Yes hun... *DRAMATIC PAUSE* also I just realized my passport has expired...

LAWWWWWD

She mentioned she had previously traveled with her expired passport already so we thought, why not leave this in the hands of God.

If this is His will (as was Jessica's bbm status) then He would make a way.

In the meantime, we were just gonna keep truckin' along like nothing was a problem.

We immediately jumped into action ...
(12:52pm) we got to praisin, prayin and fasting. LITERALLY DID NOT EAT
(12:57pm) Calling Tennesse to do a last minute registration with the ticket office
(1:15pm) (Jessica) frantically searching for my passport
(1:30pm) Booking a beautifully affordable hotel room
(AN EXTENSIVE AMOUNT OF TIME) Securing a rideshare in the quickest time frame (3pm) from Ottawa to Toronto to make it to the 8pm greyhound Rochester bus, we can say the HAND AND FACE of God was truly guiding and working on behalf of us each and every single step of the way.

Did I mention that the driver of the rideshare was even able to make a connection with Jessica's mom so that she could send a copy of Jessica's birth certificate back to Toronto with me ? We figured she would need all the documents possible to plead her case with the customs officer.... She even tried to leave her name with the customs agent so they would know she had already tried to resolve the problem.

PS: I live on the opposite end of where Jessica's mother lives and the rideshare was able to make the connection with her mom in South Keys(which was not out of his way) and come back and get me in Barrhaven (which was also not out of his way)

The ETA of the rideshare was 8:15pm.... and actually I got there at 7:30pm and jumped into a cab that was already waiting for me *(PRINCESS MOMENT)* and cabbed to Jess's (who already had her suitcase packed and ready...(Jess) Mbula doesn't know this, but I was actually JUST getting out of the shower...Barely packed and ready..shhh!)

Our cabbie offered us a flatrate to the greyhound station and on the highway on our way there...we noticed a Church bus from a Church we recognize (we will not mention flop out names here) and we flurried about on our bbms questioning and demanding why the raaaaaaaaassssssss no one told us there was a bus going the same direction as us.

To our dismay, it was a false alarm and we stuck to our original plan.

Upon arriving at greyhound, 

Jess and I separated : her to get the tickets, me to get in line.                                                             

the line: ------------------------------------------------_________________-----------------------l

Sigh, if you're good at math and are able to transfigurate the length of this line on the screen into real-life measurements, you would cringe at the length of the line, FOR NEW YORK ALONE.

IT LITERALLY SNAKED AROUND THE BUILDING

#no sweat

Pray and praise

As we neared to boarding the bus, darling Jessica QUIVERED at the idea of the conductor who was verifying travel documents; PASSPORTS BEING ONE.

Interestingly enough, when two spots were open for boarding on the last bus, we were chosen because the people who were supposed to board next, were a group of four.

AND EVEN MORE INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH: The conductor NEVER checked our travel documents.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

THANK YOU JESUS

Poor girl...I think she may have panicked, had an anxiety, maybe peed a little but by the grace of God she was thankful above all to have crossed that ordain.

NOW:

THE CUSTOMS AGENT:

If you would like to compare nerve-wracking experiences, please direct your comments to me Jessica.

I was literally in shambles as we pulled over and just SAT and WAITED for the bus ahead of us to finish being processed.

Mbula wishes she had taken a picture.... I WENT FROM BEING ASLEEP TO BEING WIDE AWAKE AND WORRIED ....BAHAHAHA (dying of laughter as we write this)

Mbula says:

STOP!! STOP IT!! STOP IT NOW!! (in the most loving way) 

The Lord did NOT bring us this far just for us to be turned back arong (jamaican accent)

*prays*

ENTER OFFICER M. (name has been shortened for confidential purposes)

Okay, I won't lie...white boy was foiiiiiiiine!

...Blue eyes, wiry but FIRM frame, and just an absolutely exhuberant and witty character about him.

We thought we could charm him into overlooking the passport "discrepancy".....

...

READ PART II to find out what happens next.