The Real Christmas Story.

It was barely dawn in the forest the birds were breaking into song, the first rays of sunlight were hitting the forest floor which appeared to be moving as the Chico clan of ants were on the move again. it was the time of their cycle when the ants moved to the other side of the forest and their paths crossed different parts of the forest. 

the ants

The mothers told the children of the various scenes they would pass as they went across the forest and the older ants recalled tales of wars with other clans and the young males looked forward to the nuptials when the young females took to flight and the joined them in a celebration of young love and the older men remembered and looked forward to the great anthill’s of their ancestors. The women folk knew their holidays were just ahead for the ancient anthills offered huge underground stores of food and their job would comprise laying the eggs that would ensure the perpetuity of their race and being waited on by the worker class. The young-uns to whom every sight was a new experience watched with surprise and wanted to stop and stare but kept being urged on by the elders behind them as well as their mothers. The pace set by the soldier clan was ferocious and unyielding once the army of ants were on the move there was no force in nature that could stop them, birds whose nests were unfortunately in their path were devoured by the unrelenting red tide torn to pieces by the soldiers and carried by the worker clan. There was no animosity it was just nature taking its course on the forest floor.

Above the ground, the new road was on schedule, the crews had worked night and day now a new single lane road cut through the forest and provided a shorter route to families that traveled across the country. In this forest also lived a family of ant watchers a man and his son who every year watched the migration of the ants unfailingly. But as they went along the route they saw the migration had started earlier than usual but they were aghast at the discovery that the road which ran through the forest ran right across the path of the ant migration.

The ants being ants did not know to stop or look for an alternate route and they were being crushed by the hundreds as they attempted to dash across the road. No matter how fast or strong they were no match for the huge tires that ran over them the elders had no answers for this new threat usually their doggedness and sheer numbers was sufficient to overcome any foe even the occasional fire. they were totally unprepared for this new threat but as creatures of instinct they kept on pouring their numbers into the roads, mothers wailed as infants were crushed and fathers mourned the loss of entire families and were soon promptly crushed themselves the entire army was being decimated in a matter of seconds, but the hordes behind were unaware of the carnage up ahead and poured on to face the same seemingly inevitable fate.

It was to this scene of utter horror and despondency that the ant watcher and his son came and the boy promptly saw that there was a tunnel under the road that the ants could take and avoid the tires that were wreaking such havoc. They decided to stand by the road and scream at the ants but, the ants couldn't hear them, the boy built barriers but the ants promptly climbed over them he put signs but they couldn't read in frustration he tried so many other options all to no avail he cried, howled and threw himself on the floor his beloved ants were marching into a sure death and he couldn't do a thing to save or help them.

Then, out of the blue the thought came to him; the ants can’t understand me because I’m not an ant and I don’t speak ant-tongue but if I can become an ant, I can speak with them in a language they will understand and promptly he decided that he would become an ant. He explained his   decision to become an ant to his father who immediately sat him down and explained to him that this was no easy choice; it would alter his life in a way that he could barely comprehend, he would eat ant food, sleep in ant nests, move with the army of ants, walk about naked be vulnerable like the ants, face the likelihood that he’d be picked off by an anteater and probably die like and ant. All the perks that came with being human would be lost; the warm house, tea, school, friends and adventure were all he would be giving up. Faced with this choice he wept sorely but by dawn his resolve was clear.

Not too long after the workers hatched an egg and a young boy was born as an ant only this ant knew what lay ahead of the army of ants and even more he knew how to get across the road without loss of life. Would other ants believe that he was not just an ordinary ant like them? Those ants that were hatched with him were the most skeptical of his “claims” how can an ant like you know that there is death ahead of us the other ants asked? We know your mother and your brothers… a few of the ants followed him along the new way no knowing what was ahead but trusting in his sure steps. What do we have to lose any way they reasoned as they went with him.

Today as the world over celebrates Christmas many will caught-up in the festivities, the eating and the drinking and the partying forget that the son of God left heaven to become an ant like us. Will we believe in the new way or will we allow logic skepticism and the need for empirical evidence cloud our ability to accept the humbling truth that over 2000 years ago God cast aside his God-hood to become a man like us? The bible says; “…for unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given…” let us remember the greatest expression of love was made when God became man. Let’s not forget this in the fun of Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. The king is indeed born.

have fun.

BEFORE YOU QUIT.

Remember this line by leonardo di caprio in the movie catch me if you can?

"... two mice fell into a farmers wife's barrel's of milk one of the gave up and drowned the other kept on swimming and stirring the milk that eventually, the milk turned into cheese and it climbed out..." I can't think of any analogy that best describes what i intend to talk about.

Robert H. Schuller a best selling author entitled one of best selling books "tough times don't last tough people do" what was not said by that statement was that tough people where formed in the forge of tough times and character is formed in the crucible of experience. We all hope for a wonderful life in fact we grow up with the notion of a life where, all the things that we desire come to us with minimum fuss and that in those cases where we have to work hard our efforts are met with commensurate success. As we grow older we begin to find that that particular scenario is the exception as against the rule and we are shocked by the vicissitudes of life. Things like death of a loved one, a messy break-up, a divorce, betrayal by a trusted confidante, a child who is going down the wrong path, a career disappointment, a loss of an expected promotion/job are the kind’s of "spanner in the works" circumstances that life presents us with at various points. 

Our world today, is one which is result oriented, people the world over are invariably drawn to results, in fact the moment anyone comes up with any quick fix he almost always guaranteed the perks that come with success. While providing a solution to a problem should be lauded in itself, we should understand/be aware that the innate fault inherent in the quick fix mentality; it negates the importance of the process. Now on the surface that might not be much of a problem but looking closely at it has created a generation of quitters people who are not willing to work out/through tough situations people unwilling to hang in there, unstable and disloyal people who will quit at the slightest sign of trouble in our sitcoms and movies we applaud the "...I QUIT..." line in fact several of them actually build up to and crescendo at that line, today it’s not uncommon to hear people betting huge sums of money on the longevity of a marriage or relationship in show business. Which sadly is a template that today's society attempts to live up to. While I find it imperative to state clearly that there are situations that require us to cut our losses and refocus our energies in places where we can be or are more productive it is pertinent to point that redirecting our efforts should be a last option and not the default setting.

The process is very vital to making stable and dependable people of character

Job 23 vs 10 says; But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

We should not become people who look for the exits at the first sign of trouble. The ultimate irony is that although, we tend towards quitting we admire people that have stuck through their tough times and when we are with ourselves we aspire to such strength of character. As a matter of fact as corrupt or deviant  the employers of labor are, they reward people of character and seek after them because a man of character is a rare breed. We should understand that it is those uncomfortable situations are forges and anvils within which we are made. Case in point David in the bible was anointed king as a 16/17 year old boy (I Samuel 16 vs13 )and was crowned king when he was a 30 year old man (II Samuel 5 vs 4 ) 

What happened in the intervening time? Why didn't he assume the throne seeing he was anointed for it? Truth be said in today’s world he would have had saul assassinated in order to “get there” infact we would be maligned for not sticking it to the man.He did not because he needed to be groomed for kingship, he need to have his charcter formed, he needed to determine what his own values, he needed to deal with; his Goliath, Saul's hatred, loss of his family to the amalekites (I Samuel 30 vs 3) and several setbacks he learnt how to make the right choice, he learnt the value of patience, he learnt to guide men to battle, he assembled his team it was only after this that he wrote the psalm "...the lord is my shepherd..." that and other psalms that are and have been a blessing to many people. he was so well forged that at the end of his life he was able to say these words that we've all clung to at some point in our lives;

psalm 37 vs 25 i have been young, and now i'm old; yet have i not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

This trait of patience is one that is increasingly lost in our generation of power suits, power ties and power steering's and the truth is that we are the worse for it. The difference between the floaters and sinkers (no pun intended) in any circumstance is their reaction to the said circumstance. when faced with trying times there are two options available to us all, the first is to bow to and be overwhelmed by it (this is when people say things like i didn't have an option) or stand up and rise above the circumstance this is the true test of character and this can only come by resolving within your self that you will see the end of the situation. because at the very core of it our success or failure to overcome our challenges is a function of how we choose to see our problems; as stumbling blocks/insurmountable obstacles or stepping stones. The truth is that there isn't a one size fits all answer to the question; why does some stuff happen? but one truth that is common to everyone that has toughed it out through a trying time is that we come out stronger, tougher, weathered and confident in our experience that we can tell someone going through the same or similar situation that the light at the end of the tunnel is not a myth. And nothing even close to that self confidence that overcoming gives, that feeling that comes from knowing that at the end we are still standing smiling though scarred.

I'll conclude in the words of 7 consecutive time tour de France winner,testicular cancer survivor, winner of; sports man of the year, male athlete of the year, athlete of the year more than once and author of several books;

"...pain is temporary. it may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something will take it's place. If i quit however, it lasts forever..."

Hang in there, this too shall pass. You are a work in progress. have a God-blessed week.

Expectations or Demands?

Picture this; a girl walks into a store with a limited amount of money with the intentions of leaving with a pair of shoes. now while she doesn't have the exact pair in mind, she sure hope that when she eventually leaves the store she'll have a pair of shoes  that'll make her feel really good. now comes the dilemma one which i'm sure all of us have been in several times in the course of our lives; the store has rather appealing options and i'd love to exploit all of them if i could, but i can only go down one path. the question is which one to choose? if you have been there, or you have a choice to make at the moment, read on and see my thoughts on the matter.

 if we carefully consider the dilemma that is decisions making, we find something that we all; race,gender economic and social status irrespective have in common.  in my opinion the crux of the dilemma lies in the question; will this job, proposal, option, person, place and so on give me what i really want? but even bigger than this question is one question that people the world over generally have no answer to, or choose not to be asked for that matter, what do you really want from life? pause for a moment and consider that question do you really have a clear answer to that question? given the choice would your answer be one that you have settled in your heart prior to now? or will it take you down a thought process you'd rather not go at the moment?

Most of us have dreams and wishes that we hope to get to sometime in the future, and sooner or later life presents us with a forked path where we must chose to go in one direction or another. and most often our choices are based on what we think those choices will pay to us by way of satisfaction of one need or another. But, the central thing to note is our out look to life. Do we expect things from life or do we demand things from life? Whats the difference you might ask, when we expect things from life we speak about dreams, hopes and aspirations. But when on the other hand we demand things from life, it comes from clearly stated goals, decisions and actions that we are looking at to yield to us the things they normally/naturally should. 

 Let me explain. A farmer, tills the soil plants seeds (rice for instance) that have been painstakingly selected he does everything that he should do to ensure the plants do well. Then he expects rain (which is out of his power and influence)  let us assume in this case, that doesn't get it. he makes a dam for his farm and irrigates it then he demands a harvest at the end because its his due because, that is the natural course of events. he has has done everything that he should so he places a demand on the crop for a harvest. see the difference?when he hoped for rain/good weather  it was just that; hope. but when he demanded a harvest it went just beyond wishing for it he did things that ensured that he would get what he wanted.

We should not be going through life with just hope. yes, certain things are out of our control and try as we may we cant change the course of some events but, on the other hand there are those that are almost totally in our control and those ones are the ones that our every waking moment should be focused on. How does this affect my decision making process you might be tempted to ask its simple; when we look at every decision in the light of our destination, the choices are easier to make, now instead of looking at them in an A, B or C way we, begin looking at them in a which one takes me from A to B  mode.
When we learn to streamline our decisions in the light of our destinations we make conscious choices instead of guesses and shots in the dark. all of us remember how much time we waste on multiple choice questions when we are not sure what the answers are. In the same way our choices in life are made easier and faster when we make up our minds where we want to get to at the end of our day. the bottom line is, knowing your destination puts you in a position to place demands on life instead of having expectations from life.as Ephesians 6vs 13 says, you need to have done all.


This concept, actually goes beyond only making choices it influences life style, relationships, career choices and even the food's we eat. It streamlines us together with our actions and puts purpose to our lives. When we know where we want to get to, the choice of how to get there, who to go there with, and what to take there and what needs to be done to get there becomes much more easy and less convoluted. Our decision making becomes more efficient Jesus says in Luke 14vs 2, that a man intent on building a tower counts the cost. he knows what a tower needs and he finds out if he has them all, the flip side is that he at the same time knows what building the said tower doesn't need. so ask your self where am i going to and what are the things i'm carrying with me that will not help me get there? discard them, then add those things which you really do need and watch your life get uncluttered.

so just as the girl at the beginning had a hard time choosing shoes, we all have other stuff we have a hard time making a choice over that don't require soul searching. for some of us, some choices have been settled a long time ago for instance, every time there is a choice to be made between strawberry and vanilla flavored ice-cream or in fact any ice-cream for that matter, vanilla wins all the time.

Have fun, its a wonderful summer and you're alive to spend it.


P/S when you're done reading some feedback will be highly appreciated.