How about you stop dating the Church? Part 2

Hello bloggers hope you all had an amazing Christmas celebrations. I apologize for the long wait in between this series but here we go with part 2 of church...Enjoy and be bless.

Praise God Christmas this year fell on a Sunday. To me every Sunday is pretty much exciting  because I always know I am going in for something. As a person who tend to be overly attentive to details around me I was expecting the church to be overfilled today since it was a Christmas Sunday morning and was a little disappointed when I found myself running late. I was piss that the church was going to be packed with church daters, you know the ones who attend services at most 3/4 times a year meaning Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving and New year service. Its amazing how many people fall in that categories in this era.

I had a friend, lets call her Jane. Jane and I have been friend for a very long time and for the last year she has been attending two churches. One in the morning and another in the afternoon. She love church one because of the people although she does not understand the language they spoke. Church two she also love because in there she can actually understand the sermon and see areas in which she can apply them. This is what we call church dating because ms. Jane was not committed to any particular local church. Today there are many Jane roaming about and the most common excuse I hear is "Oh I love their praise sessions but the sermons are so dry so I go to Church #2 when I really want to hear a good sermon."  According to Joshua Harris, it is very easy to spot church daters in three manner.

1.  The individual's attitude toward the church is me-centered. What can I gain/get from this church? I'm a really broke college student and have no money to pay for school, can the church pay for me? I really need this miracle/deliverance do they have that there? What activities/social events do they have? Everything about this individual's motive is what will I really get out of my waking up on a lovely Sunday morning when I could be sleeping indoor like others. 

2. This individual is very Independent. You know the "I'm riding solo ones." They come to church because they probably grew up doing the same every Sunday and it has become a ritual. Going to church on Sunday morning becomes one of the things that Christians are "suppose" to do and so the individual just flow with the motion. They are the last set to come in just right when the praise session is over and first set to leave before the Pastor makes the alter call.  They do not want anything to do with been committed to the church or being a part of the church service unit. connecting to people/members of the church is definitely a NO NO after all "I don't need people checking up on everything that I do."

3.  This individual is Critical. This individual basically comes in with the mindset that their must be fault in the church. They are very quick to find fault in a Church and will not be satisfy until they find something wrong with the church. You know the mentality of this is too good to be true so I'm not getting out of this until I find what is wrong.  They are always on the look out for the next church and they sit not too far from the exit door at all.

I am sure you have met at least one of this individual before. If this might be you I beg of you that you reconsidered your decisions before going to church next time. If you do not fall in this categories of "Church daters" Praise God for that, and I would suppose my next question for you would be how committed are you to your local church?

 what is a local church? While I was thinking about this thought and the right definition to use I came across Mark Driscoll's definition where he said "The local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the great commandment and the great commission as missionaries to the world for God’s glory and their joy."

Now there is the local church and the  universal church which is the entire body of Christ all over the world. The local church is within our community and it is definitely important to Identify your local church and be committed to it.

Now let's do a little rewind back to church dating. The first time I heard about Church dating I was almost confuse because I thought I was in that situation. When I was in school I was as committed to my church as well as my campus ministry, bible study group and prayer group.  At the time I thought was I church dating? This brings me back to the categories of people who claim not to go to church because they are part of other group like campus ministry/prayer groups. Certainly there are different protocols in a Church than the other group.  A Church is much more than your campus ministries,  It is more than a group of Christians coming together for words of encouragement, it is more than listening to preachings  online or tv, it is much more than praying/studying the bible with a couple of people over a conference call. Yes you find fellowship in those gatherings but none of those groups can substitute for that local church.  


This post have grown quite long so I shall rest my fingers here for now, however check back soon to find out How to choose/what to look for in a local church.


Do have a lovely week guys and Happy New Year in advance


Muah
YSU

How about you stop dating the Church? Part 1

Jack and Grace met through a mutual friend. From day one they seemed to be the perfect match. Grace was everything Jack had always wanted. She was beautiful, outgoing, and caring - always there when Jack needed her. For the first five months they were inseparable. Jack could hardly think of anything but grace. He didn't want to look further, he told friends. "She's the one."
            Now almost three years have passed. Jack still enjoys the comfort and familiarity of being with grace, but the spark is gone. Grace's Flaws seem more obvious. He's not sure he finds her as attractive as he once did. And he's beginning to resent all the time she want to spend with him.
        One night, when she asks if they can define the nature of their relationship, Jack blows up "We're together, aren't we?" he asks angrily. " Why isn't that enough for you?" Obviously, Jack isn't ready for commitment. And it's unclear if he ever will be..."
        

The excerpt above is from Joshua Harris book "Why Church Matters"

     Have you ever been in a relationship like that of Grace and Jack? Its breaks my heart to say that there are millions upon millions of Jacks all around the word. And no Grace is not a girl she is the Church. Many people today can accept and say that they are "believers" but how many people can we really classify as "bellongers"?
       Paul in Ephisians 3:10 makes us understand that the church was an Intention of God. "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms."  
What exactly is the Church? we may ask. So many times we think of the building when we hear the word church and forget what it really mean. To me the Church is a fellowship where men and women of all background can come together as one body and worship God. It is a body of Christ that grow day after day. For example if you were to cut off one leg off your body today will it function on it own? The answer is No and this is the same for the Church/the body of Christ. Once one member of the Church break away it is very hard for it to function alone because we do need that fellowship with one another. An iron sharpens and iron and if as much as salvation is an individual pursuit we still need one another to make the journey smooth.

    So to the ones who think/say "Oh I don't need to belong to any church I can worship God and pray on my own and at my house" I'm sorry to break it to you "No you CAN'T and it is NOT OK." It is hard to do most things alone and certainly Christianity is not an exception.  "God manifest His presence in different ways to the "living stones" of His temple when they are gathered than He does to them when they are apart" - Joshua Harris

     When we are members of the church according to Ephesian 2:19-22 " you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."


 This is the beginning of the Church series that I shall be writing on in the next few post. Now this post post took me a little longer than I normally would take to write a post simply because this is a topic that is very dear to my heart and I can get very brutally emotional about it. I don't know if you can tell in some sentences but I had to rewrite every sentence a few times because I thought "oh snap that was too harsh and mean." My point is these next few post might sound harsh because I will no longer edit it to please my readers but rather say it as raw as it is because I believe Christ would love us to all share even the bitter truth as bitter as it is.  I pray that you all bear with me in these post. In the mean time check back for part 2 which shall be "Connecting to a Local Church."

xoxo
YSU

"If you refuse to take on spiritual responsibility you will becomes a liability"

11.28.11

GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDD MORNING, AFTERNOON & EVENING TO YOU ALL!!

For all my American people I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving/Turkey celebrations. I ate all the orishirishi that there was after all I only get to eat proper momma home cooking once in a while and it was so nice to take a break from campus food.

Its Monday morning and the question for the week and thought is how connected are you to people and most importantly your brothers and sisters in Christ?

Many people sees fellowship as a Sunday or Wednesday mid week service ritual but the honest truth is that it goes beyond that. Fellowship is breaking bread with one another, knowing the well being of the other person, sharing and strengthening each other in this journey we as Christian choose to embark. Overall fellowship is belonging to one another.....How many times have you overlooked the "one another" commands in the Scriptures?  I will list a few of them because the one probably in your head right now is the "Love one another" command.

Love one another - John 13:34
Be devoted to one another - Romans 12:5
Honor one another - Romans 12:10
Rejoice with one another - Romans 12:15
Serve one another - Galatians 5:13
Carry one another's burden - Galatians 6:2
Forgive one another - Ephesians 4:32
Encourage one another - 1st Thessalonians 5:11
Offer hospitality to one another - 1 peter 4:9
Confess our sins to one another - James 5:16
Pray for one another - James 5:16


My prayer is that God give us the strength, ability and wisdom to connect with one another each and every day.

This post was inspired by Joshua Harris. In December I will be doing a series about Church Dating with a lot of stuff from the book called "Why Church Matter" formerly publish as "Stop Dating the Church"  by Joshua Harris. It is going to be a very interesting series and I can't wait to share it with you all.

Have a lovely week y'all.

YSU

Nothing gonna hold me back

Hey y'all how are you lovely bloggers doing. So lately November has been month of traveling every weekend and its been a blessing going in all these retreat and conferences with God opening my eyes to see things that I have not experience before which is why my favorite saying is that "the word of God is new every time" because every time i read it there is always something new that I have never seen before.

I'm actually blogging on my phone from the bus from dc and I have about 8 more hours and definitely tired already but I thought I'd share with you guys two songs that's been playing in my head for well over a week now...

The first song is one of my Hillsing favorite 'Forever Reign' and the second one I just discovered last week at a retreat and I could not help but to fall on love with it.... 'Nothing gonna hold you back' by Kim.

Happy Sunday y'all many hugs and have a lovely week ahead

Cheers

~YSU~

Who is He?

To me He is a friend, a brother, a father, and a lover all at once. To Him I can pour out my heart and He listen and hear every words that I say. With every day that I have an encounter with Him I see everything new which is not strange because His words are new every morning.

In my thought today I thought how would it feel like if Christ was here on earth physically today? Would there have been more or less believer? And if He was here today how would He answer questions thrown to Him by men. Its so amazing that Christ is Both the Son of God and yet born of a Woman, and then there are so many other things about Him like

On His mother's side He was hungry but on His father's side He is the bread of life
On His mother's side He was thirsty but on His father's side He is the living water
On His mother's side He was been nailed to the cross but on my father's side He rose again
On His mother's side He slept on the boat but on my father's side He commands the storm in the sea
On His mother's side He died and was buried in the grave but on His father's side He raise the dead from graves.


Now Imagine if He was ask as a young boy 'How old are you?' and He reply something along the line  'you know on my mother's side I'm 12 and on my Father's side I'm eternal." These are things that would make any man confuse which is why men and women on earth today get so confuse about Christ and say there is nothing like Christ and it is all a lie. The best I can say is that Christ is the best thing that have ever happened to me. I don't know about you but He has done so much for me that with every breathe that I take I just want to give Him my all in all which would never be enough considering the prices He paid for my sins.


Question for thought: what if God got tired of forgiving you?

Have a lovely Sunday and a beautiful week ahead.



XOXO
YSU

I miss you

My lovely people I miss you guys....This school thing have taken over my time and I no longer have time for outlet or whatsoever....Now I feel so lost and have to start catching up with blogville again. While I'm in the Library studying for my 3 exams next week I wanted to quickly say that I miss you guys. I miss my awesome Nigerian receipts Naija Food, my mommy on here N.I.L, Ms. Hilarious Madam sting, The place were I take awesome notes on single-hood, marriage and relationship In the midst of hers, The place I go when I'm down LDP and Jaycee, the one who always make me smile Myne, the place I see the other side of men 9ja Great, My favorite twitter buddy DiDi, The place I always can't stop laughing Sisi Yemmie The one I call ms. talented and bold Suggabelly, and the list goes on and on but my point is I miss you all.

Shout out and thanks to Coy-Introvert,  DiDi and Relentless Builder for the Blogger's award of which I shall be answering on my next post and possibly sharing some awesome things I have been doing this semester.

On the other hand who sabi interpret dreams?....The other day a friend of mine dreamt of cat, the cat came up to her and walked around her in a friendly manner, then the next day she woke up and while walking out of the house, a black cat runs out of no where to her and began rubbing on her legs and muewwing at her....If you know what this means please share

xoxo

YSU

Just because

A single man cannot fight a battle alone but a group can sure make a difference. First was ABSU case and now Troy Davis. It really breaks my heart to see another Innocent man been executed....R.I.P Troy Davis


The time has come for us to stand for one another more than ever before.



"If not you then who, if not now then when?" 

- phillip vera cruz








xoxo 
YSU

A letter from I to You

Dear YOU

I hope all is well. Lend me your ears that I may speak and you may hear what I have to say...Its been  years strong hiding in the shadow of just yourself and God, refusing to get out of it. The Lord is great and sees the inside but yet unless you let it out to a fellow brother or sister it becomes difficult to ever resolve the issue because you are too ashame to let your neighbor see your weakness. Hundreds of friends you have and yet not even a hand full can say they know you inside and out. To say that I'm your closest person is embarrassing that sometime I'm questioned about you but I have no answer because I do not know.

I hear you say the world/friends are not to be trusted but remember "The bad ones have ruin it for the good ones that we have become a shadow of ourselves only to be seen by a few, so far apart that even the good ones can no longer see each other" - Mr. Honest & YSU

Now do you know what a true friend is?...He/she is one that knows not to hide anything from you weather it may hurt you or make you smile, he/she is willing to risk losing you as a friend just to tell you the truth or something that may hurt you in the future, he/she may know you and understand you more than yourself, he/she sees what is wrong and no matter how much older you are than them, they are willing to slap you in the face with it in hope that you do not fall in the pit that is been dig for you. My love, many ears are busy these days and plugged on to the headphones of their personal interest, that I will say that he that find an ear find a great thing. 

Now personally I do understand sometime when we know we are wrong the hardest/embarrassing thing is have someone you know slap you in the face with it, but sometime we've got to learn to accept it because God is a God that sees everything so imagine how much more of a greater embarrassment that will be. Admitting our wrong is difficult but I've got three mini step that might ease the process. First we admit our wrong to God, and then to ourselves and then to a trusted human being around us.

                                                                                                                                            Yours in Christ,

                                                                                                                                             I

I hope and pray that there is a YOU out there reading this and  I pray that this may be of a help in some ways.  

Love

Mz. YSU

Love but once

How are you lovely bloggers doing today? 

So in the past weeks/month I have being telling myself how I do not want to meet anybody new anymore because of 6 degrees of separation. Apparently I never realize how small this world really is until this summer when the 6 degrees web became entangled. Sadly I'm the type who rather have a small circle of close friends that I could die for or die for me than a million who do not care and because my friends are very dear to me i can be selfish too which is sad.....Anyway let just say I failed in keeping to that promise and I met someone a few weeks ago...lets call him Mr. honest because that's what he is and pretty much with any topic. He is quite smart and intelligent so I have been learning some stuff some of which i agree with and others I do not so it looking like. Now we both comes from a very different background, point of views and things like that which triggers different view on different topic so watch out for more discussion topic this fall on here.

Alright I promise I'm done blabbing so moving on. LOVE hmm yeah that magic four letter words that makes people's head spin or at the same time makes the heart ache, the greatest thing ever created, yeah that one So I was talking to Mr. Honest the other day about love, relationship and all that stuff and there was one word he something he said that somewhat caught my attention. His words: 'I think/believe you fall in love once' ...Not quite sure the exact words he said but it was something along those line. Now considering the fact that he's been in a relationship with one girl that he loves for a very very long time I thought that was a very cute statement and believes because its shows a level of commitment to her and dreams to marry her.   At first I really did like the sentence but after our conversation the thoughts came over my head again and in some way I no longer agree with it. There where questions running through my head. What happen if I marry someone and God forbid he died a year or two does that mean I will be single for life?...How about the fiance that choose to break up after does that mean I have no hope for love again? With questions like that I had to disagree with that statement although I really do understand where Honest was coming from when he said it.

Yes you can truly love one person with your whole heart but I do not believe you can't love another or fall in love again. I do not know what the percentage is but I'd like to say many people do not always end up marrying their first love (Correct me if I'm wrong).  Love is a growth among two people overtime, they either grow together or grow apart. I mean someone you love at the age of 17/18 might not be the one you love around 25/26 because you may have matured in a way that something that made you love that person at that tender age is no longer important because of your personal growth and development. Its just that at different times in your life, there are different people that are right for you. Now I'm not saying that you can't love a person you loved at a younger age because if you both grow and change together you will continue to remain in love. 


Arguably your first love is probably the most intense, but that does not mean that person will be your one true love. 


I guess arguably your first love is your most intense, but that doesn't mean that person will be your One True Love. I think you can certainly fall in love more than once though each situation is different and unique and would never be the same as the previous person. Because the first love is intense I think there will always be a special place for your "first love" in your heart for quite a good amount of time.


Now I have rest my case and the floor is all yours. What do you guys think can you truly and only fall in love once?


My current 10


1. I'm fired up for the weekend
2. I had a blast at my vacation and I bless God for keeping my family closer than ever before 
3. Getting ready for layering again...I love my blazers but so not looking forward to winter
4. A week from now my last semester as an undergrad starts
5. God is too faithful and His will and my desires are gradually unfolding
6. I feel so old been 10110 and miss been 10101
7. I don't know while i felt like writing in binary
8. Give us clean hands is currently on my ipod replay
9. Not looking forward to moving back to campus to move out in 3 months
10. I love my life and the people in it including my bloggers and followers

Give away update...

So it's August 11th which means the giveaway results are in....Therefore the winners are

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In The Midst of Hers and

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Relentless Builders

Congrats to you both and thanks everyone fore participating we are all winners in all out endeavors. Have a wonderful weekend y'all

xoxo
YSU

Safe in the arms of His love

Happy New Months y'all!...I'm so late abi?...lol hope all of una dey kampe sha. I can't believe its already August 9th, the year is flying by too fast for me these days but one thing I can surely say is that God has been so great through this year and I have so many testimonies to share for the month of July...7th stand for rest and perfection and surely I can say July was one of the best month I've encountered this year and I'm still doing my happy dance this past week with Yolanda Adam's song Victory which basically shares my testimonies in its 2 verse. 




[Verse 1]
Truly I've been through the storm and rain.
I know everything about heartache and pain.
But God carried me through it all
Without His protection I'd surely fall.
I’ve been broke without a dime to my name.
But all my bills got paid ‘cause I called on Jesus name.
You can't tell me that God isn't real 'cause I've got the victory and that's why I’m still here.



[Verse 2]
I'm not worried about material things I don't have
I just rest cause I’m sure in my Savior’s care
Because I know my blessing is on the way
I can't see it right now but I stand by faith.
I've fought many, many battles in His name
I held up the blood-stained banner and proclaimed
That Jesus is the truth and the light:
Believe me when I say He will make it all right!

On the other note...My siblings and I were joking around the other day and we decided to play with a couple of spoken words after listening to a whole bunch of P4CM we finally found Dwayne Trumf

we played around to recite everything under 2 mins and all I can say it was fun and half the time I had no ideas of the words I was saying...Here is the video if you want to try it and let me know what you think about it. Have a lovely week ahead loves\

P.S Don't forget to enter my giveaway winners will be announce on Thursday :)

P.P.S word on the street is Tye Tribbett will be in town soon and I'm so excited for the concert


P.P P.S The title of this post is  a song by Women of Faith

XOXO

YSU

Updates + Giveaway

I've gone a little M.I.A for a bit and I sure miss reading blog posts which means I have so much to catch up on. God has been great in the past weeks and somehow I've been more busy than I can ever imagine mind you I have no job or school at the moment just so much to do. This would be a quick one but I will be back in full force by Aug. 13th but in the mean time there shall be quick posts or updates on my numerous summer trips and project.

Currently reading: Sex is not the problem Lust is- Joshua Harris
Currently on replay: Wrap me in your arms - William McDowell
Craving for: Contemporary or Gospel choir Concert
Excited for: Birthday, family getaway and visit to A-Square



As you may have known from my previous post. YSU is officially 1 Year old on 7/26 and I'm so thankful for all my lovely Followers,you all have make this blog easy to keep coming back and lively. Cheers and shout out to a few follower, my very first followers Ms. Blessing .... my most recent follower Dammy Jewel ...and anothr sout out to the ones who comment the most Blessing, Myne, Midst of hers, and Naijamum...

You guys are pretty much awesome so because of that I'd like to do a book giveaway. The greatest leaders are usually readers so here are some books that I have enjoyed reading and I'm sure you would too.


1. Understanding the Power of Praise - David Oyedepo

2. Every Young Woman's Battle - Shannon Ethridge

3. Every Young Man's Battle - Stephen Arterburn,

4. A love Rekindle - (Our very own blogger and Writer) Myne Whitman

5. Single with a Difference - Faith Oyedepo

6. Not Even A hint - Joshua Harris



Instruction


1. Leave a comment on this post with your name and/or Email
2.From the 6 books above list your top 2 preferences


Note: Giveaway is open to all and winner shall be announce on Aug. 11th :)



CHEERS!
YSU

Language Challenge....Esan

Esan by mzysunspoken

Hey y'all this is my response to sugabelly language chanllege, Its basically to get the Nigerian everyone to do a post once in a while in their various languages. I actually had fun doing this so you guys should definitely check out others who already participated in the challenge on sugabelly page



Hello, hi,how are you guys hope you are all fine

Like I said before my name is YSU or that’s what I use to write here on blogville
I’m so excited I can speak esan this afternoon
Like I said before I was born in esan land and came to the US at 12
Before I came here I was in Lagos for 2 years so I understand very welll
So you Yoruba people who are doing this challenge I’m excited because I can understand pretty much everything you guys are saying and I don’t need translation



Today I have not much to say
Esan is the only language that I speak at home to my father and mother and its great cause when I went home in 2008 some people that don’t know me thought I was from Lagos or Abuja they never thought I left naija for a bit apart from my super light skin like oyibo but once I speak Esan they are like oh this one na real omo Esan because my esan was quite tight.
I find it very difficult to speak English to my parents its sound so foreign
And sometime my mom get angry when I’m speaking esan to them when people are around
Because its kind of very rude

I think all Nigerian languages are very beautiful. So it is very important that we speak our language
It is not good that a child cannot even understand anything
At least speak a for them to understand even if they can’t speak it there is not problem
And if you don’t speak any dialect like madam sting said speak pidgin to them
So they can understand or speak something from their culture/Nigeria
Like I said before I have not much to say
So before I go let me teach you guys 4 things
When you wakeup- or anytime during the day you say "Lgiesan" or "Lagiensan Owen" if they are older than you. This is our  regular greeting
"Bodiaye" which means “how are you”
"Ofure" is the response to Bodiaye which means I’m fine
The fourth one I want to teach you guys is "Riabo"
In esanland where I'm from after eating we great "Riabo"...The elders around you say Riabo
It was funny once I went to visit a Yoruba family after eating I greated "Thank you sir' "Thank you ma"
They were laughing and ask why I was thanking them.
I told them we great after eating and it was funny that they don't have that in the yoruba culture
Even if its a man or woman even if the person is a day older than you, you must great after eather

So those where the four lesson for you guys maybe I will be back here for some more But Before I Leave here is a song for you guys

Who is listening to me that God Love
Who is listening to me that God stand for
Let us love one another so God can help us
It is not what the world says that God’s say

Aright bye for now.


Here are the rules:

1. It DOES NOT MATTER how well you can speak your language. The goal is to speak regardless. So don't worry if you don't speak that well or you have to include lots of English words. ALL language levels are welcome.

2. Video posts or Audio posts are strongly preferred. This is because the point is to hear and enjoy the spoken language. Written posts are frowned upon but will be accepted too. ^_^

3. Please always provide a translation for your readers of other ethnicities! Translations should be in English and can be in the form of captions under a video post, or written transcripts for audio and written posts.

4. Please tag each participating post as - language challenge - and post the link here in the comments so I can link to it and make all of them easy to find.

5. Please encourage other Nigerian bloggers to post in Nigerian languages.



Cheers
YSU

This is just the Beginning

Happy new month to all my lovely bloggers. It is only by His grace that we've come this far and definitely there are thousands of people who saw the beginning of this year but not the second half of the year.

Heading to an all night service in a less than 30 minutes so this shall be short. I promise myself to review my year goals on the first day of the 2nd half of the year. Here are the goals from my January post

1. Improve on this Blog and maybe inspire one or two persons or even myself
2. Travel to 2 other continents
3.Graduate and get admission into grad. school
4. Grow closer and bigger in Christ
5. Expand in all direction with Youth Ministry
6. Expand my School Supply Drive- Nigeria to other schools in other cities
7. Shop less
8. Build stronger relationship with certain people in my life.


1. One thing I know is I have been inspired by some of my old post and definitely seeing that I've grown in some ways
2. Ehh made it to one but does not look like I will be hitting the second continent :(
3. Still in progress but in December by God's grace I shall be a graduate
4. Still on it
5. The end of something is the beginning of a new thing....I have left my teen ministry to the younger group and all I can say is that I have never been so happy in my service. The girls are so adorable and that eager to learn which always make me smile.
6. Collected about 3000 pounds of school supplies in 3 months and I'm so thankful to all the people around me who donated and help out in any way. Starting shipment this month now the problem is how to I get these items from Lagos to Edo state but I know God is in charge
7 Haha this one is a Fail, works January and February but even now without a job i still shop every week :( Now you know its bad when you have 3 wardrobe...HEEEELLLLLPPPPP!!


I told you this would be fast! :)

On the other hand Yellow Sisi Unspoken blog turns 1 this month and my birthday is next month so I really wanted to do something for you lovely followers for keeping me motivated in this blog. I initially decided to give out some of my favorite books as giveaways but then I can only ship items to European countries or US and Canada which would be unfair to my other followers so now I need  other suggestion and Ideas to celebrate so what would you like to see on here? please and thank you!

Welcoming  beginning of the second half of the year with Jonathan's Expect the great

Cheers
YSU

I love you

More Than Anything

Lamar Campbell and Spirit of Praise

I lift my hands in total adoration unto You
You reign on the throne for You are God and God alone
Because of You my cloudy days are gone
I can sing to You this song
I just want to say that I love You more than anything

Love me in Your Arms
You were my shelter from the storm
When all my friends were gone
You were right there all along

I never knew a love like this before, Oh
I just want to say that I love You more than anything

I Love You Jesus
I worship and adore You
Just want to tell
Lord, I Love You more than anything





In my quite zone and so I have this song on replay in my head you can listen on youtube to it here

YSU

Sunshine Award

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day



When it's cold outside I've got the month of May


I guess you'd say


What can make me feel this way?


My girl (My guy)


Talkin' 'bout my girl (my guy)...


Hehe don't mind me jare I just had to sing this song after I got this Sunshine award from my lovely  of Sweetly Broken and Myne Whitman. It actually just rained so their is no sun out and so this brought me some sunshine...lol...Anyway enough of me yapping

I shall keep this " blessing going by gifting 10 people with the award in appreciation of all their words and thought on Blogville. So in no particular order these awards goes out to the lovely ladies and gent. that always find a way to make me smile and yearning for more and more and also helping me grow into a better person each day. I've only got one word, you guys are AWESOME!

In the Midst of Her - I've got a lot of respect for her sharing the life as a newly wed and home builder

Jaycee -  The light shineth and darkness comprehends not...She's always shedding more light in my Christian journey

LDP -- That's right he is  a professor indeed and filled with so much wisdom more grease to your elbow for the unique voice

Sisi Yemmie - One of the first blog I came across and she is definitely a comedian

MYNE - Sometimes I wonder Why I never found your blog or books before now...Enjoying my summer read A love Rekindle and A heart to Mend

9JA Great - It takes a lot to be consistent , seeing you in that A-Z challenge =AMAZING, love to see the other side of men through your blog

Madam Sting - BOLDNESS! She says it as it is no hidden detail and I love it

Ibhade - My Edo sister never enough gist keeping us connected to Naija despite the distant

Naijamum (N.I.L) - Its never to early to learn about motherhood and she always got things to share

Seye - The fact that you are you brings sunshine, Love your writing and poems

Faith Dames - Blog put together by some powerful ladies about women of the bible, I'm a woman so I must read it

SHOUT OUT TO ALL MY FOLLOWERS, READERS AND COMMENTERS YOU ARE ALL MY SUNSHINE


<3
YSU

Time to wise up

Do you know a wise person? Are you wise?

Since I was 16 this is my first summer without a job or internship, I always had something to do and thinking back the other day I remembered been 16 years old and getting paid $16.00 an hour just to play bingo, go fishing, watch movies, attend baseball games with clients from the nursing home. I spent countless hours just sitting and interacting with the clients as they share their past and experience. At the moment it was just a job but after that summer I realize how much i learned from the men and women I worked with. Sadly today we live in a culture that reveres the youth and the older generation are kept away and ignore in nursing homes/group homes. These men and women have experience life the good and the bad but they don't get to share that wisdom they have.

A while back my teacher asked what is wisdom? I blurted out with 200% conviction in me that "Wisdom is the principal thing." I remembered him laughing right after I said it. Till today he never forgot and occasionally use it to joke around with me. It was the bible definition that I have been thought many years ago and it was almost like defining faith as the act of faith.

I find it somewhat irritating when many confuse wisdom with Knowledge. I got the definitions of wisdom and knowledge below from the oxford dictionary
Wisdom - the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment.
Knowledge - facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education.
Mathematically speaking, Knowledge = correct information + understanding (No matter how many books you have read it is nothing without understanding) and being able to apply that knowledge = wisdom.

Now the elderly may not have even attended high school during their age but there is still a good number of wise ones among and at the same time there are people that may have bachelor, masters or even PhD and the term wise cannot be use to describe them.

2 Types of wisdom?
James 3:13-18

Worldly wisdom- verse 14 describe it as full of  bitter jealously and selfish ambition in the hearts, this wisdom is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.  Earthly wisdom i would say is the one that we gain from school or any form of education. This is great but may not be an all round wisdom. The devilish and unspiritual wisdom I will say include that type of wisdom to do evil things in a smart way e.g 419/feudalism.

Wisdom from above - This is the greatest wisdom and it is a gift from the Lord. Now this wisdom from  according to James 3:17 - "... is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere"  This wisdom kept Daniel safe in the lions den, it turn Joseph from prisoner to minister and basically distinguish you from several people around you. I mean I have definitely read blogs by people that I'm just like wow this is indeed God's wisdom.



How do you get this wisdom?

It clearly cannot be bought rather it is a Divine endowment from God. It is one of the gift of the holy spirit and if you desire it you can definitely get it. "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you - James 1:5"

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom" (Proverbs 11:2)

If you said yes to my first two questions of this post let me leave you with one more question. It is the wisdom from above or below?



Have a great week!


Much loves
Ms. YSU

I really do appreciate each an every readers and followers of my blog as I continue on the journey to learning and writing and teaching myself.

What's in my bag?

I guess I can say I'm the last one to do this meme..been in NC for two weeks now and kinda neglected this place with all the fun fare around here. Thanks to Sisi Yemmie, and Miss YNC,  for the tag.

I'm currently on break which means I'm always on the go so I really like to travel hand free so messenger bags is what I've been carrying since march and have them in different colors because they must match a clothing item. But yeah this one is an orange one from H & M

A- Pen, highlighter pencil and notebook is a must have, you never know when you need to write something
B - Dark Kiss body mist
C - Imari perfume-  love the smell
D. Dove hand lotion-  with every handwash comes moisturization
E -  pair of earring - just in case one fall off or I forget to put one on. This particular one is my Ankara stud recently purchase from Tionni
F - Wallet for money, cards, and what not
G- Hair clips for keeping hair on point at all time
H - Kleenex :)
I - Brush and Blush, as you already now Mz YSU is omo yellow so I tend to blush very often so I have to keep this with me
J - Revlon, and crush lip gloss
K - sony camera and charger - pictures are worth a thousand words
L - My HTC HD 2 charger - you know when you have the big phones with a million app going on at the same time you never know when the battery will die so I'm always prepared
M - Ipod Touch and headphone - filled with Nigerian song and different genre of Christian music, my ipod is mostly for my daily ride because I prefer my music to the radio. I am also not really a fan of wearing headphones on the street just because I like to be aware of my surrounding but there are those awkward moments when you need it.
N - Lastly the most important thing in my bag is my Bible. I'm not an early riser at all so I  usually have just enough time to shower, pray and maybe breakfast so in between the day I get to digest some fresh word into my system. I like to highlight or underline my Bible during study so i rarely use my ipod bible version

YSU

Seeking His face

William McDowell songs are forever on replay on my ipod my favorite been "I give myself away" however lately these two songs basically describe my heart and my prayers.

The first song is "Show me your face."

Zephaniah 2:3 "Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger."

Psalms 105:4  "...Seek His face continuously"

The second song is "Closer/Wrap me in your arm" This is my other favorite"

 Psalm 73:28 "But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds."

I hope you enjoy these songs and have a lovely weekend!

PS: Happy Memorial day weekend...Holidays discount/sales/clearance or whatever the store my call it has a way of creating a whole in wallets so BEWARE! :)

PPS:  I shall be attending graduations today, about 75% of my set are graduating while the remaining 25% of us who choose to study areas like engineering, nursing and premed  are left. I must confess I'm kinda jealous but God's time is the best. On that note congrats to all the Graduating class of 2011 You all did IT!!

xoxo

YSU

Taboo...The "S" word

How y'all doing?


So I've been meaning to write on this topic for a long time but always sorta kinda you know felt reluctant, but today I just had to let it out. In a way I feel like I've been called to reach out to teenagers especially high school age but I keep giving God one excuse or the other, but today it was a no no. Its already 12:55am and the Lord keep saying I won't let you sleep till you write this. Mind you I just finish my exams and moving out of the dorm so I'm more than exhausted, so as God's will here I'm writing this post. For anyone that might be offended by anything I say on here please accept my apologies in advance and know that I have no intent to hurt any feelings.


 Let's talk about sex!...Oh yeah you read that right the "S" word. To me I feel like this topic is a taboo in some cultures and even in the African communities in America where everything in the media is pretty much about sex.


I was moved to post this when I had a mini high school reunion with about six ladies last weekend. I will not necesarily call it a reunion because we all go to the same university but with each of us in totally different field we barely see each other and after almost 4 years it was definitely time to catch up.


After a long week, all I wanted to do was sleep in on Friday but somehow I still managed to go  to the get together. When I got there first thing I saw was the girls had already gone shopping and was ready to get cooking which I was excited for since I love to cook.  We all greated each other and all that since some of us has not seen each other in months . After that one of the ladies let's call her minister came up to me all smiling and bashing her eyelashes,

Minister: So Mz YSU how are you? I miss you
YSU: um I'm good, I've been around since you don't return my call
Minister: Gurl I'm sorry you know how it is....
Minister: So YSU can I ask you a question?
YSU: SHOOT!


Ms. Minister went on smiling, talking softly, bashing eyelashes, saying you know its a personal question and I've never asked you before and I don't know how you will feel about it, yadi yadi yada...10 Minuetes later minister turn to one of the other girl ms ohsocute can you please ask the question for me? Ms. Ohsocute turn to Ms. Honest and said can you ask her for me? At this point Mz Yellow sisi was already  turning all red trying to figure out what this "QUESTION" was that nobody wanted to ask....5 minutes later Ms. Honest still did not ask so Ms. Minister finally let the question out "Are you a virgin?"


Funniest thing was before Minister even finish her question I had already screamed out my yes. It was as if she was asking "what is your name" and because you know it you just scream it out. Anyway It was after I answered that I realize the question she had ask me. Initially I had no facial reaction but after I thought about it, my question was "is that it?, was that the question every body did not want to ask?


Minister: Yeah, cuz we thought it might be very personal
YSU: umm OK


Now to me I did not see what the big deal was about this question, It is something that I'm proud of and definitely do not mind sharing it. Now if you had seen the ladies faces it was as if it was a huge crime and  a big taboo. It sad that because sex sell some girls feel like it's a taboo to be a virgin and others say things like "girl you are so old school" or "girl you are missing out on some good fun" Honestly who cares? If it ain't for the hubby why should it be fun?


Now sex is one topic that mother and I never  talked about in my early teen, all that was said was it was bad for you and boys are bad for you. This is common among many youth and therefore they are left with no other options than to learn from the media, their mates or even experiment on their own.


So is Sex a good thing?
 Personally I'd say sex is a beautiful thing created by God for a man and his wife. Now looking at it from the Bible side, God created all things that were good and therefore sex is a good thing...After His creation, he said unto them be fruitful and multiply. remember a man and his wife not any man and any woman.


Genesis 1: 27-28 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number;


Premarital Sex?


I'm not in the position to say what is right or wrong but I must say that the society we live on today have become very relax about sex talk and all that so we are made to believe that it is ok before marriage but the Bible tells us otherwise, It is part of our duty to learn to control ourselves.


1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 – “It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable


Also Hebrews 13:4 tells me that marriage should be honored and the marital bed kept pure. Now that implies weather you are single or not that bed belongs to someone and until you are with that someone it should not be defiled. While I was studying sha I found this verse and I kinda sorta like it :) so all the married folks I hope y'all are doing your duties. The verse is


1 Corinthians 7:2-3 – “But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.”


But it's so tempting!


Off course na its not easy, I can testify to that been twenty-something years and still holding back, there's been times I just want to say "I love him so much" or "Just this one Lord" and I hear "NO!" Now been the human that we are temptation are to come our ways weather we like it or not but however it is the given in that makes it a sin.


I had a perfect bible verse for this part but I've been searching for it in my bible and can't find it so I gave up but the verse goes something along the line of "There is no temptation that is above you, and  God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear" (I really wish I could find this). My point is hang in there even if you are tempted.


What if I've already done it?


If you have not sin raise up your hand. My point is we have all sin one way or the other and if yours is through sex well it is not too late to be made whole again, God is an ever forgiven God. The moment we acknowledge that we were wrong and ask for forgiveness and the strenght not to do it again He will surely forgive. Now in addition to God forgiving you and I, we must also learn to forgive ourselves no matter how much the devil will try to remind you of it, look him in the face and tell him "I'm a new creation and I'm forgiven" see ACT 13:38 regarding forgiveness.


*exhale* Now that it's all said and done (quiet long huh?), I'm so sleepy and therefore refuse to go back and proof read


Blessings
Mz. YSU

Quit trying to be me

My people how una dey? THIS IS A SCHEDULED POST, I'm still on my final exam week hideout so I will be back by this week hopefully. The post today  is actually by a friend let's call her Curious. I blog anonymously although i doubt if I'm still anonymous but yeah she caught me writing and the only way I could get her not to read my blog was if I agree to let her do a little post even if it's about nothing so here it is.....



Why are people so quick to want what you have? Can't appreciate their own God given talent so they want yours? I think its because they don't see their own potentials also because they are amazed by yours.I see how people react to my actions. As I speak its like they yearn to have the passion that I have. People should just get their own, get up from their bed and just appreciate life; every breathe taken, every experience embraced. To the person that can not acknowledge how great they are its time to quit trying to be me and be you for a change. Only then will people see you for who you are that's if you want to be seen at all.

~Curious~

HE SPOKE!

HE SPOKE! HE FINALLY SPOKE!!

Oh yes he did!....

Six days later and A-Square's cousin finally spoke

God is indeed a great God and He answer prayers...when everything kept crumbling we kept PUSHing and something did happen. Thanks to all my prayer warriors and everyone that joined in prayers along with my last post "Friends that creeps in."

My heart is full of joy and thanksgiving...I was just too excited and had to share it with you wonderful bloggers. Stay bless and have a wonderful weekend!


Cheers!
Mz. YSU

Question Tag :)

While my brain is still too tired to write a post, I had fun reading this at Myne's blog and decided to do one too....Hope to see more bloggers involve in this. So sit back and enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

1. Do you have any pets

Nope...I've always wanted to own a bird sha.


2. Name 3 things that are physically close to you.

Ipod, cup of blueberry shake, and my phone.


3. What's the weather like right now?

Cloudy, and a bit cold at 73 degrees


4. Do you drive? If so have you crashed?

Yes and I crashed my mom's van last yeah cost over $3000 to fix


5. What time did you wake up this morning?

11.33am, hehe I went to bed at 4am  and had no classes all day today so the only thing to do was sleep, eat and study.


6. When was the last time you showered?

This morning.


7. What was the last movie you saw?

Some Nigerian movie...I watch way too many movies to remember their names


8. What does your last text message say?

"Gospel choir concert on Sunday 6-8pm bring your mom"...(hehe yeah I sing if you don't already know and I'm so excited for my school gospel choir)

9. What's your ringtone?

On vibrate/silence 99.8% of the time...lolz


10. Have you ever been to a different country?

Sadly just 3 but this gotta change asap


11. Do you like sushi?

does cooked fish count as sushi?...I make the best sushi (with cooked fish) thanks to my Brazilian cook he is awesome!


12. Where do you buy your groceries?

Market Basket + African Food Stores.


13. Have you ever taken medication to help you fall asleep faster?

Nope... I sleep like a child at any time, anywhere when i want to
.

14. How many siblings do you have?

2 brothers



15. Do you have a desktop computer or a laptop?

Laptop


16. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?

21 again!


17. Do you wear contacts or glasses?

Used to wear glasses, prayed and gave it up with faith a while back so have not worn glasses in 2 years


18. Do you color your hair?

Nope... Mz yellow-sisi is very light and therefore has almost brown/dirty blond hair and momsy still won't let me dye it brown.


19. Tell me something you are planning to do today.

Study, study and pull an alnighter so much school work to do .


20. When was the last time you cried?

Yesterday for A-square's family


21. What is your perfect pizza topping?

Chicken Pepperoni  or Pineapple (try it i promise you will love it)



22. Which do you prefer-hamburgers or cheeseburgers?

Neither!


23. Have you ever had an all-nighter?

I stay up till almost 2am everyday during school semester and up all night before exams sadly i procrastinate too much.

24. What is your eye color?

Brown/Hazel


25. Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke?

Coke is coke, Pepsi has it own aroma so i don't even need to taste it to know

____________________________________________________________________


P.S A-square's cousin is still in the ICU and have not spoken for almost a week so please remember him in your prayers cause I know God is able and he hears prayers of His people.

xoxo
YSU