I decided to keep my hair natural after I had a bit of a mishap in high school. In Form Two I experimented with relaxers without my mother’s approval but I quickly realized that I did not have the money to maintain this experiment. My hair fell off and I literally had to start from scratch. Ever since, I decided to stick to what my good Lord gave me with very minimal interference except for the blow drying here and there.

I was also quite slow to get on to the #naturalhair bandwagon until about a year ago when I learned about how much more I could do to take better care of my hair. Any naturalista will tell you that the first thing you do when you start the journey is understand your hair and develop a regimen that you will follow to help your hair flourish.

One year later and I can honestly say that it has been a worthwhile journey.

I don’t know if you have watched Breaking bad, an American drama series. If you have watched it, you have felt a smile creeping on your lips on seeing the movie’s title (for no apparent reason hehe). In case you haven’t watched it I searched online for short synopsis of the movie and found one which reads;

Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet, a situation not likely to improve once his pregnant wife gives birth, and their teenage son is battling cerebral palsy. But Walter is dumbstruck when he learns he has terminal cancer. Realizing that his illness probably will ruin his family financially, Walter makes a desperate bid to earn as much money as he can in the time he has left by turning an old RV into a meth lab on wheels.

A few years ago the series was praised for its great business lessons. The acclamation was a little surprising to me knowing the kind of business the story revolves around. In my mind’s eye the movie is more of a cautionary tale but the tale though has a silver lining to it; business tips and lessons. Daily, I am amazed at how we at times write off things, but then God doesn’t do so with us. What was intended for evil, God uses it for good.

I just finished reading halfwits a novel authored by Gerard E. Goggins. My friend and I got it from one of the book vendors on Tom Mboya Street. Well, the correct recollection of the purchase event is that I pulled it from the book pile and my friend paid a lump sum of Kes 50 for me to keep it hehe. Truthfully the price felt a little insulting to the work. To deal with this new problem we agreed to share the story of the halfwits with as many people as possible.

The narrative revolves around John Fitzsimmons who works at TPI (Therapy products Inc.). TPI is a small plant with about 200 employees. The title halfwits is largely a refence to the humans in the book who are cruel, mean and generally well, humans.  Fitzsimmons doubles up as sweeper and a night watchman at TPI. On first contact he comes across as a regular Joe. A few chapters in i learned that Fitzsimmons having lost his family in a gruesome murder had moved cities to get away and start afresh.

Fitzsimmons has this colleague who keeps taunting him to confront evil (in this case seek revenge for his loss). In this colleague’s effort to push Fitzsimmons into action he ends up inflicting more pain to Fitzsimmons. The book has a happy ending though, good triumphs over evil.

When God puts an instruction in your heart, you never really know where it’s going to go or what He is trying to accomplish. You might have an inkling but I think it’s fair to say that the exact picture of God’s end game is never quite clear to our frail minds. I often think that just by allowing myself to have an intimate walk with God I was allowing God to take me on a wild adventure filled with many uncertainties. Over time though, God shows us little by little what His big idea is and how we fit into it because He has called us to be coworkers and collaborators with Him.

One of my friends is a Sunday school teacher; I did not realize how much power she yields each Sunday until recently. While the rest of us sit through the service listening, learning, noting ideas, thoughts and testimonies, she’s usually outside holding the mantle of power. This mantle is a Sunday school teacher’s guide, a sheaf of papers in a file all clutched under her arm as she walks about resolutely. She could be dashing to start a lesson or from conducting one, either way there’s purpose in her step.

On Sunday she and I were walking home from church and two of her Sunday school pupils came to say hello. The hello was communicated by the two boys asking, ‘Sasa teacher’ to which she replied ‘poa’ while patting their backs gently. After the salute the two boys chose to keep standing next to her. As though on cue to dispense a morsel of wisdom to her pupils my friend then launched into an impromptu lesson.

She bent her back slightly and asked them, ‘Why do we pray?

One the boys possibly 6 or 7 years old looked up to her and answered ‘because we love God’.

Satisfied the teacher called the two boys good and then told them to go well. I stood there in awe of her.