Dear God…

Dear God,
Today you blessed me with just little when I was expecting much.
And because I had hoped and trusted You for a fat blessing,
I complained more than I should have thanked you.
I complained because I compared my blessings with that of others.
And I couldn’t understand why you blessed them more than I.
And I couldn’t stop asking the usual “why, why” questions,
And making little jokes out of the situation just to make me feel good.
Now I realized I have behaved childishly.
So teach me as I onward bound…
To accept even the least of your blessings with the greatest of gratitude!!
Sorry Lord…and thank you!
For always being THE BEST!!!

Seasons…

Embrace every season you’re in and celebrate it.  It may not last long or forever…nothing in life does. 

There’s a blessing in every season of life. Celebrate your single season and enjoy the blessings. Soon that season will be over and what you learned at that stage may take you far. 

Soon will come marriage. Celebrate your married season too…it may also not last forever. Ideally it should, but life does not always give you what you want. There’s a limit to your efforts; the rest becomes the work of divine providence. 

Whiles you have life…learn to celebrate yourself through every season, through every phase of life! 

©Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2017

THE CHOSEN

From many I chose you

‘Cos you were the most favourable amongst them

Your lovely character seduced me

And played tricks on my emotions

A part of me gets excited at thy graceful sight

An excitement that heightens

With every lovely thought of you

You are so amazing a figure

A blessing amongst all the Lord’s carvings

So beautiful a living monument

So sweet a manifestation

Of God’s gift of love to me

My heart craves strongly for thy love

And breaks whenever thy love

So rich and true

Is far from reach

Inside my emotions are stacked up

Like full old wineskins ready to burst

I have been looking for so long

And I bless the day I found you

‘Cos you brought light to my spirit

Oh how the light of my soul shone the brightest

The day you accepted as true, promising and trustworthy

Those carefully chosen and well rehearsed sugar-coated words

In your eyes I find the radiance of true love

Your lips are so blessed with soothing words

That puts my agitated spirit to a sweet sound rest

That reassures my soul of a hope

And a future not too far away

A life together and forever

© Mark Gadogbe (McApple)

(PS: A poem to mark the celebration of our marriage proposal anniversary today)

A journey of love and friendship

Today I said this sincere prayer:

Dear Lord, 

Thank you for 8 years of sweet friendship. Many couldn’t have it this way. 

Thank you for sending me to her door and thanks for that awkward moment that followed that knock on her door.

Thank you that it was never love at first sight, for the girl had no chill kora 😂😎

Thank you for the opportunity to experiment and grow our love.

Thank you that “better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof” 😋

Thank you that today, we can look back and see a glorious future and not a gloomy or dingy one.

Thank you for blessing us with so much that we cannot even see. 

Thank you for our journey thus far and the priceless lessons along the way.

Thank you that our years have been nothing short of amazing! 

Thank you that on this day, 8 years ago, our eyes met.

And because of that divine meeting we can today mark and celebrate…

8 years of solid friendship!

7 years, 4 months and 18 days of falling in love thereafter!  

2 years, 8 months and 11 days of a marriage we can be proud of ourselves!

Thank you that it is you…

“…who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way, with countless gifts of love and still is ours today” 

Finally Lord, thank you for what psychology says…😎

…………………………………………………………..

Bonus Pictures:

©Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2017

Marriage & Personal Development Author 

Being in a place of hope: my testimony

​Past times tell of how far we’ve come…whenever discouraged, we look back. 

Yesterday I was very troubled in mind, body, soul and spirit. I was because for sometime now I’ve not been too enthused about my life because I feel one aspect of my life isn’t working well the way I want it to. I am a very organized person, constantly making plans for my life, and putting things in order because I hate being in a situation where I’m caught off guard and have to just cling on hope. I want to always have a grip on my life and I feel I work so hard on myself to keep things that way.

 

But for some months now, life has kept me clinging on hope and I do hate it so much. I hate to be in a place where I can’t figure things out, have solutions to things and just have to hope it works out, hope I sail through, hope I survive. I hate to HOPE! I want to KNOW! 
I don’t like to hope I get to a certain destination in life, I want to know based on my plans for the journey, that I will surely get there. I always want to know and plan how my next one year will be like, how the house will run the next one year, how much should be put into savings or investments, etc. You know, that kind of thing.

But lately God has been scattering all my plans, or so it felt. And He allows certain situations to keep triggering that feeling of helplessness that makes you cling on hope.
Yes, so yesterday I couldn’t sleep. And I didn’t know what to do as I left the bedroom to just be in the hall all by myself at around midnight. Then after sitting for a while, something (I guess God) made me take my laptop, go grab my external drive and just go through the photo database I’ve created on it. Maybe that was just my way of passing the time, but then, God started whispering to me in my mind as I watched many pictures from as far back as I could to the present, that OUR PAST TIMES TELL OF HOW FAR WE’VE COME. 
I saw so many past blessings including the fact that I could afford my own flight ticket and we could afford my wife’s flight tickets every year all through her masters degree on a bursary that did not cover cost of flights. We could afford a descent accommodation and in fact, change accommodation 3 times in 2 years without exhausting all the rent period in the previous two and not even getting refunded. We’ve sacrificed to help many in times of their needs, amongst many other blessings. 

And the rhema God finally left me as I went back to bed around 3:30am, prayed till 4am, and then got up around 5:30am for work was that, WHENEVER I’M DISCOURAGED, I SHOULD LOOK BACK ON MY PAST. He categorically said I SHOULD NEVER FORGET MY PAST; I SHOULD NEVER FORGET WHERE MY BLESSINGS COME FROM. 
He said Son, don’t worry, I trained you that way to always be sure of what’s coming, but even when it looks like all you have is hope, I’VE GOT IT ALL UNDER CONTROL. 

With that assurance, I don’t know if my problem is solved, whether I won’t worry again the next time things are not moving on well according to my plans, but I learned it’s OK to be in A PLACE OF HOPE. 

©Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2017

Caring for others…

The people we take care of in life in whatever way (our children, spouses, siblings, parents, etc) are not to be seen as burdens…

It is a privilege that God uses us to take care of them…

Cos with or without us, He’ll still take care of them anyways.

He’s GOD…and nobody can best Him in taking care of His children…

So the next time you are blessed with the responsibility of taking care of someone,

Do not think you are doing him/her a favour (maybe u are)…

But more importantly, you are doing God a favour!!

And He’ll surely pay you back…HE NEVER OWES ANYBODY!!!

Well, that much I know….

I speak LIFE…

​Today I feel led to speak LIFE over you:

I command every dead thing in your life to come back to life!

May your business, finances, marriage, relationship, education, etc witness a glorious facelift!

I declare that your joy is returning and out of your belly shall flow springs of living waters!

I see God writing your story anew and I see the windows of heaven open over you!

You shall not die before your time but you shall live to be celebrated!

I silence every voice of accusation against you!

You are delivered from the grave!

The hand of the devil is lifted off your business, marriage, family, children, etc!

Today onwards your destiny is secured and God’s pillar of fire is separating your camp and that of your enemies…!

No evil shall befall you and no plague shall come near your dwelling!

You are blessed, an oak of righteousness, a planting of the Lord!

Many shall come to enjoy your fruits, to drink of your waters….!

You are victorious in life and nothing can change that!

For He that has promised is faithful and He shall perform it!!!

Amen and Amen!!
It’s a prayer to be claimed…so if you believe it, shout a big AMEN to receive it.

Mark Gadogbe (McApple)

Behind the scenes…

Indeed, so little do we know in life
So completely unaware
Of the workings of His supernatural hands
Behind the scenes He works
Tirelessly for our good
But the finished product only we chose to see
Never His many invisible acts of love
Done behind the scenes
Obviously, it’s always amazing
When His supernatural hands lift a man
From the ashes to a position of glory
From a life full of struggles
To a life full of bubbles
Blessed indeed is that man
Who acknowledges the hand of God
Only not in his rise to a better life
But in his everything
Blessed indeed is he
Who remembers that of his own strength
He could not have prevailed
That of his own accord
He could not have won the fight of life

Mark Gadogbe (McApple)

PS: If you like it, keep not! Comment, share…and subscribe!

Image source:
http://darbydugger.com/behind-the-scenes/

The shoe man

My alarm went off
It was Sunday again.
I was sleepy and tired
My one day to sleep in.
But the guilt I would feel
The rest of the day
Would have been too much
So I’d go and I’d pray.
I showered and shaved
I adjusted my tie.
I got there and sat
In a pew just in time.
Bowing my head in prayer
As I closed my eyes.
I saw the shoe of the man next to me
Touching my own. I sighed.
With plenty of room on either side
I thought, “Why must our soles touch?”
It bothered me, his shoe touching mine
But it didn’t bother him much.
A prayer began: “Our Father”…
I thought, “This man with the shoes
has no pride.
They’re dusty, worn, and scratched
Even worse, there are holes on the side!”
“Thank You for blessings,” the prayer went on.
The shoe man said
a quiet “Amen.”
I tried to focus on the prayer
But my thoughts were on his shoes again.
Aren’t we supposed to look our best
When walking through that door?
“Well, this certainly isn’t it,” I thought,
Glancing toward the floor.
Then the prayer was ended
And the songs of praise began.
The shoe man was certainly loud
Sounding proud as he sang.
His voice lifted the rafters
His hands were raised high.
The Lord could surely hear
The shoe man’s voice from the sky.
It was time for the offering
And what I threw in was steep.
I watched as the shoe man reached
Into his pockets so deep.
I saw what was pulled out
What the shoe man put in.
Then I heard a soft “clink”
as when silver hits tin.
The sermon really bored me
To tears, and that’s no lie
It was the same for the shoe man
For tears fell from his eyes.
At the end of the service
As is the custom here
We must greet new visitors
And show them all good cheer.
But I felt moved somehow
And wanted to meet the shoe man
So after the closing prayer
I reached over and shook his hand.
He was old and his skin was dark
And his hair was truly a mess
But I thanked him for coming
For being our guest.
He said, “My names’ Charlie
I’m glad to meet you, my friend.”
There were tears in his eyes
But he had a large, wide grin
“Let me explain,” he said
Wiping tears from his eyes.
“I’ve been coming here for months
And you’re the first to say ‘Hi.'”
“I know that my appearance
Is not like all the rest
“But I really do try
To always look my best.
“I always clean and polish my shoes
Before my very long walk.
“But by the time I get here
They’re dirty and dusty, like chalk.”
My heart filled with pain
and I swallowed to hide my tears
As he continued to apologize
For daring to sit so near.
He said, “When I get here
I know I must look a sight.
“But I thought if I could touch you
Then maybe our souls might unite.”
I was silent for a moment
Knowing whatever was said
Would pale in comparison
I spoke from my heart, not my head.
“Oh, you’ve touched me,” I said,
“And taught me, in part;
“That the best of any man
Is what is found in his heart.”
The rest, I thought,
This shoe man will never know.
Like just how thankful I really am
That his dirty old shoe touched my soul……

~From the book “Just an Average Joe” by Joe Gonzalez (2005)

 

Found it interesting when I read it years ago. Touched my heart. Hope it touches everyone’s heart.

Cheers!

Mark Gadogbe (McApple)

Celebrate openly; it glorifies God!

Celebrate when good things happen…and be openly expressive about it!

See, God enjoys it because He wants the whole world to know He’s a good God and that’s just how people will get to know. It’s a way of preaching the goodness of God the Romans 10:14 kind of way. So come on, Celebrate openly!!

Haters will hate but…you don’t have to worry about your haters cos your haters can’t do nothing with you unless God allows it. And the same God you glorify won’t let them!

Hide the blessings and hide His glory!

Be wise about it though…and stay on your guard…never taking prayer for granted!

But seriously, stop living as if your every step is watched by the Devil…You fear the Devil too much! Stop limiting God!

Oh, you believe all your celebrations will be picked up by agents of the Devil to work evil against you huh? To me, that’s just a baby Christian’s way of thinking. Whether it’s the Devil that will get jealous and kill…or it’s God that will kill, “we live unto God and we die unto God”!

God doesn’t want His children living any caged life; a life of imprisonment for fear of the Devil. But funny enough, there are a lot of such lopsided Christian doctrines all over the places!

Come on! Free yourself and live!

Celebrate every happy moment of that marriage/relationship and any other success in life…share the story everywhere and let the world see the glory of God!

God wants you to.

Cheers!

Mark Gadogbe (McApple)