Mary – Mary Kamau

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:1 ESV

There’s something about showing up.

I don’t mean just being physically present in a place.

I mean showing up – body, spirit, soul, every fibre of your being and then some.

And then showing up again. And again. And again.

There’s something to be said for the person who shows up for their life each day. What may seem like a mundane existence could in fact be glory hidden in plain sight.

We tend to think of power as this grandiose pink elephant in the room that everyone wants to ride on and nobody could possibly miss. But the longer I live, the more I find that power – true power – is more like a quiet river steadily going about its business. If you weren’t looking for it, you’d hardly acknowledge its presence. But it’s there. And everything around it is impacted by its daily existence.

Sometimes…many times…being powerful looks like showing up intentionally every single day. Making a purposeful choice to be there, wherever there is, whatever there looks like.

This is a pivotal decade for me at personal level for various reasons. And as I think about the trajectory of the years ahead, I find that more than anything I want to be intentional.

Intentional in my presence and in my absence.

Intentional in my speech and in my silence.

Intentional in my writing and in my living.

Intentional in my gratitude and in my praise.

Intentional in my kindness and in my graciousness.

Intentional in holding onto hope and in fighting off the fears that come my way.

Intentional in stepping out in faith and in making good use of divine courage.

Intentional in how I love God and in how I love people.

Intentional in faithfully pursuing the small things as much as the big things.

Intentional in being me.

The intentionality with which God created each one of us often gives me pause. That He would so concern Himself with the tiniest of details – right down to the number of hairs on my head and the days formed for me.

We look for value in so many places when the proof of it is (literally) in our face – staring right back at us every time we’re in front of a mirror.

What better response, what better worship could we then give Him who created us than to live like we’re created – intentionally.

Whatever God has placed in your heart to be and to do this year, this decade, I hope you’ll make the daily choice to be intentional with it.

You are His wondrous workmanship after all.

Just like that, we’re at the tail end of another year. As is custom here, this will be the last post of the year as we go on break this month.

This year has had its fair share of ups and downs. It wouldn’t be life in the true sense if it didn’t have its mix of the sweet and the bitter. But God really does have a way of making all things beautiful in His time.

These are some of the gems I’m taking with me into 2020:

Don’t let what-ifs keep you from what-could-bes. It’s easy to get paralyzed into inaction by going down the what-if road. What if it doesn’t work? What if they don’t like it? What if they don’t like me? What if I fail? What if you don’t? The very thing you’re longing for could be on the other side of the fence on the what-could be road. Any time you find yourself trudging down the negative what-if road, hop over the fence and take a walk on what-could-be.

Not every lemon thrown your way is yours to bite on. Spiritual warfare is a reality for every believer even though a good number of us would rather bury our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn’t exist. When you’re in the heat of battle taking blows, it’s easy to forget that fights are won not just by dishing out hits, but by deflecting blows. Some of the worst discouragement you’ll ever deal with will often come just before or right after the breakthrough you’ve been contending for. Because if the enemy can’t keep you from victory, he’ll try and steal your joy of it. Don’t let him.

Little ordinary things are the building blocks of the extraordinary. Any masterpiece is the sum total of small, repetitive brush strokes. Any champion is the product of daily, regimented training. When you understand this, you’ll no longer need to chase the high of achieving the extraordinary. You’ll find joy just in doing the little ordinary things because you know that over time, something extraordinary will come from them.

Stand your ground. Boundaries of any kind always get tested.

The Church is a treasure. She truly is. Just because she’s sometimes covered in a bit of dirt, doesn’t make her any less so. I’ve been immensely blessed by individuals I know personally and those I only know of from a distance who are simply pursuing Christ the best way they know how. They encourage and inspire me to keep running my race. For that, I’m thankful.

Until next year.

Happy holidays to you and yours!

Be blessed.