19/06/2016. The day I set up my blog and published my very first blog post. Today, exactly seven years later, I am publishing my 77th blogpost! What a journey it has been since then, and what a turn my life has taken as well. Still, what a comfort to know that God has been with me through it all. The journey over the years hasn’t always gone as smoothly as I hoped when I excitedly published my very first post. However today I chose to be intentional about celebrating the journey so far, because God has been and continues to remain faithful. Indeed, there is so much to celebrate as http://www.livlearns.life turns SEVEN! Perfection.

1. Today I want to celebrate God. I want to celebrate who He is, what He has done, is doing and will do in the future. I want to celebrate His incredible wisdom which He generously gives to me when I ask, and Lord knows I need plenty of it! (James 1:5). I want to thank God for His inspiration, strength, guidance, grace, skill, love, mercy, understanding, insight, the gifts which he has so mercifully given to me. Truly, “there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 32:8, KJV). I want to celebrate His work in my life. He keeps moulding me, gently, patiently, consistently. I am not finished yet, but when I look back at where I was and where I am now, I can only sing Eze Ebube, see how far you’ve brought me. May I never lose sight of my Raison d’etre, the One in whom I live, move and have my being (Acts 17:28). For I know that, as Psalm 138:8 promises, The LORD will perfect that which concerns me, because His mercy endures forever and He will not forsake the works of His hands.

2. Today I want to celebrate family. Thank you for your love and for being there. I particularly want to celebrate my children and my mum. My children were my first source of inspiration for this blog, and continue to remain some of my most influential teachers in this life. It is truly fascinating how much we can learn from children if we take the time to do so. Their perspectives, the random things they say, their lack of airs, their thousands of questions, even their cheeky behaviours. No wonder “Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t hinder them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children” (Matthew 19:14). Thank you to two of the best blessings I have ever received in my life!
I want to specially celebrate my amazing mum, who reads every single one of my blogposts, inspires me, encourages me, gently corrects me, spurs me on. Thank you, so so much for who you are, for what you do, and for your teachings that crown me with grace and are a chain of honour around my neck (Proverbs 1:8-9, NLT).

3. Today I want to celebrate friends. I may not have everything, but one area of my life I cannot deny that God has truly blessed me in is in the area of friendships. I am incredibly fortunate to have the friends I have. Friends who love, inspire, encourage, challenge. Friends who are Godly, honest, compassionate, true. Friends who can hype you for Africa, and can make you feel special. Friends who can call you out when you need calling out. Thank you for not withholding kindness from me (Job 6:14), and for your sweet friendship that refreshes the soul (Proverbs 27:9). May God bless you and restore you.

4. Today I want to celebrate communities. I am part of various communities and I learn a whole lot from them. I have learnt how futile and silly it is to try to do life alone, when we have such a wonderful group of people we can do life with. I am learning to serve and be served. I have been inspired to help and especially learnt to accept help. I have learnt how powerful communities can be, and how sadly, this power sometimes remains untapped throughout people’s lives. I have learned that both solitude and community are important, and I am learning to find a good balance. I want to celebrate all these lessons, and the beauty of community. I am immensely grateful for the blessing of community and I pray that we continue to carry each other’s burdens and so fulfil the law of Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:2).

5. Today I want to celebrate the Body of Christ. I have been part of various churches across various cities and countries. I have only ever moved church when moving to a new city. And every time I have moved, I have been abundantly blessed to find a community of believers that blesses me and enables me to be a blessing, and that contributes significantly to my growth as a Christian in so many ways. No church community is perfect, but I don’t expect perfection (not yet anyway), seeing as I’m far from perfect. That said, the ones that I’m part of are true blessings from God, shining in their cities. I have learnt so much, from the periods where they have been shining brightly, to the periods where the church feels like a smouldering wick, and everything in between. I am reminded that it is God that is building His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against this beautiful bride and Body of Christ (Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 5:25-32). I continue to pray that as the church continues to fear the Lord, it will become stronger, and with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, continue to grow (Acts 9:16).

6. Today I want to celebrate my wonderful readers. I want to celebrate you, yes YOU. I want to celebrate those who have read my blogposts, shared my blogposts with others, written to tell me the ways in which my posts have ministered to them, provided me with useful feedback, encouraged me to keep writing, shared their own experiences with me. Thank you so much. I want to also celebrate those who have read, quietly reflected and hopefully learnt something, even if I may not hear from you. I really do appreciate every single person who reads my blog and I pray for you. You probably have many things to do, and yet you choose to take out your precious time to read my blogposts (which admittedly can be fairly long sometimes!). Thank you. I don’t take this for granted at all. Please let’s continue this journey together and bring others along. I also celebrate WordPress, the platform that connects me to my wonderful readers!

7. Today I want to celebrate www.livlearns.life! This blog has been a gift to me in many, many ways. I have always wanted to be a writer, and this blog is one way I express this desire. More than that, it is an additional source of motivation for me to deeply explore topics which I desire to learn more about, through a biblical lens. It encourages me to reflect more as I study the Bible. It truly inspires me to become more and more like the Bereans, who were noble and open-minded, receiving the Word of God with great eagerness, and examining the Scriptures daily to see if the teachings they received were true (Acts 17:11). I want to celebrate resilience, rising again after falling, restarting after stopping, keeping on instead of giving up, pressing on even in the crushing. I want to celebrate keeping up with the race, even in rough terrain and challenging conditions, even when I feel so far behind, even when I feel weary. I want to celebrate growth, to celebrate pushing through hard times, like a plant growing through concrete. I want to celebrate the blessing that every single one of the 77 posts to date has been, and will continue to be.

My prayer and desire today is from Hebrews 12:2 (BSB), that we continue to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It has been seven special years, so I raise a virtual glass (of communion wine :-)) and say HAPPY SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY to LivLearns! With God’s help and by His grace, wisdom and strength, Keep learning, Keep doing, Keep writing, Keep sharing, Keep living. Vive la LivLearns! 😊

Image source here.