Of Shirt Creases and Ironing Boards

"So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

Matthew 5: 23, 24

I have a crease in my shirt. And it was brought to my notice in the most embarrassing fashion.

"Chief, my colleagues where laughing at you", my house officer said. "They said you did not iron your shirt."

"But I did!" I protested.

"Well, that line is showing", he said, as he ran his index finger up and down in the direction of the defect. He was referring to that crease my shirt got from hugging the clothesline for one long night as it dried. And sure enough, there it was, smack-dab in the middle of my back. This was definitely not the kind of information I needed since I was already having a bad-clothes-day. I had indeed ironed my shirt, well enough I thought at the time, but this one had escaped the scalding heat of the iron's blade.

I wonder what other creases there are in my life. Everything else may be looking nice and crisp, but when those annoying strips show up, they can cause me such embarrassment and make a mess of everything good I may have done.

What about you? You may have everything nice and straightened out. Your job, straightened out. Your education, straightened out. Your kids, straightened out. Your relationships, straightened out… mostly. But there are often those few creases which we pretend not to notice until they show up and bite us in the bum.

Take a minute to consider now, how are your relationships with the people around? Is there something you need to take care of now? Forgiveness you need to offer? An apology you owe? A word of comfort you have not given?

Here's where to start - on God's own ironing board. Take the matter to God in prayer, then go ahead and do something about it. So long as you ignore it, it will fester and grow and stick out like a sore thumb. Only when we address these issues will they take the back seat so everyone can see how truly lovely is the shirt on our backs.

With love, Doosuur.

My Second Birthday

All the days ordained for me where written in your book before one of them came to be

Psalm 139:16

Today is my "second" birthday. Or maybe I should call it my deathday. You see, today, 14 years ago, I was saved from what could very easily have been a fatal accident. Every year, when November 15 comes around I have opportunity to reflect upon life and what it has come to mean for me.

One thing I have learned is that life must be lived "on purpose". No drifting through, one day after the other. There is a reason why each of us is here and we must, on a daily basis, find it out and live it.

As I celebrate life, let me share with you some of my favorite scriptures and what they mean to me.

He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil - this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied and water will not fail him.

Isaiah 33:15,16

This scripture first caught my attention while I was reading through the Bible as a teenager. It's promise of security and provision for the man who "walks right" is something to look forward to, a verse to live by.

Your GOD is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs.

Zephaniah 3:17

No verse quite captures God's sense of delight in me as His child as this one does. I can just imagine him singing with joy over me. Quite a comfort.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

There again is that magic word, "purpose". I believe that I have been called "according to God's purpose" which means I'm a part of His plan. Now, because of that, do you know what God is willing to do for me? He will work out all things for my good. All things! All things! There are no superlatives to describe how I feel when the truth of this promise grabs ahold of me.

Join me to celebrate God's gift of life today.

With love, Doosuur

What is in a Name?

I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

Revelations 2:17

My name is Doosuur.

"Why did you give me a girl's name?" I remember asking Mom as a wide-eyed school-aged kid back in Kaduna.

"It's not a girl's name," she answered. "It's unisex."

Dad said the same thing when I asked him later. It was obvious they had rehearsed their lines specifically for this moment. A unisex name. Yeah, right!

But then it has never bothered me that much. Not many people share my name (even if all the others are girls), so I find it unique, even nice. No one seems to judge me when I introduce myself.

No one, that is, until I meet the next Tiv person. I remember telling an old friend of Dad's recently, "my name is Doosuur."

He cocked an eyebrow to the left and looked at me queerly as if I were to blame for my effeminate moniker. "Why do you have a girl's name?" he asked.

What'ya asking me for? I thought. Ask them, this one looking at dad. But I sympathize with the man when I realize I might as well have just said "my name is Susan."

But beyond all the hullabaloo surrounding the name, it has come to be one of the things I like most about myself. Here's what it means:

It is good to depend on the Lord

No better testimony I tell you. I am proud of the way my people name their children. Every Tiv name has a story and some history behind it. The prevailing circumstances at the time of a person's birth usually have a lot to do with what he will be called. We probably borrow heavily from the Jewish way of naming their wards. Throughout scripture it is obvious that there is great significance attached to a name. A sampling:

… she shall be called 'woman' for she was taken out of man (Genesis 2:23)

Adam named his wife Eve [living] because she would become the mother of all the living (Genesis 3:20)

"Your name will be Abraham [father of many], for I have made you a father of many nations (Genesis 17:5)

Then there is Sarah [princess], Isaac [he laughs], Esau [hairy], Jacob [he deceives], Judah [praise], Israel [he struggles with God], Moses [draw out].

The list is endless.

Let us not now forget Jabez [Oh the pain!] who didn't want his name to follow him and prayed famously, "Oh, that you would bless me and extend my lands! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!"

Each time God gave His friends a new name, it meant for them, and for Him a new level of relationship. When Solomon was born, God considered him so special, He sent the prophet to give him an affectionate pet name, Jedidiah [beloved of the Lord]. Perhaps even more precious to us are the pet names given to us by those close to our heart: "Munchkin", "Honey", "Poffin", "Pumpkin".

Whatever is your name, here's a thought for you. God has a name for you. A name for just the two of you. And you are the only two who will ever know it. Just the two of you. It's your very own pet name.

With love, Doosuur.