Thank You 2018!!

Hello friend,

The year has flown by quickly, hasn't it? In a few days, the month of December will be over and we will be ushering in the new year. This period is usually the time of the year where we take stock of how we have spent the ending year while creating plans for the incoming year.

Year 2018 has been a good year for me and for that I am grateful. For the first time in a long time, I was consistently stable both emotionally and mentally. I am grateful for growth and healing. I was on a Daniel fast throughout the entire year up until the 25th of December; I believe this contributed immensely to my ability to reach that point where joy and peace collide.  

2018 was the year my healing solidified and I started the journey back to wholeness. 

Singing Heart

Water bursts through the surface of the dry and sandy desert

Thirsty cracks drink up slowly

A broken heart at the mercy of tender hands

Remind me what joy feels like

Sometimes you don't value what you have until it is gone

I have had to experience the dark to appreciate light

I experienced pain before I appreciated joy

At this juncture, I would like to stop to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming on this journey with me and for reading all my blog posts. This has been my first year and a few months of blogging and I think I have done okay. Not all my goals were met and I still need to up my editing skills but you know what, that is what growth is for. So I am looking forward to the new year and the promises it holds. Seeing as I will be having quite a lot on my plate in 2019, my goal is to publish at least one blog post per month and read one book per month.

A synopsis of some of the posts published on shalomibk.com this year:

Migrant Child is the most read post which has also generated the most feedback and comments. A lot of people could relate with the story of moving from one country to another and having to adapt to a new environment. 

I got a request to do a post on How to Grow Spiritually. The post seems to have helped a lot of people so if you do intend to figure out how to develop your relationship with God and go deeper spiritually, do check it out. 

The Potter and His Clay is a poem that digs into our relationship with God being and its similarities to the relationship between a potter and his clay as relayed in Jeremiah 18.

The Ties That Bind Us; another poem, born as a result of me visiting one of my family friends after about fifteen years of not being in contact, and feeling a mini disconnection from someone with whom I spent a lot time and made really good memories with when I was younger. Even though the basis of our friendship and closeness is still there and strong at that, I realised we would have to build a new friendship and a new bond. The Ties That Bind Us is my favourite post this year; writing it was so easy. 

I visited Kew Gardens in the spring and made a blog post about my experience.

I turned 25 in the month of July and listed 25 Things I Am Grateful for. 

Thank you for reading my posts. I intend to continue to talk about deep things in a simplistic manner because nothing is ever as difficult as it seems and life is simple when we do not complicate things. 

As we step into the new year, I pray that we channel our strengths into our God given visions and that we have the courage to take the necessary bold steps. Cheers to Year 2019! Please know that you are continuously in my prayers.

You will be hearing from me again sometime soon but in the meantime, I wish you a marvelous new year. 

Yours Truly, 

Ibukun

Hands on Deck

A few months back, I decided it was time to update my LinkedIn account. The last time I had logged into my account was during my internship year in 2013 and now I met a brick wall trying to gain access into that same account - I could not for the life of me remember what password I used neither could I retrieve my password because my university e-mail address and internship e-mail address with which I had registered on LinkedIn were no longer in use. After a few back and forth messages and going through the process of successfully confirming my identity, I was able to log into my LinkedIn account again after about 5 years. Yippee!!

So... I started updating my account. After making my education information, profile picture and current job status up to date, it was time to update any volunteering activities I was involved in and there, my friends, was where I stumbled. You see, volunteering has always been second nature to me, I did a lot of volunteering activities throughout sixth-form, university and during my internship so I was stunned at the awareness that I had not done any intentional voluntary or charity work since leaving university. To be fair, I did need the break from always being actively continuously involved in one organisation or the other. However, now is the time for me to align myself with not just every available volunteering opportunity but with causes I am actually passionate about.

After doing some soul searching, it was evident that I was interested in issues that concern Women & Girls, Education and Poverty Alleviation. I look forward to getting involved with charitable organisations that deal with these issues and maybe setting one up myself. Of course, I will keep you posted. To get me started, I took part in the A21 Walk For Freedom awareness campaign against human trafficking and slavery (Mostly women and girls are affected), joining thousands of other volunteers to walk a couple miles in a single file around central London.

I love volunteering because it gives an opportunity to experience life away from one's own normal and bubble - volunteering with a homeless shelter made me aware of the plights of people without shelter or food. Volunteering expands your knowledge on societal issues - providing support within a 'Meals on Wheels' team in the village of Slaithwaite exposed me to how the young generation of a community can migrate to cities and towns for better opportunities leaving the village majorly with a large population of aged people who need as much help as they can get to maximize their lives. Volunteering helps improve your skills - Helping out within the Homework club and Reading club at sixth form provided me with tutoring skills I still make use of today. All in all, my volunteering experiences have taught me to be empathetic. I have learnt to put myself in other people's shoes, I have learnt to be merciful and not judgmental.

I want to be one of the people Jesus describes in Matthew 25:35-40:

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"

Volunteering provides the opportunity to be in contact with humanity in its rawest form. Actively and passionately engaging in providing solutions to other people's needs somehow chips away layers of pride that dwell in our fallen bodies, replacing them with humility. This is what I love the most about volunteering.