Mercy Anang Blogspot

With the discovery of a new COVID-19 Variant, the world is on its reels again. Countries have moved again to impose ban on travel, not only are businesses at risk but the heartbreak of being separated from loved ones. According to the Voice of America,many stocks sank on Friday amidst fears of the spread of the new variant. Is there ever an end in sight of this pandemic? Like many who are spiritual and attribute certain happenings to a being bigger than us, I have many moments lately where I reflect on my beliefs as a Christian. A facebook friend who hold dearly on his Christian faith lost his beloved wife to a respiratory illness. If he had his own way, I'm sure he would have given everything to save her. Over a month ago, we lost a colleague at work. She had gone to deliver her first child and even though she brought forth life, she lost hers- a loss we are still grieving. The world is in pain. We try to put up happy faces and run to the nearest bookshops for self-help books whic...

Whew! It’s been a minute I wrote! I trust we are all keeping well in the midst of COVID-19. Who would have thought 2020 would come with so much drama! But in all these, the fact that we are still breathing is a good sign. It ignites some hope that this too shall pass. In the heat of this menace, we have heard countless banter between world leaders, some, not so pleasant. Others have spoken with reassurance and injected some dose of positivity into the citizenry as we fight this ailment. What about our homes? What’s happening? With the imposition of lockdowns in many countries, many are challenged to work on themselves. There have been a plethora of fun ‘challenges’ to kill boredom. Others have taken to exercises to shed of some extra pounds of flesh or gain some healthy pounds. Still, others are discovering new hobbies and making time to bond with family. For others, it is time to revive their spiritual lives and most importantly work on some habits in order to be better huma...

Prepare for the next season Hello, lovely people In my last blog, I encouraged you to keep forging ahead and what a blessing the responses have been! So, we know we are not too late and that there’s still more than enough room for all of us to prosper but are we preparing for the season we have been daydreaming about? Should you land that job today, are you ready to perform it to the best of your ability? Should you meet that bae or boo of life, would you be ready to handle that season? Should you be given a 1 million USD to kick-start that business idea, would you be ready to faithfully steward it? So here’s the million-dollar question, ‘I’m I ready to walk in this new season which I’m greatly expecting’? The irony of our pursuits is that we are in a rush all the time, chasing after God knows what but we rarely have the time to prepare. It looks like preparation is alien to our ‘microwave culture’ and we would rather live for the now than put out any effort for...

2019 began like a minute ago! And boy are we headed to the start of another decade! I don’t know how your 2019 has been going but I know what one thing for sure; that you being able to read these words is proof that you are alive and that whatever you have set to achieve is still possible. The world seems to be running like crazy. People are busier than ever. Social media is abuzz with a zillion trend I’m still trying to catch up. Folks seem to be living their best lives and you wonder when you can also be listed on Forbes Under 30! You visit LinkedIn and everyone is graduating in the so-called big fields- from Bachelors’ to PhDs’ and what’s more, they are landing their dream jobs. We could spend donkey years drawing from these contrasts. So, this is for you who feels 2019 is fading out and you are still unemployed. It is for you who attended every relationship seminar this year and still has no one to ask,’ Babe, I just thought of you and I want to say I love...

“Knowing we are in a battle against the forces of darkness, we should want as much help as we can gather around us, and this may include making ourselves accountable to another believer who can encourage us in the fight”- GotQuestions Management consultant Todd Herman defines personal accountability as being willing to answer …for the outcomes resulting from your choices, behavior and actions. It is taking ownership of our actions and asking the tough questions or being vulnerable with a trusted person in our quest of being better. We all, at a point have sought the opinion of another, on various issues of life and when life requires us to share our burdens, we always endeavor to open up to people who can truly help us see and decide well. No man’s an island, as the saying goes and hence we need all the support structure we can get. Hence, it becomes very vital for the need of an accountability partner. An accountability partner is one with whom we can be vulnerable...

In a world of instant gratification and the worship of self, coupled with our sinful hearts, we always grapple with the damaging nature of selfishness. It is essentially saying, ‘be at my service at all cost’- it just doesn’t matter how. We hurt others when we make life revolve around us without giving thought to the other person. We look out for our needs at the expense of the next person; It’s all about what serves us or make us comfortable. It’s never about giving thought to our brother or sister. Selfishness, unchecked leaves us empty and drives away those who really matter-those who seek our best interest at heart. In 1 Corinthians 13 where the infamous love verse is quoted, Paul says love is not selfish. How is love not selfish? It does not make decisions that end up gratifying self and leaving the other person destitute or discouraged. In light of the above, it stands to reason that to overcome this evil that plagues our hearts, we ought to ask the LORD to transform our h...

Social media is inundated with many adverts advocating for the perfect curves and ultimately, the perfect body in every sense. The pressure to have the Kim K or the Tyson Beckford looks drive us to all kinds of experiments to attain that physique. Others become anorexic in their quest of losing weight and staying slim. Others go for plastic surgery to alter their looks in extreme ways. For some, it is the desire of appearing fairer, thus the craze for the hydroquinone effect. Whatever it is, at a point, most of us, if not all of us have been dissatisfied with our physical appearance. Growing up, I hated my lips! I wished they were smaller. I wanted to smile showing my teeth effortlessly. I was very conscious of my physique and that led to a never-ending battle with low self-esteem. I’m sure if I had the means to alter my looks, I would not have hesitated! You see, instinctively, we craze for acceptance and attention. We want to turn heads and be the topic for the prettie...

In the past week, I have struggled with unhealthy fear- the kind that keeps you absent-minded. The kind that gives you sleepless nights. The kind that sees tears roll down your cheeks. That fear that makes you want to go into hiding. That voice of fear that drowns every ounce of hope in you. We have all been there. Very often, unhealthy fear stems from not knowing what’s ahead of us. We create the perfect picture in our minds but when things begin to go contrary to what we envisaged, we get jittery and begin to imagine worse things that could happen. Unhealthy fear prevents us from enjoying the moments as they come. It prevents us from taking bold steps that will bring about breakthroughs. It erodes trust in relationships. Unhealthy fear essentially makes us give up even before the race starts. Ultimately, it keeps us in a prison where we find ourselves in shackles of despair and craziness. Unhealthy fear can make us lose out on a great business opportunity or miss out on ...

We have all been there. We try with every ounce of strength in us to justify our shortcomings. It is never our fault and often times, we say things like, “She made me say to say those words”, “ I was just in a bad mood”, etc. I’m sure you can think of countless occasions where a heartfelt apology would have restored calm, instead of wasting time to prove a point. But here’s the crux of the matter, why do we get defensive when we are in the wrong? Why do we easily seek a hiding a place when we are criticized or made aware of our mistakes? I would love to see your answers in the comments below. However, I believe that the reason we get defensive is that our pride is often times hurt and we would rather defend that ego or pride rather than admitting our offense and seeking growth. The Collins Dictionary puts it better in the following, “ If someone is on the defensive , they are trying to protect themselves or their interests because they feel unsure or threatened”. In justif...

I have been battling with acne for a while now. Looking for a quick fix, I have tried many products but they seem not to be working to my satisfaction. I tried one organic product and was very meticulous with its application. After three consistent days of using it, I saw a change and complacency made me reduce the number of times I was using it. Then boom! The acne surfaced again. I’m back to square one now and restarting the routine to gain the necessary results. Consistency has many synonyms which include evenness, steadiness, constancy, and regularity. In the chemical world, consistency relates to the way in which a substance holds together in terms of its thickness, density or firmness. In my write up today, I will discuss the power of being consistent in our pursuits. In the article, ‘The Power of Consistency’, the writers assert that consistency is a necessary ingredient in success. Having the discipline to keep going through thick and thin will eventually reap the resu...

Dear Lady, You Are More Than Your Skin. There was a lady I always admired. She was fair, had pointed nose and was really endowed with all the 'woman assets'. She turned heads and I wished I could be like her, if not, be her.  It's insane, I know. I struggled with my own sense of insecurity and low self-esteem so my perception of a pretty woman was quite unhealthy.  I set out to search for the truth. Read God's word on how He really defines beauty and was blessed with friends I could share my struggles with & who really prayed for me. I was blessed with the works of authors like Elizabeth Elliott, Elizabeth George and many more whose reflections helped me in gaining a new perspective. There are still many young women and girls out there who are struggling with society’s acceptance of what beauty is. Insecurity and a low self-esteem drive us to all the wrong places and the wrong people; where we are left empty and distressed. We depend on mak...

The canker of mediocrity In a fast-changing world where anything goes, there’s always pressure to get things done because they have to be done! We are result-oriented more than we are quality-oriented. This mediocrity is seen in some products we buy. They promise durability but barely make it past the set time of use. Some students settle for a pass, not because they are unable to excel academically, but because they just want to graduate and be done with anything called ‘school’. Mediocrity rears its ugly head at the workplace too. With the availability of all the necessary equipment, some employees will still choose to produce substandard service at the slight absence of the supervisor or manager. A google search of the word, mediocrity, returns the following descriptions; ordinariness, commonplaceness, lack of inspiration, indifference among others. Is it sheer laziness that drives us in settling for anything? What influences a mediocre attitude? Is it that we do not ju...

Ladies, Don’t Marry A ‘Nice Guy’. Sometime ago, I met a nice guy. Actually, he wasn’t just nice. He was very handsome, tall and fair! He came from a wealthy family and had one of the top positions at school. When he asked me out, I wasn’t enthused about it. Yes, he “he had it all” but I wasn’t really looking for a nice guy. Of course, nice things are good, right? There’s nothing wrong with someone being handsome or beautiful, being rich or affluent but for someone who is serious about settling down with another soul for a lifetime, the standards should not end with “He’s nice”. The world has evolved and it seems our view on what love is has also taken a 360 degree definition! We make permanent decisions based on temporal emotional flings. He seems to do all the ‘nice stuffs’ and so we get on cloud nine and conclude they must be ‘Mr Right’ and boom! We are head over heels in love! You are blinded on how he mistreats his mother and sister. How he flirts with everyone in skir...

We live in a broken world. It is marred with sin and so much brokenness. I attended a church service recently (it has been a long while I visited that branch) and that brokenness yet beautiful was so visible. Many I knew as strong and agile have grown quite frail. I watched one particular old woman who could barely walk; she was once active in church and the inevitable phase of aging had caught up with her. I saw the young who have grown into adolescence. I was fascinated with how time has flown so quickly with so many changes. I saw many left hands with glitters and glee of being called Mr. & Mrs. I was fed the ‘gossip’ of who is expecting a baby, many who have moved away among others. Very often we are caught up in our small little world that we barely see and appreciate being part of a church family. We hurriedly set off right after church and hardly spare time to speak with others. Our own struggles blind from seeing what God is doing among the community of believers! Ou...

To that lady struggling with inferiority complex. Sometimes, you've got to remember that you can never be "that girl". Accept the fact that you were born to be "this girl". That you have purpose & God has provided everything you would ever need to be "this girl". Be joyful in the season He molds you. Be content with His bountiful blessings & keep your gaze on the One who has loved you with eternal love. You, woman are not defined by your hips and curves. Your worth is not based on false affirmation and validation. You are God's masterpiece- His delight and amazing handicraft. You, woman are not defined by society's misinterpretation of beauty. If you call yourself a daughter of the King, and have unwavering confidence that you are, then be rest assured- You are secure and loved in Him. To that lady struggling with inferiority complex, maybe you might want to know that I always wanted to be "that girl". NOW, I'm "this ...

I grew up in a family of believers: ·          They believe that God is alive. ·          They go to church every Sunday to worship and praise God. ·          They pray and believe that God answers their prayers. ·          BUT they have not found the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. I HAVE WITNESSED THE POWER OF GOD. I was only 14 years old when my mother was reported sick. At that time I was staying in the Eastern Cape, looking after my disable aunt and her new born baby. I overheard my aunt speaking on the phone, about how bad the condition of my mother was at the hospital, after the call she never told me anything. I was in bed, I cried so hard that night and I asked the Lord to help my mother to live. I am sure he did because few days later my mother’s condition was getting better. At the back of my mind I grew up k...