First - things -first

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I got married at 25, finished my PhD at 27 and became a Professor at 40.

So fast you see! Yes, everything around me worked fast. It is now that I realise that it was a misplaced priority.

My ambition blindfolded me and I got it all wrong, that is why I am sharing my experience through this medium to warn and encourage our young mothers not to be careless as I was back then.

I worked very hard as a lecturer and as an administrator, always so busy that it became my language to my children...."I'm busy"

My mum was around to nurse the children for me for some time. The moment they clocked ten, I sent them to boarding schools, though my husband was not in support of this. I always found my way.

I had no warm relationship with my children, 2 boys and a girl.

I never knew it was a bad idea not to have time for my husband, children and the household, until 5 years ago, when guilt, loneliness and restlessness filled my heart.

I sent for my children to rejoice with me on my 60th birthday.

The two boys, living in Canada said they are "busy" and that their sister will come down from South Africa.

Two days to my birthday, my daughter sent this message to me, "Mum, I am very sorry not to be around over there, there is no time to squeeze out, my husband needs my attention at his newly established clinic and presently, I'm pregnant. "I'm very very busy,
I'm also lonely in a strange land. Please pray for us mum. Happy birthday". I could not recover from the meaning I got from the message.. "First-things-First". When they needed me for warmth and discussion, I was not available, now I needed them for warmth and discussion I could not get them, rather they returned my slogan back to me, "I'm busy"

To worsen the matter, my dear husband died in his sleep a month after. ...Only one of the children came ​without​ his family to the burial ceremony.

I was dumbfounded!!! Considered Opinion: it is good to work and be a hard working fellow.
But hear this important and salient truth:

Parenting is sacrificial work, give it all it takes. Avoid any work that will take away your attention too much from your home - Avoid it and be careful!

SOLIDIFY YOUR HOME FIRST, CREATE TIME FOR YOUR SPOUSE AND CHILDREN.

ESTABLISH THE FEAR OF GOD IN THEIR HEARTS THROUGH YOUR ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR.

THOUGH IT IS COSTLY NOW, THE FUTURE REWARD IS WORTH IT.

THIS IS AN EYE OPENER FOR BOTH MEN & WOMEN.

LET'S BE SELFLESSLY AVAILABLE WHEN OUR CHILDREN NEED US.



Source : unknown

WHEN TO BE SILENT

*The  Bible says:-*

1.  *Be silent In the heat of anger - (Prov 14:17)*

2.  *Be silent When you don't have all the facts*  *- (Prov 18:13)*

3.  *Be silent when you*
     *haven't verified the story- (Deut 17:6)*

4.  *Be silent If your words will offend a weaker  person - (1 Cor 8:11)*

5.  *Be silent When it is time  to listen - (Prov 13:1)*

6. *Be silent When you are tempted to make light of holy things - (Eccl 5:2)*

7.  *Be silent when you* *are tempted to joke about sin - (Prov 14:9)*

8.  *Be silent If you would be ashamed of your words later - (Prov 8:8)*

9.  *Be silent If your words would convey the wrong  impression - (Prov 17:27)*

10. *Be silent If the issue is none of your business - (Prov 14:10)*

11. *Be silent when you* *are tempted to tell an*
 *outright lie - (Prov 4:24)*

12. *Be silent If your words will damage someone else's reputation - (Pro 16:27)*

13. *Be silent If your words will damage a friendship - (Prov 16:28)*

14. *Be silent When you are feeling critical - (James 3:9)*

15. *Be silent If you can't say it without screaming it - (Prov 25:28)*

16. *Be silent If your words will be a poor reflection of the Lord or your friends and family - (1 Pt 2:21-23)*

17. *Be silent If you may* 
       *have to eat your words later - (Prov 18:21)*

 18. *Be silent If you have*already said it more than one time - (Prov 19:13)*

19. *Be silent when you* *are tempted to flatter a*
*wicked person - (Prov 24:24)*

20. *Be silent When you are supposed to be working instead  - (Prov 14:23)*

*"WHOEVER GUARDS HIS MOUTH AND TONGUE KEEPS HIS SOUL FROM TROUBLES" - (Prov 21:23)*

*" YESTERDAY I WAS YOUR SAVIOUR. BUT NOW I AM YOUR JUDGE"*

A lady committed a crime and she was sent to court. The punishment for the crime was life imprisonment. She shed tears for help but to no avail. When the case was called in court she started weeping. Her husband, family and friends who accompanied her started weeping but there was no hope. But something happened. Before the lady could stand in the witness box a man stood up and the court room was silent. Everyone looked at Him. He was noble and gentle. He stood in the witness box and interceded on behalf of the woman. The case was difficult, yet He used all His strength, energy and resources to fight on behalf of the woman. After a long legal battle between the man and the accusers, the lady was set free. The lady fell before the man and asked *'WHO ARE YOU'* The next day the lady deliberately committed another crime and was sent to the same court. As soon as she entered the courtroom, she saw the man who interceded for her the previous day on the judgement seat. He was no longer a lawyer, but a judge. With smiles on her face the lady said *'I have come again'* The man lifted his head and said 'yesterday I was a lawyer, so I fought for you, even when you were guilty. But today I am a judge and my judgement must be fair.' With tears in the ladies eyes she asked for the second time *'WHO ARE YOU'* and the man replied *" YESTERDAY I WAS YOUR SAVIOUR. BUT NOW I AM YOUR JUDGE"* Today Christ Jesus is our lawyer and redeemer, but a day is coming when He will give a fair judgement to everyone. *JESUS IS COMING SOON, SO PREPARE TO MEET HIM*. 

📖 The man who translated the Bible into English 📗📚

MEET WILLIAM TYNDALE ~  the man who translated the Bible into English and was burnt alive at the ridiculous young age of 42 years old, for his efforts. (Google Foxe's book of Martyrs.)

Please; kindly read this to the end. 

Nearly 500 years ago, this week, William Tyndale, fondly called 'Father of the English Bible' was strangled and burned at the stake after being tried and convicted of heresy and treason for translating the Bible into English.

HIS OFFENSE!
He translated the Greek Bible into English. Simple:

That you have a Bible in a language you can read is largely due to his labours, and many of the very phrases you read in it retain the flavour of his understanding of the Greek and Hebrew.

A graduate of Oxford and Cambridge, Tyndale had a powerful desire to make the Bible available to even the common people in England, in order to correct the 'Biblical ignorance of the priests.' At one point Tyndale told a priest, "If God spares my life, ere many years pass, I will cause a boy that driveth the plow, shall know more of the Scriptures than thou dost." 

Today, 90% of the King James Version of the Holy Bible and 75% of the Revised Standard Version are from the translation made by Tyndale, a man to whom you owe more than you'll ever know. 

A nice dream, but how was Tyndale to accomplish his task, when translating the Bible into English was ILLEGAL at the time?'

He went to London to ask Bishop Tunstall if he could be authorised to make an English translation of the Bible, but the Bishop would not grant his approval. 

However, Tyndale would not let the disapproval of men stop him from carrying out what seemed so obviously God's will. With encouragement and support of some British merchants, he decided to go to Europe to complete his translation, then have it printed and smuggled back into England.

In 1524 Tyndale sailed for Germany. In Hamburg, he worked on the New Testament, and in Cologne, he found a printer who would print the work. However, news of Tyndale's activity came to an opponent of the Reformation who had the press raided. 

Tyndale himself managed to escape with the pages already printed and made his way to the German city Worms where the New Testament was soon published.

Six thousand copies were printed and smuggled into England.

The Bishops did everything they could to eradicate the Bibles. Bishop Tunstall had copies ceremoniously burned at St. Paul's; the Archbishop of Canterbury bought up copies to destroy them. Tyndale used the money to print improved editions!

Tyndale continued hiding among the merchants in Antwerp and began translating the Old Testament while the King's agents searched all over England and Europe for him.

A copy of Tyndale's "The Obedience of a Christian Man" fell into the hands of Henry VIII, providing the king with the rationale to break the Church in England from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534. 
In 1535, Tyndale was arrested and jailed in the castle of Vilvoorde (Filford) outside Brussels for over a year.

Tyndale’s work was denounced by authorities of the Roman Catholic Church and Tyndale himself was accused of heresy. 

Tyndale, 42 was finally found by an Englishman who pretended to be his friend but then turned him over to the authorities. After a year and a half in prison, he was brought to trial for heresy -- FOR BELIEVING, among other things, IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS and that THE MERCY OFFERED IN THE GOSPEL WAS ENOUGH FOR SALVATION. In August 1536, he was condemned and was executed [burned alive at the stake] publicly on October 6, 1536, in a small town in Belgium.

As he burnt to death, Tyndale reportedly said "Lord, open the king of England's eyes."

WAS HIS PRAYER ANSWERED? 

YES! The prayer was answered first in part when three years later, in 1539, Henry VIII required every parish church in England to make a copy of the English Bible available to its parishioners. Today, Tyndale's prayer is fully answered, not only are the King's eyes opened, but the Bible a universal instrument. 

* In 1611, the 54 scholars who produced the King James Bible drew significantly from Tyndale, as well as from translations that descended from his. 

* In 2002, Tyndale was placed at number 26 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons; but in heaven he surely would be before the preceding 25. 

A very important and interesting piece of history worth knowing and appreciating by all believers. 
And may it *challenge* us to spend quality time in this same glorious book that this great servant literally gave his life for. 

Today it's hard to imagine the world without an English Bible, and there could now be as many as 900 of such translations in existence – but before Tyndale it had never happened. He's known as the Father of the English Bible, since the later, epochal work of the King James Version of the Bible largely consisted of Tyndale's scholarly and accessible translations.

The English language, as with scholarly understanding, continues to evolve – and so the work of Bible translation continues today.

But without the courage and genius of men like Tyndale, who challenged the status quo before them and died for doing so, it might never have been possible.

Know your worth!!

#KnowYourWorth
#Shared
A father before he died said to his son:

 “This is a watch your grandfather gave and it is more than 200 years old. 

Before I give it to you, go to the watch shop on the first street and tell him that I wanted to sell it and see how much it is worth.

He went and came back to his father, and said, "the watchmaker paid 5 dollars because it's old”. 

He said to him : “go to the coffee shop”. He went and came back, and said, “He paid $5 father”.  

“Go to the museum and show that watch”. 
— He went and came back, and said to his father, “They offered me a million dollars for this piece”.  

The father said: “I wanted to let you know that the right place values you in a right way.

Don't put yourself in the wrong place and get angry if you are not valued. The one who knows your value is the one who appreciates you.

"Don't stay in a place that doesn't suit you".

Know your worth! 😇😇😇