It is my birthday.
I thought you should know.
I have come a long way.
But much more to go.
I was born for a purpose
There is no doubt about it.
No matter what life & time propose.
I will never ever quit.
It is my special day
Share a smile with me.
I know you can find a way.
To be as nice as you want to be.
©CopyRight 2017 | Victor Uyanwanne
Just
I know some of you know Me already.
But many of you are yet to know Me personally.
You must have heard about Me before.
As my Name is regularly called amongst the nations.
I can see you feel happy this special season.
And I really like that… but you deserve much more.
I can feel the special and colourful atmosphere.
Pervading across many lands around the world.
The special emphasis on love and giving this season.
The special music playing in homes and malls for the same reason.
The beautiful decorations all around are all noticed.
All is well and good and appreciable.
You say it’s about a Baby that was born by a virgin.
You are right; it happened several centuries ago.
But do you know I Am that Baby?
Much more than that… I am the Lord and Saviour.
You commemorate My birthday yearly at Christmas.
Celebrating it by all means and ways possible.
Eating the best of meals and drinking the best of wines.
Exchanging gifts amongst yourselves.
You and everyone seem to be happy.
As you spend your time and money.
Visiting people and visiting places.
And throwing parties here and there.
You do all that because of Me?… fine!
But do you know what I really I want from you?
I mean, am I not the One you are celebrating?
At Least I should get a special gift from you!
But do you know the gift I ask of you?
I don’t really want your money.
I don’t want your sacrifices either.
I don’t want whatever you have to give.
You care to know what I really want from you?
I will tell you once again and again:
I want you to know Me personally.
That’s what I really want from you.
You can begin by giving Me your life.
I have given Mine to you already.
That was why I was born, you know!
That was why I lived and died!
It’s time you rewrote your life’s story.
It breaks my heart that year in year out.
You celebrate My birthday religiously.
Without knowing Me the true Celebrant.
Yes, I am the One you celebrate His birth at Christmas.
I am the “Reason for the Season.”
In case you haven’t noticed it before.
My name (Christ) is the main part of Christmas.
Yes, I am Christ the anointed One.
I am Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of God.
I was born, I lived, and I died for you.
All I want is for You to know Me personally.
I knew you before you were born.
I invite you to come and know Me now.
So we can be together forever in glory.
Through this life and the one to come.
©CopyRight 2016 | Victor Uyanwanne
Last March was my fifth wedding anniversary. As I continue to celebrate the privilege of being married to one of God’s special princesses, it is my pleasure to let you in on how, or better still where, I met her.
You can consider it my birthday offering to you on this special day of mine. Today is my birthday. Ooops, I guess I had to let you in on that!
I have always known that I would one day write about how I met my wife. But I didn’t know that that day would come so soon.
Something happened that made it come sooner than I had thought. During an online search recently, I stumbled on a comment I had made in the past on a Nigerian online forum.
The comment was my response to the topic of the post which was simply a question entitled, ‘Where did you meet your spouse?’ To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised to read the response again.
Here we go:
I met her in church. We became friends. Just friends, serving God faithfully in [the] youth ministry [of our church].
Later, my heart began to skip a bit for her. The mere thought of her brought smiles to my heart.
At first, I felt concerned that I was taking the friendship [further] more than I had thought.
“What is wrong with me?” I asked myself.
I prayed about it. I got the assurance that all was well. I told her I loved her and would want to marry her. [It] turned out she was convinced about me too.
Two years later, she became my wife and has been so [five] years now. We have been happy ever after. I thank God for everything.
Although it was an impromptu response I made back then, reading it again now made me feel that I gave an appreciably good summary of where and how I met my wife. This it was that precipitated this post.
So allow me to delve a little more into the full story.
We met in church
I have heard stories of people meeting their spouses in all kinds of places. Even though my mind was open as to where I could meet my would-be-wife, I would consider it a blessing that I met her in Church.
There was this joke back then that if you are looking for a decent girl for a wife then look for her in the church. Whether that’s necessarily true or not, I leave that to you to decide.
Then, I wasn’t particularly sure about where I could meet my would-be-spouse. But I was very sure about who she should be.
I was convinced she would be someone who had made a strong commitment to God, through a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Someone who was committed to living her life on Earth to the glory of God and for the benefit of mankind, with eternity in view.
Of course, there were other things I considered, but the above mentioned were not negotiable. It is possible to find such a blessed lady in any possible place around the world. But as God would have it, my church in Lagos was my lucky place.
Our Friendship was healthy
We were individually actively involved in the Lord’s service. I was the Bible Study coordinator of our Church’s Youth Fellowship and later the Vice President of the group. On her part, she was an active voice in the Youth choir as well as in the main Church choir.
Our friendship developed gradually and blossomed into a very close one. It flourished on a platonic level or what we could describe in Nigerian parlance as just “a brother and a sister in Christ” relationship. Nothing more until love began to set in….
We moved from friendship to love.
Oh the innocent ‘boy’ has fallen in love. You know that feeling of fallen in love? I felt it strongly then. But I was a bit concerned.
“Why would I want to bring ‘love’ into our heavenly friendship and ruin everything?” I had asked myself.
We had mutual respect and trust for each other. We knew the boundaries we set for ourselves. Besides, I never thought I would marry a friend.
But instead of the awesome feeling of love going away, it became strengthened in my heart and louder in my ears. I was glowing! But I was careful not to let her know how I was feeling yet.
“I must do something about it,” I challenged myself.
I cross-checked everything with my Father in Heaven. I believe in prayer; it helps me clarify my thoughts.
“Oh God my Father, do you have a hand in this strong splurge of love I feel in my heart for Your daughter, Jenny?’ I had asked God in prayer.
‘Yes’ was the answer I received in my heart from the still small voice. Once, I knew God was involved, my worries ceased; peace and divine assurance filled my heart.
“One more thing Lord, she is your daughter too.” I pointed out to God – as if He didn’t already know. “Please speak to her about ‘us’. Prepare her heart for this eternal love you have told me I am going to share with her.”
The feeling was mutual.
Not long afterwards, it became clear to me that my prayers had been answered. God had put my love in her heart just as He had put her love in mine. We were ‘flowing’ with each other.
We each knew where God was pointing us to, and we were ready to go with Him all the way to the marriage altar.
The proposal.
I waited till I perceived the time was right to pop the question.
‘Will you marry me?’ I asked her after 9 months down the line.
‘Yes, I will’ was the heavenly response I got from her.
Thus, our courtship officially began. I am grateful, she didn’t make me wait any longer before giving me her consent.
“Give me some more time” some other lady may have said to me. But not my sweet Love, she was prepared for me as I was ready for her. 
Marriage altar here we come.
Two years afterwards, we both stood before God’s holy altar and echoed “I do, I do” to each other, as we were pronounced husband and wife.
It’s been five years since then. And we are still counting …
I met my wife in Church. I have no doubts that God arranged it that way. That’s my story.
Would you share a little about how you met your spouse?
©CopyRight | Victor Uyanwanne
Written By Victor Uyanwanne
Birthday celebration is a common phenomenon amongst people of all cultures around the world. Apart from a few exceptions, such as members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, most people I know irrespective of religious or socio-political affiliations observe either their own birthdays or those of their loved ones etc.
When it comes to the issue of birthday celebration, Christians are no exceptions. Right now we are in that special season of the year when we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what Christmas is – remembering the birth of Christ!
From homes to churches, shopping malls and other public publics, one would have to be blind not to notice the effect of the special season. Colourful decorations adorn the landscapes, feeding the eyes with resplendent appearances. Everywhere we turn, we can hardly evade the Christmas frenzy as there are melodious Christmas tunes churned out by one form of music media or another.
Without doubt, we have all been caught up in the spirit of the season. But whether everybody acknowledges it or not, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”
I do not want to delve into the argument in some certain quarters as to whether it is good or not for Christians to celebrate Christmas. It suffices to say that it is not a sin to celebrate it and it is not a sin not to celebrate.
What matters is why we celebrate it or why we chose not to celebrate it. After all, the beauty of Christmas is not in the actual celebration but in the essence of the celebration.
I believe the essence of Christmas can be traced to the reason for the birth of Jesus Christ. Before Jesus was born, an angel had announced to Joseph that his wife “….will give birth to a son, and you [Joseph] are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
In fulfilling the mandate of saving His people (and the world in general) from Sin, Jesus would have to die. But would he die if he wasn’t born in the first place? We celebrate His birth at Christmas and his death and resurrection at Easter. To the average Christian, both celebrations are significant!
Jesus was born to die to save us from our sins. This is part of what we ought to bear in mind as we celebrate Christmas again this year. Through Jesus Christ, our relationship with the God has been restored.
Those who celebrate Christmas without having a personal relationship with the Jesus Christ are celebrating the birthday of a Stranger. But the Stranger is standing by to be turned into a Friend of eternal significance.
Unfortunately, many people around the world celebrate Christmas without knowing the real essence of the celebration. Generally, most people recognize Christmas as:
None of the activities listed above is bad in themselves. But they end up as meaningless activities if Christ is not the main focus.
How can one make Christ the centre of one’s celebration? One has to begin by establishing personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ!
In the Vanguard 2012 Christmas eve edition, Gabriel Osu wrote,
“In today’s day and time, it is easy to lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. Amidst the delicious meals, sweet drinks, lovely songs & dances, beautiful friends & family members we would come across this season, let’s try not to forget about the child, born on a winter night so cold, whose bed was made only of hay & animal food; our lord Jesus Christ, who taught us all what real, genuine & unconditional love is. As we celebrate the birth of our saviour, let’s be human & kind enough to remember & show some love to those motherless babies, helpless orphans, hospital patients, prisoners, beggars & all those who are not fortunate enough to be actively involved in the celebration of the birth of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ.”
Christmas would be more meaningful if all the people celebrating had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ the celebrant.
In any birthday occasion, the pleasure is more if one knows the celebrant personally, than if you one is a complete stranger to the celebrant. For instance, if my father was celebrating his birthday, it would mean more to me to join in the celebration than if the birthday party is for some man down town.
In the same vein, Christmas would be more meaningful if all the people celebrating had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ the celebrant. Those who celebrate Christmas without having a personal relationship with the Jesus Christ are celebrating the birthday of a Stranger. But the Stranger is standing by to be turned into a Friend of eternal significance.
To such people, Jesus is saying “”Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” Revelation 3:20 NIV . My friend, this is the time to invite Jesus into your heart, if you haven’t already done so. Make this Christmas the most special you have ever had by becoming a friend of Jesus Christ the celebrant.
To all of us who already have a relationship with Jesus Christ, He is no longer a stranger to us. He is our Lord and Master, faithful Friend and Lover. Therefore let us bring glory to God as we have the opportunity once again to remember the birth of His dear Son. So let us:
Merry Christmas in advance.
CopyRight | Victor Uyanwanne
Victors Corner Blog 