Positive Quote for Today

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."— Maya Angelou


Finding Identity in Christ

A True Story
by
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from A Reason for Hope. All rights reserved worldwide.

In their search for identity, purpose and belonging, many young people fall into bad company and try to fit in. As a result, they end up engaging in such destructive activities as smoking, drinking and having premarital sex.

I also found myself desiring to fit in when I was a young adult. Luckily for me, I tried to fit in a choir that held God and the Bible in high regard. So I prayed, read the Bible and memorized some of the hymns that touched me.

Looking back, I am glad that I joined the choir at that critical stage of my life. I was a confused young adult then, lacking a clear understanding of who I was and what I stood for. Only heaven knows what company I would have sought had I not joined the choir.

As I read the Bible and sang hymns, I kinda liked the gospel of Christ and came to be interested in anything that had to do with Christ. In 2015 for instance, I would stop by a certain stall and walk away with copies of "Awake!" and "Watchtower", magazines that are distributed for free by Jehovah's Witnesses.

All along though, I was ashamed of talking openly about Christ. I especially steered clear of saying "I am saved". Something about that statement made me dislike it.

Not surprisingly, I avoided adding quotes about Christ in the list of quotations that appear on the pop-up that opens when you load this blog. And that's even after God helped me create the pop-up.

Feeling ashamed of identifying myself with Christ reminds me of Simon Peter, the most beloved disciple of Christ. When Christ was being persecuted, Peter claimed - not once, not twice, but thrice - that he didn't know Him.

Recently, something terrible happened to me that radically made me a bold follower of Christ. On the weekend that terrible thing happened, I renamed the title of a past story on this blog to "Jesus: the One and Only" and re-shared it on social media.

Since then, I have grown to love Christ in whom are hidden all knowledge and wisdom. I have even added to my list of quotations numerous quotes about Christ, including this one by Karl Barth:
Jesus Christ, as He is attested to us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God whom we have to hear, and whom we have to trust and obey in life and in death.
So many forces have been competing to have dominion over me. I am delighted that Christ has finally won the victory. If you were to ask me whether I am saved, my answer would now be a quick emphatic "yes!".

Now that I have established a relationship with Christ, I am becoming more and more like Him: wise, humble, bold, kind and compassionate. That has made me find my identity. I now have a clear understanding of who I am and what I stand for.

Well, there are some issues I am still struggling with, but the far Christ has brought me makes me trust that He will be with me in the future, come hell or high water, as He promises all believers. That's all I am saying. Sayonara!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on finding identity in Christ, you might also enjoy another one on "Jesus: the One and Only" which I wrote a few years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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On Cars and Learning to Drive

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Nov 17, 2024
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Invajy.com. All rights reserved worldwide.

Cars have always fascinated me ever since I was a young boy. I remember in 1997 when I was in Standard Four at Naru-Moru Primary School, I used to go to a certain home that had a disused car which caught my fancy. I would visualize myself seated in the car and turning its steering wheel.

Then in 1998 when I was in Standard Five, I admired a four-wheel drive that a priest in our church drove. I fantasized owning such a car when I grew up.

So much did cars fascinate me that when my brother Bob informed me that Dad once contemplated buying an automobile, I later on wished he had done so. Like it happened, Dad chose to buy a piece of land that was next to our home.

Despite the special appeal that cars have had on me, I have never achieved my dream of owning a four-wheel drive, simply because I haven't grown rich. Somehow, the circumstances that befell me at the university have conspired to rob me of an opportunity to earn good money. As I write this story, I still don't know how to drive.

There was a time I used to feel ashamed of disclosing that I don't know how to drive. But that no longer bothers me. In fact, I am kind of grateful that I never got into driving as a young adult.

For one thing, if I had acquired a car in my 20s, I wouldn't have discovered a love of walking that I now have. Given the way I enjoy walking, I agree with Donald Culross Peattie when he wrote:
I have often started off on a walk in the state called mad - mad in the sense of sore-headed, or mad with tedium or confusion. I have set forth dull, null and even thoroughly discouraged. But I never came back in such a frame of mind, and I never met a human being whose humour was not better for a walk. It is the sovereign remedy for the hot-tempered and the low-spirited.
Apart from helping me discover a love of walking, my failure to own a car has also given me ample time to develop my skills in piano-playing, public speaking, web design and computer programming. I began developing some of those skills in a college I enrolled in after finishing high school in 2005.

Indeed, I am grateful for not getting into driving at an early age since it would have denied me an opportunity to develop skills that have made my life exciting. And cars, I am realizing, aren't that special as teenagers think.

To prove that cars aren't special, consider great men like Mozart, Isaac Newton and Abraham Lincoln. Those men didn't know how to drive, for they lived in an age before cars were invented. Yet they left a legacy that many in today's world can't match.

Indeed, cars aren't that special. But many teens view them as status symbols. So when they finish high school, they pressure their parents into enrolling them in driving schools. In their rush to learn driving, they miss acquiring skills that would make them self-reliant sooner rather than later.

Having realized that cars aren't special, I am glad that Dad bought a piece of land instead of an automobile. Boy, didn't the land enrich my childhood years when I went there to graze cattle! Even as an adult, I have relished going to that land to reflect and commune with nature.

Nonetheless, I still cherish my dream of owning a four-wheel drive. And should I achieve that dream after I start making good money from my blogging hobby, I will still be going for a walk in the morning. Walking, I repeat, is an enjoyable activity that makes us better, physically and mentally. Ciao!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on cars and learning to drive, you might also enjoy another one on "Striving to Get Rich" which I wrote some time back. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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Bible Quote

"Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do... Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand."

~Phillipians 4:4-7 (TLB)

About the Author

Name: Thuita J. Maina
Nationality: Kenyan
Lives in: Kiserian, Rift Valley, Kenya
Mission: To inspire the world to godly living, one person at a time.

Just for Laughs

There was this drunkard named Azoge who loved drinking at Josiah's Bar. On being told a certain Hon. Nanga was flying to America to be conferred a law degree so that he could be admitted to the bar, Azoge replied, "Why fly all the way to America to be admitted to the bar while you can get into Josiah's Bar any time?"



The 7 Deadly Sins

  1. Pride
  2. Envy
  3. Gluttony
  4. Lust
  5. Anger
  6. Greed
  7. Sloth

Author's Note

I am learning to treat life as a journey, not a destination. So I am striving to enjoy each moment even as I anticipate to fulfill my dreams, especially meeting my soulmate and traveling abroad. Tomorrow may never be mine.

Fun Facts

  1. The fear of having no cell-phone service, running out of battery, or losing sight of your phone is called Nomophobia, reportedly affecting 66% of people.
  2. A single Google search needs more computing power than it took to send Apollo 11 to the moon. The Apollo computer was less equipped than a modern toaster.
  3. Besides being some of the biggest names in the tech industry, HP, Apple, Google and Microsoft share another commonality. They all started in garages.
~Extracted from Codingforums.com

Health Tip

So many of us take for granted the wonderful construction of the human body and the workings of its various parts. Some of us even expect it to function efficiently with less than the minimum care and attention. Learn the much you can about your body and how the care of it can help to give you that greatest blessing of all - good health.


Wonders of the Modern World

  1. The Simplon Tunnel
  2. The Sky-scrapers of New York
  3. The Boulder Dam of Colorado
  4. The Panama Canal
  5. The Golden Gate Bridge
  6. The Taj Mahal at Agra in India
  7. The North Sea Oil Drilling Rigs

Great Example for Politicians

"My life in politics was a joy. I loved campaigns and I loved governing. I always tried to keep things moving in the right direction, to give more people a chance to live their dreams, to lift people's spirits, and to bring them together. That's the way I kept score."

~Bill Clinton

Scientific Marvels

  1. Space travel
  2. Heart surgery
  3. Fibre-optics communication
  4. Concorde
  5. Radios
  6. Computers
  7. Anesthetics

My Supreme Desire

Although I'd like to be rich and famous, my supreme desire is to be radiant: to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and goodwill. I wish to live without fear, hate, guilt, worry and jealousy; to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body - ready to say "I do not know" if it be so; to treat all men with kindness; and to meet any loss, failure, criticism and rejection unabashed and unafraid.



Greatest American Presidents

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. George Washington
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. Franklin Roosevelt
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Andrew Jackson

Making Peace With the Past

"Dwell not on your past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."

~Eileen Caddy

Toughest Colleges to Get Into

  1. MIT
  2. Princeton
  3. Harvard
  4. Yale
  5. Stanford
  6. Brown
  7. Columbia

Why You Should Trust God

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities and pour out peace."

~Ezra Taft Benson

The 7 Greatest Scientists

  1. Albert Einstein
  2. Isaac Newton
  3. Galileo Galilei
  4. Nikola Tesla
  5. Aristotle
  6. Archimedes
  7. Charles Darwin

You Matter

"Always be yourself. Never try to hide who you are. The only shame is to have shame. Always stand up for what you believe in. Always question what other people tell you. Never regret the past; it's a waste of time. There's a reason for everything. Every mistake, every moment of weakness, every terrible thing that has happened to you, grow from it. The only way you can ever get the respect of others is when you show them that you respect yourself and most importantly, do your thing and never apologize for being you."

~Unknown

The Most Industrialized Nations

  1. United States
  2. Japan
  3. Germany
  4. France
  5. United Kingdom
  6. Italy
  7. Canada

Keys to Success

"...in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance; to be great yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation; to so grow in skill and knowledge that he shall place his services in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. This is the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail."

~Booker T. Washington

The 7 Social Sins

  1. Politics without principle
  2. Wealth without work
  3. Pleasure without conscience
  4. Knowledge without character
  5. Commerce without morality
  6. Worship without sacrifice
  7. Science without humanity

Cherish What You Love

"Cherish your visions, cherish your ideals, cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts - for out of them will grow all heavenly environment, of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."~James Allen

The World's Largest Cities

  1. London in England
  2. New York in the United States
  3. Tokyo in Japan
  4. Berlin in Germany
  5. Chicago in the United States
  6. Shanghai in China
  7. Paris in France

Benefits of Optimism

"In terms of success, optimistic people out perform their pessimistic colleagues. Research shows that they are consistently promoted higher and make more money while working fewer hours than those who think pessimistically. Optimists also contribute more significantly to social progress. It is the optimists who start and run successful companies, who win elections and carry out reforms, and who make breakthroughs in the realms of science and technology."

~Pepe Minambo

The World's Greatest Lakes

  1. Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
  2. Lake Superior in North America
  3. Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
  4. Aral Sea in C.I.S.
  5. Lake Huron in North America
  6. Lake Michigan in North America

Demonstrating His Love

"Take your communication for instance - the way you address others. It ought to be with loving, gracious and edifying words. Never talk people down. Never use words that hurt and demean people. Communicate excellently with others without destroying their self-image or making them feel sorry for themselves. Talk to people in a way that they never forget the excellence of your words, the love and grace of Christ that you communicated. It's how God wants us to love."

~Dr. Chris Oyakhilome

World's Longest Rivers

  1. Missouri-Mississipi (U.S.)
  2. Amazon (Brazil)
  3. Nile (Egypt)
  4. Yangtse (China)
  5. Lena (Russia)
  6. Zaire (Central Africa)
  7. Niger (West Africa)