Last week, we were in New York City for a few rest days. As usual, as soon as we arrived at our hotel, I googled a restaurant that caters to my homeland’s taste. My hubby and I found one, and we drove down and had an excellent time, the next day, we wanted to try another restaurant with the same catering offers but in a different neighborhood. We got lucky and found one as well, getting to this other restaurant wowed us from the outside; we were already thinking of their meals as we disembarked from our vehicle. The interior was great, and a friendly lady met us at the door, and we promptly ordered our meals – which came to our disappointment. I took three morsels of my favorite dish, and I could not continue. I gently covered the plate, and my hubby tried to eat his as well, but he was not happy.

The woman that attended to us was excellent, and we did not want to show our dissatisfaction and disappointment, so we tipped her when leaving. However, I am sure she would realize we were not happy after we had left, especially when she went to our table to pack up the plates and saw the uneaten food.

The whole situation came back to me when I reflected upon it after getting home, and the Holy Spirit reminded me of how I need to behave sometimes when I am stressed. I was reminded that sometimes, some battles are not worth fighting.

Sometimes in life, when we are in the midst of conflict, let’s focus not on the conflict but on how God wants us to act. Let us choose peace intentionally. For example, I was not happy with the food I was served, but I also decided not to waste my energy in voicing it to the woman, thus making her sad.

A wise person once said that when the dust settles after a heated conflict and it is time to move on, we will leave the situation with a sense of peace, not because things turned out the way we think they should have but because we acted the way we should.

Written by Ibukun Ogunsina, New Beginnings Barrie,
Psychotherapy and Counselling Services.
Website: www.newbeginningsbarrie.com
E-mail: inquiry@newbeginningsbarrie.com
Tel: +1 705 241 8456

Quebec City – that was where we made our way to this past March Break holiday. As a family, we enjoy traveling and finding new places to go to – pre-pandemic and thank God now – after all the lockdowns – we have just resumed.

So this last month, we traveled to Quebec City and met extraordinary people. They were friendly and very welcoming. The food was terrific and the non-alcoholic wines that I could not get enough of – were out of this world; the cheese and cheese curds were heavenly.

But there was a single act of human kindness that stood out. When we got to our hotel, so many people helped us pack or assisted with our luggage, but a man called Richard – the hotel’s doorman and valet, he stood out and extended a warm hand to us. When it was time for us to leave, we shared our gratitude by blessing him with a small token a day before our departure, and the night before we left, even without our asking or knowledge, Richard put a box of water in our car for our 5-hour trip ahead. He knew he would not meet us again because he was off duty the next day, but Richard showed us the kindness of humankind that is still available.

To the Richards of this world – please don’t stop being kind, don’t ever stop showing us what God looks like on this side of Heaven. I pray that I will continue to emulate Richard’s positive and helpful attitude in all my doings. Why don’t you join me?

Once again, Richard from Quebec City…Merci Beaucoup.

Written by Ibukun Ogunsina, New Beginnings Barrie,
Psychotherapy and Counselling Services.
Website: www.newbeginningsbarrie.com
E-mail: inquiry@newbeginningsbarrie.com
Tel: +1 705 241 8456

The five love languages are five different ways of expressing and receiving love: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. Not everyone communicates love in the same way, and likewise, people have different ways they prefer to receive love.

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A few years ago, I was preparing the kids for school; my husband was also upstairs getting ready for work. As I put the finishing touches on one of my kids’ hair in the dining area below, I heard my hubby call out, letting me know that my results had been released.

So you can guess the next question…so Dear..did I pass?

He kept quiet and briefly shared..you passed one part, but you were a few short of some points on the other. I knew immediately I would have to retake the exam. The exam was a 2-part exam, and one needs to pass both parts to be successful in the exam.

Was I disappointed? Oh Yes…but was I also relieved? Yes, because waiting for the result had triggered so much anxiety in me, and I was somewhat glad the waiting was over.

I remembered the day of the exam. I called my husband afterward and sobbed as I had never done, letting him know that I felt I had just written the most challenging exam for the first time in my life, not because I didn’t prepare enough but because I thought the time was not sufficient.

I also remembered a story my father told us while growing up. He shared about his friend. When they wrote their final exams at the university, my father said that he was far from the university campus when the result came out, and his friend wanted to relay the result to him. In those days.. the early 60’s, the fastest means of communication was to send a telegram, which was expensive, and you paid for it by counting the words to be sent. So, his friend sent him one and wrote.

“Jeje. You passed. I failed. His name.”

My father said he was sad when he received the telegram about his friend’s result; however, his friend did the exam again and passed and graduated a year after.

For me, I had to retake the exam. I did it again..even with four kids and working full time. I studied again and passed both parts to the glory of God. My hubby also saw the result first, but this time around, it was him that was anxious..lol and he asked me to check the result, and when I did…I saw the marks displayed on both parts.

I passed.

Are you perhaps wading through a difficult season? Are you contemplating giving up? Please, don’t. Remember that when you think about not making it through, remember how many times you have persevered and the victories from your past experiences, then forge positively ahead. Never forget that when life throws a stone at you, seize the opportunity to step on it to climb higher. Please, don’t give up.

Written by Ibukun Ogunsina, New Beginnings Barrie, Psychotherapy and Counselling Services. Website: www.newbeginningsbarrie.com
E-mail: inquiry@newbeginningsbarrie.com
Tel: +1 705 241 8456

I grew up learning from my grandmother and my parents how to be a good child of God. My hubby had always shared that when I met him, the first place I took him for our first outing was the fellowship I attended on the University Campus, but this story is not about me; it is about positive influence and the gift of trust. It is about a friend’s impact on my life that led me closer to God.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I was in my dorm room at the University. One of my close friends came and handed me a bulky envelope asking me to help her drop it in the fellowship offering basket as she would not be able to make it to fellowship that night because she had a group assignment to do with her coursemates.

Being one of the ushers, I had to arrive quite early..but as I was walking to fellowship that evening, I suddenly remembered the bulky envelope in my bag and the circumstances of my friend.

My friend had lost her father just a few years back..actually, about 2 or 3 years before that day, she was studying one of the most challenging courses on campus then, and she only had her mother and her younger siblings to fall back on. However, she still committed to paying her tithe monthly.

Here was I, with my two parents and very financially stable, but my tithing was “psychedelic”…I could not fathom the trust she had in God; she even trusted me enough to be able to handle the job…that moment on the sidewalk going to fellowship and pondering on her faith changed something in my heart towards God. What she did drew me closer to knowing who God is. I was not surprised to see my friend graduate and eventually settle down to have her own family; I am not surprised to know she is happy today. I am also grateful that the gift of trust she gave me that day helped strengthen my relationship with God. It woke me up from my slumber and helped to solidify my future as well.

So, today I ask, what are you doing to help solidify people’s relationships with the Lord Almighty? I am still working on mine.

Written by Ibukun Ogunsina, New Beginnings Barrie, Psychotherapy and Counselling Services. Website: www.newbeginningsbarrie.com
E-mail: inquiry@newbeginningsbarrie.com
Tel: +1 705 241 8456

I started dating a gentleman about 27 years ago; I was transparently honest with him regarding my inadequacies. I was also vulnerable regarding my mild aversion to cooking in the kitchen. Clearly, I remember telling him that I am not the type of woman that will spend hours in the kitchen cooking meals and enjoy cooking them; I said to him that when I step into the kitchen for an hour, he can be rest assured that I will come out with about four dishes and that will be it. This guy was so in love and is still very much in love that his positive response to me was that he was perfectly fine with that. He ended up getting married to me.

So, almost three decades ago, he was ready to be committed to someone that was not ready to prepare meals every day, and he was okay with it. Wow!!!!.. Indeed I won the JACKPOT.

But as the saying goes, when you love someone, you will cross oceans to make them happy..with time, I learned to love cooking his favorite meals at least.

However, God has other plans for the use of the kitchen in my life. Apart from learning to cook so many meals via Instagram and all those beautiful youtube videos, I have also used the kitchen as prayer altars for my family and my personal needs numerous times. I have settled scores of conflicts between my children while cooking for them, I have worked on my laptop in between chores, and I have also resolved some arguments with my hubby in that same spot.

However, the one that took my breath away was the idea of the “Kitchen Talk Show” that was birthed in that same kitchen that I used to despise. Last Saturday, the show’s first edition was recorded there with me sitting behind the desktop on the kitchen table while taking part with so many people across the oceans.

So, what is that one thing you can’t stand?
It may be what the Lord wants to use to help set some people free.

So many people have shared their Kitchen Talk Stories with us, and I am looking forward to reading more of such stories and sharing their stories with the world. So, let’s keep the stories coming and the shows going on zoom…Thanks a lot for using your talents to improve the lives of others. Our next Kitchen Talk Show is on Saturday, September 4th, and the focus will be on setting boundaries within our relationships.

N.B: You can send your kitchen stories to us at kitchenstorytalk@gmail.com and also follow us on Facebook at
#KitchenTalk
#KitchenTalkShow
For more information, kindly follow us via…
www.instagram.com/kitchentalkshow

#KitchenTalkShow #KitchenStory #KitchenStories #Kitchen
#IntimateTalks #NoBoundaries

Join us today at 2 pm EST / 7 pm WAT….to learn how to resolve conflicts amicably in your relationships.

As my photographer, who also happens to be my neighbor, took this picture in my kitchen, I asked if he and his wife talk in their kitchen. His answer further confirmed the whole essence of this program; he shared that he and his wife also talk about different issues in their kitchen daily.

The kitchen talk idea was birthed from the various conversations I have had and still have with my husband every day in our kitchen; we talk about different topics ranging from our jobs to politics, religion, marriage to our children, to our childhood friends and in-laws. We have used the exact location in our house to resolve so many conflicts.

We have apologized to each other and broke bread to make peace, cooked various meals together, and these talks have brokered peace and helped us grow in our marriage and personal lives. We are thus inviting you to join us to reinforce this idea in many homes, including yours.

The kitchen that we use to prepare our meals has acted as altars of repairs and a place of refuge, and thus join us now to talk about those issues that we are struggling with and learn from each other on how to love better.

Also, do feel free to send us your kitchen talk story…let’s keep the love within our homes and keep on having those intimate talks without boundaries.

WATCH OUT FOR STORY 2!
#KitchenAsAltars #KitchenTalkStory
Join us on Zoom and Facebook via Kitchen Talk Show on the 31st July.