Aligning your passion with your purpose

  Growing up, I always knew that I wanted to work in Tourism.
I was one of those kids who responded immediately to adults when asked what I wanted to do when I grow up and my response was always “I want to tour the world.  
Of course, at that time, my 8 years old self didn’t know what to call the career until a few years later when I talked to someone about my dream “oh you want to do tourism” was their response and there I was at 15 years old, I knew I had finally chosen a career and that would lead me for a while. 
Throughout high school my love for traveling never went away and it still hasn’t, so in 2015 I decided to pursue my dream academically and I registered at a school of tourism for a tour and travel short course.  

Before that I had been on a few trips, though most of them were for medical purposes I still enjoyed every second of it (that’s how much joy traveling brought to me). 
I remember in 2012 when I had to travel to India for treatment with a hip pain, an upset stomach and many other complications but I was so focused on the trip that it definitely took my mind off the pain I was enduring. The thought of traveling outside of Africa for the first time and excitement about all the adventures in India despite experiencing all of  that in pain didn’t bother me at all, just being there in that moment was all that mattered.  

Fast forward… 

  

Years later, I discovered another passion that was deep in my soul and crying to come out. 
This too started in high school as writing poems brought out my passion for writing and telling a story. 
After my travelling experience, I found myself wanting to retell my journey, so I created a blog spot account which was very active until I started the journey of writing a novel. 
On my blog I shared about each and every exciting experience I had encountered on those trips and the growth of my faith and now I mainly share about my walk of faith on this same blog spot account you are reading this from. 
And so, on the road to discovering my passion I discovered that traveling and writing were the two things I loved doing. Months later, I dropped out of the short course- turns out they weren’t really offering what I had expected to be learning and since I was at a point in my life where I was trying to figure out how to fulfill my passions and align them with my career it wasn't a hard decision to make. 
Then a few months later, since I had so much free time on my hands, I embarked on a journey of writing my very successful novel “MY NAME IS LIFE”, which felt like a crazy idea at first. 
The spirit of doubt took over on some bad days but I pressed through & even now I can't believe I did it. 
8 months later and I am still processing it... it’s still sinking in that I actually did it and finished it because I am the only person who can understand how this all came about.
I’m very sure everyone reading this can relate to an incident in their lives where they started something just for just and few years later it’s A MASTERPIECE. 
Anyways so the book is written, published and am there like so God, what next? 

  

Right now, I like to imagine that God was like “Ummm so remember your passion for travelling? 
Okay let me show you how I work.” 

  

I literally started travelling the same month I launched my book in March 2018.
I started my book tours in East Africa and mehhhnnn hasn’t this been one of the the most exciting journey of my life!!!
Here I am traveling because I was obedient to God’s purpose for my life and wrote my book.
I actually gave up on my tourism dreams because even academically I had found more of an interest in journalism- which is what I am currently pursuing academically but if I could actually do them both I would.
I've come to realize that I don't have to take tourism courses to have a career in tourism and maybe God has other plans for my travel dreams which do not include a classroom.   

   God took all my passions and aligned them with my purpose, all of them. And of course, I haven’t been everywhere I want to go but I know that my purpose will take me there because so far it’s already doing so. That is how our faithful God works. 
His no’s are for the best and I have seen it first hand, even in my day to day life when something doesn’t work out I’m immediately rejoicing because I know that there's better which I have to wait for. Xx 

  

SPECIAL NOTE: God spoke to me about this few month ago and I am happy to share this revelation with you.
I hope you can relate to it and I hope it blesses your heart xx 

                                               On my way to Zanzibar on a ferry. 

A place I've always wanted to visit for as long as I can remember.

The Power Of Your Testimony

March 9^th 2018 was one of the biggest days of my life.
It was the day that the Lord had made & I introduced and birthed my very first novel
“My name is Life” to the world.
I had poured everything I had in me to complete the book, and did not only want to see it finished but also wanted to make sure that I had shared my full/ honest story.
Telling the world about the goodness of God was very important to me as I had come to see how the God I serve is a healer and a promise keeper.
I was very excited to testify of  how we not only serve a good and faithful God, but we also serve a God of the IMPOSSIBLE.

I was proud of myself and so was my family.
A few days after my launch my Uncle congratulated me once again on this big achievement by also letting me know that God was pleased and happy about my obedience towards seeing this mission from God complete (btw God had used my Uncle previously to let me know that I should write my book. That story is in my previous blog).  
What I didn’t see coming were his words that followed.

“You should also know that you have made the devil very angry” He said lowering his tone.

In that moment, I didn’t even know what to say; I was stuck between “Yamay’inka” and “What do you mean?”

Yamay’inka: A Kinyarwanda expression usually used in shock

“Made the devil angry?” I thought to myself trying to figure out what he was talking about and my eyes widening from fear.

“See, what the enemy meant for evil, God turned it into your good”. 
“Also, you chose not to keep to yourself what God had done for you, but you have chosen to share the goodness of God world wide, you have shared your testimony." He added.

In that moment, I am just starring at him analyzing carefully every word coming out of his mouth and wondering whether he was just saying this out of his own understanding or if he was transmitting a revelation he had gotten...( He is one of the men of God I respect and I have seen God use him before in the most amazing ways. He is also one of the wisest men I know- literally every word that flows from his mouth is just plain and simply wisdom & I am grateful to call him my Uncle).
Deep down  I believed he was sharing a God given revelation.

“Don’t be alarmed if you start seeing things happening around you that don’t make sense. Like the enemy using people to disrupt your peace and seeing jealousy demonstrated in people in ways you never expected” He said this looking densely into my eyes as we sat opposite each other.

In that moment, I didn’t know how to react but somewhere in my mind I knew I had to pray hard even though I knew that there was no way I would ever be ready for such things.
My Grandma and Aunt were also in the room with us, prior to that we were all just talking and laughing as my Uncle got ready to bless us with a word of prayer.

Fast forward, a few days later my Grandma got really sick and I have to say in the 25 years I’ve been on this earth I’d never seen my Grandma very ill besides her blood pressure problems and her sugar levels dropping and rising due to her diabetes which she had been able to control over the past years.  But on the particular day. Her health was under serious attack, which took all of us at home completely by surprise.
She was rushed to the hospital and from then on she was in and out of hospital getting worse by the minute as something different kept coming up on her medical charts. The month of April really took a toll on our family.

“See, the devil has already started disrupting your life” my Uncle said, “You need to pray hard, pray for your book and mostly pray for your testimony because this is just the beginning of your battles”
And honestly at that moment I realized that I was slowly letting the devil win because I was emotionally drained from worrying about my Grandma, as well as taking care of her while she was in hospital.
Prior to this happening I had gone to Kampala,Uganda to launch my novel and even though it went very well,  I had gotten the news that Grandma was in hospital and all I wanted to do was drop everything and just come home to be with my Grandma but the Lord gave me strength to go stay focused and go through with all I had to do in Uganda.

As days went by I started praying and meditating on what my Uncle had said while I tried to understand exactly what was happening around me spiritually & in that moment I got the revelation on the power of sharing our testimonies.
On our Christian journey, we are taught about the power of sharing a testimony so that the hopeless will be restored home and so that the name of the Lord would be glorified.
But this time around I understand that it is powerful to share your testimony so that we remind the devil that he has no room in our lives and whatever harm he has in store for us, we have a Saviour fighting with us and for us.

A week after that I became completely spiritually dry.
I wasn’t praying as much as I should yet this was the time I needed to stand up and fight.
Basically the timing couldn’t have been any worse but thank God who sees what's in our hearts when we aren’t able to express it in words. Plus He doesn’t hold our disconnection with him against us.

After that, even though my Grandma was still fighting for her life, I knew I wasn’t going to back down and let the enemy win. I gracefully continued my journey of sharing my testimony and making sure it went far and beyond. That’s when I resumed my book tour and went to Nairobi, Kenya.
I had to organise everything for the trip (find a venue & accommodation for my team and I) while I was still assisting my Aunt with taking care of Grandma who by then by the grace of God was getting so much better.   

Kenya was full of surprises and blessings. As I sat in a room full of strangers who were all there to hear my story and excited to buy my book, I was overwhelmed and regained a feeling that had been stolen over the past 2 months. I once again felt proud of myself for having gone through with sharing my story. MY TESTIMONY.  
I also learnt that when you go to a country or a place to share your testimony expect the worst because you are about to shine your light & the devil will try to dim your light but do not allow him. My highlight in Kenya was the day I went into a Café to meet up with someone but later on, I came to understand the real reason I was there, in that cafe
I was seated with my cousins after eating and waiting for our bill when a young lady walked in wearing leggings, a green shirt with a white sweater over it carrying her brown tote on her shoulders,she weighed about 40 kgs and I noticed that she was bald that's when it came to my attention that she was currently undergoing Chemotherapy.
Everything about her appearance confirmed it,she looked like me 5 years ago (at the back of my novel, I have a picture of how I looked, exactly like this young lady).
Let me tell you something, I usually don’t walk around with a copy of my novel but on this particular day, I had one and I immediately took it, signed it and gave it to this amazing stranger as my gift to her, she was in shock of how a stranger just gave her a free book, better yet the author herself.
 

Anyways, Long story short, you might be reading this and wondering why I am sharing all of this...

I am sharing this to bring to light the power of sharing your story/testimony- sharing how you overcame and found a breakthrough.
Also, share in order to restore hope as well as shame the devil and YES, let’s make the devil angry and put him in his loser spot!! Which he was put in long before we were created and on the cross at Calvary.
As we do so, let us fight everyday to be shielded by strong prayers (this is something am pushing for every minute of my life, please say a prayer for me, okay?) because that is the strongest weapon we have and really need.
Let’s ask God to reveal to us the hidden battles in order to know what we are fighting against spiritually.
I have come to know that spiritual battles are REAL and the saddest life to live is living in a war you don’t know about. Once you’ve been marked by God you become an immediate target...
BUT WE ARE ALREADY VICTORS, NOW LET’S WALK IN VICTORY

It was not easy, but it was worth it.

When 2014 was coming to a close, I embarked on a journey of opening up about my past and sharing my story regarding my battle with cancer to the world because the urge to tell it was eating me up inside. After being encouraged by my family and receiving a lot of support, I started writing. One night I had one mission before I entered my sheets and that was to write at least two pages so I took my laptop and placed it on my lap and stared at my blank Microsoft office page for a few minutes before finally reaching for my keyboard. I didn’t know where to start or how was I going to sum up a two-year experience into 100-150 pages. How was I going to explain what happened me and why I got sick when I still didn’t understand it as well?  I didn’t know how to explain what I felt and quite frankly, I was scared to revisit the old wounds that I had carried for the last four years but I knew deep down in my heart I had to. That night I started writing and everything flowed and there I was, three pages down the line re-reading what I had written.  “Alright, I think I can do this,” I thought to myself before surrendering to my sleepiness.  

The following day, I was super excited to get back to writing but unfortunately, I couldn’t get passed the 2^nd page because my heart was pounding and tears were flowing down my cheeks onto my lap.
“I don’t think I can do this,” I said to myself, slamming my laptop shut and feeling a heavy load on my chest and a bit of disappointment.
The following morning, I met my uncle in the corridor who immediately asked me if I had started writing the book, I replied with an uncomfortable “not yet,” but what I really meant was “I can’t and I don’t want to.” However, at the back of my mind I knew I had to face it and get this book done. After a week, I decided to give it another shot and as smart as I was, I had forgotten to save my document before slamming it shut the last time I had attempted to write, now this left me angry adding to the 1000 reasons I had been giving myself on just letting it go. After gathering the courage to re-write everything again, by telling myself that it’s just another change to make it even better. By the end of the week, I was back on track and now writing had become my place for peace of mind, it was a feeling I do not know how to explain but I believe writing this book gave me a sense of purpose. My love for writing together with writing a story that would change lives someday gave me peace and urged me to write every day. Knowing that, as my fingers tapped the keyboard, I was a step closer to inspiring a life, helped me sleep well at night.

After a month, I was in over my head. Writing had also become a hiding space from my feelings, I blocked them out and focused my mind solely on writing this story and trying to vividly remember every detail of the journey that I forgot to take time and heal my soul first and for the first time, I started experiencing midnight panic attacks. “What is happening to me?” I thought to myself. I thought I was getting sick again and some nights were worse than others and the fact that I didn’t know what was happening to my body made me feel worse. Writing my book had resurrected all the emotional hurt and pain I had masked with a smile for so long. I had taken my memory back to those hospital corridors and I physically felt like I was back there. The tricks our minds play on us. I knew I had to take a break from my writing and so I took a two-month break from writing and decided to heal before healing others. After six sessions of counseling, I was back on the horse again.

The time came where I had to write again. Counseling helped me to re-write my book with a fresh and healed mind which helped me dive into my story to share it boldly and openly, because unless you have healed, you can’t open up and if you can’t open up, you can’t inspire. People connect more with vulnerability and honesty. I knew I had to lay every part of me on the table because cancer is a serious matter and you have to give it your all in order to fight it and raise true awareness on the issue that cancer doesn’t only affect you physically but also mentally. Even though I was physically cancer free, I had realized that emotionally, I was still fighting.  I had to heal from that too.

December 2015, I brought a finished manuscript to Imagine We, my publishers. “I have done it,” I kept thinking to myself whenever I worked in their offices during different meetings. It was the most fulfilling yet most challenging experience so far and I was proud of myself. Imagine We supported the vision behind my book and were on board with the story, “My name is LIFE.” January 2017, I took another leap of faith and announced my upcoming book to the world. I was really scared at first because you can’t know what to expect from opening up to the world, but the love and the words of encouragement I received on that day, I thought to myself, “OH MY GOD!” That night, all I asked God was, “Was this it? Was this why you let me go through what I went through? If so Lord, I surrender all unto you. Direct my steps.” Then I went to bed.

 A week later, I held a fundraising event and made an official announcement to the world about my journey and yet again, encouragement kept flowing from family, friends and even people I didn’t know. My heart was overwhelmed. After the event, I knew I had to deliver a perfect book. The pressure was not easy but it definitely got a lot of good work done despite the fact that we kept extending the launch dates. Meanwhile, I also needed financial support to finally bring my book to life. During the first week, it was hard because I was not getting all the financial support I needed to meet my budget of 4 million rfw and it brought a lot of stress from running left and right looking for sponsorship. Places where I thought I would rely on to support the cause weren’t really responsive and I would quickly move to another organization. Gathering the funds was challenging but eventually, God made a way. By June 2017, I had gathered all the funds I needed from different organizations that believed in me. It was game-on now.

Now came the editing, possibly every writer’s worst nightmare… Seriously. I worked with three editors and each time, it felt like I was literally re-writing the book all over again because of all the things I had to add or remove but at the end of it all, it was the best book. The pressure to launch grew on me and I had sleepless nights trying to meet a deadline and be a student at the same time. It wasn’t easy because when assignment deadlines knocked on my door, so did the book launch deadline. At some point, I felt like my head was going to explode. My book was my priority but so was my education and so I had to find a way to balance the two, which was a balance really hard to maintain, but I had to do it. Many times I thought of taking a semester break but I knew that’s how people usually end up dropping out of school and that was not on my agenda.

Few months down the line and I am done with the book and ready to finally print and launch, “My name is Life.” Is this how a pregnant lady feels few weeks before the due date? I am raving with excitement and I hope the world receives the love I have poured into writing this book. Also, I would like to deeply thank my publishers at Imagine We for being patient and supportive towards turning this book into a reality. It was not an easy journey but it was worth it and I would do it over and over again just to experience the satisfaction of the end result. Stay tuned.

PRICE: 5000 Entrance only 

15,000 with a copy of the novel