MANSION 2026: THE HOUSE OF TREASURES

 MANSION 2026: THE HOUSE OF TREASURES 

A fresh new start begets all of us. A fresh new beginning in life. New thoughts, new hopes and new dreams. Hurray!!!! Happy new year to every one of us. Let's call it the year of the Lord 2026. And maybe we start with a prolonged pause........then ask. Did all of us make it to this big house? The house of treasures. Beautiful mansion. Mansion 2026. The house that holds many of the treasures that we seek and if the treasures of our desire are missing in the house, Mansion 2026 holds all the keys to these treasures. The emeralds, topaz and pearls in the glass display cabinet as you enter the front door and yet, many sets of labeled keys. In the same way stand blue, red and green glass cabinets with precious stones of different shapes, sizes, forms and colours. All the cabinets are properly arranged in different rooms as well as along the walls on the way to the many rooms. As per everyone's desires, so are opals, diamonds, Rubies and sapphire. And of course, the keys. And now that we all fill the living room, it's time to go through the house to cherry pick the treasures of our desires or the keys to the treasures because, Mansion 2026 has all we need. But first, let's all check whether all our family and friends have made it to come to the mansion. 'I can't see Jane. Are you behind there?' 'And where is Nyabuto? Thanks to you Nyabuto for raising your hand. I can see you. We thank God that you made it. The sickness that you had looked like it would leave you behind in that old house 2025. But here you are. Meaning that the treasures you desire are also here' ‘Thanks Nyabuto and all. Let's get down to picking what we want.’  But wait a minute though. This house has some rules which we follow first before we begin to pick. It seems to ride on God's will which we need to discern first. The house rule book in Romans 12:2 says that the only way to discern God's will is to renew our minds. So, shall we renew our minds first, good people? Our reserve therefore becomes what the rule book also says in Philippians 4:8, 'Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.' What shall we say then? If something fits these rules, let's go around Mansion 2026 and pick it for ourselves. Be it as big as a tour around the world or as little as new underpants. Be it a new friend or new leisure spots. Be it new hobbies or recipes in the kitchen. I guess that a new set of clothes in the wardrobe or new sets of shoes on the rack would do us no harm. New music genres, new reads or new social voluntary work could also be the magic that we need for the year 2026. And also, let us not forget to try something outrageous like replacing your khaki trousers with a few knickerbockers. All will be a breath of fresh air away from your boring old ways. And why not. Just go around mansion 2026 and pick that which will bring magic to your life. From my desk I say, Happy happy happy new year 2026 my good people. 

@Stephen Mungai

REASON FOR THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

REASON FOR THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

The day is here with us again; it's Christmas day and probably all your plans for the day are in place. Have you planned to do something different this Christmas? Do you have plans to try out new recipes? Are you invited to celebrate with different people as before? Have you invited someone to celebrate with your family? A different run of this day may be what is needed for good memories. Important though is the reason for the season and by that, Christ stands at the center of it. The lesson worth remembering is to give to the world just as Christ gave Himself for us. Do you have plans to give? It may be as simple as cooking extra for passersby or inviting someone who has no plans. It may be gifting and spending time with the old or orphans. It may be knocking at your neighbor’s door and offering something. It may be calling or texting someone that may be in need of a word of encouragement. Whatever extra we choose to do, let us choose to be a blessing to someone today and this season, especially the weak and poor amongst us. 

This is the lesson that Christ the master taught us, to be like Him. That is why He had so much to give, including Himself as a living sacrifice. Let’s talk of His view of which we are encouraged to have in Philippians 2:5-6. ‘In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!’ Yes!!! The Master Himself showed us the way. He did not consider all that He had so important but left all to give Himself for mankind. Learning from Him needs us to look out for chances to give both things and ourselves. May this Christmas remind us to be givers just as Christ gave because this is the reason for the season. From my desk, I wish you all and your families a happy Christmas day and season. God bless you.

@Stephen Mungai

 

SEBULENI SOFTWARE SYSTEM

 SEBULENI SOFTWARE SYSTEM 

David had since completed his KCSE exams and did well to earn admission to KU for a bachelor’s degree in IT. The close to one year break between clearing form 4 and joining university presented experiences which David found very interesting. For him, it was pure fun. He got so involved in business in many ways. Sometimes he would travel with Mike or the dad in the many rides they did in sourcing supplies for the business. He got a chance to visit many towns around Nairobi and beyond. He had always loved to travel even in his childhood days. Whenever he did not want to travel, he sat home observing how various home gadgets worked or playing with the desktop computer that he had been given by one of his uncles, Mwangi, in one of the many visits he made with the dad to the uncle's place in Kitisuru. In his uncle's place, while he was still in primary school, he usually met and spent time with Eric. Eric was the uncle's last-born son who was then a student of IT at JKUAT. Eric would be working on several hardware gadgets in their home or developing some programs either as college assignments or just for the fun of it. David would get very fascinated by what Eric was doing. David developed a big interest in IT and by then, he made up his mind of the wish to study IT in future. 

David was now in second year at KU but was always round and about. Anytime he did not have classes, he travelled with Mike or the dad to different rural areas. Sometimes he would visit Eric on the weekends or on weekdays in his new small office in Nairobi’s westlands area. Eric had started an IT solutions company and had a few customers, especially small SME firms. With no ability to employ IT personnel in their firms, Eric handled many firms' IT needs. His new company was picking up quite well. David always created time to be with Eric at the office in westlands. The two had become too close. They were not only cousins but friends. In Eric's office, David would help with the work. With time, he had learnt practical programming and would help develop operational software for the SME firms. He also learnt much about fixing hardware issues and setting up IT infrastructure for the firms. This also made his course in KU much simpler because, the many things he learnt in class, he also experienced them practically in Eric's office. David became so good that Eric would sometimes allow him to develop software alone, small less complicated systems for smaller clients. 

The most exciting project for David was development of a software system for Sebuleni restaurants. It began when he and Eric planned a meeting with Sebuleni stakeholders including David's dad Joshua, his brothers Mike and Daniel, as well as the sisters Hellen and Tabitha. Present also were the managers of all the branches. They all discussed the extent abilities that the system would handle and after the meeting, there was a plan for the software.

So began the development of the Sebuleni software system and David began working on it.

@Stephen Mungai

A BROKEN GLASS

 

A BROKEN GLASS

How joyous does it get when you finally have a child, especially at an advanced 30 something age? Not that you had any problem, but your career had to be fixed first before this family thing. But the baby girl is a new direction in life. A new commitment. A renewal of soul, mind and energy. Your close relatives and friends are equally happy for you, and you receive immense support from every corner that makes you, a new parent, have an easier life. The sum of the benefits that the little one has brought are of course greater than the straining you undergo, especially many times at night when you must be up to calm the crying baby. Imagine this baby growing up to 18 years and rebelling against you? Let’s call her Anita. At 16 years, Anita gets into a relationship with a boy in the neighborhood, whose character and engagements are very questionable. The boy, Danson, is son of a noisy couple who have been in the neighborhood for a long time. It was always noise and quarrels from their home. The interesting thing was, one would hear quarrels sometimes in the early morning but later in the afternoon see the couple holding hands walking down the neighborhood paths. Their boy had initially a disturbed outlook and as he grew up, grapevine had it that the boy was into drugs. The boy had completed form 4 but even after a year, he never seemed to be progressing to college. You try to talk your daughter out of the relationship, but she comes up with stories to hide her whereabouts so that she can be with the boy up and about. As she starts her form 4, she elopes and does not even wait for exam registration. She, however, sends someone with a letter saying that she should not be looked for, that she’s happy where she was and that she hated her parents and does not want to meet them again. She makes her threats come true because afterwards, you only hear that she has been seen but you never get to see her. Of course you tried everything. Professional counselling, your close friends and relatives talking to her, prayers and all sorts of ideas but none seemed to work. What do you do? Not fiction but true story that happened to someone. What can man possibly do? The mystery of life is that it has a way of playing us. How many have invested a lot in some courses hoping for a promotion only to end up in the same position years after? How many have loans taken to invest in a business only to have the money lost in totality? Then you pay back the loan many years to come with nothing to show for it. How many hoped that their influential relatives would help them get jobs only to be disappointed because those people had no intention of helping? How many hoped that their friends would come through during their lowest moment, but their friends were no-show? Only realizing too late that no one really cares for them? How many have been left by their partners for other people? How many have lost jobs in which they worked passionately like they owned the company? How many have been duped by close relatives, who they trusted above all other people? Life gives us many shocking disappointments which deal us painful blows. But so is that life and the unexpected shocks will keep coming. The most difficult lesson that I took too long to learn is that disappointments only require someone to rise again as quickly as possible, wipe out the dust, re-plan your life immediately and begin to follow the new plans. Dwelling too long on the disappointments of yesterday steals the joys of today and the energy we need to face tomorrow. Brooding over setbacks develops diseases that unnecessarily make us suffer or even lose life. The child glass analogy can be a good guide. When your child breaks a glass, you don’t throw the child. You guide the child so that they’ll be careful next time and you throw away the glass. In the same way, we should throw away all those disappointments of life or else, we will throw away our health and life, which is not a very wise thing to do.

@Stephen Mungai

UNREQUITED LOVE

UNREQUITED LOVE

Until recently, I had avoided online shopping for obvious reasons. Good thing is that Internet orders are a fit better today than before due to standardization of features and regionalization of the features. To make it clear, a size S in USA for example could be XXXL in Kunming kingdom of the little people. That means that a better understanding of feature region stories makes online shopping more pleasant. Increasingly also are online orders for love, some of which have found fitting deliveries. For lack of experience in this regard, I cannot recommend online shopping for a partner, but I don't think it harms to try especially if, a better fit has not been found in local shops. Enough already spoken about online stuff, let's talk a little about real love, real people and suitable fitting features. Let's call her Eddah. She was tall and beautiful. I was already working for a year or two after college and she seemed to tick all the boxes of a girl of my dreams. I used to call her many times every week. We went to several fun events that I recommended together. She had graduated from college and was doing her probation in a district Hospital in what is now Murang'a county. Alas!!!! The things that the boychild goes through in this country in an effort to bring the queen home!!!... are simply unbelievable! These love stories are sometimes a scandal. Imagine the calls, the dates and even doing visits to Murang'a!! .. That was okay but the effort was unnoticed to her, and the favours were not being returned. She even called me very rarely. Texts or calls should have been easy, so I thought. Good thing is that I gave up before giving it too much painful effort. I let her go. So that was where I began to learn to respect myself a little bit more. I learnt that in all relationships, a give must always be followed by a take. You can't just be the giver throughout when the other person is a perpetual taker. Don't be a fool. Stop giving if you are not receiving. It cannot be that you are always the one calling, always the one inviting, always the one visiting them. You can't always be the one to check on them. If you have being in a one-sided friendship or relationship, please stop to see if they will return the favour. If they don’t, then wait until it happens even if it is forever. Respect yourself. Even at a couple's happy place, an attempt by only one party to make love ends up not enjoyable for both. And worse still, the unhoneyed unwilling party may later feel aggrieved and could win a case against the partner for forced honey eating escapade. Law has absurd tendencies but that is how grave unreciprocated love can get. I won't talk of ladies who are always giving their men money, opening businesses for them, taking loans for them....and the men seem not to be doing anything in return.... let’s not talk about that today.

The practice of reciprocity frees someone’s life and saves time that is usually wasted on people who we waste time and other resources on. There is no better person to learn reciprocity from than God in Proverbs 8:17 that says, 'I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.' Need I say more?

@ Stephen Mungai