JOI ... waits

Your Appointed Time

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time…though it tarry, wait for it"(Habakkuk 2:3 KJV)

TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria
God has an appointed time to fulfill the visions, dreams, and desires in your heart. Just because it has taken a long time or because you've tried and failed, doesn't mean it's not going to happen. Don't give up on those dreams! Don't be complacent about pursuing what God has placed in your heart. Our God is a faithful God. No matter how long it's been, no matter how impossible things looks, if you'll stay in faith, your appointed time is coming.
Remember, every dream that's in your heart, every promise that has taken root, God put it in there. And not only that, but He has every intention of bringing it to pass. Hold on to that vision today by declaring, "My time is coming. God is working behind the scenes on my behalf. I will fulfill my destiny!" As you continue to hold on to that vision and speak life over your dreams, you'll see them begin to take shape. You'll see your faith grow, you'll see your hope strengthen, and you'll see yourself step into the destiny God has prepared for you!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
"Father in heaven, I receive Your truth today. I receive Your promises today. I ask that You ignite my heart with Your holy fire so that I can pursue Your perfect plan for my life. Make my thoughts and words agreeable to Your will. In Jesus' Name. Amen

For Your Sake

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

"The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake…"(2 Peter 3:9, NLT)

TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria

It doesn't take very long to discover that God's timing is not always our timing. It's easy to question and wonder why you've been waiting for your breakthrough for 15 years and your neighbor got their breakthrough in 15 minutes! In the Bible, Abraham waited 20 years for his promise, and in the upper room they waited about ten days. I don't know how long you'll have to wait, but you've got to understand that God has your best interest at heart. He is being patient for your sake. He's aligning things and waiting for the exact right moment! If you'll just continue waiting with the right attitude, then at the right time, God will bring it to pass.
Remember, God is always working behind the scenes for your good. Just because you don't see any changes taking place doesn't mean they aren't happening. Keep standing, keep believing, keep hoping because you're breakthrough is coming for your sake!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

"Father in heaven, today I choose to surrender all my questions, all my fears, and all my doubts. I know that You have only my best interest at heart. I trust You and believe that You are working behind the scenes for my sake. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

12 weeks tomorrow, 3 months exactly on Friday ..:)

This six week school holiday has been the very best so far! WHY?? Because I have acheived so much and made sure everything I wanted to do for myself I did it. For the first time in my life I made the most of my time ... and money!

I am very blessed in so many ways and I really need to give thanks to God for his many blessings in my life, He has been, is and will continue to be sooo good to me and my children. He has not failed and never will.

We had an amazing time at the weddings this summer. Last weekend I went and spent time with a close friend who I have not seen in a looong time. We went out and had a hilarious time.

At the beginning of summer I had an agenda to pay special attention to my heart and love me. In doing so I spent a lot of time pleasing me, taking care of me and listening to my heart. I stopped worrying about money and denied myself nothing. To coin a phrase I ' Ate the cookie and bought the shoes! ' (in pink and purple ... tee hee). I stayed in bed longer, ate some junk food, took a ride on trains, stayed in hotels, spent money on my favourite Champneys and Body shop products and bought extra supply of Black Soap.

I have decided to live, and do it well! One life ... no dress rehearsal. Bills always come and get paid. I need to treat my personal needs equal to them, and with equal reverence. self sacrifice is good for a time, it teaches discipline, but one must not make a habit of it.

Black soap ...

Well I never really believe hype but this product is IT for me. I have suffered from horrible bouts of acne since my first pregnancy ... the only then cure was the contraceptive pill. I HATED those and would not take them for long bouts because I could feel the changes in my body and did not like that. Having a lot of male children only aggravated the problem. I have taken more pics this evening to show how even the scarring is healing well.

My Locs...

hmmmmm there has been a change! I have not 'wet' them for a few days and they have 'dropped' I woke up one morning to find them longer suddenly, especially across my forehead.They still feel very soft (love feeling them!) play with my hair while driving and love when the wind blows through my hair.

Oh yes! at my last retight my trainee counted half my head on one side on counted 180! the other side was not done and was fuller so she guesstimated approx 400 locs!

Hair washing ...

also that day I washed my hair .... well all I can say is that Herbal Essence girl had nothin on me!

Ok I could not really manipulate my scalp but I set the shower to fast pulse and let it massage for me!!! OH BOOOYYY was that good... better stop now cos I am tempted to go wash it again!

Creating my own bit of heaven ...

I am a lover of peace and serenity and tranquility, I like certain types of music at certain times, colours, fabrics etc. I love my home, It has become my sanctuary and its essential that I can walk from room to room and feel a deep sense of peace and love. Especially while working in particular enviroments! One needs a place to rest your head.

Today was a landmark event. I moved here in dec o6 and originally just stored a lot of stuff in the garage, but for months now it was bugging me that I need to clear out ... Now! So today we did. and BOY was it amazing! We need to get rid of old things and anything attached to them... especially to make room. You can't have increase unless you make room for it ... simple.

There are certain things I need in my life right now, so, physically, spiritually and emotionally I am clearing out the clutter and rubbish of the past and making lots of room for the new and good things to come in ... stay blessed ...

2.5 months and 2nd retightening!!!

Hey everyone! Well a lot happening this week

my closest friend got married last saturday
and my cuz is getting married this coming saturday soo here we go...

Here is a before retight pic from this morning, just before I left for my appointment, below is a straight after pic, pre wash.

Gotta be quick cos I aint finish packing yet LOL!! My first retight took 3 hours and hurt me!!! 2nd retight 2 1/2 hours and two trainees did them for me. We had fun, they were great x x.

Below is a pic after wash, my second hair wash since May 28th!!!
Boy did I ever enjoy that experience looool!!! Will be describing that experience in my next blog! trust me! I cannot deny there has been a lot of growth and it appears the best time for me to retight is every 4 weeks (monthly) There has been no slippage, repeat

NO SLIPPAGE!!! YAY!!! :)

.

N'Joi out! lovein this loc journey ... who's gonna party real hard this weekend? ...

Naomi naturally ... x

Black Soap

African Black Soap.
My lock journey had me reading information from every source at least two months before Iloc'd up. One site mentioned Black Soap for cleansing loc's ... I added that site to my fave's ffor future reference. Then a morroccan friend of mine gave me a small container at work, because I was complaining about the acne and scarring. She did say that it was good and i would see the results over time.Well my other friend had no patience but I had tried EVERYTHING from Doctor to diet and nothing apart from contraceptive pills worked and I really had no intentions of going back down THAT road again! Well I am PLEASED to say that it has amazed even ME! I had noticed over the last 2 weeks that the breakouts have reduced and the scarring is fading. My skin is no longer irritated or sore.This does not only apply to my face, Every summer i suffer from prickly heat, (heat rash) so severly that I take medication. NOT this summer. For the second year since puberty (the first being my pregnancy with my third son) I have not had even a spot! Havin read the label it does basically list all the issues it can relieve.
I confess i did not really believe at first bit I am very happy with the results. See for youselves!Now (today) and then......

AAA African Shea Butter Company
Natural African Liquid Soap.
based in Atlanta Georgia
Imported from Ghana ...

Birthday loc's

Thursday 30th July 2009!!!
Na is 41!!!!!!!

Yes! shortie partied like it was her birthday!!!! My 20 year old decided that I would not be doing like I always done! She got our names on the guest list and took my tail to Vendome in Mayfair ... lets see how that went ... ;)

Me and my first baby

(opposite).

Tomorrow is my closest friends wedding. Watch this space ...

Spirit of the Natural (Nao) me

I have heard that a lot of fellow lockers feel a shift spiritually on the loc's journey. This is true for me, and strangely enough coinsided with an abrupt end to a particular 'journey'.

My hair ... is not just my hair ... its about my head ... and who I allow to 'mould' it.

Not just anyone could be my hairdresser, they have to be 'a safe pair of hands' spiritually.

One method of stress relief for me has been the washing of my hair (massaging the scalp) and the new style.

A new hair style could change my whole outlook and lift me out of any feelings of melancholy or misery.

The freedom and naturalness of just having my own natural hair has been amazing ... liberating, exciting and empowering ... YES AALLLL of that! I now feel if someone say's that I look good, I KNOW its the natural beauty of me they like, not any artificial addition/alteration that made the difference.

I still cannot wash my hair regularly (only once a month at the moment) but that time will come!

I do confess I still have the product junkie bug and have purchased a varied range of recommended loc products. The most recent was africare, i like Paul Mitchells Awapuhi but will not need it for a while (it is good for skin generally. I think the Africare product will work well for me because I confess to have used it twice and it behaved JUST like water but with a BEAUTIFUL scent! I used it for a wedding last week, not a lot just a little ... tee hee.

My diet has also changed drastically, I am almost fully vegetarian now, especially around cycle time.

The products I now use on my skin are natural non commercial brands.

My skin, once problematic, has changed completely, I have had no heat rash which I suffered with every summer, and the acne has reduced drastically.

It appears that locing is not just about hair but a holistic revamp, a complete change of the way I view beauty and skincare.

Naomi is enjoying the new me ... naturally ... x

Progress... details please!

Well ... I am a freestyler (by nature!) I do nothing with my loc's and for good reason. I have been an avid follower of a few fellow bloggers, Gigglz is great! she happily tries and tests products and spritzs for me so I know what is what! loooool! But one young inspiration was/is Kay exquisite, she soo reminds me of myself, she did things I would have done, had she not gone before me I would have done the same as she did, but i paid attention and learnt a lot.

Well N'joi's locks are very soft. On retight we discovered quite a few had unravelled particularly in the centre area ... hmmm but not obvious, I did have a bit of dry scalp (not a lot, but still) and a few reinstalled (about 8 or 9)

I am not permitted to wear any type of band or scarf. I cannot braid even slightly so that counts out the braid out thing everyone else seems to do and definately no rollers etc!

It is a good thing I like freestyling!!! My retight happened on the seventh week and my next is due on the 13th of August exactly four weeks from the previous one) just before my 3 month mark. I have reduced the amount of spritzing with water and lemon juice because I suspect that that may be the reason for the slippage.

So it seems, I have to avoid as much manipulation as possible to in order to keep my loc's!

And to tell the truth I think that is the best thing for me, I was never much good at hairstyling and always opted for simple and easy methods of styling. little effort, bets results ... less is more in this case.

Whats going on ...? Well ...

Hey all! have been a bit crap at blogging, please forgive me! Well I am at my second month milepost. Lots happening personally, Three weddings and a 41st birthday (my own birthday may I add)

I love my hair. I know it sounds quite cliche, however I am known for changing my hair style on the regular, so having locs is very different for me. In fact for a long time now I had been debating with my then hair dresser what my next move would be, My hair was so fine that a relaxer left my hair wispy and lacking volume, It was my hairdresser (who is actually a good friend) who suggested loc's ... for life!. On my penultimate salon trip I met my consultants daughter, who at that time was taking her loc's down to try her first relaxer... I did see a few that remained but was not inspired by them. Not because i did'nt like them but i had to be sure ...

Within that week, I Suddenly just KNEW it was a route that I had to take, mainly in order to guarentee hair by fifty!!! Chemicals for me were no longer an option ... PERIOD!