Why Me? – My Birthday Prayer

Dear Lord,
I am humbled by your gift of life.
Years into my life on Earth I realize I need you more than ever.
I am unworthy of your help and mercy yet you shower me with grace and blessings which always lead to the question, “why me?”
If I ever doubted your love today you have shown that I am special.
A thank you is not enough.
All I can do in my helpless state is to depend on you and praise your Name.
You love me not because of what I have done but because I am your creation.
Thank you Father for this wonderful gift of life.
I am truly humbled.
Amen

Superman Birthdays

I recently found out that I wore the same red Superman t-shirt on my sons last birthday gathering. I did not plan on giving this item of apparel the “birthday t-shirt” status but considering I chose it twice and literally as I came out of the shower, I guess it deserves that title.

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Me and my son on his 1st Birthday

As a father raising a young son, I am learning how to deal with a kids birthday in the current social media, internet crazed world we are in.
Privileged as I was growing up, I didn’t have the luxury of my dad being around on my birthdays. I thus make an effort to ensure that I am around for my little man and pray that I will not be too busy in the future to being with him to celebrate the day my wife and I were blessed with his presence.
My son on his first birthday just wanted to run around and was excited to see other kids playing together. He had just figured out how to walk and was graduating to running and seeking the new freedom his limbs gave him. My family, in laws and close friends were around to celebrate the day.
As they arrived, I begun to realize the disadvantage of having more adults than kids at a toddlers birthday. Don’t get me wrong they are a great crowd however the day was about my son and I realized I had not made plans for entertaining the kids that day.
Kids also need space to express themselves, run around, play and perform other interesting activities like eat sand, mimic adults and the uncanny art of spoiling things. The space though large enough, didn’t afford the kids that opportunity.
Making matters worse it rained that day. The rains came down hard and moved the little party inside. Needless to say, the party spirit of the kids was dampened and we had little room for both kids and adults to move around in.
I thus advised myself to stick to kids around his age range for his upcoming birthdays. Adults and kids together is a bit too complicated for my hosting abilities and takes away from the little man having his fun.
I think I can handle a day dedicated to kids calling me Uncle Paul and cross crossing between being a judge at a small case court handling toy disputes, a police man shouting “STOP IT!” at 10 minute intervals or less, being a face painter and dj.
Wow! That’s a lot. That however was me on my son’s 2nd birthday.
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Me and my son on his 2nd Birthday

I guess that’s why I wear the Superman shirt. Aside acting like a Superman in this party job that doesn’t pay cash, the real reason for multitasking and providing fun memories and love to kids is because of hope. Funny enough hope is the meaning behind the Superman symbol and not the letter “S” for Superman.
It’s all about hope. The hope that love will surround our children. The hope that they will remember the love we have for them. Most important is the hope that they focus on what’s important.
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My son’s tractor

Important could mean many things. For my son on his 2nd birthday, important was a green tractor with eye balls that after a year suddenly became his favorite toy and was only interested in driving it on the floor and imitating the engine sound “vroooom!”.
 
He could not be bothered about losing at musical chairs neither was he interested in cutting his cake. That’s why when the wind was against us when lighting the twenty four plus one candle I got him ( I thought blowing candles for the kids will be fun) I just left them in the cake. The birthday boy wasn’t interested in making wishes today.
As I said earlier being Superman for the day ain’t that bad when you are dealing with a son like mine. As long as it’s less than 20 kids, a few kid loving adults around and a couple of cute babies to play with I am down. Ice cream helps a lot too. Nothing gets children in a logo logo line like ice cream.
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How I Celebrated My Birthday

So last Wednesday I celebrated my birthday and as I write this I realize its been about a year since I launched the hondredpercent.com website. A lot has happened since September 2016. My writing has increased, I released an album, I experienced fatherhood, my beard grew, I fell in love with green tea etc.
When I was younger birthdays felt like a giant spotlight was on you for the whole day. I woke up to my mother’s love. The living room was decorated with birthday stuff to make me feel special. I got a card and always wanted a badge to showcase my age. There was special breakfast, lunch, supper, a cake, a song, presents and a whole lot of other interesting things scheduled for the day.This year though I toned the expectation of the giant spotlight. I didn’t wake up to all that I was used to when I was younger. I woke up to my phone buzzing, my picture as the display picture which is still up on my school whatsapp group page and my active son who has no idea that it’s my birthday demanding his father’s attention.
The day was like any other day with my phone buzzing a lot with birthday messages and me saying thank you. In the future though I need to get a personal assistant to aid in replying to birthday messages.
I had interesting gifts too. I had a beautiful smile as a gift from a friend whose smile truly lights up my day; a digital portrait of me from a high school friend and a kiss on the head from my son. 
The best gift of all was from the Lord. I was given an opportunity to witness that beautiful day and all it had to offer. I take it for granted sometimes but on my birthday I realized that God has been by my side all this while and still continues to believe in me. That’s amazing!
Earlier that day as I drove around town, I heard on BBC that some people suffer from prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness. Apparently there is a part of our brain responsible solely for remembering peoples faces and some people suffer from not being able to remember who people are a few minutes after they leave their sight and return. In worse cases they can’t even recognize themselves in a mirror.
I was in awe of the magnificence of the architecture of what lay in my skull and made me appreciate the gift of life given to me by the Lord.
It was a beautiful day not with the bells and whistles I was used to but a day that made me reflect and treasure the important things in life.
God and love.
Keep it One HONDRED!

Happy Birthday BoBo

In your first year you are unaware of your consciousness.
Your foot steps grow more confident each day.
Your smile is a refreshing drink of water and your curiosity knows no bounds.
Your uniqueness continues to intrigue me and though I am to blame for your creation, I wonder how I am credited for the greatness that lies within you.
You are eager to learn and always in a hurry.
Your entrance on earth alone is enough a lesson to ensure that patience is a compulsory course.
If I didn’t believe in miracles now I do.
For there is no other way to explain your beauty than to say you are a miracle.
Happy Birthday Sean Kwaw Miezah Forjoe aka BoBo

Happy Birthday BoBo

In your first year you are unaware of your consciousness.
Your foot steps grow more confident each day.
Your smile is a refreshing drink of water and your curiosity knows no bounds.
Your uniqueness continues to intrigue me and though I am to blame for your creation, I wonder how I am credited for the greatness that lies within you.
You are eager to learn and always in a hurry.
Your entrance on earth alone is enough a lesson to ensure that patience is a compulsory course.
If I didn’t believe in miracles now I do.
For there is no other way to explain your beauty than to say you are a miracle.
Happy Birthday Sean Kwaw Miezah Forjoe aka BoBo

Birthday Prayer

Tomorrow 27th September 2016 is my birthday. So what am I doing? Not sure yet. I recently named my son and it seems as if I celebrated my birthday in that historic moment.
Tomorrow I will be bombarded with more messages than calls from friends and wanna be friends alike (Thanks Mark Zuckerberg ?) with over 50% sending me shorthand birthday messages that suggest further that wishing me a happy birthday was a spur of the moment decision.
“HBD”
As I visit Mark Zuckerberg’s creation for the I don’t know …. 10th time today (I think), I am greeted with a prayer I wrote to God in 2011. It’s a humble prayer from a sinner like me that reminds me of how much God loves me and all of us. 
So on a day when I expect cake and is rewarded with acronym birthday messages and a pinch of bad grammar, I will switch things around and share a prayer instead. 
I believe it will touch your heart and put a smile on your face to know that you are not alone and God is forever on your side waiting for you to either be saved or lead you towards peace and happiness.
Here is the prayer:

Lord, I’m not perfect. Even my trying is not good enough. Yet you bless me with another year. The love you show me is more than amazing. You grace me with blessings everyday as if everyday is my birthday. I am honored to serve and have you in my life, unloyal as a servant I may be. Thank you Jesus