Positive Quote For Today

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."— Maya Angelou


Books I Read in 2020

A True Story
by
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
This is me holding some of the books I read this year. I bought a number of the books with the donations I received from my blog readers like you.

Earlier this year, my father had our mansion installed with a Wi-fi connection. Thanks to that connection, I have been having access to high-speed internet on my laptop. If some people I know were to have such an internet connection, I am sure they would spend their days surfing the Net; viewing wacky videos on Youtube, checking their Twitter news feed, commenting on Facebook posts and all that kind of frivolous stuff. But for me, I have stuck to my old routine of curling up with a good book.

You can call me old-fashioned if you like, but I won't shy away from saying that I find reading books to be the best form of entertainment ever invented by man. And not just any book, but genuine hard-copy books. That's why I resolved this year to never read downloaded or photocopied books. So I deleted all ebooks on my laptop and smartphone. I also got rid of about ten photocopied books that I had in my room.

Why did I resolve to never again read downloaded or photocopied books? Because having such books feels to me like breaking the 8th Commandment: "Thou shall not steal". Also because I love the weight of genuine books, the feel of their covers and the smell of their pages. And I feel honoured to see such genuine books nestled on shelves in my room and take pride in knowing I have read them.

Unlike in previous years, this year I didn't visit any library. Instead, I bought my own books with the donations I have received from my blog readers. I have made it a habit to buy two or three books whenever I travel to Nairobi City to produce songs. And boy, don't I love building my personal library!

This year, I read more books than I did in previous years as a result of reducing the time I spend on social media. While reading, I have made an effort of going through the acknowledgement sections of the books as well as checking their year of publication. Checking my books' year of publication has helped me put things in perspective.

Having grown wiser, I diversified my reading repertoire this year. Not only did I read the Bible and motivational page-turners but also books on nature, health, history, nutrition, technology and quotations. I also read novels, memoirs and biographies. And am I in order to say that I didn't finish reading some of the books? Yes, there were some books I didn't finish as I find it unwise to waste hours and hours of my life studying a book that is not inspiring, enlightening or entertaining.

I'd have loved to tell you about all the books I devoured this year and what I gleaned from them. But because I pored over forty books, that would make this story long at the risk of boring you to death. So let me pass along to you only a few lessons that I learnt from what I read this year. Only a few lessons which you are free to take or leave.

From the Good News Bible that I thumbed through this year, I gleaned that it is foolish to speak scornfully of others; if you are wise, you will keep silent. I also gleaned from the same book of Proverbs that it is dangerous to worry about what others think of you, but if you trust in the Lord, you are safe.

From Barack Obama's delightful memoir, Dreams From My Father, I learnt that confidence is the secret to a man's success. And what a great lesson coming from a man who was elected twice as the President of the United States and awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

And finally, from a book titled The Optimum Nutrition Bible, I gleaned that such elements as iron, copper, sodium and potassium are essential in our bodies. But other elements like lead and mercury are harmful if ingested into our bodies even in small quantities. The book increased my understanding of the nutrients our bodies need for growth and healthy living.

My beloved reader, that's all I will share with you for today. And believing that you have picked up some wisdom from me, I hope that I have also inspired you to read more as well. As for me, I am looking forward to devouring more books in 2021, for, as Somerset Maughan quipped, "To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life." Adieu!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story on the books I read in 2020, you might also enjoy another one on "Books I Read in 2019". Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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Christmas Memories

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Dec 25, 2020
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from the Twitter page of LDS Mount Vernon VA Stake. All rights reserved worldwide.

It's a beautiful Christmas morning here in Kiserian as I write this story. The sun is shining brilliantly from a sky that is blue with white patches of clouds here and there. Except for the sounds of a few birds chirping in the trees, our home is silent. I like to think the birds are chirping as their own way of praising God for the gift of life. As for me, I am all alone in my room enjoying a time of solitude while reminiscing about the Christmas holidays I have had ever since I was a boy.

The 1993 Christmas was the first one I recollect celebrating in my life. I was a boy of six years at the time, young but full of life. My family members woke up early on that Christmas Day: some to carry out chores at home; others, to fetch water from a nearby waterhole since we didn't have access to piped water here at home back then. Because I was too young to be of much help, I can't recall which duties I was assigned. All I remember was us receiving later in the day visitors with whom we feasted on food. I played boyish games with the children who came with the visitors.

As I continued celebrating more Christmas holidays in the '90s, I always felt I never had another Christmas that was as lively as the 1993 one. I even mentioned that to my siblings on one Christmas Day in the '90s as we cooked chapatis in our sooty kitchen. And I don't really know what made the 1993 Christmas lively for me. Maybe it was because the much I did that day was eat and play games.

Although I never had another Christmas Day in the '90s that was as lively as the 1993 one, I nonetheless enjoyed some of the Christmas festivities I had as a boy, especially the 1996 one. I was in my ancestral land in Murang'a, Kenya, on that 1996 Christmas Day during which I feasted on sumptuous dishes together with my cousins, aunties, uncles and grandparents. And later in the day when I visited a nearby town called Gikoe, I was taken aback to see it full of people. It was like the whole world had assembled in the town. I guess most of the people in the town that day were city dwellers who had come to Gikoe to reunite with their families.

From 1997 onwards in my childhood years, the best part of Christmas festivities for me was watching a play in our church that was staged by youths on the eve of Christmas Day. The youths constructed a manger in the church and decorated it with Christmas lights that mesmerized my eyes. And I found it entertaining to watch them act on how Mary was betrothed to Joseph when she was told by an angel that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit a child called Jesus, how Joseph was mad at Mary when he found out she was pregnant and how King Herod was so jealous of Jesus' birth that he decreed all male babies be murdered. They were very creative and amusing, those youths!

While the 1993 Christmas was the liveliest I ever had in my childhood years, the 2017 one has been the best I have had in my adulthood years - that is, since I turned eighteen about a decade and a half ago. I remember with nostalgia how I downloaded and listened to Christmas carols sang by children in the days before the 2017 December holiday season. And when Christmas Day dawned, I found myself feeling creative and energized. I began the day by penning a story that I enjoyed posting on this blog. When later in the day my siblings visited us with their families, I was elated when some of them commented that I had lost weight; elated because I had worked hard in the previous three months to regain my youthful swagger.

So much did I enjoy the 2017 Christmas Day that I was unable to sleep on the night of that day. I just stayed awake the whole night thinking refreshing thoughts that made me lose track of time. It really was an exciting Christmas. To this day whenever I listen to the Christmas carols sung by children that I have told you about, I find myself remembering the 2017 Christmas Day. I am working towards having more such wonderful days in the future. Merry Christmas!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story on Christmas memories, you might also enjoy another one I wrote three years ago on "The Thuita Doctrine". Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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Bible Quote

"Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do... Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand."

~Phillipians 4:4-7 (TLB)

About the Author

Name: Thuita J. Maina
Nationality: Kenyan
Lives in: Kiserian, Rift Valley, Kenya
Mission: To inspire the world to godly living, one person at a time.

Just For Laughs

There was this drunkard named Azoge who loved drinking at Josiah's Bar. On being told a certain Hon. Nanga was flying to America to be conferred a law degree so that he could be admitted to the bar, Azoge replied, "Why fly all the way to America to be admitted to the bar while you can get into Josiah's Bar any time?"



The 7 Deadly Sins

  1. Pride
  2. Envy
  3. Gluttony
  4. Lust
  5. Anger
  6. Greed
  7. Sloth

Author's Note

I am learning to treat life as a journey, not a destination. So I am trying to enjoy each day as I anticipate to fulfill my dreams especially meeting my soulmate and traveling abroad. Tomorrow may never be mine.

Fun Facts

  1. The fear of having no cell-phone service, running out of battery, or losing sight of your phone is called Nomophobia, reportedly affecting 66% of people.
  2. A single Google search needs more computing power than it took to send Apollo 11 to the moon. The Apollo computer was less equipped than a modern toaster.
  3. Besides being some of the biggest names in the tech industry, HP, Apple, Google and Microsoft share another commonality. They all started in garages.
~Extracted from Codingforums.com

Health Tip

So many of us take for granted the wonderful construction of the human body and the workings of its various parts. Some of us even expect it to function efficiently with less than the minimum care and attention. Learn the much you can about your body and how the care of it can help to give you that greatest blessing of all - good health.


Wonders of the Modern World

  1. The Simplon Tunnel
  2. The Sky-scrapers of New York
  3. The Boulder Dam of Colorado
  4. The Panama Canal
  5. The Golden Gate Bridge
  6. The Taj Mahal at Agra in India
  7. The North Sea Oil Drilling Rigs

Great Example for Politicians

"My life in politics was a joy. I loved campaigns and I loved governing. I always tried to keep things moving in the right direction, to give more people a chance to live their dreams, to lift people's spirits, and to bring them together. That's the way I kept score."

~Bill Clinton

Scientific Marvels

  1. Space travel
  2. Heart surgery
  3. Fibre-optics communication
  4. Concorde
  5. Computers & Radios
  6. Anesthetics
  7. The atom bomb

My Supreme Desire

Although I'd like to be rich and famous, my supreme desire is to be radiant: to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and goodwill. I wish to live without hate, guilt, worry, jealousy, cynicism and envy. I wish to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body - ready to say "I do not know" if it be so and to treat all men with kindness - to meet any loss, failure, criticism and rejection unabashed and unafraid.



Greatest American Presidents

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. George Washington
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. Franklin Roosevelt
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Andrew Jackson

Making Peace With the Past

"Dwell not on your past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."

~Eileen Caddy

Toughest Colleges to Get Into

  1. MIT
  2. Princeton
  3. Harvard
  4. Yale
  5. Stanford
  6. Brown
  7. Columbia

Why You Should Trust God

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities and pour out peace."

~Ezra Taft Benson

The 7 Greatest Scientists

  1. Albert Einstein
  2. Isaac Newton
  3. Galileo Galilei
  4. Nikola Tesla
  5. Aristotle
  6. Archimedes
  7. Charles Darwin

You Matter

"Always be yourself. Never try to hide who you are. The only shame is to have shame. Always stand up for what you believe in. Always question what other people tell you. Never regret the past; it's a waste of time. There's a reason for everything. Every mistake, every moment of weakness, every terrible thing that has happened to you, grow from it. The only way you can ever get the respect of others is when you show them that you respect yourself and most importantly, do your thing and never apologize for being you."

~Unknown

The Most Industrialized Nations

  1. United States
  2. Japan
  3. Germany
  4. France
  5. United Kingdom
  6. Italy
  7. Canada

Keys to Success

"...in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance; to be great yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation; to so grow in skill and knowledge that he shall place his services in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. This is the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail."

~Booker T. Washington

The 7 Social Sins

  1. Politics without principle
  2. Wealth without work
  3. Pleasure without conscience
  4. Knowledge without character
  5. Commerce without morality
  6. Worship without sacrifice
  7. Science without humanity

Cherish What You Love

"Cherish your visions, cherish your ideals, cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts - for out of them will grow all heavenly environment, of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."~James Allen

The World's Largest Cities

  1. London in England
  2. New York in the United States
  3. Tokyo in Japan
  4. Berlin in Germany
  5. Chicago in the United States
  6. Shanghai in China
  7. Paris in France

Benefits of Optimism

"In terms of success, optimistic people out perform their pessimistic colleagues. Research shows that they are consistently promoted higher and make more money while working fewer hours than those who think pessimistically. Optimists also contribute more significantly to social progress. It is the optimists who start and run successful companies, who win elections and carry out reforms, and who make breakthroughs in the realms of science and technology."

~Pepe Minambo

The World's Greatest Lakes

  1. Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
  2. Lake Superior in North America
  3. Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
  4. Aral Sea in C.I.S.
  5. Lake Huron in North America
  6. Lake Michigan in North America

Demonstrating His Love

"Take your communication for instance - the way you address others. It ought to be with loving, gracious and edifying words. Never talk people down. Never use words that hurt and demean people. Communicate excellently with others without destroying their self-image or making them feel sorry for themselves. Talk to people in a way that they never forget the excellence of your words, the love and grace of Christ that you communicated. It's how God wants us to love."

~Dr. Chris Oyakhilome

World's Longest Rivers

  1. Missouri-Mississipi (U.S.)
  2. Amazon (Brazil)
  3. Nile (Egypt)
  4. Yangtse (China)
  5. Lena (Russia)
  6. Zaire (Central Africa)
  7. Niger (West Africa)