Peas Soup for Rainy Days: 100 Stories to Motivate and Inspire

By Kingsley Munroe

The core purpose of this book is to inspire and motivate people to achieve fulfillment in their lives through a message of faith, hope, love, and inspiration. It was written to help people achieve happiness and satisfaction in their lives while also believing that their lives are worthwhile. The author talks about the power of faith, hope, and love in one’s life and offers the reader many inspirational and motivational stories to energize one’s life and motivate people to carry out their hopes and dreams.

After reading this book, the reader should come away feeling hopeful and confident of the power of the indomitable human spirit. They should be able to believe in themselves, feel determined, develop power, improve relationships, take control over their lives, and decrease the amount of time they spend worrying about things. This small down-home book offers a lot of inspiration without adding a lot of fluff. It is very to the point and cleanly written. This is a great book to keep around and reference for a boost of motivation and upliftment of the spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796011456

Kingsley Munroe

Kingsley was born in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, the country of sun, sand and sea. A retired professional accountant, he enjoys reading, writing and the table game of dominos. In his active days he was a member of: -The First Bahamas branch of Toastmasters Club 1600 -The Certified General Accountants Association of Canada -The Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants Kingsley once hosted his own radio show: Small Business Talk and made numerous guest appearances on local television and radio programs.

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Copyright © 2019 by Kingsley Munroe.

Library of Congress Control Number:        2019900711

ISBN:                    Hardcover                      978-1-7960-1147-0

                             Softcover                        978-1-7960-1146-3

                             eBook                              978-1-7960-1145-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 02/06/2019

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Forwarded

Acknowledgement

Mom’s Passing

Hospital Calling:Joy Cometh In The Morning

His Faithfulness Is A Steady Hand During The Storm

Letting Go Of Things You Cannot Control

Finding the Way Out of Bagamoyo

My Children: Things to remember when I’m too old to remind you

I Get To….

But How Do You Know It’s Him….

No Regrets

Thanks for the Memories

I Am Giving You My Heart

T0 My Second Pain

When I Chose To Let You Go

Grandma Della

An Answered Prayer

Life Is Measured By The Moments That Take Our Breathe Away

Papa Don

Never Surrender

Loving Is Never Wrong

My Favorite Teacher

The Matriach Of My Family, My Maternal Grandmother

Make A Difference To One

Mazine Cared For Me !

Letter To My Daughters On The Ocassion Of My 6⁰th Birthday Party

The Patriach Of My Family, My Maternal Grandfather

A Direct Flight

Embracing the Unknown

My Brother Reggie

Step Right Up. Hurry, Hurry!

Give The Flowers While They Are Living

Death Touches The Young Too

My Sister Anita

My High School Friend

Letter To My Grandchildren

A New Address Book

Leaving Reggie Behind

Folish girl

Aunt Maxzine

This Time, I’m Finally Letting You Go

Manika

May You Be Known By Your Love

Death

Enjoy The Read

Bailey

My Son-In-Law Travis

I Saw Him Today

Live A Life That Brings Value to Others

Tribute To My Dad At His Home-Going Service

Miranda

My Dad’s Obituary

Age Is Only A Number

Reunited with Mama

The Best Gift For Your Ageing Parent Is The Gift Of Your Time

Boy Have I Learned!

It’s Time To Get Over It

How To Trust Again

Spiritual Growth and Dirty Dishes

You Are Not Going To Stick My Baby!!

The Day I Learned To Swim

You Only Live Once, But If You Do It Right, Once Is Enough

My Internet Friend

Just Being There

Everyone Can’t Be In Your Front Row

What Are Your Emotional Thresholds?

Uncle Frankie

My Final Lap

Knowing What is Important

The Best Daddy Ever

Do-Overs

My Cousin Laverne

The Best Gifts

Memories Of My Childhood

MY BROTHER FRANKLYN

One Day You Will Regret Letting Me Go

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Changes Will Come

I Cheated And You Still Want Me

A Daughter’s Pain

Use Your Voice To Heal Yourself

Breakthrough Generation

The Blanket

A Real Daughter

The Wind Beneath My Wings

My Angel Friend Shawn

I Thought It Would Be Painful, Letting You Go

Letting Go Of The Inevitable

3 Steps to Remind Yourself of God’s Faithfulness

Walking By Faith

It’s This Simple: If They Love You, They Don’t Leave

Lessons in Life

To Let Someone Go…

Reflections On The Death Of My Sister

The Birth of My Christmas Spirit

How Our Hearts Are Changed By Betrayal

Things To Do When I Realize They Are Never Coming Back

Dropping My Girls Off To College

You Are Only Human

My Second Pain

I Remember When We Said Goodbye

My Best Friend Ken

… But God Was With Me

Our Front Porch

DEDICATION

To my mother Gloria Wilson-Munroe. We only shared you with the world for twenty-three years.

FORWARDED

By

The Bishop of Motivation, Mr. Spence Finlayson

First of all, I wish to identify Mr. Kingsley Munroe as a man I like and respect. For many years he appeared on my locally renowned radio program Dare to Be Great as my special guest. Because of his thoughtfullness and intelligent contributions, we referred to him as the intellectual and nationalist…. He is indeed a remarkable person.

Kingsley’s inspirational book, Peas Soup for Rainy Days is an intimate collection of stories that inspire and motivate. Those stories are a smorgasbord of his life events combined with other pieces, authored by others.

Together these stories deliver a huge dose of inspiration, spirituality, wisdom and motivation, relating to faith, hope, courage and love.

The book begins with a very touching piece about the passing of Kingsley’s mom. She made her earthly departure at a very young age, and while he was still a preschooler. In this piece, he spoke to how, after all these years, he still daydreams about her, he wondered aloud, about what his life would have been like if she was allowed to spend more time with him and his younger brother. He wrote beautifully about how we ought to respond to life events not of our choosing.

The book contains other personal highlights, which are all worthwhile reading, and distinguishes it from others of its kind. Kingsley’s style is conversational, informal and downhome and bound to make a meaningful impact on readers.

Peas Soup is certainly a source of inspiration and as the name so exquisitely speaks to, is food for the enduring human spirit. I feel that this book will touch the hearts of thousands around the world.

A word that I have heard used about Kingsley is ‘Inspirational.’ In these days of hyperbole in the media, it is not uncommon for this word to be used, but in Kingsley’s case it is richly deserved. Kingsley acts a focus for acknowledgement, for values and attitudes which are right about this world, in generosity and warmth of spirit; of being educated and great fun to be with.

I know Kingsley’s family means a lot to him, and I can only imagine how proud they must be feeling with this amazing book.

This book is exceptional and deserves to have a very wide readership.

I am honored to know Kingsley, who I constantly refer to as my ‘big brother!’ He inspires me. He teaches me so much.

Congratulations Big Brother!!!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Several years ago, a high school mate and Facebook friend passed away unexpectedly. Prior to his death, he would on a daily basis post several motivational, uplifting and spiritual statuses during the mornings and update same during the evening. The outpouring of grief from literally thousands of his Facebook friends from all over the world, for me, spoke to the impact his postings had on their lives. Without fanfare and saying nothing to anyone, after his burial, I sought to use my Facebook page to carry on his mission. And then it happened. Friends and family members in significant numbers begin to urge me to write a book. It was this wave of encouragement that gave birth to Peas Soup for Rainy days. In particular I must express my gratitude to my daughter Kathrina who almost single-handedly typed the manuscript. Thank you so very much Kathrina.

MOM’S PASSING

Peas Soup #1

When we can no longer change our situation, we are challenged to change ourselves (Viktor Frank)

November 19th every year is somewhat difficult for me. I take the time to visit my mom’s grave. I just want her to know that even though she is not with me, she is not forgotten.

The next November 19th will be her 86th birthday, she only made it to 23.

But November 19th is also a time to reflect on what my mom means to me, even though I would have been slightly beyond a toddler at the time of her passing.

If truth be told, I have no recollection of my mother’s passing, nor do I have any discernable memory of what she looked like or what her life was all about, during her brief sojourn here on earth. I am told though, that she was a dark and lovely lady, very beautiful and with nothing but love in her heart for her two boys. Fly couldn’t light on y’all was what I always heard my aunts and her close friends say.

The older I got the more I found myself daydreaming about my mom. Oftentimes, I wondered what life would have been like for my brother and I had God us with more time with her. Most of those times, my wondering was nearer to wishing.

I think I might have been around 10 or thereabout when I began to question the will of God in taking our mom from us at such tender ages. This was accentuated by the fact that our father had migrated to the United States, for economic reasons, I guessed, not to long after mom’s passing. My brother and I were left in the very capable hands of our paternal grandmother, Mazine. At no time we were short of love and upbringing. But one couldn’t help but fantasize about Dad and Mom. There could be no love like that coming from a father and a mother.

At a relatively early age, I resolved that never mind the circumstances, my children will have all the love and attention my little heart could muster.

The devastating change my mother’s death brought into my life, was not my choice, but as I grew into adolescence and adulthood, how I responded to it was.

At a very early age, my mission was to grow and take full control of my life. My path was far from smoothly paved; many bumps lied ahead. But i came to know, early, that whatever the universe threw at me, i could at the very least control my reaction and my journey forward, out of darkness into the light.

We choose to get married, have children, quit jobs, but off course there are many life events we don’t choose-a divorce or separation, illness, or the death of a loved one. Yet we can still choose how we deal with and react to these occurences in our lives.

When times are tough, our emotions run the gamut: denial, anger, despair, fury, numbness, loneliness, desperation. In order to heal, we must feel. But we do have a say in what we do with what we feel.

There is no right or wrong way to react, only what serves us and what doesn’t.

It can be helpful to be angry and to express it. It can be helpful to be alone for sometime. But there is no denying that we must face the challenge of changing ourselves.

In today’s world, with such emphasis on commercialism, change has become a dirty word as advertisers avoid it because consumers associate it with challenge and difficulty.

But whether we like it doesn’t matter, as life-altering events will change us, in one way or another. Instead of tuning out to avoid the pain, confronting and even embracing tragedy and its consequences, gives us an active role in guiding our change and growth.

Transformation resides all around us. Mornings and transitions are the birthing pains, sometimes exhilarating, other times difficult, that can bring wonderous changes into our lives.

Thank you Gloria and continue to Rest In Peace.

HOSPITAL CALLING:JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING

Peas Soup #2

Sometime during my pre-teen years, and while living with my maternal grandmother in the settlement of Long Bay Cays on Andros Island, Bahamas, I became very ill and had to be air-lifted to the Princess Margret Hospital in Nassau.

Remarkably I can vividly recall being taken in a small dingy boat to the amphibious airplane, for my trip to Nassau. I still had my wits about me. The look on the face of my grandmother Mazine, Papa Don, my brother Reggie and my extended family, told me that I was not well.

I developed a fever which Mama (Mazine) could not broke with all her home grown bush medicine.

Once in hospital, it was determined that I had typhoid fever.

Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria. While it is presently, rare in industrialized countries, it remains a serious health threat in the developing world, especially for children. It spreads through contaminated food, water or through close contact with someone who’s infected. Antibiotic therapy is the only effective treatment for typhoid fever.

To the best of my recollection, I remained in the hospital for several weeks.

During the time of my hospital stay, there was a radio program called Hospital Calling aired every Saturday night, on the only radio station in town. I gathered that the core mission of the program was to allow sick patients to let their relatives throughout the country, but particularly the family islands, know how they were doing. With the Bahamas being an archipelago nation, one can only imagine the tremendous value this program brought to all citizens.

During the week, radio personnel would visit the hospital and record patients who were well enough to be engaged, speaking as to how they were doing and extending greetings to their friends and family. In my case, I was fortunate enough to be released from hospital prior to the Saturday when my greetings were aired, so I got to listen to myself on radio! I don’t remember what I said but as bashful as I was way back then, I do not know what the radio personnel could have done or said to me to induce me to speak.

After being released from hospital, I convalesced for a time at the home of my maternal grandparents, Stanley and Della Wilson at the Ross corner homestead.

Typhoid fever I was to learn in the aftermath of my illness, was a very serious ailment and many family and friends would have told me that I ought to devote a lifetime to thanking God for his kind mercy in bringing me through relatively unscathed at least physically. Years afterwards whenever I involved myself in activities outside the expectation of my grandparents, I would hear family members say You have to excuse him he had typhoid fever.

I eventually returned to Long Bay Cays, Andros with a new lease on life and with a focus that beied my age.

On my return to Andros, I became fascinated by nature, especially plants and flowers. My favorite flower was the Morning Glory.

I planted seeds in our garden, something I had never did before, because I was lacking in the patience required to wait for the flowers to grow, While other flowers were sprouting all over the place, weeks would pass and no Morning Glory. And one day they would break through the earth and start to climb and climb they did with their big beautiful heart shaped leaves.

Nothing for weeks and weeks but eventually they arrive in all their beauty and splendor. It seemed like a miracle to me. I had waited for weeks on end for this one delicate funnel shaped flower to show up, now here it was in all its splendor.

It reminded me of just how many times I had waited on life for something I had longed for and how incredible it felt when it finally arrived and also how many times that I wanted to throw the towel in and just give up.

But I wasn’t prepared for what was to happen next with these little flowers and I was surprised and deeply saddened by what happened next.

Roses and most other flowers bloom and stay around for a while, but not the Morning Glory. The Morning Glory opens itself up to the world, in the morning in all their splendor and gory, hence the name Morning Glory.

But here is the difficult part, at the end of the day, they turn a most beautiful shade of lavender and then close up, wither and die. They live for one day and then they were gone.

One can never know how much this use to saddened me and the profound affect this little flower had a continue to have on my life. I kept thinking of how sad it is to be so beautiful and live for only a day. And I suddenly realized what