What is KOGIWU?

 KOGIWU -  (KO- (rhymes with show) GEE–WOO) 
An acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a term developed by a mom to help her kids understand that faith is an everyday journey.
      As we approach the new decade of 2020, I interestingly find myself sharing with others how I helped remind my children (now 21 and 25) that faith is an everyday journey. I have always believed there is a strength more significant than me in the universe guiding me. I respect all religions and beliefs. My faith is my faith that I would never impose on anyone. 
     Interestingly, it was before the last new decade in 2009 that I developed the term KOGIWU. We still say it, friends that I shared it with in 2009 still say it. I have seen others' faith grow over the years and love that my children recognize the strength of faith. Without a doubt, Kanye West's Sunday Service has probably been the most recent influential factor having them look closer at the meaning of religion. I know the strength these six letters have given me. I have shared KOGIWU in conversation more and more recently. look closer at the meaning of religion. I thought it was time for me to revisit my KOGIWU blog and repost some and write new ones. 
My first post from 2009....
 What is KOGIWU? An acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within You (U). In a search for a common term to help my kids who are in their tween and teen years to identify with the role faith has in everyday life, I needed something more than my pontification. I needed them to feel a relationship between their faith and everyday coincidences. I was searching for something simple to remind them of their faith.
     I was raised Catholic. There are rules and the views of the church I don't always agree with personally. Undoubtedly, I am a sincere Christian and know that my faith is rooted in my belief about Jesus and Jesus as the son of God. I firmly believe that my faith guides my life in good times and bad. It is my faith that frames my attitude and outlook on life. The deeper my faith, the more I trust that everything is at this moment as it is meant to be.
There are moments in life where your faith is questioned, tested, strengthened. Dealing with the death of parents at a young age, I relied on my faith to get me through those difficult times. Giving birth to my children strengthened my faith and deepened my conviction that there is a God, and the miracles of life are such that there is some higher power it, for me, that higher power is God. These miracles include simple things as well that we might take for granted like my tulip bulbs coming up at the same time every year, year in and year out. Or, the miracle of thinking about someone I haven't spoken to in a long time and, out of the blue, that person is ringing me.
     Guiding my children in a path that is in line with my and my husband's values became so important to me in raising our children. I devoured parenting books, sought out lectures by parenting experts, went to parenting information sessions and workshops. It became exhausting. Every six months, I was looking for a cue of behavioral development that I could somehow guide, analyze, and fret over.
     During this time, I also taught catechism for three years. I did this for the children as well as did it for myself. I used this time to explore my faith and get back to the teachings of the Bible. I had an epiphany of sorts and realized that I could really throw all the parenting books out the window if I could impart on my children my Christian values. If we recognize that we can only control what we control, that living with the values of a Christian, including respect, honor, truthfulness, kindness, trust, being there for the oppressed, then everything should fall into line. Isn't this what all the parenting books are essentially getting at? These are qualities that transcend the stages of development.
     My challenge was how I help my children understand faith, religion, and the importance it plays in everyday life. I needed to have something simple in their language that we could say that reminded them that there is a God that has a hand in the smallest of everyday miracles. That same reminder might help them get through the stress of a test, the uneasiness of a social situation, give them the confidence in their test-taking, help them get rid of any negative thinking and have that switch go off in them when they see someone in need or distress that needs comfort.
     Ironically enough, I was in church on the Feast of the Epiphany. The sermon centered on the theme of "How can we truly be the Christians that we want to be? If we just realized that the Kingdom of God is Within You." Luke 17:21
That was it….KOGIWU. If I could get my family to understand KOGIWU and have it become embedded in our lives, I felt it could be transforming.
     KOGIWU became our 2009 mantra. We use KOGIWU many times a day. At days end, we share our KOGIWU moments. When they leave for school, we say KOGIWU as a farewell. If there are challenges or something gets us upset or angry, we KOGIWU it. If we hope for something to happen, we say KOGIWU and let it go. We text each other KOGIWU randomly throughout the day. We see KOGIWU in others at the most testing of times. We sign our emails with KOGIWU. KOGIWU has helped us recognize coincidences and the power faith plays in our lives, it has helped us dissipate anger and stress; it has allowed us to know when to turn something over to the higher power. KOGIWU can transform your life. I wish it for all – I will KOGIWU that for you and any others who may read this.   KOGIWU!