Wearing New Shoes, Many Hats… How Did I Grow Up So Fast?!

It’s my birthday!!!! What’s a birthday without a blog post?! I tried to have a quiet birthday but my people literally said, “No no, it’s already too late oh, no no!” I love it for me. Thank you, guys!!!

Wearing New Shoes & Many Hats

Freshest photo taken today: 26/06/2025

I can’t believe I am as old as I am today. It’s funny that I screamed to the world when I turned 20, 21,22, 25,26,28 and almost screamed out my lungs when I turned 30. Now, today, I’m like, “girl, you are not a child anymore”. Maybe because I am now mothering three children. Who knows? Oh my! 

Do you become quieter as you grow older??

Anyway, for some reasons best known to me, I thought it wise to not share any pictures of me today, June 26. I wasn’t going to declare my birthday until I got a Wordddd. I have been waiting on God all through the month of June. And finally, I received IT. Glory!!!!

5 Things I’m Loving About This Pregnancy Glow

It’s often said that every pregnancy is different, and from my experience, that’s absolutely true. I’m not sure I glowed as much during my previous pregnancies (though some people claimed I did), but this time, I’m glowinggggggg—I can see it and feel it! Hallelujah!!!

A Different Pregnancy Glow

Pregnancy glow is the vibrant, radiant, fresh look that many women show on their faces while pregnant. For me, this pregnancy is the most beautiful thing. I feel like I’m not just growing a baby—I’m also glowing in every possible way. It’s been such a joy to experience this unique blend of physical changes, emotional highs, and spiritual blessings that make me feel radiant. So today, I’m unapologetically showing off and sharing five things I’m absolutely loving about this pregnancy glow!

1. My Skin is Doing the Most

There’s something about the way pregnancy hormones work their magic! My skin feels smoother, softer, and yes, brighter. It’s like the angels decided to sprinkle a little extra oil on me. I catch myself in the mirror sometimes and think, “Who is this glowing beauty?!” Whether it’s the natural flush or just the glow that comes with carrying life, I’m soaking in every compliment like the queen I am!

Family Beach Maternity Photoshoot Ideas + Pose Inspiration

It is so wild that when this post goes “live”, you would have known my little secret!

There is something about a beach photoshoot that makes my heart so happy. I absolutely love it so much, I’m going to share some beach maternity photoshoot ideas with you.

Family Beach Maternity Shoot Ideas

😊

This past pregnancy I decided to do a family beach maternity shoot. I wanted our joy to come out without it being forced, where the girls would be so happy and peaceful that our maternity shoot would be full of joy. It was also, my last pregnancy so it was even more special than ever before. I have truly never embraced a pregnancy more than I have with my pregnancy with baby boy.

Embrace the season.

Facilitating at Lagos West Youth Confab: My Preparation and Expectations

There are moments in life when you can clearly see how God has been at work, preparing you for something significant. This opportunity, scheduled for Friday, is more than just an event—it feels like the culmination of a journey God has been guiding me on.

Embracing a God-Ordained Opportunity

Thank you, AG Lagos West District 

When I received the invitation to be a facilitator at the Lagos West Youth Confab, themed “ENDORSED,” I felt an overwhelming sense of purpose and divine timing. What a kairos moment. It confirms my declaration for the year:

“Ten years being a blogger is a foundation for God has been preparing me for.”

I was beyond excited about the opportunity. I knew it was about time!!! Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 tells us that there is time for everything, and after a season of growth, we will enter a new season, the season of harvest. Glory! 

Preparing for the Workshop:

The topic I’d been entrusted with is ‘Content Creation for the Digital Age,’ a subject that’s incredibly relevant in today’s world. As I’m preparing for this workshop, I can see how each step has been divinely orchestrated. From the experiences I’ve gathered in digital content creation to the insights I’ve gained in mentoring, it’s clear that God has been equipping me for this moment.

And to think that I’m currently leading a 3-week training on content creation with some amazing teenagers is mind-blowing. It feels like every step of my journey has been perfectly timed, equipping me with the tools and insights I need to make a meaningful impact at the confab.

Ten Years Later, Still Radiating Heart Rays (Birthday/Blogiversary)

Happy 10th blogiversary! It's hard to believe that I started this blog ten years ago. 

Ten years of sharing my story and shinning my light! Ten years of being authentically connected with you! Ten years of having you on my mind! Crazy, right!? 

Plus, Happy Birthday to me! 

Happy 10th Blogiversary

When I began this blog in 2014, I was just dipping my toe into the writing waters. I considered myself a poet, weaving words into rhyme, not being aware it was God who was connecting the dots and giving my life its rhythm.

In some ways, it feels like the years have sped by, but at the same time, a lot of life has been lived in those years! What remains consistent is the faithfulness of our God. He has moved in incredible ways than I can ever imagine. 

As published on June 26, 2014.
I launched out to the public - Heart Rays.

How do I start to express how much has changed since I first hit the publish button on Blogger? To get a sense of this journey, you might enjoy looking back at my previous Blogiversary posts:

• 2015: The 1st blogging year
• 2016: The 2nd blogging year
• 2017: The 3rd blogging year

I’d love to give you a brief history of the evolution of the blog but I wouldn’t want to keep you much longer. If I poured my heart into this as I’d wished to, you'd see how I've transformed—from single to married, jobless to self-employed, broken to whole, and everything in between, all while sharing my journey. If you're truly interested, I encourage you to explore the archives. There's a lot to discover!

How to Unlock Your Self-Mastery by Journaling without Paying Much

The use of ‘diary’ is so old school now. Hahaha…. It’s interesting how each generation gets a new name for an already existing idea or concept. There are some things I hear people say today, and I’m like, “I do that too! In fact I’ve been doing that for yearsssss!” For instance, I have always preached the gospel of keeping a diary (see here and there) many times on Heart Rays. But, I think it’s high time I updated that to journaling. You feel me? 

A Practical Way to Gain Self-Mastery

First of all, I want to confess that I still find it very difficult to call my diary a journal. It’s so hard but I’m giving it a try. Let’s explore an entry in an old journal: 

Tuesday, 17 AUGUST, 2010 - 

I feel so like Job. 
"Curse God and die!" my thoughts yell at me.
"Look at your life!" 
How can God be faithful when He's obviously done nothing about my results?
I am still here when others have gone ahead.
I feel like I am the worst sinner. Maybe my sins are too much and God is trying to punish me. 

Anyway sha I know I will get through this. I believe God is faithful. He still loves me.

I wrote that at one of the most overwhelming seasons of my life. Guess what? I had just found out that I failed a final year course, which means an automatic extra year at the university. I felt like a failure and just wanted to end it all. 

Here is a more recent entry on my journal:

The MACH Show Season 2 Trailer is Out on PerfectMachForever TV

The MACH SHOW airs on PerfectMachForever TV, featuring beautiful love stories from Nigerian Christian couples. It recounts the challenges they'd faced and lessons learnt in marriage. The show seeks to promote Kingdom marriage and to boost faith on God's promises for matrimony. 

Please watch out for it! It would be super amazing! 

The MACH SHOW SEASON 2 TRAILER OUT NOW!

I Asked 4 People, “Who Do You Say That I Am?”

Let’s look at it this way; I am following the footsteps of Jesus in the stunning context where he asked his disciples this question, “What are the people saying about me, the Son of Man? Who do they believe I am?” They answered, “Some are convinced you are John the Baptizer, others say you are Elijah reincarnated, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

“But you—who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked.

Narrowing Down My Niche

Sometimes you start to doubt your own unique identity. Sometimes you get confused with the reality of what you’re trying to do and how you’re going about it. Sometimes you just need more depth in understanding what you are already doing. I wanted to see me through the lens of my closest friends… and they showed up for me in a different way than I expected them to. 

I am humbled to think that this is what S, P, M and B think of me. 

Question 1:

When you think of "AMAKAMEDIA," what vibes or feelings do you get?

S: One who is very passionate and pours her emotions into her content.

P: Vibes of authenticity and openness.

M: Amaka as a person.  Personal blog, where she shares her journey, news or some stuffs like that.

B: AMAKAMEDIA 

Question 2:

What words or phrases pop into your head when you hear "AMAKAMEDIA"?

Writing From Scratch Is No Longer Scratching, Is It?

I do not promote myself enough. No, scratch that. I do not market my products and services enough. It’s high time I started hyping up my own enterprise. 

Let me know if it’s working. ;)

‘I Write’ or ‘AI Right’

Recently, someone asked me why I had not been churning out content as I was doing before I got married. I laughed and I was surprised by the sound of that laughter.

Prior to that moment, such question would have taken me aback. I would have beaten myself up for not producing fruits as much as I wanted to. Thankfully, I had grown into a woman who knows what she has been called to bear in this season. 

If it was not because the question came right after a heartfelt appreciation of how one of my blog posts had helped her out, I would not have bothered with a response. However, I gave a reply stating that my content focus had evolved into videos and encouraged her to subscribe to my YouTube channel. 

Perhaps the reply was not satisfactory enough. This person now mistakenly said: Ahan, there is ChatGPT to help you create content nah. You can even transcribe your videos to text with AI.

I laughed again. But this time, the laughter was a private moment within me. No one heard it.

New Hair, New Me

Welcome to a brand new blog post written by a blogger wearing a brand new hair in a brand new Year! Yipeee! 

Happy New Hair

Riding through the waves of last year was as one would say. . .very chaotic but I made it through the storm. I welcomed a lot of big changes and one of them was to birth another human being and I am super grateful that I did! Glory to God!

It was 4 weeks following the birth of my daughter. I brushed my hair and was quite shocked to see a large amount of hair attached to the bristles of my brush.

I had been forewarned about it, but this was worse than I imagined. By ‘it’, I mean postpartum hair loss. 

3 Lessons I Learnt From Losing A Contract Job

For the risk of over-sharing (and, perhaps, I would) I decided to make this a CAREER post and not a ‘Dear Diary’ entry. 

When you lose a contract, a job or a business deal, the last thing you typically feel is positive.

Losing A Contract Job

I am not ready to job-hunt but I am ever-ready and willing to put my skills to work and make some cool money. Having spent almost half a decade as a creative freelancer, I pride myself on being good at what I do. I'm thoughtful about managing communication and relationships, clear about my rates and scope of work, and good at under-promising and over-delivering on results. 

Generally speaking, my clients are always happy. While some show their gratitude with words, others do by referrals. 

Wait, I’m losing focus. This article is not about how good I am but how TERRIBLE I am at NEGOTIATION.

I like being liked, and I tend to feel uncomfortable getting into a squabble with someone over money. So it caught me off guard when this contract went south.

As awkward as it was, I learned quite a few lessons that I hope can help you too. They are:

Dear Diary, I Really Wanted A Boy

I’m a planner. I like to know my baby’s gender as soon as I am considered pregnant! But this time, Kachi and I involuntarily embraced the idea of being surprised until our second baby was born.

International Day Of The Girl Child 2022

“I want a boy.” I repeated as many times as possible. I told the people who were qualified to be told. It was what I wanted.

Some of the people I told smiled and wished same along with me while some looked at me with judging eyes. "You should just wish for a healthy pregnancy and baby. That's what's most important."

Oh well, I couldn’t help wanting what I wanted.

I wanted a boy and wasn't ashamed of that. I knew that I'd be a great mother to either boys or girls, so why should I have felt bad for having a preference? Was I any less grateful for getting the opportunity to parent another child? Was I being a selfish brat and only thinking about my wants, instead of thanking the heavens that I was able to conceive again?

Of course not.

Introducing My First Baby On The Blog

I meant to post this a while back and I guess I never did! I’ve posted just about everywhere but on my blog! Chikamma Esther Onyekachi was born two days to my 31st birthday. What a gift! 

You may have noticed that I have taken a little break from social media in the last few weeks. I think you’ll agree, though it’s pretty understandable, when you look at my precious baby girl. Who would want to pass up cuddles with her in favour of a laptop?!? Not me, that’s for sure!!

I want to show her off to you all, you have been on my pregnancy journey with me and I want to show you the most beautiful result of that pregnancy, a seriously cute baby girl who has come to add colour and light to our family, Heart Rays readers – I would like to introduce Kamma!

 

DIARY: My Third Trimester Update (Pregnancy Journey)

In case you missed it, I officially announced that I was pregnant on YouTube and have already shared my first trimester update and second trimester update on Heart Rays . This is probably the most monumental thing to happen to me in my life so far, and I am documenting my journey here.

This has been on the draft list for so long and now it’s time to publish it. 😊

Week 29 - week 32

This is my third trimester. Third trimester has been interesting. My energy burst from the second trimester is still on. I am living in the MOMENT. No rush at all. 

Our little one seems to be moving and kicking a lot now and I’m enjoying every bit of it. I feel the movement once I sit down and especially when I go to bed and lie down on my side. I can’t describe the feeling but it’s a mixture of weird and amazing. At this stage I’m feeling quite large and ‘heavy’. A few times I’ve felt a twinge up in my ribs where I’m pretty sure baby is sticking a foot, so hyper!

I am beautifully embracing my bump in different Ankara Outfits and feeling really amazing. 

Related Posts: What It Feels Like To Be Engaged

The biggest thing pregnancy has taught me, is the ability to hold space for multiple competing emotions. I feel so happy and so scared and anxious all at once. I feel excited and nervous, grateful and fearful, prepared and a wreck - all the things at the same time. But I TRUST GOD.

Igbo and Yoruba: Truth About Inter-Tribal Marriage in Nigeria

I will be doing myself a disservice if I do not post the first few episodes of the MACH Show on Heart Rays. I am not going to lie; since the lockdown, 75% of the time I get to be online is spent on PerfectMachForeverTV. I am so thrilled about the vision and I am doing all I can to steer this fragile birthing phase. I hope you understand.

Can you marry from another tribe? In the third episode of the MACH SHOW, we are exposing the realities of an intertribal marriage in Nigeria. Grab some popcorn because. . . hmm!

When I'm not here, I am on YouTube. I go where the Spirit leads.

SUBSCRIBE To PerfectMachForever TV 

Have a great day.

Stay inspired.

Stay positive.

Stay safe.

Posted by Nwamaka Onyekachi

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Heart Rays . . . giving light

Dressed Up For The MACH Show This Sunday

Happy Style-Sunday Sweethearts! It feels so great to be able to go to church again at such a time as this. We had to shoot an episode of the MACH show immediately after the church service and I didn't want to go through the hurdles of changing outfits. This is What-I-Wore.

The MACH Show Style

I had started this paragraph with "My husband and I have a YouTube channel. . ." but I deleted it. Then, I wrote "Kachi and I create videos on YouTube. . ." and deleted it again. I didn't want to sound like those women who'd seize every opportunity they have to rub their marital status on our faces. Lol. But, isn't it incredibly surprising how life changes once marriage happens?

Marriage has been such an amazing experience. I am so grateful for it and my passion for promoting the Kingdom marriage increases daily. A healthy marriage gives the world a beautiful picture of the gospel.

Based on this understanding, Kachi and I birthed The MACH Show — a Kingdom marriage series where we have great conversations and fun times with godly couples.

It's My 30th Birthday! Please Say A Prayer For Me

"Lord, teach me how you want me to live. Then I will follow your truth. Give me a heart that doesn't want anything more than to worship you." 

             — Psalm 86:11

Blowing starts here.
Hallelujah.

Thank You Jesus!

It's 10 Days To My 30th Birthday! I Wrote Another Book!

Hi, hi! I will be hitting thirty on the 26th day of the coolest month of the year. And I have been sharing my lessons from being a 20-something since the beginning of this month. They are all HERE.

Twenty Pieces

I present to you the cover of my second book. Whoop!

My plan was to reveal everything on this blog, but God gave me a bigger one. This is nothing like what you have been reading on the #20Pieces20 blog series. Well, may be it is.

Being in my 20s was puzzling. It was a decade full of questions and quests as I try to figure out everything — who am I? Am I really in love with them? What am I doing with my life? What do I want my career to look like?

A Woman Is The Girl Who Accepts Herself

I only started recognizing myself as a woman in my late 20s. I was very much OK with being just a girl.

I Am Woman 

In my early 20s, I felt the need to be perfect. Always. I wanted to be pretty enough for attention, but not too pretty because pretty girls were called bad names. I wanted to be free enough to have fun with everyone, but not too free to well. . .be one of those bad names. I wanted to be everything to everyone all the time

It was draining.

It took me almost half of a decade to know that I am a pretty woman whether married or not.

This Is What You Will Learn From Your First Full-time Job

Happy New Week! Trust your weekend was great. I will be 30 on the 26th day of the coolest month of the year. And so I have decided to share my lessons from being a 20-something just before my journey into 30 begins.

This post is the sixth. I hope it inspires you in some way. Happy reading!

First-time Employee

My first official job was a call centre agent.

Thinking about it now, this role also played out in my second and third jobs. I was always handling calls and managing incoming or outgoing information for each organization/brand.

I will tell you about my other jobs in subsequent posts. However, let's focus on what I learned from my first job.

That You Will Be Scared

Nothing beats the feeling you get when you receive your first employment letter. After applying and going to the interview, getting the job is one of the best feelings in the world. You will be filled with anxiety and excitement all together.

The first time is always potentially terrifying. It can be impossible and daunting, but some people make it possible and learn the ropes. I did.