THE MISSING GLORY IN THE STORY

Last week Saturday, i attended the Refined Conference, an initiative of Pst. Funmi Ovie-Daniels, founder of the Unveiled Woman Network. It was a great meeting! I was greatly blessed. I must not forget to add that i was late though. Lateness is still one of my weaknesses that i’m not even trying to overcome yet. But don’t look at me like that, i’m not that bad. Reason why i won’t tell you the time the meeting started and the time i arrived.
It was my second time attending the Conference this year. Yes, i was late too. But early enough to not miss the Table Talk. This segment of the program entails special guests sharing a bit of their lives with us.
Earlier this year, i remember crying at Anita Okanigbe’s story and wowed at the Timilehin Edwin’s story. I was sure to share it with my friends and family. I thought to myself, ‘thank God they don’t look like what they’ve been through.’
I would say that I was especially blessed by those stories in the last edition because well... I love stories; i never forget stories, i connect better with stories plus i teach children who loves stories.
And in this recent edition, i was blessed again by the wonderful stories of the women of God that spoke.
Don’t ask me what they shared. Cause i’m not going to tell you. Maybe in future posts. Why did you miss it anyway? I can excuse the guys. But you, girl. You missed it? Is it good?
No, right? No problem.
Let me continue. For the Table Talk, we had Mrs. Princess Olufemi-Kayode and Chizobam Ofoegbu tell us something you would never had guessed about their lives. I was seated at the back back back... Listening very attentively to their awe-inspiring stories when my thought flashed back to the last meeting i attended and how it was different women seating on the chair, addressing us.
My mind settled on the word DIFFERENT for a while. Different people. Different experience. Different Story. Different impact.
You know, you are different from me and we have a different story to tell.
I have a story, you have a story, they have a story, we have a story... A story to tell.
It’s a beautiful art.
Pst. Rick Warren in his Purpose Driven Life book said we all have a SHAPE. An acronym for Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experience. I believe these five things sums up our story really. They are the essential ingredients that blends so perfectly to give us our own unique story.

I have an interesting question for you. Where are you right now in your story?
Some of us haven’t grown to discover and fully leverage the potentials deposited in us by God.
Many of us are still setting our hearts on things that does not add any spice other than to make sour our story.
Some of us are still fighting who we are... We haven’t come to accept ourselves the way we truly are. We’re still trying to be someone else. Some of us are trying to fight one weakness or the other.
Some of us are still trying to succeed at our dreams and it’s becoming really frustrating. In fact, we’ve given up.
Some of us are trying to survive. Many of us are ashamed of what we’ve done and been through, we haven’t forgiven our mistakes. While some of us are just scared of the unknown.
We haven’t figured our lives out yet.

And really, it’s okay. If you identify with one or two, it’s okay. It’s okay if that’s the point you are right now with life. It’s okay that you haven’t gotten all of your acts together yet. It’s okay that you’re probably such a mess right now.
IT. IS. OKAY.
It’s all just a part of the story. Let’s call it the boring part of the story; the part filled with so much ignorance, bitterness, anxiety, fear, rejection and disappointments and its likes. It’s just a part. But your story doesn’t end here. Let’s get it to the climax... To the part where Jesus gives you life and life more abundantly. To the part where He gives rest to your soul, the part where in Him, you live and move and have your being. That part where His grace is so sufficient for you, His love so unfathomable, and his mercies forever new.
Dear friend, this part of the story is called GLORY.
I hope you get here soon. Receive Jesus.

NO HOLIDAY FOR SOME WORKERS

There are some people who won’t be on holiday today because we’ll need them. The bike-men, the public transport drivers, market traders, hawkers, nurses and doctors and the likes. I don’t know what you call them, I believe they are also workers.
Still in the spirit of Workers’ Day, I implore us to do something unusually nice to them today.
You could be creative in your own way, give tips or tokens and say something encouraging. Anything to spark a smile, I’d say.
Years back, I made it an habit to be as polite and nice I can be to the sets of workers that are especially earning low.
Before I board a bike, I say a simple greeting - if I forget, I do so while we’re on the way and strike any conversation.
I remember the day, when my lil gestures made real sense. I was returning from work myself and I boarded a bike to take me home, we were started on the journey before I realized I hadn’t done my usual thing so I apologized and greeted him properly. I was surprised at what he replied me with, he said ‘you dey greet okada man?’ I was like, Ehn now, he is older than me and courtesy demands it. Then he asked ‘which tribe you be?’, then which religion. I didn’t want to answer cause i felt my greeting him really wasn’t a tribe or religion thing but I told him I was Christian and Yoruba. He told me how he doesn’t really get such courtesy from his customers, either young or old, cause many of them don’t seem to recognize that they are also humans but just ‘okada man’ probably because he didn’t go to school, drives bike and is poor.
I could tell that he was surprised and pleased with me. I didn’t think it could come to that but I was happy that I created a better impression. You need to see the way he was praising me, my upbringing, and faith.
I can’t exactly remember whether I paid when I dropped but I tell you I’ve had occasions where I didn’t need to or got a discounted price just cause of the little things like saying ‘good evening sir’, ‘how is work?’ ‘God will help us all, it will be well.’ when they share their challenges.

That day onward, I knew I was doing something great even though it was really small, he encouraged me; I was encouraged and I have even extended this to other services that I am paying for, I don’t forget to say ‘Thank You’
Sometimes, I get a ‘no, I should be thanking you.’ ‘God bless you my sister’, ‘you are welcome’, ‘thank you too’, or ‘na my work’, some don’t seem to mind me. But it’s all good, I believe it’s a good vibe.

And today I advise you to do same and more if you can.

Although I dey ‘Broke-lyn’ right now. But I’ll be sure to do the other little things I can afford.
Share love. Appreciate!

HAPPY WORKERS’ DAY!