He who throws pellets.....

I quite remember a book we used to read in the literature class back in the day. The book, “The gods are not to blame “by Ola Rotimi was one of the best literature books of our time. What I really loved most were the typical Nigerian proverbs that really got you thinking; I must say I love African wise sayings. Well, what happened this weekend reminded me of a particular proverb in the book; “he who throws pellets at one asks for rocks in return”.

A friend visited me after Sunday service and told me he had just broken up with his girlfriend. “What the heck?” was the first sentence I could utter. How could this be possible when these lovely couple visited me just a day before and we had a lovely chat about their future plans and of course the family they would love to raise someday. Initially, I thought my buddy was just kidding but after listening to his reasons for making that decision, I noticed I had a friend who could endure. This was a guy whose girlfriend could make him experience “fire and flavor”, that is, fire indoors and flavor in public but this guy would never complain to anyone and would always pray that things will change. He was being accommodating and hoping things would change but the lady kept messing up. The lady was throwing pellets at this young man till he couldn’t take it any longer and so had to return the pellets with rocks! I bet the lady never saw this coming, of course they may have argued a couple of times or may have experienced some silence treatments from this fine gentleman but I strongly believe the “it’s over’ phrase was never part of her plans for her relationship. From my encounter with her at some point in time, I could deduce that she thought the guy could never leave her so she rather used to treat the guy of leaving him. I bet this girl never saw this coming!

After trying for hours to influence my friend to reconsider his decision, I gave up on that when he let me know that he had lost the love he had for the lady in his heart a long time ago but rather advised him to follow his heart since he knew what he was going through. I woke up on Monday morning to see his calls I had missed at 2:45am. I immediately called him only for him to tell me that the girl threatened to commit suicide that night and that was why he kept calling but I didn’t answer. OMG! So it had gotten to that stage where there was even attempted suicide! Ah, but I thought she was that brave girl who would never cry over a guy. Hmm, what a funny world we live in!

There is a popular saying that “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” Many people have lost loved ones because of an attitude or behavior they showed them and now getting them back is difficult. We sometimes act on our emotions so much that we don’t even take a moment to think about how the other person feels and the pride in us also makes it hard for us to apologize. Truth is, most people don’t know how to express their feelings especially when the ones they love hurt them so they just keep “piling” up the mistakes till they can’t take it anymore and that is when they explode when you least expect that from them.  Accord people with respect and always remember the golden rule: do unto others what you want to be done unto you. Cherish relationships and be a shoulder for someone to cry on and not a “shunner” for someone to cry about. The last thing I would want to hear is for someone to tell me “it’s too late to apologize.” No way!

 Always remember to be nice to people on your way up, because you’ll meet them on your way down - Wilson Mizner.    

...and just trust!

God will never, never, never let us down if we have faith and put our trust in Him. He will always look after us.

                                                                         Mother Teresa

There are times I weep and ask God questions; I sometimes feel remorseful  about my past and even wish I could turn back the clock just to do things right. I sometimes feel terrible especially knowing that I can’t correct some mistakes I have made. I am sure I’m not the only one going through this; there are people from all walks of life who just wish they had not done something terrible that would still haunt them.

I was just going reading an inspirational book and I came across this touching piece from Mother Teresa. I have always known that God will never let His children down but how people despise you when you get into trouble makes me wonder whether God is really looking after us. Well, I don’t let what mortal beings do bother me but I know for sure that there are some people who are just wondering if God is indeed looking after them because of what they are going through. What even baffles me is when servants of God also despise and reject people. A man once told of the hardships he went through when he decided to leave his village for Accra to seek greener pastures. You won’t believe that this guy slept in one of the big churches in Ghana and he was robbed of his belongings and sacked from the church. He was asked not to sleep there again and that made me ask myself if these people are indeed working for God because God has taught us to feed the hungry and care for the needy. Another I heard was about this lady who was punished at church for getting pregnant out of wedlock and that makes me wonder, ”where else will she go if the school sacks the teenage mother and the family also rejects her?” . I thought the church was like a place of refuge! Well, who am I to judge? That was just by the way!

I remember back in my junior high school days when I used to tell people that life was like playing chess.  Truth is, I didn’t even understand that myself though I preached that but now things are clearer now. You think you are on a right path till you face a bigger challenge which looks at you in the face and seems to say “CHECKMATE!” and that is where you see those who love you and the others who were just waiting for you to fall. I always talk about the goodness of the Lord and how He rescues us even when there is no hope. I am a living testimony and I always tell people that I even find it amazing that I’m alive but to His glory! I’m alive and enjoying perfect health.

You may wonder why I’m writing this but like I said earlier, I know some people need this to move on. They need to know that they are not the only ones going through regret; they are not the only ones soaking their pillows with tears at night neither are they the only ones asking God questions. All I can say is this: never lose hope even when life seems unfair. Have faith even when the road is unclear and don’t forget to pray until something happens (PUSH)! Just remember that because He lives, you can face tomorrow and learn to trust Him through your trials. He shall surely be there!!!

As long as the sun shines in the morning, trust me, there’s gonna be a better day! :)