Phew!!!
I’ve missed my blog.
2017
was a very very eventful year for me and my family. Thankfully, there were a
whole lot more good news than bad ones. Top on the list is the addition to our
little family; our beautiful daughter, Grace Oluwalayotemi (Oh-lu-wah-lah-yaw-tay-me; meaning God is my joy).
Being
a mother has taught me so much about God’s love and care for us, His children.
Several times, I catch myself wondering that if I, a human, can carry so much
love in my heart for another human; I wonder how much love God carries in His
heart for me.
Something
remarkable happened some days ago. On December 23rd, we had our
usual Evangelism/Church Planting outreach (I
once mentioned it here).
My local church was involved in planting a new church around the area. We had
had a morning session that Saturday and I returned to the church with my
daughter for the evening session. Being an open, uncompleted building, I
realized that it was getting cold that Harmattan evening. Because it had been
hot all day long, I had forgotten to carry some warm clothing along for Grace. Even
the covering cloth I had was just a light flannel. The time was only about
quarter past six and naturally, I expected it to get colder. I checked her
diaper bag for an extra onesie and wore it over what she had on. I folded the
flannel into a triangle wrapped it around her shoulders and put her on my lap
for skin-to-skin warmth. I wasn’t satisfied. I put her back in her car seat
which I had in front of me, and pleaded with a sister in church to help me look
after her while I rushed home to get her sweater and a thicker blanket. I got
on the road, hoping to get back to my daughter in 15 minutes tops. That didn’t
happen. Fifteen minutes turned out to be almost an hour.
Wait…
before I continue, I have to add this. While pulling out of the parking space
that I had managed to get when I arrived earlier, I prayed a simple prayer, “God please keep this parking space for me.”
Anyway,
I got onto the major road leading to my house and it was jammed in traffic. If you
live in Nigeria, you’d know that most traffic situations can seem hopeless. This
was one of those. It wasn’t clear what was causing the traffic, but there was
tight traffic. To make matters worse, the house key was with my husband, who
was with kids in teenage camp. I called him to meet me up, so he was coming
from the opposite direction – jammed in traffic as well. To cut the long story
short, I thought it wise to park my car and walk up to my husband to get the house
key, then walk home and then walk back to my car. After about forty minutes of
power-walking, I finally made it back to my car with my baby’s warm clothes,
turned around and went back to the venue of the church planting service. I felt
spent.
When
I got there, the parking space was still there waiting for me, exactly as I’d
left it. I was so grateful. As I thanked God, happy for the parking space, he
spoke to me. He said, “See how much
trouble you went through to get your daughter warm clothes that she may not
even need. Does it not show that I care for you even more? That I care for all
my children even more?”
I
considered it and realized that God actually loves us and cares for us very
very much. And it’s not about what we’ve done or not done. It’s not about who
we are. It’s completely about who He is. He is Love. He can’t function any
other way. Even when things aren’t going as good as we’d like, we can trust
that he’s working things out for us. If my daughter were a little older, she
would have thought that mommy abandoned her when she was cold and in need of
warmth. And it was not so at all.
It’s
the same with God. When we are in need; when we are desperate, sometimes He may
not tell us anything, but we can trust that He’s working things out for our
good. He promised to care for us until our hair was gray and white (Isaiah
46:4). I know He didn’t lie about that.
2018
is here. This is another year with countless uncertainties. Although, there will
be challenges, discouraging situations, and times when you’d want to give up,
this is another year when you can completely put your trust in Him, remembering
that He works for your good, even through unpleasant circumstances (Romans
8:28).
In
2018, you may doubt a lot of things, and that’s okay. But never doubt God’s
love. Never doubt that He cares for you. Knowledge of this will see you through
and keep you going as you fulfill His purposes this year.
Happy
New Year! It’ll be a glorious one in Christ.
---
***The end of my story: I got to Grace 10 minutes to the close of
service, and she was sweating. It was a complete waste of my time. But put in the same
situation, I’d do it again for her.
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