Buy None, Get All Free

I don’t do this ever but I had this urge in my spirit to do it. I want to dedicate this post to a dear friend of mine who I actually met as a result of my blog. MOG, you’re a shinning star and I’m grateful for the gift of you. God bless you always.

Let me tell you a story about the time I went across my hostel to buy suya and I didn’t return till the next afternoon.

I had a wild phase. A really wild one. These days I see people do certain things, feel/talk about them like they are the leading cast in a movie and I smile to myself and say a prayer of thanksgiving cos bruhhhh!!!! E choke. You see that phrase of someone’s madness starting where another’s ends, that’s the perfect description. I actually never saw myself getting to this phase in my life where I’m loving God with reckless abandon but let’s just thank God for grace.

Anyway, back to the story. I am that person that has a customer for everything. I enjoy building relationships with people so it wasn’t weird that I had a suya customer just in front of my university hostel that wanted to marry me and used to give me really huge portions. I really miss Musa and Kabiru sha. Shoutout to them wherever they are. Well, it was a day of me wanting to eat chicken suya (as per big girl that hated and still hates beef with a passion) and just as I was going to buy my suya, I saw a friend of my roommate that I genuinely liked so naturally, I stopped to say hi. Well, it turned out she was with a friend, a male friend, and me stopping to just say hi turned to a full blown conversation and soon enough, it was 11pm. Time flies while you’re talking to fun people right?

This friend of my roommate’s friend (Not everyone is your friend. Feel free to have different labels for people- coworkers, acquaintances, fellow church member, gym member and so on) was supposed to take his white boss (Kindly note his race. I mentioned it for a reason) clubbing that night and well, for some crazy reason, we decided to tag along even though we weren’t reasonably dressed. I was wearing one basic jumpsuit, not a lick of makeup and my braids were packed haphazardly. Because I wasn’t (and still am not) a reckless child, I did text the roommate of mine whom I was following her friend out with my whereabouts.

We picked up his boss at Ikeja and made our way to the club. Of course we were allowed to enter with our regular ass outfits and dusty ass slippers because we were with a white man (Nigerians and White supremacy ehn!!!). We had a great time in the club. One of my best actually and well…. Let’s just stop there. I didn’t get to school till like 12pm the next day.

Now, I told that story not as a means of tooting my horn about my wild days but to remind you that God changes people for the better. I was in church today (well I’m writing this on the 17th of July with no idea when I’ll drop it) and the choir ministration reminded me of how far I have come. They were singing William McDowell’s Won’t Go Back and sincerely, I was floored. I can’t even explain what I felt at that moment but that song accurately describes my life. Part of the lyrics go thus:

I've been changed, healed, freed, delivered

I've found joy, peace, grace and favour

I've been changed in the presence of the Lord

And right now is the moment

Today is the day

I've been changed and I have waited for this moment to come

So I say

I won't go back, can't go back, to the way it used to be before Your presence came and changed me

I had carried around so much baggage from my childhood and the wound had begun to fester. I was depressed, angry and I made a lot of bad choices. A truckload of them. I was a total mess and was on my way to self destruction. Just like I told someone sometime last week, I was on my way to Damascus when Jesus arrested me and changed my name from Saul to Paul. Finding Christ for myself and letting Him take over my entirety remains the best decision I ever made and will ever make. The peace and joy I now enjoy is something that a younger me would have equated to finding Bigfoot.

No, I wasn’t an atheist. I went to church every Sunday. My naming ceremony was literally done in a church and ended with me being baptised. I was and still am a worker in my church and I almost never miss service. I had had certain occasions where I had gotten to school early enough from the club, changed my outfit and dashed to church. I knew Jesus. I knew all He did and I believed in Him but I had not begun to walk and work in the knowledge of what He had done for me. A personal desire to have a relationship with Him transformed my life totally and sincerely, it’s not one I regret in the slightest. The only part that leaves me peeved is when I have to pray for people that hurt me. Sincerely, that one dey pain die 😭😭😭 You mean I cannot send them a strong worded message that has just a dash of curses and block them??? What a wawuuu!

Take it from someone who has been at the lowest low in her life and considered ending it all… A Jesus-centred life is the best kind of life there is. Despite the rocking motions of life, you remain unshakeable. You understand that He at work in you is greater than he at work in the world and sincerely, even if you’re in the same space with the lions of this world, you have enough confidence to take a nap. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.

I would be very selfish of me to discover the most priceless gift which is salvation and keep it to myself. If you desire this gift, which is super free by the way, just say this short prayer:

Lord Jesus, I believe in your death, burial and resurrection to give me eternal life. I confess my sins and ask for Your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer.

That’s it! Welcome to the biggest family on Earth! All you need now is intentionality and a bible-based and believing church. I am also always here to pray with you and encourage you in this new journey of yours. Feel free to reach out to me via email osidipeoluwalolope@yahoo.co.uk, on IG @lelo_vicks and on twitter @lemme_alone at any point of the day. God has kept me on this Earth for you. Use me properly. I’d love it.

As usual, I love you and I stay rooting for you always. I cannot wait to scream “Holy Holy Holy” with you in Heaven while doing legwork. We finna be lit 😌

P.S: The amount of italics and parentheses I used in this blogpost Dey gimme headache sha😭😭😭 Sorry sorry! Dun cry! Read it like that.