Oh dEaR!!! AUGUST!!!!

Hey!!!...

Wondering where I disappeared to or where i have been?

Truth is I have been HERE.....Quiet!!

And I have been THERE too!.....

And *THERE* is a whole lot of really BREATHTAKING interesting things....

The past weeks has been wonderfully adventurous......

But before I go on harping about my own activities.....i gotta ask!!..

*HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?...

and I mean that as no cliché....i really mean it from my heart....how have you(spirit-soul-body) been?

Did I hear *GREAT*???

Oh well,if that was just my imagination answering....i believe you will be surely fine if u are not...God is able to do beyond my imagination for you!!!

Anyways I have been really fine...

The kind of fine that wears sunglasses at 4am in the morning!...

Smiles!

When I answered a friend of mine like that on a whatsapp group chat. she replied

*Wow! I like your kind of fine... but if I feel that kind of fine too, hope they won't think we have eye problem....*

I guess she found it amusingly odd but hey who cares...

But seriously I didn't wear any sunglasses at 4 in the morning. it was just the only way my imaginative mind could express my own kind of fine...lol!

Now am almost tempted to play a game called...CREATIVELY DESCRIBE YOUR KIND OF FINE?!!!

See what people come up with???...

Well maybe another day sha....

So really am fine.

Two week ago, i officially became an AUNT of two beautiful boys...TWINS!!!!

So all those people who have been calling me *aunty* before now,i really don't know you people before!...lol...but now I know whose aunt i am!

And am officially reserving the honour of that name to my new beautiful nephews ONLY!!

Let your hadassah be hadassah!

Let your seraph be seraph!!

And let your bola be bola!!!

My beautiful nephew...
Meet Realaboha Oyewole!!

So now that my eldest brother's name has changed to *BABA IBEJI!* and my parents have now become GRANNIES and my own grannies have now become GREAT GRANNIES....the family tree has progressed and my family is indeed blessed!!!.

The joy in my family since the arrival of my nephews is unquantifiable.

And even though the twins were born far away from nigeria, it was like they were born right inside our very house....and my parents did a Nigerian christening at church for them here!!!

I had travelled from Ekiti the day my nephews were born heading to lagos for a convention.l but I had to make a stop over in Ibadan to visit my own uncles and their families for the very first time. And it was there I got the happy news that the twins had been born!!!

Aww!!!
His name is Lethabo Oyewole

And the joy escalated....Calls were going back and forth within the family circle, everyone rejoicing...and they even over fed me...i had to sleep over, play with my cousins and hear the family history, look at pictures of great uncles and aunt in the family and other relative who i never got to meet! And the most fascinating was seeing my grandpa's picture(my mum's dad).

He was a king!!!!....

My grandma had been married off to a king and my mum was his last child..

He had died when she was just few months old!!

I had been told this before but I didn't think I would get to see his picture.

I stared and stated at it for a long time. Trying to find a resemblance in him and my mum!!!...

My late maternal grandpa
The picture was an unslot
Of fascination and curiosity!

Amazed!..it was like seeing a member of the family for the very first time!

My mum never has much to say off him because she never really met him because he tied when she was only a child!!!

Even though nothing compared to being born into the royal priesthood of the kings of kings...the reality of seeing the picture a earthly king in my blood line is quite exciting.

*something about hadassah and her destiny of royalty!!!*

So that how I became an aunt for the first time, visited my uncles for the first time and saw my maternal grandma for the first time!!!...ALL IN ONE DAY!!!

Do you see why my kind of fine had to wear sunglasses at 4 in the morning!!!

Well, the joy ride had only just began. When I arrived in lagos. Xerxes was my very first need to see...

*and you know this theory of the economic scale of NEED being weightier than WANT.*

My NEED to see Xerxes whom I have missed was far greater than WANT for a long shower and a nice light meal, my room and my bed!!

That need outweighed all that!!!.

smiles!!!....well...lets save details for me alone!!!

Being in lagos has a purpose!!!!

Convention du believers!!!

It was a feast i didn't want to miss

And God wouldn't let me miss!!!

The feast of the lord in my days!!

The feast of tabernacles!!!

I had been planning this quietly for a while. Making sure I had gotten permission from my papi!

And a dear friend and a brother too was eagerly coming....and ofcourse XerXes!!!

.......Oops!!! I know I have lost some of you. Now but I really don't care right now!!!

50years later!!!
Three of us at the feast of the Lord!

This one brought me a very high joules of joy!

Trust me, if you understand what I mean,you would totally understand!!!

Anyway,i had to go for it!....

I did saw joyful old acquaintances...memories!!!

But no time to longer on past memories...the future was is too full of promises to dwell on the *staleness* yesterday's memories...

Besides I was in company of a beloved brother ken and amazing xerxes..

The hunger of those two for God often amazes me....and keeps me on my toes too!!!

It was in the middle of this week long feast that i and xerxes had to go for the Nigerian version of the christening of my nephews....

Alot can only be summarised in just the phrase....*A VERY PLEASANT TIME IT WAS!*

And am still overwhelmed and completely overhauled by the things I heard and saw this past week!

And the peace and connectivity i felt to other brethren is unspeakable....

Maybe sometime in the future,i will write a note titled...

*Three of us at the feast of the lord!!!*

My goofy happy self at the
Convention!

Even though I missed the NYSC head count that was done, i was not disturbed and flinched...the joy of what I have witnessed surpasses it!!!

Like it wasn't enough, i longed to be back in my quiet ARE-EKITI.

It has been raining almost daily here!

My flower nursery were well watered and doing great so I just transplanted them.....

Osaro and i
Few months ago in abuja!

And what joy i felt to see them now I their place...very soon they will be so well grown and needing pruning!!!!

Osaro, my teenage friend and sister came to visit me all the way from Abuja...

The love that makes a sister travel over 6hours in a bus on Nigerian road to see me just humbles me...this is one true sister and friend the lord has given me....

When your friend is a makeup artist....its spills over in u....she not only dressed me like a bride to church on sunday...my gele was on point!!!!.

The sunday with osaro!

And even though there is no power supply in ARE- EKITI, the generator was on half the time courtesy of her!!!...

My heart is overwhelmed by the strong bond and love(GoD) connect us with...

When she left this morning, for the first time I felt a strong sense of loneliness all day...i couldn't even do my usual reading...i just snoozed and snoozed.....

I just shook of that feeling this evening...

+Oglam Oglamrelooking.....
My friend can transform any bride

Her presence lightened the atmosphere here....i miss her already!!!!.

Thanks osaro for coming all the way to see me...God bless you!!!

AUGUST!!!

It had a lot of pleasant August experiences!!..not just mere august visitors!!!

Goodbye August!!!!

In tHE BliSS oF ARE!

"But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace towards me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly...."

Papi once said *Grace is for labouring in the service of God*..

"...let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably...." heb12:28b

So when I saw it in scripture i could only agree more with him(my papi), with apostle paul.

One of the benefit of EKIti
My landlord is the chef!

The past one week has been one of ecstatic unfolding of pleasant surprises....

Xerxes had gone to my house on my behalf to get a lot of stuffs which he sent all the way to ekiti the following morning via the bus...

I had subsequently gone to the popular FAJUYI busstop to pick up my luggage.

SURPRISES!!Very typical of xerxes!

Well talk about a missed surprise. He had sent a loaf of bread with the luggage which the lady he gave it to forgot to deliver to me....

And boy! Was i ticked off when she called to apologise..

*Eerm..asm sorry o..he asked me to give you bread and when I got home now. I just saw it! Am very sorry...what do we do now!!!.*

"What do you mean what do we do??.hello!!!..Ma'm, shouldn't it be what do I do?

How can u possibly forget my bread!!!

The bread xerxes sent me!!! How!??"

That's that I wanted to say!!!!...but you know now!....For the love of courtesy and good manners that forbids you sash someone who had helped oversee your luggage all the way from lagos and even waited with it at the bus stop while you arrived late because you couldn't get bike in time...you have to just understand their own excuse too!!!...Too bad!! Lol!

Painful it was! I had somehow been craving one of those fluffy nice lagos bread just few days before!

So the next time in the future when xerxes sends me anything, am sure going to remember to ask whoever it is...*is there anything else he gave you to deliver to me!!*...lol!!

Or better still tell him..."hey Mr, No surprises o!...kindly gimme a heads up about any surprise you intend to send...we wouldn't want it to end up like this one...or would we?..lol

Finally!
That's my landlord, Mr TJ!
Heading to work!

So, part of the requested items that had been sent with my luggage was a pair of jogging shoes...!!!

Well....lets just say there was a much better replacement for what I initially expected...

I did began my early morning jogging but some how in the past 3-days. I got lazy!!!

OK! OK! OK!

Maybe not exactly lazy...even though I know it's part of it...some very interesting thing has been going on in ARE-Ekiti which I might not really want to delve into...

But just an hint so you can get a picture at least..

*there was this daily gathering and noise of the indigenes in ARE centre around some *persons* who were taking turn to confess to terrible occultic things (well you know what they call a person confessing!)...

Well I stay at the distant edge of ARE, away from the centre of the whole show but words get round fast in the community..(its a small community).

So with the noise of all that ...Maybe it's best for now to stick to indoor aerobics...lets not get in the way of the community affairs!!!

I remember reading in scripture...*what you sow doesn't come to life unless it first dies!* 1corinth15:36

That's exactly what I have learnt with my flower nursery...

There is feeling of competence that comes with practicing what you have been taught in one place in an entire new place is just satisfying....

The flowers i planted are already beginning to bud tiny leaves....soon they will be ready for transplanting.

As usual, they seem to appear dead before that one who wasn't used to planting flowers would think....*shoot! These ain't going to grow...they are dying!*...but here they are coming to new life...

My budding beauties!

Thanx to consistency of watering morning and evening on a daily basis...

I believe the same principle can be applied into our lives too...

Well, i am feeling like a competent apprentice!

I guess I learnt well from papi!!!

Awww! She came too!

The most important part of the luggage was HC&C. Her arrival has been much anticipated by me!...

So when I sighted her plum-self waiting for me at fajuyi busstop, i could only quicken my step and pick her up in her fullness with a bright smile and mushy hug....she has come all the way from lagos to be with me in ekiti.

She and I will get along so well, plus there's much to explore with her. And who knows, she might just get a wide open door in Ekiti...

And I began to bake straight away

I know your probably wondering..

*who is this HC&C?*

OK her full name is actually HadassaH Cakes & Cocktails...we have been best friends for a while now. She is my little multi -million dollars business. She was with me in Abeokuta where our friendship began and we did have a great time there well until I had to leave for service you know. So now that I am here in Ekiti, She thinks coming here too will be fun for both of us....and I couldn't agree more....

My colourful cupcake
Getting ready to go to the oven! 

So after my first vouching at the local government last week, i decided to get started with HC&C the nextday...

It was fun baking again....but most especially baking in ekiti....

I made some colourful cupcakes...well for myself, Mr TJ and the few corpers around at fellowship...

*Those who are planted in the house of the lord. Will flourish in the courts of our God*

The most awesome thing right here for me in being planted in a house of God. And for this i am more than grateful and bountifully blessed.

I was one of those who held that believe that one's you are away from home ( the kingdom community where I hail from), it might be hard to get the ample supply of spiritual nourishment like we do else where....well,maybe because many of those who came back often held that testimony..(and in truth which I humbly and sincerely affirm, the kingdom community i hail from is a place of many lights).but this day I stand to say it's not the case for me....even though I do miss home but being in RCCG, shinning star parish is another taste of awesomeness.

Right there is a joyful assembly
RCCG Shining star parish
Iworoko, Ekiti

The pastor sings so powerfully and the flocks are well fed. There is an presence about these people that is very refreshing and the joy amidst them is unquantifiable....

I have been very blessed since that faithful sunday i walked into their auditorium after I found out the living faith church i wanted to attend had moved to another place. It was even the pastor who addressed me at the church gate as i approached the church...

I guess he would have taught i wouldn't return again...

The presence i felt that day was awesome and I knew this is where i would like to fellowship through my stay in EKITI...

And it is a student church!!!

*and who knows, this could be the place where the grace of singing would rub off on me deeply before I leave*

Not that am a frog at singing...but I couldn't use alil help! And I strongly covert the grace too.

Today! I took a bank quest into ekiti state university this morning to make withdrawals.....and also confirm the rumour that we had been paid our allowee for the month of July. The school is pretty big and beautiful too...

OK! It's no rumour!!!

So I get paid my 1st allowee outside the walls of orientation camp....

I have missed lagos....my family...xerxes...

let's see....lagos might just be my next busstop....

Story of My life: Èkìtì chapter

"Madame Day holds classes every morning,

Professor Night lectures each evening.

Their words aren't heard,

Their voices aren't recorded.

But their silence fills the earth:

Unspoken truth is spoken everywhere"..

Psalm19:2 (MSG)

The weather here in remote community of Are-ekiti is just beautiful...

It has mostly been cool during the day...sometimes I don't even see the sun...but in the evening, it get alil chilly in the evening.. 

The area is mostly quiet except for few cars and bike that ply the tarred road linking AFAO..

That's my ARE-EKITI home...
I am the madame of the house!
And I intend making it look much better!

The air of the area is without the contamination of smokes of exhaust pipes...the large expanse of vegetation makes up for the purity of the air...

I get to see goats and sheep graze even at my backyard and chickens do make the crowd sound in morning...and every evening I get to here the sound of crickets making their midnight music..i even get fireflies in my room at night...glowing blissfully.

The quietness is beautiful....

That's how heavily vegetated the
Backyard it...

Believe me! Waking up every morning to the sound of already rising nature contains such beautiful bliss...

People grow very old in this place....lots of elderly people who look healthy....

Plus I get to eat bananas everyday..just for N20!!!

Even the yams i eat here are freshly dug from the soil the morning Mr TJ cooked them.

I am simply enjoying nature at it purest form..

My ekiti-monkey delight!!!
Oh..and my angry bird shoes had to
Photo bombed the bananas

In the past week,i have busied myself with things around the house since school (my PPA) was closed for holiday. I have become a gardener...

I made a nursery for the flowers and have been drenching them heavily with water so they can start to grow...

Am looking forward to transplanting them in a week time!

When gardening began

I went to visit the king of ARE- EKITI last sunday(the one before yesterday's sunday, lol). I had to wait to see him as he had gone to church for evening fellowship...(the church was in the king's palace)...i felt a very tingling sensation of joy when the gate man pointed and told me he just went to church....

"The king goes to church!"

In the king's palace
Behold! the church of the kings.
Well I meant the king's church 

Well I was expecting some traditional king...but it was a breath of fresh amazing grace to see and know the king not only goes to church but has a church building in his palace..

Even though the elders of the community were also community development association meeting in one hall in the palace and awaiting the king's return to the meeting..(i could here them from where I sat waiting for king. Apparently the king had left the meeting for evening prayers..i could also here the voices of people praying afar off)...

The long street and quiet street of ARE ektit

The king was amazingly warm and receptive of me, contrary to what some other corpers I asked had said. (i guess it's good not to follow the assumption of others).

He instructed me on writing a proposal to see how he could be of help to what I intended to do....he had to be at the community meeting so our meeting was brief...

I do look forward to another day when I can get to talk with him at length...

*xerxes had encouraged me..."precious! If we can stand before the kings of kings and be irresistible and ofcourse before me too of course...lol...you are irresistible to any earthly king"....*

And I had believed him!!!

Fellowshipping here with other believers has been great too.

The lord had planted me in another house of bread, RCCG Shining star parish at iworoko.

The joy of the people of that fellowship is amazing..The pastor is a wonderful psalmist who sings so beautifully. They have such beautiful atmosphere of the spirit. And their hunger for the things of God is very encouraging. I have been learning a lot both at their sunday service and mid week bible study and prayer meetings...i believe I am yet in another home!!!!

The lord truly plants his own in the right place to be fed in the right time...

HadassaH cakes & Cocktails (HC&C)has finally arrived in Ekiti on Saturday courtesy my mum and most especially xerxes..

I needed to make good use of the holiday..

I have missed baking and i had told xerxes of my plans...even though he has been pushing the idea all along...So he had gone home on my behalf to help me get all the stuffs and sent them through a bus to Ekiti...

Staring at my cake word was like a birthing of ideas in me.....

Can't wait to put her(HCC) in the atmosphere of Ekiti.....

When the lord wanted to bless the world in whom he so loved, he gave a son!

When the lord blesses a woman, he blesses you with one of his sons...

Thanx xerxes for being a blessing to me.

And for your constant desires which are towards me...i am immensely grateful. You constantly amaze me!

"God will never by-pass the responsible"

I am reminded for the words of my papi!

"The reward for responsibility is more responsibility!!!"...

Such is what I can summarise the surprise that came to me yesterday after fellowshipping with other corpers at the NCCF building in AFAO...

Well xerxes says it was no surprise to him...

The lord knows how to fetch out his Davids...

(i will speak more about that later)

There is no peace like when a soul craves and settle with it creator.....

In recent times, I have constantly been overflowing with thanksgiving for everyone that the Lord has at one time of the other blessed me with and every experience that has come my way.

The person I am today cannot be separated from the elements that all those people and experience have forged in me....

They were all God's wisdom and ingredients of preparation for who I am becoming....

I have also had to take on a project recently and I am reminded that "people are very important"...

As we grow in God, we must also learn the art and act of relating well with others!....

The things in life that are significant and which we will do will require a team of people to work together and bring them to pass....

Life is beautiful with Jesus.....

His wisdom can be learnt even from nature.

HadassaH

the LOVE that BINDS

The last time I was in abeokuta. I was privileged to attend the generation sunday of the part two students(THE AGAPATHES) of my beloved church and home, Oracles Christain Centre..

A brother beloved wrote this beautiful piece and read it before the whole congregation...

HE is also part of the agapthes!

Paul Johnson!

LOVE.....

A program written into the fabric of world.

A program that is self sufficient.

A program that OVER RIDES other programs of COMMON SENSE and REASONING.

A program designed to be MAN'S GREATNESS WEAPON and SOURCE OF JOY.

A program that when activated and applied has the power to trigger a flow of power and energy needed to OVERCOME ALL OBSTACLES.

LOVE.....

The FOUNDATION of CREATION, SALVATION and REDEMPTION.

Out of the immeasurable love of our God and creator, he MADEus and out of that love he SACRIFICED to bring us to himself.

LOVE.....

More than a deep EMOTIONAL attachment, it's a LIFELINE.

The WAY to VICTORY and FRUITFULNESS.

The love that binds is NOT BORN out human or LOGICAL REASONING because it rubbishes human COMPREHENSION and UNDERSTANDING.

This love is BASED on the EXAMPLE of our LORD and MASTER, JESUS. He came to show us how much he loves us by DYING to get us all TOGETHER through His death.

An act of love that STILL SPEAKS and GUIDES us till now.

The love that binds is

a COMMUNION

a FELLOWSHIP

a GATHERING

An EXPRESSION of INNER STRENGTH and WILL.

The great BOOK PURPOSE DRIVEN Life by Rick Warren explains this kind of love. He said

"THE BEST USE OF LIFE IS LOVE"

He wasn't wrong in making this statement because a LIFE LIVED IN LOVE IS FAR BETTER THAN A LIFE OF RICHES ENJOYED IN ISOLATION.

He also said

"THE BEST EXPRESSION OF LOVE IS TIME" and"THE GREATEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE SOMEONE IS YOUR TIME"

Permit me to interchange, rephrase and substitute those statement, I would say "THE GREATEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE SOMEONE IS YOUR LOVE"

This love is not carnal, selfish nor blind.

It's a love that GIVES, CONQUERS, SACRIFICES.

A love that depicts ONENESS, UNITY, TOGETHERNESS and FAMILY.

A poem written by Anahita depicts this kind of love.

she wrote:

"For God so love the world he gave to us His son.

how great is his love binding us all as one. Now together as one we can conquer the enemy.

Many heads are better than one.

We are one big family".

The IMPORTANCE of love can't be OVEREMPHASISED.

It's our REASONABLE DUTY as believers

It's a beacon of HOPE for the entire world.

Apostle Paul said in 1 corinthians 13:1-3.

*Though i speak with tongues of men and of angels and i have not love, i have become as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.

Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,and have all knowledge, though I have all faith, so that i could remove mountains and i have not love i am as nothing!

And though I bestow all my goods to be fed the poor, though I give my body to be burned and have not love it profited nothing.*

He was trying to say that NO matter the JOULES of POWER any man carries WITHOUT love that person is FUTILE.

He went on to give us the DNA of this kind of love in 1 corinthians 13 vs 4-8.

The AGAPE kind of love DELIGHTS in people.

it's CALM and GENTLE and at the same time EXPLOSIVE because it seeks everyone and anyone to express itself to.

It doesn't HOARD.

it's STRONG and EVERLASTING.

THE Love that binds us,Jesus plea, request and command to all believers.

I have come to RE-EMPHASIZE the meaning of this kind of love and to fan this FIRE that's GROWING COLD in many HEARTS.

I have come to REMIND us of Jesus command to LOVE GOD and our NEIGHBOURS with everything within us because that's what SEPARATES us from the entire WORLD.

So therefore I charge all FAITH SOLDIERS MOTIVATED by HOPE and DRIVEN by love to GO OUT into the world and EXPRESS this love and WIN the PEOPLE for JESUS!

Written by Paul Johnson!

Paul Johnson - by the right, wearing a purple shirt!