Blessed

Blessed

His mother went for broke as soon as she got pregnant with him

She had given birth to three girls and her husband’s people were already grumbling

She knew they never liked her

They never accepted her

She was Ijebu

That was all his mother saw that was wrong with her

Where she came for

The woman didn’t even consider her character or the values she could bring to the family

Ijebu people are bad

Because during the slave trade they sold many Yoruba folks to slave traders

The Port was close to them and the white man offered a lot of great gifts

They were pagans and ambitious folks

They fell for the “greed” offered by the white man

As a consequence, they became the pariah tribe

Now in the 70s, almost a hundred years after slave trade was abolished

Ijebu people were still tainted

Ijebu Ajomogbe (Ijebu, the Kidnappers)

His mother was an illiterate

She would prefer that all her sons marry from their own village

One did

The marriage was a tug of war from day one

Her husband never lived with his parents

As it was the custom then, he was sent to the city to live with his uncle at the age of 10

She was also sent to the city to live with one of her aunties

He was just a year older than she was when they met

It was inevitable that they would meet

She was a beautiful lady studying secretarial studies at the University

He was a handsome young man studying Political Science

In those days when a little bit of education will land you a good job

Getting a university education was considered an overkill

They were the only two in their close knitted community to go for it

When he started coming around her to form a bond

She eagerly took the bait

It was meant to be

Immediately after they got married, he was offered admission to study international relations in Germany

They went together

She also took the opportunity to study for her masters

It was while they were in Germany that she gave birth to her first child

Upon the completion of their courses, they returned home with their certificates and the baby

It was the baby that took the matter off his mother’s hands

His father was over joyed

He was the first son of his parents

Her baby was a girl

Three years later, she had another girl

Then she had her third daughter two years after that

Her mother-in-law saw her chance

“Ijebu, so with all your education and juju, the only fruit your tree can produce are female?

Let me tell you something, you are on shaky ground in this house if we don’t get a son!

Legal marriage is not an excuse

There are beautiful girls from well respected houses in my village who will give my son as many male children as possible

I will find a befitting wife for my son

You can choose to share your home with the new bride or pack your load and leave”

Her husband always laughed at his mother’s antics

Of course, he wouldn’t marry another wife

She knew this

But his mother was a powerful woman

Whenever her heart is set on something

She could set the whole city ablaze just so that she could get it

She knew she needed to give birth to a boy at the fourth try

But how?

She wasn’t born a Christian

To her there was no difference between one religion or the other

Religion was man’s way of reaching out to God

Two years after she delivered her last daughter

She heard a strange story

Of a woman who went to pray in the temple because she was barren

Of a vow the woman made to return the child to God

Of a priest who stumbled upon her and assumed she was drunk

Of the word spoken to her about her prayers

Of the barren conceiving

Of the barren becoming a mother of many

Of the woman returning that boy to God as promised

She didn’t know why, but the story took root in her

She knelt down and told God

Give me a son and I will return him to you!

Nine months later, she delivered him

Her own “Samuel”

She guided him as he grew

When the wind of life seemed to have taken him away. She prayed

When the lust for the flesh seemed to have derailed him, she fasted

When it seemed, he would never walk in his destiny, she held on to her confession

She kept saying “I dedicated you to God and for his use. I have never struggled with God over your destiny. I have never wrestled with God over the vow I made. You will serve God! You will be a vessel in the House of God! You will be a soul winner. A man of God. A lover of God. A light. A spirit filled channel of the living waters.

The more he strayed, the more she prayed

Until she brought Pentecost down on him

After great pastors, apostles, bishops, preachers, teachers and prophets had told him about Jesus to no avail

His younger brother came to his room one day and told him about Jesus

He didn’t know why his younger brother made so much sense

He didn’t know why his heart suddenly grew warm

He didn’t know why his way of life suddenly seemed so terrible

Why he felt an urgency in his spirit to turn

He turned to Jesus in fear and trembling

He was received by the Holy Spirit with warmth, love and joy

He found himself at Bethel, Peniel, Gilgal, Jordan, and finally at the mount of Transfiguration

He became a son of resurrection

After he became born again

His mother gave him his first bible

“Maxwell Leadership Bible, New International Version”

He read it until he became accustomed to the voice of the father

When he became a worker in church, she said, “You are in training, there is a greater destiny ahead of you”

When he was getting married, she told his wife “I hope you are very much aware that my son is a man of God. His course in life is ordered and directed by God! The Holy Spirit is his compass and you are his companion”

When he became a parish Pastor she said “More, son, more”

One day she returned home from one of her trips abroad and called him

She said “As I was praying, God said I should lay hands on you and bless you and your ministry”

He obeyed her

He knelt down, she read psalms, she read epistles, she read the gospels

She laid hands on him and blessed him

She blessed him until she cried and cried before the Lord

“Lord, I don’t want my son to be an ordinary Pastor, I want him to be like Samuel! The one whose voice will never fall on the ground”

The Lord heard her

The door to the supernatural was opened unto him

The Lord said: You will be my Prophet and Scribe! I will take you to places all over the world! You will see my wonders. You will record my wonders. You will tell of my wonders. My wonders shall attract more wonders. I want my children to know, “I will walk with any person to the extent to which such a person is determined to walk with me and more!”

He followed the leading of the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit told him what to write, how to write it

He became a donkey Jesus rode into many lives and destinies

He became the man in Jeans and T-shirt

Ps: On December 24, 2018

The Mother of the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt clocked 68

All she told him she wanted was a “Miracles and testimonies Galore”

The Holy Spirit honored her wishes

Unplanned and unexpected blessings and prayers were called for all over twitter

“People prayed, wrote and testified!”

She read and reread the testimonies until the presence of God fell

She started worshipping the Father in the spirit

She said “It is not every day that one lives to see her heart prayers over her children being 100% answered! God has looked down upon her handmaiden with mercy”

Dedicated to Christiana Folake Abiodun (CFA) Sowemimo nee Odumeru

There is one thing I know for sure

If not for her

I will not be here

Happy Birthday Mummy

And a very merry Christmas to all the fans and readers of www.gbengawemimo.com

May we all surf the waves of the Holy Spirit to high places in 2019 in Jesus name

Amen.