Day 51 (21st June)

I think I’m going through a phase of writer’s block this morning. There is so much in my head but to I’m having some challenges getting them down in writing, but I guess writing this is a start. I wish this cold weather is over or at least nearly over. I feel so sluggish in cold season, though thankful, because there is a purpose for all seasons that God created. I am a bit behind in my journal but I’ve managed to bring it up to date this morning.

I’m happy I got some work on the new look We CAN website done this morning. It’s hard work with so many changes, not to talk about trying to get my little brother to keep to deadline.

I got sad news this afternoon. A Pastor and a friend died earlier today in Nigeria. He had Kidney failure and has been on dialysis for a while. I just thank God for his life that he is a believer and his faith in Christ was never shaken. It put a damper on my day though. I remember his time in SA and our engagements. He was such a humble man who loved God so much. I learnt so much from him, one that made such an impact was his teaching on the Passover and what the different items and instruction meant. I pray that God will pour His peace into the heart of his family at this time.

Each day just seems to fly. I think I work more now than when I was going to the office. I still managed to get a couple of hours late morning nap though, which is good. One task I intended to do today was align the Church report to the headquarters format. But I did not get to it; I’m feeling a bit low and not energized to do any figure work today. I think I will get some more reading and a Christian film. So, got a film titled; ‘Bishop in Hell’ in the video and got even more low. I need the Joy of the Lord here. The film is about men of God who ended in hell, for unforgiveness, pride and disobedience, it’s depressing. I think I need a lighter, more joyful film, maybe a romantic Christian film. I want to think about Heaven not hell. Tomorrow is another day. I want winter to be over like tomorrow but that would bring me nearer going back to work. I need some energy! I think enough whining now. Over and out for the day.

To you the source of my Joy, Jehovah you are exalted.

Day 49 (19th June)

Sabbath day! This is a day of rest, even from journal writing. We had one of my ward came to visit, a talented young man. Simi’s friend is spending the weekend. I love having these youths around me.

Yes, oh yes, my two youngest daughters Debra and Tobi came out during the alter call today to give their lives to Jesus. It is so awesome. I was so happy. They have taken the right step at ages 14 and 13 respectively. I pray that they will never go back in the mighty name of Jesus. They will be used mightily of God for His Kingdom. I wish I gave my life at that young age. I would be supporting them with their bible study more, maybe individually. I am so happy for them.

Day 46 (16th June)

Today was an awesome day. The Women event went brilliantly with about thirty nine women in attendance. There were many more South African ladies than expected which was great because it is through the locals that we would be able to impact the citizens. We have very positive feedback in the evaluation which would be incorporated into future event, one being the use of a microphone!

Karen Van Vuuren’s session was good. She gave very succinct points on how to be successful with biblical passage to back these up. Pastor Titi really nailed it when she spoke about Integrity being important ingredient for success. Mama Rose shared her story about living positively with HIV & AIDS since 1990, twenty one years ago and she looks good. Her session really moved the women and I believe each one would take the right step in doing something in their world for those infected or affected. It is always so fulfilling after these events, seeing people connected and interacting with each other and the decisions being made to take action on one thing or the other. Already thinking about the December event! There is need for these sort of events where Women could be encouraged, motivated and inspired to be more. We had some surprising attendance which was great.

I was depleted after the event. I put a lot of energy into the preparation and the events and immediately after it I always feel depleted and need some quietness to recover. But it is good deplete. I remembered to send a thank you message to all the speakers before I went into a straight two hour sleep.

I give all glory and honour to God for a successful day.

Day 43 (13th June)

Today is Monday. Mondays are always quiet days for me. I thank you Jesus for the Joy of Salvation. After dropping the girls in school, I hit the gym for about one hour. I am determined to give my gyming some structure. The key word is determination. In fact I am adding this character trait to those vital for this period of my life. I am determined to go to the gym x number of times a week. I think I will keep the x number to myself. I learnt from School of Disciple that the devil sends his demons to go out and collate information they will use against you, hence a wise (wo) man learns how to be silent. Not that the devil is so interested in my determination to gym but, hey I’m a child of God, I will not give him the chance in anyway to steal my joy! Anyway, without a specific number written down, I can feel proud when I meet and exceed the target rather than guilty because I didn’t meet it. That is my reverse psychology for it.

I was stuck on Luke chapter 4 and 5. I am still writing up my inspiration on the temptation of Jesus. Not so much the fact that he was tempted but more like what he was tempted on and what we his disciples could learn on what the enemy would use to tempt us. It’s amazing and I am always amazed how God teaches me. In Sunday, our Pastor spoke about temptation. In School of Disciple we learnt that God uses Satan as an examiner for His children, and we know that part of the examination is through temptation. This for me is affirmation that what am writing is in line with what God wants to teach us at this time. I sometimes wonder whether writing is my forte but everytime I take my pen or should I say start punching the keyboard the words flow. Not only that, I wake up most days with pages and pages of words ringing in my head. I have learnt to have note books all around me so that I immediately start jotting the insights down, otherwise I tend not to remember verbatim. My challenge is actually sitting down (or standing up) to put the notes into a coherent outline. The time and focus to do this was one of the major reasons I decided to take a sabbatical. So far, it’s helped but not to the extent I would have loved to have reached at this time.Still, I am grateful to God for the opportunity. I need determination. God help me.

I was in Johannesburg downtown in the evening. I had to submit a letter to get my Nigerian driver’s license authenticated by the Embassy, so a friend and I went to a lady’s house to drop the letter as it was too late to go to the Embassy. This lady lives in the middle of city centre. I have never been there at night before and it was interesting to see how alive it was. It reminded me of Lagos downtown. One must really love the hustle and bustle to set up home there. It reminds me also that a lot of people who live in Lagos actually love the fast paced life and I guess those that live in the major cities of countries. We all have our likes and dislikes. God has created so much diversity and we must appreciate this in life.

I was reading the June JOY magazine today. They had a few articles on Universalism. I have heard about some of these new movements and trend ‘New Age’, ‘Emerging Church’ but not Universalism so I was really interested to know what it was about. I read about one third of the articles before I decided I don’t really want to know a lot about it after all. All these concepts, I believe are meant to turn people away from God by intellectualizing the Bible and creation and every aspect of our faith. These are indeed the end times. This concept believes there are many ways to God, that there is no absolute truth only what is true to you as long as you don’t try to convince me on your own truth, they believe that God (at least they believe that God exists) will draw everyone to Him and this translates that they don’t believe there is hell. And to cap it all, they believe that the Bible is not the ‘authority’ nor is it infallible. I pray that none of us or our children falls into this sect.

Day 40 (10th June)

The days seem to be flying and so cold, yet will I forever praise God for being alive and well! I’m really learning about focus and diligence. A lot of things just keep cropping into my days, if not studying for the School of Disciple exam tomorrow; it’s having business meetings and so on. I had to pop into Oxfam the other day and one of my team was asking how it feels to spend time sleeping and resting. She was surprised when I told her that I don’t get to have extra hours in bed in the morning. The only time I’ve done that so far was when I was in Nigeria in the first week. There is just so many things I have to do each day.

I definitely need to focus on priorities if I want to get to the end of the six months having achieved all my objectives. I would not be able to take another six months off, at least not immediately.

It was great to see the team though it does not make me feel like going back just yet.

I’m so behind in my reading, but getting some more writing done, still in rough draft which is ok, at least it’s written down.

I am listening to a TBN programme on what constitute adultery in the new social media age. If as a married person you send nude picture or sexually charged sms, emails, and tweets to people, are you committing adultery? In other words, this is conducting internet sex. I don’t think there should be any debate on this, the bottom line is you think lust in your heart and it is counted as adultery in the sight of God, you might not do it physically but you must have thought and be thinking about it whilst you are sending the text/email/image. Jesus is very clear about adultery being from the heart. God will have mercy on all of us.

Day 34 (3rd June)

I thank you Lord for a glorious and cold morning. The girls have no exams today and are able to stay at home to study. For once, I get to sleep a bit later, wonderful.

I have some paperwork to get done this morning, including finalizing my UK tax return for 2009-10 which is way overdue. Even 2010-11 would be due on a couple of months. I have procrastinated on doing my returns and it has cost me some penalty (Eish!). Let me just make myself a bit happier by defending and justifying myself. Every year, I have to do two tax returns, one in South Africa and one for the UK. The UK one is more complicated and I always have to adjust my submission for one reason or the other including the fact that I should not be taxed in the UK since I’m taxed in SA. So, it’s not a task I enjoy doing at all and I delay doing it till the last minute. Well I over delayed this time and it cost me. Anyway, got it out of the way (at least 2009-10), though I still need to call the tax office to explain some things so that I’m not asked to pay the GBP10k I’ve already been assessed on.

I spent part of the morning assisting a brother on some financial analysis for training he is doing with DTI. I haven’t done pure accounting work for some time now and it was like a refresher. I hope something good would come out of the work for him as well as for me.

Apart from articulating my experiences, insights and reflection, it struck me that there are other learning from this my journey which is more to do with how I am during this time. I already reflected that this period in my life requires focus, structure, diligence or one would get to the end of the six months and have not achieved what was planned and then it would a waste of time and resources. Really this period is an investment for me. I am not earning income but using my savings to achieve outcomes that would not only give me some financial returns, but develop me to a higher lever that would enrich my life spiritually, mentally, emotionally and financially. Other learning is that it is a period of both uncertainty and excitement. I don’t know where God would have taken me to at the end but I know with God, it can only be a better level, hence am so excited to live this next few months. Having the time to ready is fabulous. I’m learning from the knowledge and inspiration of men and women of God. Actually, I think I read men’s book more that women. I love Karen Kingsbury’s books. I shed tears every time I read any of her books. Her stories are so real and moving. She is so gifted and God is using her to minister to people through her writing. It would be awesome to get her as a guest speaker for one of We CAN’s women leadership event. You won’t receive if you don’t ask. This goes on my ‘to do’ list for We CAN right now. Hold on, I need to ask God first. Maybe I will hold on from adding this to my list till I hear from God. One of her books is now a movie titled ‘Like Dandelion Dust’. I’m planning to go and see it for sure, on Wednesday when it’s half price.

It’s so cold today. We have the monthly Divine Encounter service in Johannesburg this evening. I will be padded very well. The Service was great. It’s always awesome being in the presence of God.

We continued to plan for the Women leadership breakfast event today. I spoke with the special guest yesterday and was so happy to learn that she lives in Pretoria. I had been wondering how we would get her to Jo’burg if she lives outside Gauteng. But God is so good how things are working. I’m looking forward to having a cup of coffee with her next week.  She is the owner of Tehillah art. Tehillah means ‘High praises to God’ in Hebrew. What a fabulous name for a business. I’m positively all our women would be so blessed by her experience.

Another day in your glorious presence oh Lord, I thank You.

Day 33 (2nd June)

I think this is the first day of my ideal day during this period, spending time in the morning in the Word. Anytime I read the bible, I get so much insight into the heart of God, about principles for living, about leadership principles and so much more.

Before I went into the Word, I continued watching a film which I started yesterday night but fell asleep in the process. This was not because it was boring, rather because I was tired. The film was titled’ Tribulation Night’ by Mt Zion films. It tells the story of those left behind after the rapture (when Jesus Christ came back for the Saints). There was the Choir leader in the midst of fornication, the TV Evangelist who was living a proud and adulterous life and so on. Hm, the agony and sorrow of those Christian who did not make it. Many that would be left behind would not be able to persevere and would take the mark. What sorrow! What will I be doing when the rapture happens? What will you be doing when the rapture happens? Incidentally, I also hit on a site showing a video that asks the question; ‘Will you be taken by God or be left behind? Eternity should always be in the forefront of all believers. If Jesus were to come right now, will I make it? It is worth constantly thinking about.

I think that my life in SA would probably not be as exciting as in Nigeria. I have to catch up on a lot of things which means going out less and doing more activities that would help me to achieve my objectives. This would mean I would have to be tougher on taking on projects or tasks that people ask me to do or I give myself to do. This is putting into practice some of my leadership training on prioritization.

I was reading the book of Luke today. I started some weeks ago but keep reading the first few chapters. I was fascinated by the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. We know their story as the parent of John the Baptist and also Elizabeth is one of the examples we use to encourage women waiting for the fruit of the womb. The dimension that God opened my eyes to as I was reading Luke was their faith and complete submission to the will of God. They must have prayed so much for the fruit of the womb and eventually gave up since they are now old, yet their faith and obedience was unwavering. There is so much learning in their story and I would be exploring this in my spiritual journey write up.

The other person that I got engrossed with was Mary, the mother of Jesus. You know, this woman did not doubt the word of God, tough she was curious how it would come to pass as she was a virgin. Yet, she accepted it. What faith. The reason why the faith of these three people fascinated me was that this was the first time that God would speak to His people after 400 years. I’m not even sure there were any miracles, signs and wonders during these 400 silent years. The only thing that the Jews had, to communicate with God was the Old Testament scriptures. There was no prophecies, no dream nothing, nothing. Yet, this three kept their faith in God based on the stories of what He has done for their ancestors. Incredible! In our dispensation, we love hearing prophecies, seeing visions and so on. In fact, whenever there is a programme where there would be prophecies, miracles etc there would be a large gathering of crowd than in a normal Sunday service or Bible study. We need to see signs, actions to keep our faith glowing. Zechariah, Elizabeth and Mary only depended on the word of God, and boy did they receive the favour of God.

I have always wondered if Jesus was able to live a sinless life because he did not carry the Adamic sin nature t(hat is being born without the seed of man). I kept asking God to open my eyes of understanding. God said that those who seek Him shall find Him, and He responded to my wondering in this same book of Luke. Jesus was both divine and human in nature when he was on earth. He was born holy reflecting his divine nature and born of a woman reflecting his human nature. Being born holy also paves the way for him to be the sacrificial lamb (and he has to remain holy). He bore similarity with the first Adam who was also born holy (without sin) but this is where the similarity ends. Jesus maintained his holiness by complete obedience to God but the first Adam failed here when he disobeyed God. Because Jesus was human he also had freewill and he used his to do the will of God the father. As human he relates with human feelings and emotions. We see a lot of this in his compassion to people and most illuminating was his cry in the garden of Gethsemane for God to take the cup away from him (this is definitely human emotion). There is nothing that we can go through as humans that Jesus won’t understand; he knows the human nature first hand. His holiness at birth was not the reason he was able to live a sinless live, rather his complete submission to the Will of God and in complete obedience. That is the perfect example for us believers. If we submit to the perfect Will of the Father and in complete obedience, we would live in God’s perfect purpose for our lives as Jesus did, and with the Holy Spirit, live a holy life as Jesus did. I thank you Father for this understanding.

I’m behind in my reading. I managed to read a couple of chapters from the Screwtape letters. As usual I’m amazed how C.S. Lewis got the insight into the machinations of the devil and his cohorts. I try to share any inspirational insights from the books I read on my twitter (@aakintoye or @WeCANLI). I firmly believe that knowledge is for sharing. This is part of God’s purpose for my life; to share knowledge. Anytime I learn something, I have this compulsion to share with others. I guess one of the reasons I’m writing and sharing my journey. The learning might not be relevant for many people but for the very few that it does impact; all glory is given to God.

An insight I got from the Screwtape letters this morning was that many of us use faith as a means to a worldly end (material possessions, wealth) when it should be a means to an eternal end. We don’t have faith to gain possessions, to live a good life but we have faith to make it to heaven. We might not show our intention for being a believer but God sees our heart and our intentions. My sister and I were discussing something similar when I was in Nigeria but more on what some people ascribe to God which should not be. We said that there are some things that happen which you don’t even need to have faith to get or be a believer to have or achieve because it has been set from time immemorial by God as part of nature. And example was that there are so many wealthy people who are not Believers. There is the principle of sowing and harvesting, principle of working in your area of gift or talent, principle of diligence and hard work and so many others. Some people use these principles to gain wealth (examples Bill Gates, Richard Bronson and many others), and we see some become believers after becoming wealthy. There is no need for believers to use their faith as a means of getting wealth; rather their faith should be to make eternity. Our focus should be on holiness rather than acquiring material possession. Not that wealth is bad, no we need money to expand the gospel to the four corners of the earth but wealth is secondary. After all, Jesus said we should seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and every other thing shall be added unto you. The Screwtape letters mentioned that the devil uses the Christians’ focus on material things to keep them away from the Will of God. This is worth reflecting upon.

I got the final version for the new We CAN website today from my brother. I’m so excited but unfortunately could not open it. I’m looking forward to the revamped site. Fabulous.

Father, help me to keep my focus on You, always on You. For an enriching day like this, I bless your name.

Day 32 (1st June)

A new month, wow! I thank You Jehovah for the gift of life. I’m gradually getting a little bit of structure into my day; take the girls to school, gym (maybe not some days, haven’t fallen in love with it yet!), any errands in town, read and or work on specific projects for the day, pick up the girls from school, rest, church (Tuesday and Thursdays), do more work usually updating journal and more reading. Well, that is the plan; I need a whole lot of diligence and not forgetting to keep some flexibility for unplanned events.

Planning for the We CAN Women leadership breakfast is in progress. We went to check the venue today in Northgate Mall. I would have loved a quieter venue with the same budget but God is in control, and the important thing is to ask God where He wants us to hold it. We are a little bit behind schedule as the event flier should have been ready by now but God is helping us.

I picked up one of my newly bought books (seems I buy at least one book a month), titled ‘Hearing from God by Henry and Richard Blackaby a father and son writing duo. I flipped through the book to briefly read a chapter and my gaze was arrested by the chapter on prayers. I guess this was because of the digging deep we had yesterday where we were discussing this topic. One of the ways that God speaks with me is getting affirmation through other people, either in a sermon, in a book or in a discussion. The writers were discussing some perspectives on prayers, what is prayer, why we pray, whom we should pray, what does God’s answer look like and so on. Some of the things that got me reflecting were their view that the reason we pray is that, it is a means of getting our focus away from us and turning it to God, that God uses prayer to relate with people and share what is in His heart. Once again, I ask myself, do I really give God the chance to share His heart with me? I feel I do, in particular through His word, through the various insights that He drops in my heart about who He is and His love for us. I pray that we continue to understand how to effectively communicate with God and not use prayer just as a medium to petition God.

Today, the phrase that keeps popping into my heart is ‘Intimacy with God’. Since I articulated my goals for this period in my life, I heard clearly the spiritual goal is to become intimate with God. This, coupled with the insight on prayer gives more clarity for me on my journey towards discovering my purpose; in Christ and in the world.

I was reading a magazine today and I came across this gruesome article on body suspension. These people put hooks through their skin and suspend themselves on poles. Apparently, it helps them to overcome pain, fear and increase their endurance level. This is definitely not for the faint hearted and I’m sure there are easier and simpler ways of overcoming fear and pain! What human beings do!

It’s my immediate brother’s birthday today. I remembered him and his family. I did not send birthday greetings though as he is a Jehovah’s Witness. I have been saving on birthday gifts for my siblings for many years now due to their faith Still, I lift them up into Jehovah’s hand and pray that God Himself will teach him and me His Will, and continue to shine His light upon him and his family. My brother is also one of the few people remaining in the world that is not hooked on facebook.

Father, I thank you for a day of continuous growth.

Day 30 (30th May)

I give God all the glory for His goodness and mercy in my life. I woke up today with a long list of ‘to dos’. I wondered how come I’m back only a few days and already there is a lot of things to do. I have not updated my journal since Saturday day 28^th and I know this is not the best way to keep a journal. The best way is to write up your journal each day when the events and thoughts are still very fresh in your mind.

This made me realize the importance of diligence as a character trait. Diligence makes you focus and keep on what you have to do no matter what. I definitely need this in a big dose each day. Getting back to SA, has gotten me into a ‘must do this and must do that’ mode.

We had the second quarterly We CAN board meeting today and one of the members said something which I’ve been reflecting on. She mentioned the need to focus. This is definitely another character trait I need a good dose of. I have a purpose for taking this sabbatical and I have articulated (or have I?), actually just realized that I say it but I’ve never written down my sabbatical objective. How would I track progress against my goals? I’m diverting for a few minutes to do this right now.

I took the girls to school in the morning, a change from the past three weeks when they’ve been taking taxi to school. They are starting their exams today. Deborah was very quick to assure me they have been studying very hard. After the school drop, I had to and I mean had to go to the gym. You know as a registered member you are required to attend the gym at least 20 times in a 12 month cycle (is this a punishment or motivation?) and apparently I need to go at least 1 (one) time by the 31^st of May or I would be de-registered. So off I am to the gym. I decided I might as well do some treadmill and cardio whilst I’m here and not just swipe my card for recording purpose. I have to say every time, I manage to go to the gym, at the end of it I’m always very happy. Makes you wonder why it’s such a chore after a while to diligently go, after all it’s for one’s good. I think I’m trying to encourage myself here

I did some running around during the day and after picking up the girls after school we went to Menly Shopping mall to get my Sim card sorted. As we got back to the car, the security guard stopped us and pointed to the front left side of my car. It had been bumped by a lady who was reversing out of her parking space without taking cognizance of the parked cars behind her. Needless to say, I’ve just had additional work put on my plate. I thank God there was no loss of life.

I started another book called crazy love and it’s written by Francis Chan, the pastor of Cornerstone Church in California. I have not finished reading the Screw tape letters but I wanted something a bit lighter in addition. One thing I have realized is that it’s not just the knowledge you get from reading books, you also get affirmation of your own views sometimes. This book is centered on the passionate love of and for God. It got me to start thinking and reflecting on why do we love God. I have felt that I don’t love God enough, the way He should be loved when you think about what He has done for us and how much He loved us. I asked myself if I love Him because of what He can do for me or because of who He is? The response that came back from myself is that for me to answer this, I need to think about how I relate with Him (do I ask Him for things more than I worship Him in praises and exaltation?, communicate with Him as an afterthought), what sort of relationship I have with Him (do I long to just be in His presence? How much time do I devote to studying Him from His Word?), is every aspect of my life God centered? These are tough questions to ask. I don’t need a Preacher to tell me I have to do this, just need to ask and study myself to see if I do these. It’s easy to say, ‘I love you’ but actions confirms whether this is actually true. Do I love God enough as I should?

Got in touch with some of Oxfam staff today, more as a necessity because the cell phone sim decided it’s had enough and I need to do a sim swap. It was nice to reconnect but it made me feel that I haven’t really totally de-oxfamed. I should, really should. Eventually, I was able to get my cell phone back on track, thank goodness.

Father, I thank you for today, teach me to love You the way You expect us to. I thank You Jehovah for a day of abundant blessings.

Day 31 (31st May)

I woke up thankful for seeing another precious day. I reported the accident at the Police Station and took the car for assessment. I do hope that all the process would be done stress free. There goes my ‘bucks back’ no claim refund. Anyway, thank God for life, it’s only a piece of metal after all.

This unplanned accident took most of my time this morning, not to talk about the additional expenses I had already incurred by having to change all my four car tyres. This taught me again that you can plan your day in detail but you need to be ready for unplanned incidences.

I don’t feel I’m yet fully into my sabbatical. There seems to be so much to do, though today feels a lot less packed. I was able to spend some time in Church, not as much as I would love to but it’s a start.

Today was Digging Deep in Church, were we dig deeper into the Word of God, discuss and ask questions. I always enjoy these sessions as you are able to ask questions and explore. We were discussing Revival prayers. We had some interesting discussion on prayer. It got me reflecting on the teaching I had from God some time ago on praying the heart of God. You know, we want to learn how to pray those prayers that God would answer (immediately?). Where do we learn this from except from God Himself? If our prayers are full of request/petition for what we want God to do for us, with the right does of praise and worship added, would this get us our request? Prayer is much more than this, for me. It is about a continuous communication with God. Note, communication with not communicating to God (that is communicating our requests, our needs, our wants, reminding God of His promises). This would require a two way conversation. I don’t feel I communicate with God enough; I want my communication to be much richer and intimate. I want to know more, how to ask for the right thing. It’s like there is a house full of treasures, and you ask for certain treasures in the house, thereby missing some. When what you should do is ask for the key to the house, once you unlock it, everything in it becomes yours. I want God Himself to teach me how to ask for the key to the house of treasures. I want to learn how to let God communicate more and I listen more.

Father on this my journey, teach me.

Day 29 (29th of May)

I arrived back safely this morning in SA. Praise God for journey mercies. The flight was boring, no movies and the services from South Africa Airline was appalling I have to say. We were served dinner first without any drink not even water. Most people had already finished their dinner before we were served any drinks. What is someone had choked on their food? Having travelled quite a bit with SAA to Europe, I have to say the SAA attitude on the European flights is far better than those going to Nigeria. Every time I travel with them to Nigeria, there is a marked negative difference. I wonder why.

The Customs at Oliver Tambo airport, what are they like. It’s as if they see the opportunity to make some dosh (slang for money) from Expression hairpiece. I was stopped by an Officer who latched onto the 20 hair attachments I bought. He said I have to pay vat. I was quite ready to argue my case because the customs regulation allows me personal effect to the tune of R3000 and my 20 attachment was nowhere near 60,000 naira. So I demanded to see the regulation that covers paying VAT on 20 attachments. Do you know what I was told? They are allowed to use their discretion, and for them, 10 is the maximum exempt for VAT because we Nigerians bring them to sell. Eventually I had to pay R43.86 for 24 attachments including those that are not even mine. It’s not a lot, however it’s the principle and injustice. Maybe, I should appeal, for my fellow Expression bearing Nigerians and after all, there should not be anything like discretion in VAT

It was lovely seeing my girls after three weeks. Simi did a great job looking after her sisters. I pray that God’s mercy and favour will always overshadow my girls, that as they grow in age they will grow in their intimacy with Christ Jesus.

I was able to make it to Church for the Sunday service tired but alert. I came back home thanking God for His mercies.