Of sermons, birthday’s and some – what I did on the 16th of March!

So the 16^th of March was Chude’s birthday (his 29^th), and he was in London so it was inevitable that my day would revolve around celebrations of some sort. Only snag was, up till a few days to the day, we didn’t quite know what we wanted to do!

Lunch at a friends, lunch at a restaurant, party? We didn’t know. Next thing we knew it was a couple nights before and so we said we’d go to church, thank God for the new year, and then we’d be up for anything that followed.

Sunday morning we all made it to Jesus House (which is like the headquarters for The Redeemed Christian Church of God in London), and it so reminded me of House on The Rock in Abuja, there’s nothing like well-produced music! I mean I know it doesn’t happen that way but sometimes I think the better sounding the production, the further in front your praises are in the line to the Lord!

Then I heard Rev Adeboye was in the service, and it was like the kiss of my life! Daddy G.O was in church? Ahh, and we had planned to go for some other service before? Not sure I would have forgiven myself! I was extra expectant, I just knew God was going to bring a great word of peace to me.

Anyone who knows Daddy Adeboye knows he is soft-spoken, for me it is one of his most endearing qualities – all this ‘noise’’ in churches sometimes sha, SMH – I feel like I listen more when I’m not distracted by the minister yelling.

He said a short prayer, and then he went right into it. Reading from 1 Samuel 7:12, Romans 8:28, and 1 Thessalonians 5: 18, he talked about the ups and downs in our lives as being proof that we were truly living. He said, “when you take a heart test at the hospital, a flat line is never a good thing, it indicates death. A healthy heart has ups and downs”.

There were three questions too, designed to make us reflect on our lives, our walk with God, and generally the things we get up to.

1. Where am I on this journey? Hebrews 12:1. Am I where God wants me to be?
2. How much time do I have left? Joshua 13:1
3. How will I end?

He said two interesting things about pride and the feeling of ‘I have arrived’. He said it takes 3 days to get to the moon but 4 and half years to get to Mars – what have you achieved that’s making your shoulders higher than your head?

Then he prayed, ahh!! Told us to pray for a birthday blessing for ourselves too, and after leading people to Christ, he was gone. Apparently, he stopped over (enroute another country), just for the service. Bless him!

After the service (and cornering Pastor Agu Irukwu – thanks Yemi – to pray for Chude), it was off for another celebration at Anino’s cousin’s place. Lol, no see waka that day!

My Momma spoke with and prayed for Chude, Anino’s Momma sang and prayed for him too (how/why that reduced me to tears I will never understand but it did) and then it was time to eat!

PS – Anino’s momma is a darling and half! Love her to bits!

So, we ate, drank, literally stuffed our faces with food (while counting calories of course, lol), and then it was time to head home. There was lots of singing in the car as Anino’s momma dropped us at the station, and there were some lovely Ellen-inspired selfies too!

Amazing day, I got home and literally passed out! Happy birthday Chude!

PS – here’s his account of his day here.

 

Related articles

• Happy Birthday, Momma!
• A Shout Out To My Momma.
• Coming soon: Are We The Turning Point Generation. A Collection of Essays by Chude Jideonwo