Asu Ekiye was in church! And I miss her so much…

I was at House on the Rock The Refuge today the 31st of August, a few hours before the ’ember months’ broadcasts start flying around on Blackberry, Twitter, and Facebook. Miss me with that nonsense please. God bless you.

I digressed; church was many shades of amazing! To be honest, the only church that compares to HOTR for me is my home church, Hillsong. There’s something about the amount of care and preparation that goes into readying their services that makes it super exciting for me.

I was blessed by the testimonies, especially the lady whose sister God snatched from death, and the guy who now has two flexible, well-paying jobs. There was the single mom whose son has now come to Christ and is now in university and away from his rough friends, and yes, there was the guy who heard a word from Pastor Goodheart in 2001, ‘ran’ with it and has now received a mandate letter from the Federal Government to bring his 9-year-old dream to life! Exciting stuff, God is truly amazing!

And then Asu Ekiye took to the stage, and I couldn’t sit down! Yes! Yes! Yes! From the first song till his team left the stage, I was catapulted to several times in 2013 when my darling aunty Pat and I would play loud music on the days before she fell ill, and then days when she didn’t feel a lot of pain.

Sometimes, I would wake up to Yinka Ayefele, some other times it would be Kefee (of blessed memory), and then of course it would be Asu Ekiye blasting through the roof. How no one ever reported us for disturbance I don’t know, and you know how paper-thin walls can be in England.

It always annoyed me when she did that (because I have the craziest sleep patterns); she’d leave the music on (at its highest), and then open my door just so I’d hear her sing along to it. When I opened my eyes she’d say, “eye no go rotten” or “sleep no be death”. If I frowned, she’d say, “I just came to visit you o, you don’t know if I’m an angel”, and that would make me smile. I miss her to pieces.

And so when Asu Ekiye started to minister, I danced my heart out in honor of God, and in honor of my aunty. I flashed back to the times we’d play these Nigerian traditional tunes, and then I’d dance to show her the steps I’d put on during my traditional marriage (even when I wasn’t dating anyone). I remember asking to check if my bum was shaking or not. Lol!

I miss her. I miss her. Kai.

P:S – At this point I shut my moleskine and concentrated on the service. So I wouldn’t cry too much. 🙂

The Medicine Of A Merry Heart

Hello! And welcome to church!!

Today we’re going back to a service I attended in June. Venue: House On The Rock, The Refuge, in Abuja! I found it in my notes and at this time of the year when we start to evaluate what we’ve done with ourselves, the failures and successes, its instructive that we don’t become gloomy.

Ok? Pens and notepads out? Lord help us internalize these words today, trust you to help us, heal us, and take all our sorrows away. Amen.

Ok, so Pastor Goodheart Obi Ekwueme taught on ‘The Medicine Of A Merry Heart’; I have adapted the first part of the message to suit my purpose. We start with a few scriptures:

Proverbs 17: 22 – “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones”.

Proverbs 4: 21-22 – “Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. (Referring to the scriptures and the instructions from the Lord)

Psalm 11: 3 – “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Psalm 107:20 – “He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.”

We need to learn to enjoy our today on the way to our tomorrow – Joyce Meyer. I like it when Ministers of the gospel reference other ministers of the gospel in their sermons, makes me feel like they acknowledge they are not the only ones out there, that they seek knowledge themselves. Pastor Obi Ekwueme is like that, bless him!

Here’s the gist: regardless of what you achieved or not, there is a reason to be merry, especially this season. You don’t have a job? Thank God you even qualify to be job hunting in the first place! You’re not married? You qualify for a partner, they’re not just here yet! If you were resident under a bridge, starkers and out of your mind, would any of the two questions above worry you? So be merry!

Good and perfect gifts come from God, the Father of light, in whom there is no partiality. That God is your Father, and the number one reason you should be merry! For the gift of life; January to December, we’re still here! Even if we got sick, we got better. Even if we got broke, we got better. There’s so much evil going on around us that we’ve been spared, all these are reasons to be merry!

As we enter a new week and preparations for Christmas and the New Year start to peak, let’s always remember that we have a good God who loves us and wants the best for us. And let’s stay merry!

Mwah!

Related articles

• a merry heart does good… (thenarrowpassage.wordpress.com)
• Christmas Psalms: Psalm 9 (urcpsalmody.wordpress.com)
• Merry Christmas (michellemaries.wordpress.com)
• A Merry Heart – Oct 21 (auntieemsguide.wordpress.com)
• Count them!!! (msgiddy.wordpress.com)