Category: Stories

image source

Have you been expecting a miracle lately from man or the creator of man?

This is a  true life incident that Fummy, a middle aged woman witnessed recently.
At about 2 pm on this beautiful day, we all left our place of worship after the prayer session in a North American city. Most of the members were in the parking lot. Some in their vehicle about to start the car and some socializing with one another. This was the situation of one of our male member. He parked on the other side of the parking lot from the place of worship, and was talking to another male member. He assumed that his eldest son(of about 9 years old) was watching over his younger son of about 2 years and 8 month. At this time I was in my car about to start the engine, and a big truck that looks like a Toyota tundra was driving out from the parking lot. In a quick second, this toddler ran across the parking lot to get his potato chips that was earlier given out to the children at the place of worship. It was too close for the driver of the truck to even see the toddler. We all screamed as much as we could, but it was too late. The truck hit the toddler and in a second, he was already under the truck. The driver who did not have a clue about what was happening heard our screams, applied the break and the truck stopped. I saw the whole scene that seemed to me like watching a movie. The adult were screaming, children were crying and everyone was so terrified. I got down and was frantically shouting and praying God! please save him, God! Please save him, but I wasn’t so positive at this time. Even the dad just stood right there with others. We were all helpless.The mom seeing that her son was under the truck, flung her shoes away and immediately went under the truck to pull her son out. She carried him, ran into their family car and was about to drive to the hospital. The child started crying. Everyone including myself breathed a sigh of relief. Someone suggested to call 911 so as to accurately report the incidence. The driver, a middle aged man of a different race, came down from the car so perplexed on realizing what had happened. He stood still. The dad was very furious with the driver, but everyone attested to his innocence. He wasn’t speeding at all. Thank goodness, the ambulance, police and fire vehicles all arrived within 5 minutes. There was a small bruise at the center of the child’s head. He was driven to the city’s civic hospital where several tests were carried out.While they were waiting for the test results, the toddler asked for food, and his mum went to buy him some snacks. It was a box of 10 donought, of which none  was spared, except the one that fell on the floor. He was later discharged in the evening. Everything was fine , not even a pain killer was administered. Thank Goodness! The doctor however told his parents to watch out for any vomiting, swelling or abnormal sleeping pattern. None of these signs showed up and he started running around just as he was before the accident.
I asked the dad these two questions days after the incident.
a. what if you have been asking God for a blessing which has not happened for a while? He smiled and said” I don’t need any other blessings from my creator right now except to give Him thanks for saving my son”.
Folks! Don’t feel bad for what you don’t have, but feel grateful for things you got without asking. Give thanks to God always and be patient.
b. What if you were not there and this happened. He said to me” I would not have taken it lightly with my wife” I would blame her for sure”.
Folks! It could happen to anyone. Father or mother. No human being is perfect. Do not be quick to apportion blame.

Lessons learned:
1.He survived without hurt- It can only be God , the Lord of heaven and earth. He only says ” Be and it is”
2. Who performed this miracle- it is God, the giver and taker of life. He never sleeps nor slumber. Never expect a miracle from any man. where when and how no one knows except the creator of man.
3. Parents should never leave their children in the parking lot to run around. Do your own part and leave the rest to God.
4. Parents should never leave a toddler with an older sibling who is not an adult. Children will always be children. A ten year old equally wants to play like a toddler most of the time.

I pray that God continue to protect us all against all kinds of calamity and catastrophe amen. Have a blessed week

image source

Mimi lives in a two bedroom apartment in a North American state with her son of 30 months old. She shares the flat with a middle aged gentle man called Lu. It’s a block of 4 flats, and one of her neighbor whose flat is directly below Mimi’s is a white senior. He Lives all by himself and in the summer months, sat outside on his nice comfortable chair with his walking stick beside him. When he is not sleeping or eating, you will always meet him outside, looking around for interesting things to see.  Mimi has just started living here and would always like to say hello to this old man. On the first day that Mimi met him, she said hello, but instead of him to answer, he responded by saying hello buddy to Mimi’s son. You know toddlers; they are friendly to everyone as long as you can be their play mate.  Some of his usual conversation with Mimi’s son are

The senior: Hi buddy. How are you

Mimi’s son: Hi. I’m good. What a very smart boy

The man: You’re going out?

Mimi’s son: Yes

The man: OK. Bye buddy

Mimi’s son: Bye!

Mimi’s son became so fond of this senior to the extent that, it became a regular thing to play with his new friend every time he was going out with his mum. The weather is not friendly now and so Mimi does not see her son’s friend around anymore. He was always indoors, but would come outside to pick his messages including daily fruit deliveries. One thing that is certain is once the delivery man dropped his orders, in about half an hour, the parcel or fruit would have been taken in. This indicated that he was okay.  On a day in the winter month, Mimi was on her way to work and she noticed that the fruits and parcel from the previous day were still at his door step. This is strange, Mimi thought. She called the attention of his flat mate Lu who attested to the fact that it was unusual for the man not to pick his parcels. They both thought of going to knock at his door, but the man never responded to any one of them when they greeted him. By the evening of that day, another delivery person who happened to be a white lady showed up at his door and met Lu on his way out to work. This conversation ensued.

Lu: Hi. I think you need to knock on his door, because we noticed that the previous day’s delivery is still out here

The delivery lady: Yeah. I can see that. This is unusual. The lady agreed.

Lu decided to knock very hard on his door and a very faint and low voice was heard from his flat, but no one showed up at the door to open it. Lu decided to peep through his window. Alas! The man was on the floor and could not move. At this time, they needed to act fast. Lu went to the apartment maintenance office to report the case while he also called 911. In about 5 minutes, the ambulance arrived. As they were about to break in to take him to the hospital, the maintenance officer came promptly and brought the spare keys to his flat. The door was opened and the man was lying helplessly on the floor. He had recovered from a stroke in the past and was prescribed medication. For unknown reasons, he had another stroke, but this time no one was around to help him. He must have been in that state for 24 hours or more. The man was taken to the hospital promptly.  Thank God for a good neighbor even when the man did not show any kindness or respect to them. As at this time, the man is still at the hospital. May God lessen his pain and heal him of his illness amen.

Brethren! Be good to your neighbor, whether you are of the same or different race, color, and sex. It does not matter. We are all brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends everywhere and anywhere we are.

Folks! Always pay attention to the situation around you, no matter how busy you are. You may save somebody’s life or save someone from a calamity. Be your neighbor’s keeper.

image source

Yomi , an artist promoter is the first son of a sibling of four.  He is a pleasant young man, working at an early age in a neighboring country and lives with his parents.  He comes home every other month for a few days before he leaves for work again. On a cold winter work-day at about 6:00 am, his dad TJ  left for work. Yomi had an intention to surprise his dad with his first gift, but didn’t know when he left for work. Immediately he realized that his dad’s car was not on the drive way, he picked up his phone to call. His dad  left about five minutes ago. This conversation ensued

Yomi: Dad. Where are you?

Dad: I am on my way to work; any problem?

Yomi: No dad. Can you please come back?

Dad: Paused! OK

On getting back to the house, Yomi was already waiting on the drive way.  As the dad was rolling down the car window to find out why he was asked to come back, Yomi slipped into his hand a rolled paper and said “take this”.  Before the dad could check what Yomi had given to him, he went back inside the house.  When the dad checked, it was two $100 bills. Wao!  Yomi’s gift shocked his dad as he wondered how at a young age of 19 ,  Yomi had grown matured enough to develop such a generous , compassionate and loving heart for his parents.  It was an emotional one for TJ, who felt he had the whole world from his son without asking! This made him very happy throughout the day. Ever since, Yomi has been a regular giver not only to his parents, but his siblings, relatives, friends and anyone who comes in contact with him.

Think about this:

A small gift to one’s parents  give them great joy, even if it means making them smile.

May God make Yomi’s children reciprocate him, grant his parents long life and grant us all the wherewithal to make our parents and others smile always amen.

image source

I wanted to share an incident that happened to me and my younger cousin in downtown Toronto on the 12th of June 2016. On this Sunday afternoon, I drove her to the bus station to board the evening bus back to her school . We had a little situation because she had much more than the baggage allowance per passenger. As we arrived at the car park beside the station at about 3 pm, I noticed a weird looking man who appeared to me as one of those homeless people on the street of Toronto. He smiled at me and was trying to tell me where to park. My cousin called my attention to where the man pointed us to park. I told my cousin to ignore him as he is not a traffic guard. In order to reduce the amount of excess baggage amount to be paid to the bus company, we decided to go to a  nearby store to buy a very big plastic container and tried to fit in all the 5 boxes containing different food items.  The man was watching with amusement and asked if we were having a feast , as he noticed we had boxes of chicken, fish, pepper and tomatoes. At that point, my cousin asked if he could give us a hand to carry the heavy plastic weighing about 170 pounds into the station. She requested for his help as she was told previously by the station officer that there was no cart and everyone needs to bring their stuff into the station by themselves. The man tried to lift the plastic container to see how heavy it was. He told us that it’s very heavy but that he is going to bring a cart for us. I thought to myself, where is he going to get a cart. To my biggest surprise, the man came back and said” I did not find a cart but I came with two security men. We never thought about this. One of them asked questions about the contents of the container, my cousin s destination etc. Immediately, the other man went and brought a cart. They both carried the plastic container, loaded it unto the cart and wheeled it to the station.  I felt so relieved having spent about an hour trying to figure out how to get the stuff into the station.My cousin and I had a warm good bye and she followed the security men into the station.   The man was very happy and wished us a nice day. I was so grateful to this homeless looking man who we never thought could be of any help. To show my appreciation to this him, I went into my car, grabbed my purse and handed him a $5 note. He was dumbfounded and I was wondering why he was silent for a moment. This conversation ensued

The man : I know when I see an angel, you are one and I know it”

Me : I was shocked! I smiled and said thank you.

As I was going into my car, he followed me and said ” wouldn’t you ask me why I said so”  I asked why?. His reply was” The smile on your face”. I was so touched by his statement and the whole incident. From this, I learnt a few things:
1. Be good to strangers. They are friends you just met.
2. Never look down on any one. It doesn’t matter who they are or how they are or look.
3. Do not prejudge anyone, you don’t know where your help is going to come from. God uses anyone to achieve His goal.
4. Do not drive away your guardian angel with harshness.
Brethren! Show a little kindness in whatever way you can. Never think what is my gain if I help, but think what is his pain if I don’t help. Dear Lord! You are the owner of wealth! You give to anyone as You please! Please bless us and make us a blessing to others amen. Have a blessed week.

image source

The story I wanted to share with you started on the evening of the 31^st of October 2017. My husband misplaced his bank token and only noticed this when  he needed to do an online banking transaction. He looked everywhere in the car and in the house to no avail. He was so worried throughout the night and woke up the next morning with the same feeling. As he stepped out the following morning, entered his car and noticed he could not find his cell phone. He came back in and started looking for it. He asked if I saw it in the kitchen. This conversation ensued.

Hubby: Did you find my phone in the kitchen?

Me: No. Go and check the room.

Hubby: I checked and its not there.

Me: Did you check the car?

Hubby: Yes  I did.

Me: Go and check the car again.

Within 5 minutes, he was so confused and so was I; looking everywhere in the kitchen including the micro wave. Nowhere was spared as the adage that says ” when you misplace any belonging you look for it at the oddest place”. He came back in after a minute and said to me: I found my phone in the pocket beside the driver’s seat of my car and guess what! I found my bank token beneath  my phone in the same spot. He was so happy and left for the day. From this I learnt the following

1. Sometimes you get into confusion because God wanted to give you a solution. If not for the phone, the token may not have been found till nobody knows when.
2. Sometime a journey may be delayed to relay a message, and if we listen may avoid a dismay. Nobody knows what calamity has been averted on the way.
3. We cannot achieve or get anything done at our own time and on our own terms. It has to be when and how the supreme wants it to happen.
4. Life cannot be lived smoothly every day without a challenge, no matter how small. This changes our lives for the better every day.

Always look for the positivity in any negative situation and the results will be a positive attitude to life.

Our Lord! Give us the inner eye to see and internal ear to hear amen.

I was traveling from province T to S on the 19th of April 2017. I had a stop at a city called Edmonton. The transit was to be for 4 hours. I dreaded the long wait and was thinking of what I could do to while away time. It’s was lunch time and decided to eat my hot fresh meal from my ever reliable thermos flask. I love to take food on local flights especially if i will be air borne for 3hrs or more. It was a nice meal and thank goodness I was able to quickly munch it before an old white lady walked into the room, where we waited to board our flight. There was an empty seat beside me and in my usual style invited her to seat. She was very glad, putting up a very lovely smile and greeted me warmly as she sat down. We exchanged pleasantries.
Me: hello ma’am. How are you doing
The lady: I’m fine, how are you doing too. Can I seat beside you.
Me: sure!
The lady: Thank you so much. My name is Alba
Me: I’m Shade
That was how the conversation started. From her parents to marriage and having her two boys who are 63 and 57 years old now, there was no dull minute. She told me about how her parents migrated to north America in the early 1900. She appreciated the fact that everyone in North America is an immigrant; whether you came 100 years ago or a year ago. She lives in a suburb of Edmonton in a neighborhood of retired seniors, and was traveling by herself to visit her grandson in the city I was also visiting. A very smart woman, she is very current with politics and did not hide her feelings about the change of government in the US. Just about 5 minutes into our gisting, we were laughing, giggling and chuckling to the extent that some of our neighbours attention was constantly on us. They looked at us and smiled intermittently. She was very happy throughout the 2 and half hours chat, and wondered how I was so friendly with her. I told her that I love to talk with seniors because I think about how lonely they are especially in this part of the world. She attested to that but however told me that she watches the news, reads and also play games with her neighbors because she lost her husband 10 years ago when she was 76years old. I felt so sorry for her because she now lives alone. It was time to board now, and she was among the first to be called to board. She was not so happy to leave, so we hugged and said goodbye. The flight was about 3 hours, but I didn’t have a clue which section of the air plane she was seating. I strongly felt like getting up to look for her but I was engaged with another senior who sat beside me. This time, was a 67 year old by name Alice. O my God, the gist never ended. She got married at a very early age to her high school lover and has 3 grown up kids. Her first question was my original nationality. She wouldn’t stop praising her neurologist who is a Nigerian and positively impacting humanity, not only practicing medicine, but going extra miles to support his patients during the healing process. She has been through series of brain surgery and since retired 22 years ago as a result of a brain tumor. God bless this country how they cared very much for me. That was her prayer. We landed at about 3pm the city’s local time, and Alice introduced me to her husband who was already waiting for her at the arrival hall. He was a very friendly man and both of them are not stereotypical. We exchanged pleasantries and I went to get my bag. As I was about to leave the arrival hall, I saw Alba waiting to be picked up by His grand son. She was so happy to see me again and I decided to take a picture with her. She brought out her phone and requested to also have a picture taken with her phone camera too. She requested for my business card which I gladly gave to her. She promised to send me a mail and said to me” hope to see you again before I finally go home” I felt so emotional. We had a very warm hug and said good bye!
Lessons learnt:
1. Be patient when you are with them. They need your company. Whether they are your parents or not. Remember you will be like them someday if God grant you a long life and you will need somebody’s company.
2. Let everyone you meet remember you for good memories. Impact everyone you meet positively, no matter how little.
3. Not all whites are stereotypical. Do not be biased, accept them. We are all created and none is so special.
4. Sickness does not mean death. A brain tumor patient who has undergone many surgeries still waxing stronger. God is the source of good health and the custodian of death.
5. Nigerians are wonderful people and doing wonderfully well everywhere. We are not all fraudsters. Be proud of who you are.
6. We learn every day from the people we meet, no matter how little the knowledge seems to be.
7. Strangers are friends you have just met and may be friends you will ever meet. Be good to them.
I pray that the Lord of heaven and earth should grant Alba and Alice the health needed to complete their journey on earth amen. May He grant us all a long quality life devoid of sickness, sorrow, worry and sorry, but full of merry and curry amen.
Thanks for reading.
Below is the picture I took with Alba, my 86 year old friend.