THE CHAT ROOM : PART 21 – 30
Chapter 24
By Temi Akintade
I was returning from my pastor’s wife’s burial when the shrill tone of my phone blasted through my quiet room. I lowered the gas and went out of the kitchen to pick the call.
It was an unknown number but when I heard the familiar voice of the caller, I almost ended the call if not for the pleas in his voice.
“Don’t end it, please!!” He pleaded.
“What is it? Or have you called to flash your latest achievement in my face?” My eyes trailed over a sleeping Hadassah.
There was darkness everywhere except for the bright light that the moon provides. I opened my refrigerator the one I recently got. I cringed when a foul smell h it my nostrils.
I sincerely hoped that the raw meat in the fridge was not getting spoilt since the power holding authority has refused to bring light for the past three days.
“No. Look I heard about your business. I heard you are doing well and Hadassah too. So I was hoping to come by and say hello.” Frank said.
I released a short laugh. “We don’t need you. But thanks for the startup money.”
He chuckled. “That is so harsh Paulina. What have I ever done to you?”
Fresh memories of the past continued to linger in my mind, clouding my vision. “You did a lot! You $tabbed me with a fresh knlfe I loved you! But you threw my love to the air.”
“I have loved you like a sister Paulina. It’s high time you stopped heaping blames on me! You are 18 and you made a mistake you should be recovering and learning from your mistakes instead of lingering on the past!
You laid a wrong foundation as a teenager but now you know better. You have Jesus Christ.
Stick with him and lay a good foundation in him and stop pushing people who love you away!” He said all in one breath.
His statement sent me to my past again. Tayo! He caused this! I would deal with him when I see him!
“You carry so much hate in you. How would you grow? How would you even have a relationship with God with such hate in you?
I exhausted myself on you both in cash and kind! And I’m sorry I never defined my relationship with you but you need to own up to your mistakes!
The authority that God gave man was shifted to Lucifer in the garden of Eden because Adam shifted the blame to Eve and Eve shifted the blame to Lucifer.
When you keep shifting blames, you shift responsibilities and you never own up to your mistakes to learn from them.” Frank continued. “God knows I love you and Hadassah as a sister and relative. Please forgive me and let all this animosity end.”
I didn’t realize that I was in tears until I felt my cheeks wet. He was right! I have always blamed my mum for my errors.
But even though my mother had her fault, I was the one responsible because I was responsible for making my decisions.
I hobbled into the kitchen and turned off the gas cooker. Then I went to sit on the bed.
“I’m sorry. Apologize to your fiancee for me.” I said.
He heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you Paulina. I have missed you and Hadassah I hope you will come for my wedding?”
My jaw dropped open. But I didn’t want to sound surprised. “That’s great! Congrats! When is it?”
“By the end of next month. You should come around two weeks before then okay? So we can do some nice shopping.”
A small smile played on my lips. “Sounds good. I have a lot to tell you about my new place and my new pastor.” I laid on the bed.
My heart squeezed with excitement as I began to speak to him about Dorcas, my pastor, and my booming business.
“Be careful with Dorcas. Stop her from coming to help in your shop.” He said.
“But there will be no one to assist me if I stop her.” I lamented.
“You should have started your business little by little from your home, not the shop. By doing that you would have gained enough capacity.
You should have asked God where he wanted you to start from. You never asked him that is why you took in Dorcas in the first place.” Frank said.
He was right but I was making a lot of sales from my new shop.
“When last did you study your Bible Paulina?” When he heard no reply from me, he continued. “Carve out time to study the word and pray otherwise, you will never hear from God, and you will never grow in your relationship with God.
This life is a battleground and only the violent taketh it by force! Study the scriptures to get new ideas for your baking business.”
I laughed. “How possible is that? How can I possibly get ideas about baking from the Bible?”
He laughed. “If you study your Bible so well you would have stumbled across where an angel gave Elijah baked bread to eat. There are also so many instances that shows that God is a master baker.
God is a master at everything the Bible shows it all; he is a master writer, actor, doctor, teacher, tailor, etc. When you read and study his word, you will automatically get his ideas.”
That night, after I finished speaking to Frank, I studied four chapters of my Bible not because I wanted ideas but because I wanted to know more about the God who gives brilliant ideas.
While I was praying that same night, I had a conviction to pack out of the shop and do my business from home.
But I knew it was going to be difficult for me because I was earning a lot from the shop.
THE CHAT ROOM : PART 21 – 30
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