IN THE BOARDING HOUSE S02 E10

New Students. My secondary school only accepted new students in three classes—JSS1, JSS2 and SSS1. This rule was never comprised for anyone even till today. You can’t get enrolled to my school in JSS3, SSS2 and SSS3. The reason being that my school has a great track record in external examinations😎, especially the senior ones, as such, they are very persistent that they don’t bring in half-baked students for external examinations.

THE SUNDAY WORD E09

Prayer. Growing up, I always had a weird perspective to prayers. Essentially, I didn’t even know how to pray until my teen years. There was even an embarrassing case in my last year in junior school (JSS3). I was asked to pray and I had no idea what to say. I just said whatever popped into my head.

SEQUENCE OF LOVE

Nope, not what you’re thinking. I didn’t fall in love overnight. Okay two separate things prompted me to write this post.

1. One of the books I’m reading at the moment, Waiting and Dating by Myles Munroe. Shout out to my joint favourite cousin, Blessing, for making the book available to me. If you need the book just send a private message or comment down below.

2. The instagram stories of a fellow blogger, Ayoyinka. It contained a video that spoke about the same thing I read in Myles Munroe’s book.

Both of them had similar messages, if not the same. The sequence of love— I’d like to call it that. Let’s cut to the chase ✂ ✂ ✂

THE SUNDAY WORD E08

I just finished watching a webisode of ‘ChaseGodTV’ by Joseph Solomon (At the time of writing), you should totally check it out. Thank me later. He talked about a very important yet so common concept. Growth.

IN THE BOARDING HOUSE S02 E08

Bolubolu. No, it’s not pronounced like the name Bolu. It is pronounced like the way ‘ball’ is pronounced in Yoruba (Bolubolu. For music guys, mi-mi-re-do). It was a slang in my secondary school. Bolubolu means whatever you see, you take. To tell you how serious it is, people fight during this activity. Basically this is how Bolubolu happens: Students are told to sit randomly in the refectory.

NIGERIA VS ICELAND: THINGS THAT WE LEARNED

In my last blog post, I made the point that Ahmed Musa needed to start against Iceland if Nigeria were going to have any sort of chance and I was glad when the starting lineups were announced (Apparently, someone pointed him to my blog post. Thanks to that person). Musa started. On Friday, the 22^nd of June 2018, Ahmed Musa won the hearts of many in Nigeria and rightly so. He became the first Nigerian to score in two world cup finals and also the first African to score braces in two separate world cup finals.

NIGERIA VS CROATIA: THE UNTOLD STORY

Since its preview, the Nigerian jersey has been probably the most coveted piece of clothing in footballing history. Confirming that thought is the fact that after two minutes of its official release. The social media was buzzing of pictures of people lining up to get their jerseys. Nigerians were expectant of an improved showing after their last world cup adventure ended in a two nil (2-0) defeat to France. The jersey served has a very good appetizer. I was as optimistic and not just because of the jersey. Nigeria qualified from a group that had Algeria and, current African champions, Cameroon. They had beaten Algeria four goals to one (4-1). A team that boasted stars like Riyad Mahrez, Sofiane Boufal, Sofiane Feghouli, Islam Slimani, Faouzi Ghoulam, just to mention a few.  I was really upbeat about our chances.

THE BOARDING HOUSE S02 E07

Retreat. What do we know about retreat? We know soldiers use it during war. We all know the famous catch phrase, “No retreat, no surrender”. Retreat means to go back to pull back and restrategize. At least, that is what it means in the army. The story I am about to say actually hinges on the army’s definition of retreat.

CHRONICLES OF A TEMPORARILY DEAF MAN

An old saying goes thus, “You don’t value what you have until you lose it”, I found that out the hard way.I would like to add, “…even if you lose it temporarily”. I temporarily lost my right ear hearing for about two weeks. It was one of the most humbling and frustrating experiences I have ever had.

SUMMER ’18 ADVENTURE 1.0

It took nine (9) bouts of overtaking and about five (5) pit stops, but, I eventually travelled interstate (between two states) in a public transport to-and-fro for the first time in my life, alone.

THE SUNDAY WORD E07

On one of those days, there was an argument among my course mates about why people don’t believe the Bible.

IN THE BOARDING HOUSE S02 E06

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Agama. There is a species of lizard called Agama. I think they are the most popular species of lizard in these parts because we even you it to insult people. For example, “Your neck like that of an Agama lizard”. What I am about to talk about doesn’t particularly point towards lizards, at least not directly.

IN THE BOARDING HOUSE S02 E05

Dethronement. You think it’s only a king you can dethrone? Read this through. Okay, before I go into details of the dethronement plan, let me give a little back story. The reason we planned a dethronement.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE

Technology is advancing faster than ever

Whether we like it or not, it is advancing

As such, it is good advice to be technologically inclined

It is even better to help someone achieve that today

There is a song in my native language that translates to this:

THE SUNDAY WORD E06

A quick story that we are all familiar with. Noah and the Ark. Most of us know the story of how Mr. Noah (no surname) got instructions from God to build an ark to save animals and his household from a great flood that will take away the whole of humanity. We all know the story……….I think. I will just say a few things you might have missed or that which your Sunday school teacher might have missed.

IN THE BOARDING HOUSE S02 E04

Illegal. Growing narcotics in Nigeria is illegal, it attracts fourteen (14) years imprisonment (Yes, I was taught in Civic Education). Do you know what else was illegal in the boarding house? Something called Illegal–Pronounced in its Yoruba form. There was something called Illegal in my secondary school and it was actually illegal (Funny isn’t it?). Yes, it was because even before I graduated, ‘Illegal’ somehow stopped.

IN THE BOARDING HOUSE S02 E03

The Ghost.This is a mythical story too. Sorry if you are not a fan of myths but this isn’t about someone or something else. It is a myth about the school itself. One of the first memorable events that happened in my first year in the school happened on a Sunday morning with one of my dormitory mates. He thought he saw something (a ghost), which till today, we haven’t known the truth. The aftermath of that event was a series of history lessons on the school and what foundation the school was built (quite literally). Let’s cut to the chase, here is the story of the mysterious event that led to the myth I want to talk about:

THE SUNDAY WORD E05

I saw this on Whatsapp. One of my guys had this posted on his status, “Jesus delivers from the power of sin not the presence of sin”. Now, I know it is deep but I’ll indulge you to read that sentence again. Please, once more. If possible, for the whole of today, meditate on that sentence. Let me just say what I understand from that sentence.

The point of that sentence, I believe, is pointing to the point I made in one of the previous episodes where I talked about there still being a burden we have to carry as children of God. That sentence says that Jesus has delivered us from the power sin had over us but He never promised that they will not come around again. I mean, what’s the point of having power you cannot exert on those things you have been delivered from, right? Exactly. Also, the presence of sin doesn’t make it have power, what gives it power over you is you. Just like Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “No one can insult you without your consent”. So, the amount of focus you give to the negatives determines the amount of control that negative stuff has on your life. Like an ancient Chinese proverb that talks about you having a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, the one you feed talks to you.

The whole point of the whole story in the above paragraph is that, just because you have been saved and washed free of your sin doesn’t mean that the temptation of that sin will not come around. As a matter of time, it is the time you focus more on not sinning that you have a higher tendency of sinning. So, don’t be sin conscious, be Christ conscious. Always rejoice that you have been saved and all yours sins have been washed away. Rejoice in the joy of salvation.

 

The temptations will come, you might even sin once in a while, but you are joyful because you don’t have to pay for anything as Christ as paid for it all.

GRACE AND PEACE OF THE LORD BE WITH YOU, FAM.

I remain,

Yours in insight,

Oluwadara, OLOYE.

IN THE BOARDING HOUSE S02 E02

Onto the next mythical story, it is a very good one………..I think. It was about a guy named ‘ILO’. His initial are ‘C.G’, I still don’t know what they mean till date, how did I know his initials and not his name? I met his cupboard in school when I was in JSS1 and his last name and initials were on it.

THE SUNDAY WORD E04

I caught this on Instagram while I was flipping through the stories of the people I follow. It was on Tife Soloye’s story, the scripture was Matt. 11:30- “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. She then went on to add, “It is still a burden”. There and then, I realized that when I accepted Christ I was thinking everything will go rosy and all that. This scripture is very popular, we all hear it a lot. We might have even used it to empathize with people going through difficult times, to encourage them. But, have we, for one second, considered that even though the scripture said his ‘yoke is easy’ and that his ‘burden is light’ meant that we had to bear things, it is ‘light’ but it is still a ‘burden’.

15 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME

What’s up, Fam? I hope your summer is going to be lit like mine. I will tell you about my plans later. Now, I will just give you guys a little information about me, which you might or might not know. Even if you know some, you most probably won’t know all.✂✂✂✂

THE SUNDAY WORD E03

This is from a sermon that I watched, the sermon was preached by Pastor Joseph Prince. The title is “The Battle is the Lord’s”. The sermon was/is for those who are going through one problem or phase—as I’d like to call it—that they cannot do it on their own. Not only that, but also that the battle over that addiction, that situation, that problem isn’t theirs but it is the Lord’s. You have to remind yourself that every time you are faced with that kind of problem and you are so overwhelmed that you think you can overcome that situation or problem or addiction on your own, “The Battle is the Lord’s. It is not mine, it is the Lord’s”.

YOUTH ALIVE REVIEW

You might be wondering, “What is Youth Alive?” or you might already know what it’s all about. Either way, I will just give a quick intro, for those who don’t know what it means or represents. Youth Alive (or Easter Youth Camp Meeting) is a program of the Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners). It is designed for youth persons, so that they can take their life to the next level. Also, to take charge of their life, among other things. It is a spiritual exercise, nothing more nothing less. The program runs from Holy Thursday (Thursday before Easter), all through to Easter Monday (Monday after Easter). It starts with an evening (opening) service on Holy Thursday and ends with a morning (impartation) service on Easter Monday. Every other day, there are two (morning and evening) sessions. The morning session spans from eight o’clock (8am) till noon (12 noon) while the evening session lasts for about three hours (7pm-10pm). So, there you have my little introduction. I hope it is enough for now.

Now, to my review.

THE DOMINO EFFECT

Ever heard of ‘The Domino Effect‘?. It is like a chain reaction, started by a particular chain of similar events. It is usually represented by a falling of a set of dominoes that are equally spaced. Once the first domino falls, all others will fall one by one in a particular order.

It all started with an announcement at about 3am in the morning. The announcement was that, we were expected to go to the Faith Tabernacle for the Impartation service. The Impartation service, as announced the night before, was to hold at the various locations in which we have held our other Easter services although those of us that have been in the school for a while expected it to be at the Tabernacle. Obviously, the order came from above, once again. Just as it came in the previous year, at the early hours of the Monday morning. We all started to run ‘helter skelter’ so as to meet up with the time frame in which the halls will be shut. Most people made it out in time, and as it always is, some didn’t make it out on time to leave the hall. Everyone that made it out took up the 35-minute journey to the Tabernacle from their respective halls—including me. A lot of 100 and 200 level students got there pretty early, they had to wait patiently till 7am for the service to start. I was privileged to work in the studio of the Tabernacle as a Technical Crew member, so I stayed up, mostly throughout the service. In everyone’s mind, no harm can come our way again, at least this is the last service of the Easter Youth Camp meeting. I mean, it is just an impartation service of about 4 hours and then we are free till the next year. well, no one saw this coming.

OUT OF MY LEAGUE 3.0

We waited, we talked about the day, some of us even simulated how the match was going to be like, some others simply didn’t care while others had ‘better’ things to think about. After most of all these happened, the day finally arrived. The match was scheduled to start by 12 noon. That day, just before the Theatre group in my school had their rehearsal—which I was supposed to be present for, I took permission to be absent from that rehearsal to witness the match, in its most pure form. One thing led to another and we didn’t start the match for another three (3) hours. Part of the build-up to the match was that there were a lot of changes rung by the coach for this match. First of all, and as expected, the ‘keeper that started the Civil engineering match as replaced by another ‘keeper, the right back that started the Civil engineering match, me, was replaced by the one who started the first match of the tournament. The whole frontline from the previous match was replaced by a new set of attackers, which yielded a better attacking display (No offense to the guys that played the Civil match). The biggest team sheet news was that our central midfielder, who happens to be one of the best players in the team—if not the best—was not playing any part in the match. The news of his injury came as shock to everyone, it served as a plus for the team we were facing. To replace him, came a n unknown and untested guy, who was vouched for by one of the best players in our team also. So, he got to play the entire match and was pretty invincible for most of the match bar the first ten minutes.

OUT OF MY LEAGUE 2.0

Just before I proceed to talk about the quarter-final match we played against Economics—which happened to be our last match of the tournament—let me talk about the match against Civil Engineering. This match was the only match I was involved in and I only played the first half. Why? I gassed out and I’m not going to defend myself as to the reason I gassed out. The match started just like every other match we played. We had the possession of the ball for the first five to ten minutes, thereabout. I even made an overlapping run just like 45 seconds into the match. FYI, I play the right full back position (Yeah, I know some don’t know what that means). It means, in plain and simple terms, that I play as a defender on the right-hand side of the football field. For most of the first half, we actually kept them at bay.

OUT OF MY LEAGUE 1.0

“Good evening ladies and gents, welcome to the quarter final match between Elect. Elect. and Economics. Please, do enjoy the match”.

No one could have seen this coming, at least not after what the Elect. Elect. team played during SWEP (Students’ Work Experience Program) league.

THE SUNDAY WORD E02

I went on a diocesan youth convention in the summer of 2017, we spent three days there. The place is a pretty serene place, very silent environment. It gives time for reflection and stuff like that. Throughout my stay there, the sermon that got to me the most was the one about Joseph and his brothers. I know you know the story but I’ll highlight something you probably don’t remember about the story.

Genesis 37:9 – “And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me”

ORTIZ_CARLOS_JAVIER_006: Chicago, Illinois USA Families pray together on the Westside of Chicago to remember a young girl that was raped and killed. Parents who lost their children to violence often come together to support other families who have experience the same tragedy.

Now, we all know what happened to Joseph, how his brothers sold him to Egypt and all that stuff. One point the preacher of that day pointed out is that Joseph’s brothers were so full of envy, they didn’t realize he said they are stars instead they focused on Joseph who they made obeisance to (as we were told in Sunday school bowed to). They were too busy focusing their attention on Joseph they didn’t realise how much potential was in them too.

The point he made was that we should not be too busy focusing on people better than us rather we should focus on what we have and maximise it.

THE SUNDAY WORD

You are a star, shine to your world.

 

 

I remain,

Yours in insight,

Oluwadara, OLOYE.

YOU’RE NOT ALONE

We all feel it—being alone. We all try to avoid it, most of the time. We all know the saying- “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. As much as we hate being alone, it is the point in our lives where we experience the most growth. It is where we tend to do stuff ourselves, we tend to learn on our own, we tend to experience life in a different way. I realized a couple of years ago, that being alone gives me the liberty to study myself the more, to understand what and where I need to improve, to understand the habits I have unconsciously mastered and how I can change or make them work for me. Presently, I am working on making sure I am calm in most, if not all, situations I find myself in (Still a work in progress).

Many of us hide from ourselves, we lie to ourselves, which I believe is the highest form of deceit, we always want to be occupied with something or people, we always like when we are in an environment where we suspend thinking and we just live in the moment. While some of the things I have stated might be good, we engage in them so often we have made them to have bad effects on us. Just as Myles Munroe suggested, “Some people even hate the sound of their thoughts”. This is a very serious issue, most of us have this problem. The most common trait is always wanting to have something distract you from just being alone, for example always on your phone or laptop, not being able to stay more than five—or so—minutes in your thought, always looking for where to go, always looking to block you from telling yourself the truth.

We mostly live in the rush of this world, losing sight of ourselves. Most people go through this without even knowing, that is the sad part. I know you think you are the only person facing this problem in the world, but you are not! Spend time with yourself, caution yourself, control yourself. Know that in your alone time, you’re not alone. Your spirit—which is connected to the spirit of the one who created you–is there with you, God is also everywhere—one of the reasons we can pray to him at anytime and anywhere.

Know that:

1. You’re not alone because others—including me are still a work in progress just like you and;
2. You’re not alone because the Spirit of God is always with you

 

Bottom line, YOU’RE NOT ALONE. Continue working. The way to crack the code is to never stop trying and never stop believing.

Continue the work in progress.

GRACE AND PEACE BE WITH YOU, FAMILY.

I remain,

Yours in insight,

Oluwadara, OLOYE.

IN THE BOARDING HOUSE S01 E10 (SEASON FINALE)

In JSS1, when I just resumed as a student I didn’t know how to use a cutlass. I didn’t even know how to properly handle it, but I had to learn. In my secondary school, we used to have manual labor. Yes, ‘used to’ because it has been stopped, which I don’t believe is in the best interest of the students, but that is just my perspective. I say that because learning how to cut grass and how to use the cutlass has tremendously helped in giving a sense of hardwork to me.

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