A Chat After Church That Made Me Think About Life

image source

Honestly I wasn’t planning to write anything today but something just dey my mind since last Sunday and I just felt like sharing it here. So after service last week, I was just stepping out of church and heading towards where I booked my ride. Then I saw this fine lady standing with a child… a little girl, very cute but the girl was already crying for ice cream.

As I was about to enter the ride (Uber), she gently asked if I was going towards a particular direction and I told her yes, and she asked if she could join me. I was like, of course, no wahala. I didn’t think too much of it, it was just one of those small favours we do for people. But e shock me how the ride turned out to be a whole conversation that honestly opened my eyes.

So the child was still crying for ice cream and her mom just quickly stopped at one shop to buy it. When she handed it over to the girl, she just laughed and said, “I don’t even understand why children love sweet things like this.” I laughed too and told her that me, I can’t even do a day without ice cream or parfait. We both laughed over it small. She said she’s really trying hard to reduce how much sweet stuff the girl eats cos she doesn’t want to encourage it too much. From there we just started talking small small, one thing led to another and the conversation enter deep talk.

She started talking about motherhood, and not in a complaining way, just real talk. She shared how expensive school fees can be, how marriage comes with a lot of planning and sacrifice. And she said something that hit me; she said “you don’t wait till you’re married to start preparing for your kids o.” That thing stick for my head since.

Like she broke down how she started saving little by little even before she got married. She said being intentional helped her not to panic when bills started coming in. I just sat there listening, like I didn’t even want to interrupt her at all. There was so much peace in how she was talking, you could tell she wasn’t pretending or trying to impress anyone.

She also mentioned that sometimes, we as women don’t think too far ahead until the pressure comes. And that it’s better to just start putting small plans in place from now. It really got me thinking about my own life, how I dey live, what I’m preparing for, and if I’m even ready for anything. I was so quiet at a point that she even turned and asked, “hope I’m not boring you?” I just laughed and said no o, in fact I needed that kind of talk.

By the time I dropped her off at the major junction, I just sat back and smiled as the Uber continued into my estate. I felt somehow warm. You know those kinds of moments where you just feel like God arranged the whole thing? That’s how I felt.

I know say this life no easy, and many of us just dey waka like we don’t know what next, but somehow I believe God puts people in our path to just remind us that everything go still make sense. Not every deep conversation has to come from people you know. Sometimes na stranger go make you think pass your close friends.

So that’s it really. Just felt like sharing. If you’ve been putting off some planning or thinking you’ll do everything “when the time comes,” maybe now is the time to start small. You never know who God will use to shake you small.