Hello fam! I trust you are keeping hope alive and staying safe during this times. The picture I used for today’s blog was taken 3 years ago around this time to be exact. I was battling 13 colonies of MRSA, life was ebbing away, doctors did not know what to do, there was commotion everywhere. Then the good Lord shone his light on the matter. My infected port was removed and restoration began for me. It was a dark moment.

It seems dark right now on a global scale. The times and seasons seem dark with Covid-19. There is confusion, the stock market is a mess, businesses are bleeding, some have lost their jobs, some have lost loved ones, cities, states and nations are shutting down. India is on lock down for 21 days, The U.K is on a 90 day shut down. Covid-19 is not playing.

I am here to talk to you as your ‘ride and live’ sister/girlfriend/ chick…whatever you wish to call me.

This is full blown adversity. Yes I know. I have had my share of ups and downs and “topsy turvies”. Here is what I am going to tell you: It will pass. Every affliction, adversity, plague, problem, name it has an expiration date. It will loose steam and you will look back and keep it moving….to the next challenge.

The key thing is you need to ride on the wings of this plaque…. like a good surfer, you need to ride it in style, ride it in faith, ride it in grace, ride it in joy. You might say, “Toyin, easier said than done! I have lost my job, I do not know where the next meal might coming, everything is unraveling, I am not riding anything!!”

Dear friend, life happens. Life will never stop happening. We do not know how long Covid-19 is going to go on a destruction spree. We don’t. Plagues are like a 1 in a century thing. One happened 100 years ago, another one 200 years ago. If you ask me, it is Earth’s way of pushing the reset button. Now that we are all home, forced to be with loved ones, we are being forced to take stock of what really matters.

Systems are being tested at all levels….. we put precautions and disaster preparedness in place, and we do drills, hoping they work. The truth is, we will not know if our fire precautions will work until there is a real fire. Global systems are being tested. Healthcare protocols are being tested. Suddenly hospitals are so overwhelmed. Our logistics protocols are being tested. Policies are being tested. EVERYTHING will pass through the test. Your faith, your resolve, the principles you hold dear…………EVERYTHING.

Last Christmas, I went to the restaurant to go make the food I needed to host our Christmas dinner. I had poured some oil in the pot to make jollof rice. Then I had to go to the basement to pick an item or two in the freezer. Little did I know I had turned the heat on the pot. By the time I got upstairs, the whole kitchen and restaurant floor was covered in dark soot. It was pitch black. If I had respiratory issues, I might have asphyxiated. I only had a split second to think. I opened the doors, and windows and in about 30 seconds the soot had escaped.

The walls had a thin layer of dark coating, including all plates, pots, everything. I had to clean and repaint. The pot that was on the fire was so hot, the mitten I used to hold it melted. The oil had evaporated, it was ugly. If you know me, I do not joke with safety. I had gone through fire inspection 3 months prior and I “passed”. There are additional checks by the landlord as well and we “passed”. The fire alarm system did not activate. It was tested. It failed the test. But for the mercies of God (kiss kiss Lord)…the building would have burnt to the ground. I have gas pipes running where they should run. It would have been bad. My fire alarm system was tested. It failed.

As you go through this time I am asking you to

1. Give no room to fear. It weakens the immune system.
2. Watch what you say. You will reap it
3. Be quiet and still. You will be in a better position to think of actionable steps to take.
4. Be grateful. There is always a silver lining in the midst of the chaos.
5. Live your life. Yeah…you might have to scale back on certain things but there are aspects of your life that need to be developed. How is your mental health? How is your spiritual life? How is your prayer life? How is your relationship with your spouse, your kids, your neighbor…. I could go on and on.
6. Stay home, practice social distancing, wash your hands, listen to the CDC, WHO and your local board of health! Yes… they are the authority in this.

You got this. For real. Hunker down and reset. This too shall pass. I have three blog posts I want you to go back and read again about storms. I wrote them a while back. You can get them here, here and here.

xoxo

O.E.M.A