Fill your waterpot with water

Dear Esteemed Reader; 

Thank you for your inestimable time and feedback. Personally, these gifts are like apples of gold in settings of silver .💖😍💞

Amazingly, if there's a silver lining to the epileptic electricity supply in my community here in Sagamu local government of Ogun state, Nigeria, it's that I'm able to resume my inspirational writings after two years of experiencing  graphophobia...thanks to my life coach, the Holy Spirit for my healing! Sometimes, It feels really dark on the outside however I am lighted up on the inside..wow 🚨 .. a light shining in darkness and darkness cannot extinguish it!

As the year 2022 winds down, my heart is inditing a good matter, pondering on the things my eyes have seen about the ingenuity of the Omniscient One. I remember on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at dawn in Magodo GRA, Lagos, for the first time ever, my attention was drawn to these two stars and a crescent moon in a stunning triangular pattern! ⭐✨

What else can I say? ...Psalm 92:5- 6.             "O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this."

Jesus, the greatest innovator, even in performing miracles used a variety of approaches to solve problems. He made lemonade from lemons. Remember, He turned the hopelessness in Mary Magdalene's life into beauty. She was thankful and became an extravagant worshipper. In another case, Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding ceremony. Either ways, His ingenuity is undeniable! Every instance was unique and most likely tailored to the individual or to God's specific purposes at that time. 

Isaiah 28:29 " This also comes from the Lord of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance"

Suffice (it) to say that nobody can teach you how to make lemonade out of lemons better than God. I say that again, God knows more than a zillion ways to turn bad situations into something positive or desirable. According to Clinical Neurology specialist, the human brain's memory capacity in the average adult can store trillions of bytes of information. The human brain is indeed a marvel, with more capabilities than most of us can imagine. Now, imagine the creator's stupendous reasoning capacity, little wonder the bible surmises, "His thoughts are not our thoughts...they are far too high.. too deep for our fragile brains to catch. Thanks to the Holy spirit who empowers a believer to access such depth and height. 

My lucid consciousness of the novelty of wholesome education was refined when I sensed a divine leading to start homeschooling my three teenage boys six years ago. Indeed, my husband's uncontested support was a firm confirmation greatly needed. At first, it felt crazy and uneasy but we often consoled ourselves with the truth that God is always right! More so, if He ask us to do this, it's because He gave us the goods! My merits in school did help with teaching the academics however the emotional demands of engaging them constructively with less distractions was a big struggle. Fortunately, my husband's temperament and experience as a teacher sufficed. We are a perfect match 😊,I act as the step up transformer to activate ideas while my husband is the step down transformer who takes charge when the boys give me adrenaline rush!😂. Teenagers can be very inquisitive and may tend to take advantage of a placid nature. It's expedient to understand how and when to deploy patience and assertiveness. 

I recall the beginning when we sought God's counsel during a very difficult season in our lives. Though we came up with options, visited schools with affordable school fees, even public schools but we just didn't find peace within us to enroll our boys in any.  Finally, when all seemed hopeless we sensed the need to spend more time with God. There and then, in the midst of the tranquility, I sensed God asking me  "Why can't you both just relax and teach your boys at home? Hmm...I would rather obey God than subject my boys to the uncanny hazards of 'unguarded' education! Unguarded in this context connotes an irresponsible act of disobedience on my part.

Indeed, grace was available for us. My husband was active in class mostly weekends because of his job but as an independent radio presenter, my schedule was more flexible. I knew I was not formally trained to do this yet God led me and was enabling me to do things that I was not trained to do. I do not despise teachers with requisite trainings, it's great. But with your education, you need to lean on God, not in your education alone

Needful to say, I opine that this approach is not meant for everybody, we are graced differently to fulfill unique purposes. I do not advocate this for every family but please understand that whether you are a homeschooling parent or not, you are possibly the first and most influential teacher your child would ever know. Give it your best shot! 

You might think teaching my teenagers would be less tasking..oh my God! Pretty daunting.😊... sometimes I cry to release my frustration but as we continued, God being not just the author but also our continuing support raised a strategic support system for us. 

Linda Adeniyi, an adorable homeschooling mother of four vibrant boys. It's fantastic seeing her using her creative and artistic sensibilities to impact quality education in her children. In fact, I adopted some of her creative exercises into my teenagers project works. Moreover, she develops curriculum for different age groups and her outstanding skills speak volumes when you listen to her four boys talk brilliantly about their body system, and the earth...I chuckle  when her boys calculate how much they would raise from making and selling toys😊 ...it's exhilarating! Kindly visit her page on Instagram @creativeschoolmom for more details. 

It's heartwarming knowing that she appreciates the abiding support of her husband, Mr Dapo Adeniyi, the astute Director of UrbanCultureTV, who I also  commend his magnanimity for offering my eldest son a rare opportunity to serve and learn audiovisual media skills directly under his watch at the media organization. His fatherly counsels are priceless. I appreciate the unstinting support of Marvellous Raphael, a seasoned digital expert who truly is marvellous! Mr Ife Akinwunmi, founder of Hiphe Davids, an outstanding fashion outfit, trained my younger son in fashion designing skills...such a brilliant entrepreneur! In addition, I applaud my younger brother, Sola Adefioye (based in the US) and my sister in law: Barrister Tope Omuederiaye based in Canada.  I salute my cheerleaders; Bobby and Gloria Udoh, Taye Adeniyi, Jumoke Ogudipe, Yetunde Durand, Madam Justina Kes-Agbosa, and my amazing sister Monique Russell from Atlanta, Georgia. It's amazing how God raises effective support system to help us when we choose to obey Him. 

An old phrase says " The leaders job is to keep the main thing, the main thing". We use the school curriculum but modified it to suit our purpose. Each day offers natural opportunities for teaching; Waking moments, cooking time, during meals, watching films, walking along the road...  Our non academic activities in the week includes watching relevant films and educative videos on YouTube, dancing to favourite musical videos, gardening, art classes, initiating intelligent conversations on sexuality. Also, I adopted the lessons I garnered from the course on Values Reorientation and national development from the school of Government into our civil education course, we make time to study relevant encyclopedias and science books which I bought at cut- prices from booksellers just by the roadside. Frankly, quality education is not defined by how expensive your child's school is, rather most times it's just having the good sense or better still, discernment and understanding to know what your child really needs to enhance his/her uniqueness. I'm more aware that parenting is about teaching a child how to think, for the root of our ways is in our thoughts. 

Homeschooling was a far-fetched idea. It was more difficult for me to accept this "strange and foreign idea' considering my meritorious achievements during my school days. " I excelled in school, so why won't my children go to school?" I thought. Hmm... my thoughts about education was set on the conventional school system until God led me to forsake my thoughts to follow His. 

Little wonder today, many stakeholders in our educational sector still don't understand the difference between schooling and education. Elon Musk says it this way " Don't confuse schooling with education. I didn't go to Harvard but the people working for me did." 

Don't get it twisted! It's okay to love schooling but it's also okay to challenge the idiosyncrasies and thinking gaps prevalent in our school curriculums. We need to integrate holistic trainings and better welfare packages for our teachers across all levels. 

One size fits all approach to learning is detrimental to wholesome education. I learned that there are are four different learning styles that affect teenagers and even adults study habits, these are visual, auditory, actual learning, and analytic. My eldest and youngest sons are more of actual learners just like me while my younger son (second) is more of a visual learner like his dad. Parents have a shared responsibility with teachers and educators, to understand the fundamentals and provide an enabling environment that stimulates proper learning. You need to be actively involved, not only in supplying the right educational resources but much more modelling the right values... right modelling is sacrosanct!  

I must confess that there were times I became tired and sometimes I wanted to outrightly give up😟 however I willingly had to bear up in prayer and stand before God saying 'Lord, I'm hoping in you'.  He always gives me strength to continue. I sensed his voice once speak wisdom to me at a low moment, " Are you interested in your children fulfilling their destiny or you want to have it your own way? 

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old, he will not depart . 

Learning resilience and perseverance with problem solving skills were practicable as the epileptic electricity supply especially here in Sagamu disrupted our plans often but we improvise anyways. Such times, my husband and I took turns to continually work on their letter writing skills and hand writing😊. I always ring it out... the largest room in the world is the room for improvement. It's about getting it right even if it's slowly. Mind you, repetition is key when teaching or instructing teenagers. Character building lessons through inspiring book reviews ( Our favorite is Ben Carson's; Gifted Hands) and presentations were upscaled alongside disciplinary and reward sessions, the place of relationship and rules well defined. Of great significance is their spiritual development, the place of prayers and bible teachings cannot be overemphasized. We pray about priorities together.  We lean daily on God's wisdom for balance .... some days we just lie low...clean up, cook and rest. As parents, we know that our influence has less to do with our position than it does with the life we live especially at home. It's not about perfection, rather integrity matters!

Today, I look back in retrospect from where we started and I am too joyful that God led us this path. "I wouldn't choose it but I wouldn't change it!". Morale was really high when my first son did well at an external examination. Afterwards, he attempted another and did not meet up to the required marks. His intention to restrategize and never give up in the face of failure really spurs me on...seeing them learning right attitudes and unboxing their gifts and potential is more than fulfilling. The results may not be easily quantifiable but they are real. Teachers and students learning and growing...a lot of unlearning on my part.

I am not perturbed about our social lives for it's been so fun-full quality wise, learning progressively with my boys and honestly I learned not to fight the process even as we journey into 2023 trusting God for the next phase. If you ask me, I think the experience is awesome and  worthwhile and I could liken the result to water turned into wine... refreshingly different!

Jesus' creativity shows us that we need to be open to new ways of fulfilling our purposes. 

Of course, the first miracle Jesus did was predicated on a problem, they ran out of wine at the wedding party. So, as the year 2022 comes to an end, have you ran out of wine? Your wine could be your: faith in God, motivation, hope and new expectations, sound health, inspiring relationships, vision, financial growth and breakthroughs, marital bliss, spiritual vitality...the list is endless. 

Note that for the new wine to come, the old wine needed to finish! Don't beat yourself up when you run out of wine, it's a good place to expect new wine. Jesus deployed the most unlikely approach, He chose the stone water-pots used for purification rituals, this requires washing of hands or full immersion. Imagine that's where the new wine was served! 

Jesus instructed the servants who had been well advised by his mother to fill the six stone pots with water. I love these servants, they obeyed to the last letter even without details! Jesus asked the servants to fill the waterpots to the brim with water. ***This is profound! Are you expectant of new wine? You need to fill your waterpot (your mind in this context) with the living water of God's word. God is not responsible for filling up your waterpot with the right contents, it's your job to do that! The question is what's in your water-pot? Early in my teaching classes at home, I had to first 'unschool' my boys .. that is, break off the normal school routine and initiate a new pattern tailored for the new school schedule. I had to creatively draw up a new time table and engage their minds constructively. That's a practical example of how to replace old irrelevant mindset with new inspiring contents. Are you expectant of new wine? Fill up your mind with the living word of God😍. Grace is available if you ask!

Moreso, the miracle did not happen in a spectacular way, Jesus didn't even speak a word He only instructed the servants to serve..(the process is never spectacular) but the outcome was spectacular! The chief guest was so pleased...sure, the new wine was refreshingly different in taste and temperature ...I guess the wine was chilling cold and awesome😂😍! That's the product of complete obedience. The chief guest commended the bridegroom saying " You have kept the best for the last!"  Dr Myles Munroe says "As believers, our greatest challenge is not in choosing between good and bad but between good and best".  Many have settled for the good, even the better, not knowing that the best is available! We obtain and enjoy the best of God when we keep filling our water-pots to the brim as instructed by Jesus with the living word, thereby acting on it. When it's full to the brim, it naturally flows out of you refreshing you and others around you. So are you feeding adequately on the word? 

For they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body, Proverbs 4: 22. 

The best of God which I term the "best life" is more qualitative not quantitative and it comes from above not abroad. It's from the soul and it enriches the body however you must be willing to pay the price, spend more time with the Father in His word and fellowship with true believers. As you speak the word, you will enjoy a new wine.🍷🍷🍷

Jesus turned water into wine, how much more is He willing to turn your sorrows into joy, your darkness into light! It pays to invite God into your difficulties for He doesn't just change the circumstances He changes you!  

See you on the other side:🙌🙌🙌🙌 2023

Cheers to new wine in the new year ! 🍷

Yours sincerely,

Segilola.