SWEETENED PAIN

                                  

At exactly 5 pm in the evening on Saturday, my face was already welcoming a sparkling smile because I know that was the moment that I do hang out with my soul mate named Akintomiwa Joseph. 

The day actually came to reality and we set out for the fun to be experienced, it has always been an enjoyable moment with Joseph Akintomiwa, on getting there, he looked at me in the eyes and said Jummy, I need to go and I responded, where are you going? Tears began to swim out from the sockets of our eyes as he held my hands closed to his and expressly said, the visa he has been processing for over two months has eventually been granted, smile truly mixed with tears, a part of me did not want him to go and another part wanted him to go, I know he needed to go , he has a name to make, a future to reach and this looks like one of the biggest opportunities that do not always come to every man.

I agreed, we kissed and he left me with a standing promise that he would never leave me.

On the 22 of June 2008, Joseph Akintomiwa traveled to Canada and started a new life. It has always been the dream of my beloved man to be an international footballer, not to be restricted as a local footballer as he was when he was in Nigeria all these years.

Finally his dream came true, because he was able to join one of the finest football league club known as Lion's Heart Champions league, surprisingly, maybe as destiny will have it, he became one of the central defenders in the club and several trophies were recorded by the football club, Joseph Akintomiwa has become a huge success to the club right from the moment he joined, this was a statement broadly declared by their coach.

In spite of his busy schedule, a day never went without a call or a text from my beloved man. I can't forget what was audibly stated by one of my lecturers back then in school, he stated that;"The bond of love is not broken by distance, it is rather broken by the absence of communication and commitment" sincerely we never lacked that, our love life was strongly ordered by communication and commitment.

I realized it was a sweet pain when my beloved man expressly told me on the phone, the hard moments he passed through before his pain could be crowned with gain, the hard training that took his sweat out of his body and honored him with success.

He expressly told me on phone, how terrible their training had always been, stretching their arms and body into perfection as if they are machines, he didn't forget to tell me how he sustained a leg injury when they were playing with Tiger's eyes which took him 4 months to get back to the field.

There was an adage that says "there is no gain without pain, it is true when It was said that pain is the announcer of gain, in other words, those pains are put there to stretch men into growth.

 After four years of leaving all alone by myself, I began to lose hope as a result of pressure from family and friends, with a song they normally sang that "I should forget that man" but I couldn't because our love life was powered by the force of communication and commitment.

I am glad to announce to you that my waiting for him didn't lead to futility but honored me with blessings. He came home and we returned to Canada together where we got married and gloriously blessed with two boys and two girls which have now become Canadian citizens by birth.

I am sure you can remember how every being came into existence, we came into existence through pain, pain is the announcer of men's existence, I can't forget those moments when I saw those natural pains a child needed to go through before they are nurtured into growth.

I just can't forget the painful moment of crawling into standing, standing into walking before they finally reached a running stage, I can't forget when I saw the pain a child was feeling when he wanted to add to his teeth, it was not easy for him, to the extent that he was attacked by malaria just because he needed to add some teeth to the ones he has.

The reality is, we are products of pains,  pain is the fuel of every man aspiring for greatness, it is the fuel of every student desires to drive the vehicle of success.

For men to be celebrated, there is a need for them to accept pain and use it as the fuel to their greatness, I know of men that are still being celebrated in their chosen career. 

We have heard of men like Ronaldo, Drogba, Messi, Hazard and others that are still relevant because of their abilities to use pain as their fuel, specifically stated, Marcello, one of the Real Madrid players has once said about Ronaldo, how Ronaldo used to stay on the field training after every one of them has gone through a training session designated by the club.

it is just like a man who sleeps late because he has a lot of work to do and still wakes up before every other person to get things done.

Ronaldo is evidence of hard work(pain) who determined to use pain as his catapult to his greatness, I guess this makes the grasses he steps on, the ball he plays and the net to obey the kick on his legs on the field.

For every success to be announced, you need to romance the pain that will give birth to your gain.

The student needs to pass through pain that would honor him with the knowledge that he needs to succeed in his exams, the teacher needs to pass through pain that would honor him with the knowledge he needs to teach the students, the footballer needs to pass through those stretched pains in training in order to be fit and win matches on the field of football. 

  👉And you need to pass through those pains that can launch you into your greatness.

  👉Are you ready to enter into the palace of gold even when it is practically observed that the entrance is designed with fire?

 👉Are you ready to step on the thorns that would launch you into the garden of your blossoming flowers?

 👉Are you ready to step on the ladder designed with thorns that would definitely launch you into greatness?

We had men in the scriptures that needed to step on thorns before stepping on flowers, we still had men that wore crowns laced with thorns before having access to the ones designed with glory, we still had men that needed to dwell in the prison before commanding in a palace. These are men like Jesus, Daniel, Joseph, and David.

I am happy to announce to you that all these great men experienced raw pain that launched them into their greatness.

Be warned, don't accept a "12-megabyte glory"  presented to you by the devil, not knowing there is a glory prepared for you to be used by God whose glory can not be measured.

Take the pain, even if is raining fire, each step you take brings you closer to your glory and always ask for Grace.

I love you.