Happy birthday to me. ππ
37.
Today, my heart is full.
All in all, God has been good to me.
As I celebrate another year, I find myself looking back at the last 15 years of my life.
I remember being a young man, wondering what my future would look like. I had dreams, fears, questions, and prayers. I didnβt know how my life would turn out.
But God met me there.
Through His Word, He gave me promises that became anchors for my life.
He said to me:
βSeyi, I will make you cross over Jordan. I will cause you to drink from wells you did not dig and eat from vineyards you did not plant.β
At the time, I didnβt know what that would look like. Today, I am living in answers to prayers I prayed as a young boy.
My prayers are different now.
God also gave me a promise about the woman I would marry: that she would have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem; that my house would be fruitful, and through the offspring He would give us, my house would be like the house of Perez.
Then He gave me another promise that carried me through the darkest moments of my life:
βI will not take My mercy away from you as I took it from Saul. When you make mistakes, I will chastise you as a father chastises his son, but My mercy will not depart from you.β
And mercy has truly followed me.
I have made mistakes.
I have gone through seasons that tested everything I believed.
At times, life became so difficult that I contemplated leaving everything and returning to Nigeria.
There were moments when my marriage faced storms and I contemplated divorce.
There were moments when I wondered how things would work financially.
But every time life shook me, His promise became my anchor.
Concerning my finances, He told me:
βSeyi, I have placed your feet upon a firm foundation. You will not sink anymore.β
Looking back, I realize:
Many things I once prayed for have become the life I now live.
Not because I have done everything right.
Not because the journey has been easy.
But because God has been faithful.
One of my greatest treasures is my family.
To my loving wife, Kemi, the mother of my jewels:
When the Lord told me He would build my house with precious stones, I did not understand that you would be the woman through whom those precious stones would come into my life.
Now I look at our children, my jewels, and understand the promise differently.
What a gift.
What a mercy.
What a testimony.
Concerning my children, I hold tightly to the words of Jesus: βThose whom You gave Me I have kept.β
Everything the Lord entrusted to me, He has helped me keep. By His grace, I will keep keeping until the day He calls me home.
To my mother, whose prayers have followed me through every season:
Thank you.
You have prayed for me night and day. You have carried my name before God more times than I will ever know.
Mum, I am not there yetβ¦
but I am very far from where I used to be.
Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you for your sacrifices.
Thank you for your love.
To my friends, family, and the covenant friends God placed in my life to strengthen, encourage, correct, pray for, and stand with me:
I am grateful.
At 37, I donβt celebrate because everything is perfect.
I celebrate because God has been faithful through everything.
Through the victories.
Through the mistakes.
Through the tears.
Through the uncertainty.
Through the storms.
Through prayers that took years to answer.
Through doors I thought would never open.
He kept me.
Today, I can tell the young Seyi who wondered 15 years ago what his future would become:
βGod did not forget you.
The Word He gave you was true.
You were going to cross that Jordan after all.β
Today, I am happy.
I am grateful.
I am blessed.
More than anything, I am a testimony of Godβs mercy and faithfulness.
The prayers of that young boy have become the testimony of this 37-year-old man.
And nowβ¦
my prayers are different.
Happy birthday to me. ππ
Cheers to 37. π₯
Thus far, the Lord has helped me.