PART 2: GAME CHANGER

Fast forward to 2015, when my mother in law came to visit after the birth of my first daughter Nailah; while we were talking about random things, she mentioned how she had been upset with her husband (my father in law) for making a particular statement during their conversation after the birth of Nailah. She said that he had called to speak about the delivery of the baby and asked what the sex was. She told him I had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. He then said “he prays she will get married when she grows up”, and this upset her so much.  Why would he even say or think of such a thing? The moment she narrated the ordeal, I told her not to worry, he meant no harm, he was only speaking out of concern because at that time, he had 2 beautiful and intelligent daughters who were not yet married and so he was building a pattern/trend in his mind and was scared that his beautiful granddaughter may follow suit. I was glad he made that statement and the discussion had come up between my mother in law and me because never before then had I even considered nor thought about it but God used my father in law’s statement to give me a prayer point and open my eyes to a cycle that needed to be broken. One of my sisters-in-law had been on my bridal train and I had made it a point of duty to pray for all my bridesmaids and ask that God gives each one of them a husband because of the roles they had played in my life. Despite such, this issue of marriage was more critical than I thought and I was bent on tackling it head-on.

I discussed the issue with my husband when he got home as well as my mom and my best friend. As the events were unfolding, I realized I have the capacity to do it because my mother had done it (kids, watch and learn). Being a game-changer she told me not to worry, she would keep praying with me concerning the issue. Whenever my mom says such, my mind is at ease because she is a true prayer warrior and had taught us how to pray and stand our ground in faith. The mere fact that my older sister and I were both happily married was a small testament to that.

The birth of Anaiah a few years later increased my resolve to keep praying until (push: pray until something happens). I had been taught about vision boards at church so I set mine up with different things and wedding pics of my girls and I would tell them that one day, that would be them. I prayed for them and my sisters-in-law because I knew that if one got married, it would be a sign that God had heard our prayers. Behold, 2020 came with a lot of surprises and one of my favs was when one of my sisters-in-law got married to an amazing guy so yes, we have changed the game and so can you!

Why all this you ask?  Permit me to explain: Sometime during the year, while having my morning devotion (Our Daily Bread), God opened my eyes to something I have missed for a while. The reading was from Genesis 3 (the fall of man). I’ve read this story countless times, prior to this time, but something in verse 17 struck me like never before ‘since you have listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you…

Due to one person’s disobedience, everyone to come from him would suffer this ill fate.  “Because of you! ‘’; such strong words! And I began to ask God to help me never do anything that would cause generations to come from me to suffer, merely because of a single act of disobedience or sin of any kind. Adam meant no harm to his generations and I’m sure if he knew the consequences to follow, neither he nor Eve would have done what they did.

While I was pondering and praying over it, my Spirit reminded me of Jesus Christ who came as an ultimate game-changer. The bible says that through one man’s act, sin came to the world but through the act of another, redemption came (Rom 5: 12-19). Jesus was the game-changer I told myself I want to be like Jesus (not to die oo) but to be the game-changer in the lives of my children and generations to come from me.

I reflected on a statement my husband had made once during our family devotion where we were all asked to state one legacy we would love to leave behind and after giving my goodwill speech about saving mankind, my husband gave his in 12 powerful words which were simple but super heartfelt. He said ‘I want to leave the legacy of being the father that was there!’ his dad had been more or less a father in absentia and perhaps it was tied to the fact that his father (hubby’s grandfather) died when he was young.  My husband wanted to change the game in his lineage and honestly, he is doing a brilliant job at it.

I don’t know what you may be going through or what you are seeing as a cycle that you don’t like, but believe me, within us all, is the capacity to change the situation, like Jabez. Perhaps you were born into your home for such a time as this, like Esther, or married into a family to turn things around for good and be the ‘final straw that breaks the camel’s back’ for their long-awaited blessings to flow because whenever God brings us into people’s lives, I believe it is always for a reason; so find that reason and live it in the year 2022 and beyond so that 'because of you, blessings shall abound!'