15 May 2007 |
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The gift of Motherhood Joy - Derbrah It was the grand opening of Jadesọla’s restaurant. Jadesọla and I met May 2000 in a church meeting. As she signed in after me on the sign-up list, she noticed that my name was Yoruba. She greeted me in Yoruba and I responded warmly. You need to understand, I was barely a year old in the U. S. A. (I was still Nigeria-fresh). I was also a newly wed and attracted to any one motherly. Well, motherly certainly described Jadesọla. We had exchanged each other’s numbers and gotten to know ourselves a little. She had no children of her own. I was hoping to have mine, twins; a boy and a girl in the near future. Six years later, I am a mother of two gorgeous boys, bountiful blessings from the Lord Jesus Christ. Jadesọla was the mother of five teenage girls, daughters of her deceased five brothers who had passed on in a tragic car accident the same day. Papa Ajayi, Jadesọla’s 87-year old father was still alive. He lived with her and his granddaughters. Then Mama Jade (as I like to call Jadesọla) received a vision that God wanted her to open a Nigerian restaurant. It was a 10-month process but faith in God wrought the victory and this Sunday, Mother’s day, 2007 is the grand opening. The ceremony was short and sweet. I was pleasantly surprised when mama Jade’s daughters lined up to sing Iya ni wura (Mother is the gold [treasure]) the only Yoruba song in my debut album released over fifteen years ago. It was lovely hearing Iya mi, emi yio ma yin ọ, fun gbogbo ore to se funmi, ojiya pupọ, k’emi bale jẹun… (My mother, I will always praise you for all the good you’ve done for me, you suffered greatly that I may live…) in the voices of young spinsters who appreciated their adoptive mother. They shared how their world fell apart when their fathers died. They testified how God had used mama Jade to comfort them. They each had a pink carnation for her. When it was time for Jadesọla to respond, I couldn’t help but shed tears of joy. I knew a little bit of what she had been through. Mama Jade lost her biological mother at three years of age. She was married and divorced six times. She was unable to get pregnant, had had three major surgeries, a hysterectomy and hypertension early in life. She testified that God had restored to her in folds everything Satan had stolen from her. She believed that her restaurant would be like a mission house where hungry people would be fed, sick people would be healed and non-Christians would become Christians. She vowed not to sell alcohol or show non-family friendly films in her restaurant. She was not going to allow any non-Christian or vulgar marketing in her workplace. She welcomed suggestions from everyone in attendance on how to enrich her investment. It became my turn to hold the microphone. I was to give the appreciation and say the closing prayer so that invitees could continue with fellowship. Since it was mother’s day, I began by thanking Jadesọla for being such a godly mother. I thanked her for the opportunity to come to a godly restaurant without the risk of seeing and listening to unhealthy communication. I thanked her daughters for the wonderful presentation and for choosing to sing my song. I thanked the minister who dedicated the restaurant and the mistress of ceremony for the smooth coordination of the event. I thanked the cooks for the wonderful meal we had ingested. I thanked the guests for honoring mama Jade and encouraged them to support her dream. I was going to say the closing prayer but mama Jade walked up to me and whispered in my ear. She wanted me to share the poem I had written for my mothers. “Hmm.” I thought. “I’m not prepared for that.” She noticed the pause on my face and pleaded. “Please Derbrah, some people here would be blessed by it.” I had to get over my shyness. “Well to honor you.” I informed her, “I’ll share a part of it.” To the guests I continued, “Mama Jade wants me to share a poem I wrote on nine women in bloodline. I’ve decided to share part of the poem. It is titled Six white, three pink. If you know the traditional meaning attached to carnations, you’ll understand. The part I will share is on the first pink carnation flower. I wrote this in honor of my mother, Adunni, which in Yoruba means a joy to have; My first pink carnation Is for my gorgeous mother Not only is she beautiful and selfless She’s a living model, an epitome Of devotion, love and faithfulness She lost her dreams for her children She toiled to feed us She borrowed to clothe us She stayed up late that we may sleep She fought that we may rest She cried that we may smile She gave that we may have I am truly blessed to have spent Nine months in the womb of this Priceless creature of Almighty God I am gifted to have lived With this treasure of the living Lord Adunni, Adunyan, Onitẹlọrun, Oniwa, [A joy to choose, a person of contentment, a person of character] Adunfẹ, Adunkẹ, Olore, Oniwatutu [A joy to love, a joy to cherish, a good person, a person of meekness] The best mother in the world Thank you again and again I am strong because of your toil I praise YAHWEH Daily for my mother When the applause died down, I decided to bless everyone spiritually. Today is mother’s day and God is always ready to give birth. “Before I close this dedication and the grand opening felicities continue, I want to share about Someone Who is like our Spiritual Mother. His name is God the Holy Spirit. Yes there is no male or female in Christ, or in God the Father, or in God the Holy Spirit, however, since Jesus left the earth physically, God the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the hearts of those who believe in the deity of Christ. For those of us who know Him, we can testify to His motherliness, his fatherliness and his brotherliness. Listening to mama Jade’s story and those of her daughters made me remember the faithfulness of God. Mothers remind us of God, because they love. Their love is great, enduring, restoring. Unfortunately, we cannot take our mothers everywhere. However, we can have God the Holy Spirit everywhere, with us, for us and in us. He is always ready to assist, ready to comfort, ready to protect, ready to heal and ready to lead.” I proceeded to make three calls; one for those who wished to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and declare Him as Lord, the second for those who wished to be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance, and the third for those who wished to receive healing and comfort for their souls based on any past tragedy. It was empowering to see God the Holy Spirit at work through the response to the three calls. I gave the closing prayer and when I sat down, mama Jade hugged me and said “Thank you.” “It was my pleasure to be a vessel in the hands of our Lord.” I responded. My two boys were elated to have me back. They hugged and kissed me, each on the cheek. “Happy mothers day mummy.” They beamed. I could only respond with a smile, a hug and a kiss, and think lovingly in my heart, Thank you Lord Jesus for making me a mother. Derbrah writes courtesy of Agape for All Ministries. Author retains copyright. Jadesọla’s restaurant is a drama ministry of the Yoruba Christian Women (YCW), an international faith-based non governmental, not-for-profit organization. Similarity of names and stories are coincidental. Feel free to copy for non-commercial use. Commercial use requires permission. For more information on YCW write Jesutoyin Ajikẹ-King (toyinking@yahoo.com)
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