It’s Thankful (testimony) Friday! (Inspired by one of my very beautiful friend and sister, Toyin)

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you the eighth wonder of the world 😊 …

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This beautiful wonder (aka My Clarinet) showed up suddenly in front of my house sometime last year, just before Christmas. It was an early Christmas gift. I had been pleasantly surprised with this gift by an amazing couple 😍 I fell in love with My Clarinet almost immediately. I was fascinated by its silver trims, curves, and bold black color. There was only one problem though; I didn’t know how to play the clarinet.

I promised myself I would learn to play, or at least learn to play a hymn or two. So I got practicing and learning.

It was hard at first but I somehow got a hang of it. Not before long, My Clarinet became my handbag; it came with me everywhere I went, like Mary’s little lamb. I would play the ‘tatata’ I knew how to play and it was always refreshing (at least in my ears)😀. It soon became my ‘de-stresser’. I would pick it up in the middle of work especially whenever I get stressed, play a few tunes, get refreshed and then get right back to work. It made me happy. 😊

And then the unthinkable happened. A few days ago, I was (late night) practicing as usual. A hymn had popped up in my head all day and I couldn’t wait to practice/play/hear it. As soon as it was time, I went straight to my clarinet and picked it up like a child being presented for christening. But first, I had to ‘gbon’ out the molecules of liquid solution (aka my spit) inside it. Because as it is written, “the rookies shall play the clarinet with spit”. 😂 (Shebi I already told you I’m a ‘practicer’, not a pro yet).

Anyway, I had to get the instrument ready. Lo and behold, as I swayed my clarinet back and forth, the midsection fell out and dropped on the floor with a thud. #Lobatan

I didn’t think anything of it. I picked it back up and put it back together. I was ready to play (sorry, practice). The moment I played key A, My Clarinet came out with a sound that had all the letters of the alphabet in it. 🤦🏽‍♀️ It wasn’t funny. I tried a couple more times, each time checking the instrument to see if anything had come off, but no success. So finally, I decided to cry. I sat on the floor and cried quietly. The tears were black because it mixed very well with my mascara. I came to get refreshed, but instead, I got disappointment, aches, and pain. I went to bed that night, sulky.

Next day I got on Amazon, hoping to see if I could buy another. But the moment the picture came up, And I saw the price, I realized that my account will have to #SòròSókè for me to buy another one. So I shut down my computer. I decided to find an alternative ‘de-stresser’.

Two days later, during our family devotion, I decided to raise the issue of my clarinet as a prayer point. I was serious. Right after prayers (or maybe before we even prayed, I can’t remember) my all-knowing, sometimes-smarter-than-I daughter suggested she could take it to school to see if the band students would be able to fix it. I kept saying “Wo, it’s broken jare” (It’s broken already). And in my mind, I questioned what ‘magic’ a bunch of high school students were going to perform on My Clarinet. “What do these small small band shidren know?”, I thought when they’re not Fela Anikulapo band or Chris Ajilo 🙄 But just so that I do not dismiss my daughter’s efforts, I lazily agreed for her to take it to the group that I assumed was the starter pack of Fela’s band. 🙈 In my mind, I had written off the clarinet. I think I saw where it was broken but I kept quiet on that. I have been tired all week, tired, and dragging myself to do everything.

My daughter took the clarinet to school today. And I just got this text ….

Right now, I feel like somebody just gave me a new kidney, liver and brain.

Lessons learned.

• Treasure the things (and people) that bring you joy. Never toss it (or them) up and down

• It doesn’t matter how trivial you think a situation is, you can always still pray about it. Make it a prayer point

• Never belittle the words of a younger person. They may be God’s mouth piece at any point in time.

• Hope for the best. Even when you have to put your hope in the hands of a high school band group 🙂

• Finally, no matter how bad the situation is, GOD CAN!!