It’s that time of the year – a time where I get to reflect on one chapter as I prepare to enter into the next. Would you believe I almost passed on writing my reflections for Chapter 35? I had many valid reasons for this but as I sat in my room, in conversation with myself, I realised that being able to write these reflections every year is actually a blessing. It is a way to look back and be intentional about acknowleding God’s faithfulness – through the highs and the lows. So here I am, doing just that for Chapter 35. You can read my reflections for Chapter 34 here.
Chapter 35 brought a delicate balance of great victories and great battles. For the most part, they happened concurrently. So, victories were often celebrated right in the midst of fierce battles.
Despite how stretching and emotionally exhausting Chapter 35 was, I am deeply grateful for the fact that God is my Father and Lord. He held my hand, walked with me and surrounded me with a depth of love that I have not experienced before. This is why I am going to write this reflection a bit differently – I am going to write it from the perspective of gratitude and thanksgiving to the God who is the Author of my life’s story.
Birthing the New
I am grateful for the opportunity to start the Comms Mentorship Circle. It has been exciting and humbling to see the impact of this platform. I am grateful for the strength to show up, even in the face of different challenges.
Chapter 35 saw the release of two books, The Proficient Communicator and A is for Audacity. I have one more book to release before the year ends but I am grateful that God gave me the instruction to use the first quarter of the year to lay the foundation for the different things He needed me to birth. I wasn’t too excited about not working for three months but looking back, that was actually the best time to focus on pushing out the different projects.
Walking on Water
I wrote a book about walking on water and I indeed walked on water in Chapter 35. I am still walking on water!
Putting together the first Comms Mentorship Conference was a big walking on water journey for me but God showed up in really mindblowing ways. I’ll confess, I was quite nervous as I launched out to do this assignment. A mentorship conference for communications professionals? Would people be interested? How would we raise the funds?
Not only did people attend in person, we had virtual participants from 10+ countries. We also received support from very generous individuals and organisations. This was one of the big wins of Chapter 35 and I am deeply grateful for it.
In the middle planning the Comms Mentorship Conference, I also worked on launching A is for Audacity. Another stretching journey.
Just when I thought the official launch was all I needed to do, Abba started to talk about a book tour. This was another stretch of faith but four months and four cities later, I am grateful for every step of faith I was led to take.
Divine Healing
I am grateful that God was with me in the days I had to be admitted at the hospital because of a throat infection that I thought was a normal sore throat. This happened right at the beginning of July – a few weeks to the Comms Mentorship Conference. God was with me through the pain and every discomfort I felt.
While I rejoiced at being discharged from the throat infection episode, I faced another round of illness that made it difficult to speak. This was barely a week to the Conference and you can imagine that I needed my voice. It also happened a day before a major training engagement for a client and I was the lead trainer. I really needed a big miracle and God came through. Special thanks to Damilola and Dinchi for doing a lot of heavy lifting in this period and for boiling lemongrass for me every day!
I am thankful for how God saved the life of a dear family member who faced a serious health battle. Twice. I moved from spending days in the hospital as a patient to spending days in the hospital as a caregiver. Again, this was a stretching time but I saw the hand of God in how he turned everything around for good. Thank You, Abba. Thank You for my sisters and prayer partners who never stopped praying even when I had no strength to pray. I love you all!
The Detours and Adventures
I am grateful for the many things that did not go as planned. There were detours than turned into lovely adventures. Through the book tour, I went to different cities. All of them were a journey of faith. I had to trust God for every single thing – ticket, accommodation, venue, etc.
The UK leg of the book tour was the most epic. What I thought was a two week trip turned out into an extended adventure. I was very disconnected during the event planning phase as I spent nights in the hospital. Truth is, I really didn’t think I had the bandwidth for it but God needed me to go on the trip and do the event. And so I did.
Shout out to Tosin and the CMC team for holding things down so beautifully. There were so many testimonies from the trip; it actually felt like I was writing part two of A is for Audacity in real time. There’s much more to say here but I will just say thank you Abba for everything – for the supernatural provision, the ordered steps, the favour and the silent prayers that were answered.
The Open Doors
I am grateful for all the clients I got the opportunity to work with, especially because they found me. Some of them also had to go the extra mile to to bring me on board. I am grateful for that.
I am grateful for a long term goal that was achieved in Chapter 35. I attended the Annual CIPR Conference and this was a big win for me.
Not only did I get to attend the conference in person and network with Comms colleagues from across the continent, I also attended a vital in person communications leadership course. This was another big win.
Still on the CIPR, I was selected for the 2025 research fund and I am looking forward to publishing my research in 2026. I was also selected to participate in a training for Non-Executive Directors – another great learning experience.
Like I said, Chapter 35 was a lot but I was constantly reminded that because I have God, I have everything. I learnt to trust God to do the impossible. Where no man or institution could help, I had to depend fully on God. I learnt to give of myself in a deeper way.
Irrespective of the challenges that I faced, God needed me to still show up and I did that as best as I could. Of course, I had moments where I simply dropped off the radar and I was missing in action quite a bit. For those that I wasn’t able to take or respond to their calls or messages, I apologise. Life was lifing.lol.
Thank You Abba for the beauty of Chapter 35.
Thank You for the privilege of going on this beautiful adventure with you. I don’t always have the full details but the journey is a beautiful one because You are leading me every step of the way.
I thank you for Chapter 36 which starts on December 14 – my very special day.
I percieve there will be even more adventures in Chapter 36. Help me to be ready – ready to go all in. I want to fall deeper and deeper in love with You. I pray that You will continue to be the centre of my life and my world.
To friends, family and colleagues that stood by me through the toughest moments, words are not enough to express my gratitude.
To my sisters who saw the ugly tears and held me through deep moments of pain, you all have a special place in my heart (Dere, Olawunmi, Oluwatoyin, Francesca…sending special kisses you!). Thank you for making me excited about my birthday. I am writing this reflection because of your encouragement.
Bring on Chapter 36!
