Passing on the precious gift of faith to your children is not an easy task for any parent. If it is forced upon them, they could rebel and end up being agnostic or worst, atheists. Conversely, if explained and nurtured through positive examples, the child would develop a personal relationship with God. The latter was my case thanks to the unforgettable words from my papa.
Teenage years are not easy for anyone as it’s when you encounter tremendous per-pressure. There are so many things one goes through and would not want to inform their parents, nevertheless, sensitive parents can intuit into their children’s problems.
There was this time I was dealing with what I felt was a terrible blackmail by one of my peers who was threatening to expose me for copying a classmate’s homework assignment for which I scored very high marks. Suffice to say, it wasn’t easy at all.
One day noticing the troubled look on my face, my dad said to me, “Son, in life some things are beyond our control.” Pointing to a sculpture on our mantelpiece, he said, “Like this child nestled carefree in the palm, so we have to learn that sometimes it is best to place ourselves in God’s hand and let go and let God”.
After our conversation, I decided to pray about my situation rather than worry about it – asking that God’s will be done and not mine. That same week, the person blackmailing me stopped for reasons he couldn’t explain. There and then, I realized that my prayers were answered. My faith has never been the same ever since. I later came clean with the teacher on what I did as a form of penance.
Oftentimes, we try to dictate how our lives should pan out, forgetting that there’s an Author and Finisher of our story who always guarantees a favourable ending if we let him write the script. That, my dad, knew all along.
Advice Papa Gave Me written by: Chukwuemeka Anyiam-Osigwe