We are grateful it didn’t break us.

Dear God,

We have come to the last pages of this year and I won’t leave until I have poured out my heart in deep gratitude. What a year, Lord, What a year! Yet.

There were times we struggled to see you in all the dust and rubble. Sometimes the noise was so loud we couldn’t hear ourselves much less you. There were times we felt this gut-retching fear, where your heart goes numb and your senses taste like sand. There were betrayals, people you trusted who acted smarter and pulled a fast one on our trust. Some people felt obliged to treat us badly despite our heartfelt service of love.

We are grateful, it didn’t break us.

There were friends we tried so hard to forgive, almost got there, and they sprang a bigger mess in our shared space. There were people we said sad goodbyes to and danced our hearts out as the gate closed on them. And there were ones we curled up in bed and wept our hearts out as the doors closed on them. There were wins we enjoyed every bit of it and there were ones that left a bitter taste in our mouths. There are people we will love forever no matter what and those we will watch from a distance no matter who leads them to us.

There were times we felt our backs against the wall and it looked as if it was over. There were times we had to push back roughly and we know that we hurt people in that process. We were a bit hard on some people, disappointed some, didn’t come through on our promises to some, and generally blocked some.

We are grateful it didn’t break us and it didn’t break them.

We are grateful for the many people who understand the costs of our friendship. The sacrifice, the commitment against all odds, and the pain we endured while holding some hands in fellowship. We are grateful for the help both small, big and everything in between, among family, friends and some strangers who reached out a hand in fellowship in times of need. We are grateful for the indomitable spirit that wouldn’t allow us to be outdone by others who competed desperately and without morals. We are blessed that you made sure we got our daily bread even when we were not so sure how you saw fit to provide it.

We are grateful, it didn’t break us.

We thank you for everyone we owe, the credit cards, the banks, vendors and suppliers, they are a constant reminder of your limitless grace and mercy which you extend to us all. Imagine if they were like Mama Wasiu who broke Mama Bisi’s head just because she owed her N1000. Some are in jail or dead today because they owe, but here we are, heavily indebted to you and humanity, yet walking free.  We thank you for the relentless spirits that chased us to the doors of our worship places, even when our hearts rebelled. We thank You for pushing our weary bones to work when they didn’t feel like it because that is how You would bless the works of our hands. We are grateful for the ones that got new jobs, opportunities and businesses that brought bread and we thank you for those that lost theirs.

We are grateful, it didn’t break us

We are grateful for everyone we know who survived one kind of illness or the other, both terminal and remediable and for those who couldn’t. For all those who’ve had such a hard time healing from their losses and those who have eventually moved on. We are grateful for the ones who are still fighting to stay alive just one more day against the battle—ready diseases that rake through their bodies. For each breath they succeeded in taking each day, we are grateful. We thank you for new births and new deaths.

We thank you for the marketplace dynamics because what couldn’t kill us, made us stronger. We are grateful for the new hopes, new faiths, new expectations

We are grateful, it didn’t break us

We weren’t exactly honest with each other. We judged people harshly, were intentionally malicious, and hurt people by our remarks, yet you forgave us and showed us incredible love that we couldn’t find to give others. We were merciless to those who needed our help, we snubbed the people we felt we were better than and ridiculed the ones who couldn’t afford our classism, yet, your mercy upheld us. Our sins didn’t consume us. Your mercies spoke loud and clear – Your mercy said No!

We are grateful, it didn’t break us.

2024 will surround us with incredible uplifting, love, abundance, overflow of wealth, and open possibilities, and we will receive the greatest reward for the most wonderful service delivered. We will be wise, we will learn, disciplined, focused, capable, able and totally aligned to Your will. We will promise and we will keep it, we will commit and we will deliver, and most importantly we will listen and we will hear You.

We are grateful for 2023, it didn’t break us.

We are grateful for 2024 and yes, it won’t break us too.

This is your daughter, that daughter, gratefully checking out of one year and thankfully checking into a new one.