Have you surfed through the stormy Elegushi beach or Miami beach without getting drowned?
More importantly, have you surfed through the storms of life before?
Did you get out victorious?
Did you manage to surf to the shore in 2015? Or you almost drowned out of life.
Such is life, NO, such is not life, you were made to overcome, you have been programmed for victory, and your success in life is non-negotiable.
We are not immune to tribulations and circumstances, guess you had some taste of it in 2015 but the most importantly, you became stronger and now you are a Victor.
I faced one of such big storms in 2015. An avoidable accident leading to disarranged dentition, bone fracture, loss in weight, hospital days, pain and more pain.
The good news; I surfed and surfed until i came out victorious.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
It was a bright and sunny day. After completing a major part of the day’s work at home, I decided to go out to get some few stuffs done. Suddenly, I started feeling extremely reluctant about the outing but I still went ahead to prepare. After preparing, I weighed the options of going out and I finally decided to go despite my reluctancy.
I went ahead and as I was approaching my 2010 model of my Volkswagen bicycle, a friend approached me to try out his new 2020 model BMW bicycle. Another friend just tried it out and he was telling me about the greatness of the bicycle. So I said why not, I hoped on the bike, after about 3 pedals, I realized the bike was moving at a speed not induced by me. My senses immediately told me to apply the brakes in order to control the high speed. This resulted in me somersaulting and landing on the hard tarred road with my jaw.
After the first aid treatment
For your information, I later realized that the 2020 model of the BMW bicycle had an electric gear function which propelled it further with little pedaling.
Anyways, I never realized how grave what just happened was. My mouth and body was covered in blood and it felt like I had no teeth anymore. I almost could not feel my lower skull and I struggled to talk.
I was quickly taken to the emergency hospital where I was given first aid treatment. My torn chin was sewed and the wounds on my arm and face were plastered. I felt a little bit better but my teeth were my concern.
I felt some brokenness and disjointment in my dentition. I kept on asking the Nurses, if everything was okay but they could not say much since they were not specialists.
THE DOCTOR’S SCARY REFERRALS
I was referred to a specialist dentist to check my dentition. The dentist did a general check up and also decided that I needed a better check-up with a plastic Surgeon. I was becoming scared at this point but I kept calm. I could not open my mouth nor even eat anything solid at this point.
After bracing and clenching
After several x-rays, the plastic surgeon could not confirm a fracture and decided to refer me to another plastic surgeon who was a professor at a State hospital in another City. I was devastated to hear this but I kept moving.
After much consultation and checks with the Professor and his students, they decided that my teeth will be rearranged and clenched by placing iron braces with elastic on them. This means I will not be able to open my mouth for a month. The first question I asked was how will I eat? I almost forgot that man shall not live by bread alone but by the word of God. The doctor said I can only take liquid food with a straw.
Little did I know that I will have to spend a whole week on admission at the hospital and go through a jaw surgery. I also had to travel every week to the hospital for 4 weeks after I was discharged.
THE HOSPITAL ADMISSION
The admission came unexpected and unplanned. It was a time of pain, meditation and thanksgiving for me. Pain because I had to go through many medical procedures, injections here and there, pain all over my mouth and teeth and a surgical procedure. I also felt great hunger pain even though I was served three times daily.
After discharge.
This period also gave me an opportunity to meditate and look inwards into myself. The meditation was kick-started with questions such as; why did this happen to me? Why didn’t the spirit of God that dwells in me help me avoid it? Will my teeth ever be normal again? Then the meditation moved to thoughts such as; I am healed, this happened for a reason, my pain is already paid for on the cross of Calvary.
This was my first time of being admitted in a hospital. I saw people walk in with beautiful faces and leave with distorted/operated faces, I saw smiling faces turn to grumbling faces. I saw how good health was expensive to get and this made me realize that our God is good. He has constantly supplied us with joy and happiness even despite the circumstances around us. He has freely given us eternal life which no accident or death can take away. I also thank God for the gift of good friends that supported me during this trying period.
This popular thanksgiving song we sang in primary school came alive to me and it helped me overcome moments of intense hunger. “Some have food but cannot eat, some can eat but have no food, we have food and we can eat, glory be to you oh Lord”.
LESSONS FROM THE EXPERIENCE
1. God Speaks always: God speaks to us always and it is our duty to listen and also to take action on what we hear. The ability to hear God clearly is the biggest challenge for Christians in my opinion. Inability to hear God has costed me so much in recent times and I am more determined to build up myself to connect more to the Father. God told me to stay home, I got reluctant about going out but I still decided to go. Sometimes I just feel God should take away our “will power” in order for us to make the right decisions. Romans 8:14 says those who are led by the spirit of God are Sons of God. It is up to us to allow Him lead us even though his ways might sometimes not make sense to us. If not, we have to take full responsibility for the consequences of our actions.
2. Nothing can stop you: We become what we want, only if we do what it takes despite negative circumstances. All these happened to me just when I was about to complete and launch my websites. I intended to start a podcast where I can easily reach out to people. The accident became a major stumbling block to achieve this but I never terminated the dream. The famous blogger, Jon Morrow, who cannot move any part of his body from his neck downwards, is still living his dream as a blogger. Get inspired and do all what it takes to get to where you are going. Negative circumstances will always arise but shut it down with your determination.
3. Captivity turned around: When God turned around the captivity of Zion, we were like they that dream. Same here, it was as if I was dreaming when my captivity of no food, no cooking and no talking was turned around for my good. Initially, it seems like I was missing out on good food, parties and social conversations because of my clenched teeth. However, I gained far more in the time that I spent on my personal tasks. I can proudly say that the 2 months period that I could not open my mouth was my most productive period of the year 2015. The time I spent cooking, gisting or partying was converted into greater stuffs. In other words, there is always a positivity in every negativity, all you need to do is just to search for the positivity and you can live happily ever after.
Smiling through the Storm
Thanks for reading my victory story and learning from my experience.
I am glad to announce that; I had my holiday travels, I crunched Christmas Chicken and I can talk as much as I used to. Nothing can stop my joy in this season of celebrations.
I thank God for restoration of health and for keeping me alive to tell the story.
We overcome by the words of our testimony.
This is my testimony!!!
Victoria ascerta!!!
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