I love sleeping :-) I unashamedly write it down as one of my hobbies till this day! My family and close friends will attest to this fact as well. They may also regal you with tales of how difficult it is to pull me away from this great love of mine, i.e. wake me up.


I had a feeling when I was younger that my siblings used to pull straws for who will have the privilege (read: unsavoury experience) of trying to wake me up. My all time trick then was to tell whoever was sent to wake me that I was up but wanted to pray first and then I’ll kneel down and start praying and then sleep off again (hides head in shame)!! And then, if my sibling accuses me of sleeping rather than praying, I will insist that I was still praying and ask them to prove it.... and that argument could continue for a long while!

I also remember another sleeping episode in boarding schools when burglars came into the house (I think it was purple house) which was next to mine, and everybody in my house woke up and ran out of the dormitory screaming in case they decided to come to my house as well, and I slept right through loads of girls’ screaming and the robbery. The girls in my room returned to find me still sleeping...

I do feel that I have gotten a lot better with the waking up bit in recent years. Though, some friends may say otherwise but I’m able most days to get up in time to catch the bus for work with the aid of two to three alarm clocks without any of the said clocks coming to any harm.

But the boot got firmly fitted on the other leg last weekend when I went to Alton towers with a friend of mine, Buchi. I had previously stayed at hers for a couple of weeks when I newly moved to Wales but she was still at Uni then so didn’t need to get up early while I was working and had to set two to three alarms to get up in time to catch my bus. So I had no clue that she was a sleepaholic like me!

So fast forward to last weekend, and we are in an unfamiliar town and need to go catch a bus to take us to Alton towers and Buchi refuses to stand up from bed.

I try everything,

Calling her phone so she thinks she has a call and wakes to answer it, she doesn’t budge..

Putting on all the lights in the hotel room, nothing..

Repeatedly calling, pleading, cajoling, threatening... she doesn’t even stir and only mutters that she’s on holiday and I should stop disturbing her...

In that one moment, I had my epiphany and suddenly realised that this is what my family and friends have gone through with me in trying to get me to wake up early for school, church, social events, fellowship... I had to stop my ‘getting Buchi to wake up’ efforts for a minute or five to quickly mutter an apology to all the people who had every tried to wake me up in the distant past and I will say it again,

To everyone who tried one way or the other, using various techniques to get me up from bed, I say that I understand your frustrations and I will like to say sorry for the grief I caused :-)!!

As for the Alton Towers visit, Buchi finally got up and although we did miss our bus, we finally got to Alton Towers and had a lovely time!!

Source

All through university, Youth Service, my master’s degree and moving to new places away from family and friends, I have made friends in unusual ways and in weird places. I have met genuinely nice people in taxis, at bus stops, and through random people. Friends who have stood with me through thick and thin, who have prayed me through difficult situations, cheered at my successes and encouraged me when I felt down.

So I thought about my Dad’s prayer again last week after I got off the phone with one of my friends. I praised God for the wisdom He gave my Dad- we always thought it was amusing that my daddy thought it important to pray for the friends we would make at every phrase in our lives. A popular quote says ‘Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are’ and this is true because the friends you make in life can either encourage you or help you fulfil your goals or hinder you.

So, this is both a shout-out to the amazing friends that God has given me- You’re all very amazing!!! And a prayer as well:

Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing me with amazing friends!

Thank you for the foresight You gave my Dad to pray ahead

For the friends I’d need in the different phases I go through..

And I pray that you’ll help me be a better friend to my friends,

Help me to genuinely care and encourage them in the different stages of their lives.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NLT)