I didn’t talk to my boss for nearly 2 days!

Not even eye contact.

I didn’t even say “Good morning” or “Good night.”

He had vexed my soul so much that my tongue was too heavy to even just grunt at him.

Leading to this passive aggressive silent treatment was a meeting with him and a member of SLT.

A student’s mum had called to complain that her daughter had a rubber (eraser) thrown at her head in one of my lessons. And said child had had a head surgery.

Said SLT person bragged about how that had never happened in their 20-something years of teaching. Then Oga SLT turned to look at my boss for backing, who just nodded like a Yes-man choosing not to be my knight in shining armour.

I looked at him like, “Erm, oga, haven’t I complained to you so many times about that class, yet no support had been sent in?”

He ignored the question in my eyes, appearing more concerned to look good before his boss.

“Do you have anything to say?” SLT asked.

“No,” I mouthed. I felt like I’d been thrown under the bus and my vocal cavity had been crushed.

With no words left, I went to my classroom, took my stuff and went home, seething with anger.

The next 2 days, I refused to make eye contact, walked past him in silence when I couldn’t avoid it and kept a straight face all day.

By end of this standoff, I knew I had 2 options, either forgive him or confront him.

I chose the 1st one because of my faith, it was easier and it was the 1st incidence.

And probably also because it’s somewhat frowned upon culturally to confront bosses. Maybe.

Living and working in the UK requires you to adopt the culture of what’s acceptable in the workplace.

I’ll be sharing some of my other my-boss-and-me stories in my “Teach in the UK 2.0” webinar coming up on Saturday 25th February by 7pm WAT / 6pm GMT.

It’s for everyone wanting to live and teach in the UK using the new teaching route.

Register at https://selar.co/tukfeb with code TUKJAN50 to get 20% off before Friday the 24th.

You were favoured but you didn’t realise till 7 years later

Has someone ever done something for you, the gravity of which you did not understand at that moment?

Two school leaders agreed to take a chance on me and sponsor my work visa.

But first, they had to register as skilled worker visa sponsors, which was no easy task.

As I prepared for the January Teach in the UK webinar last month, I remembered Autumn 2015.

I was almost always at the Principal’s PA’s office, biting my nails for my Certificate of Sponsorship to be issued.

Finally, it was and I could apply for my work visa. And continue my legal stay in the UK.

This year, many of my fellow teachers in Nigeria and Ghana are in the same place I was and I’d love to help them do it less stressed than I was.

Teach in the UK 2.0

Let me help walk you through this immigration opportunity. Join me LIVE on Saturday 25th February at 7pm WAT / 6pm GMT for in-depth reviews, live demos, job-readiness session on Teaching in the UK.

Rmember to use code TUKFEB50 to get 50% off till the 18th. Click here to get your good self registered

Embarrassed at Student’s Discovery

“Go away!” giving her a pat on the back, as we both faced either end of the corridor.

Two minutes ago, Cynthia looked rather excited to see me walking towards her.

“Miss, I have something to tell you!” She animatedly announced with her hands cupped around her mouth like she was about to tell me a secret that was only reserved for the sacred few.

I bowed my head as though in holy awe of the divine intel that was about to enter my human ears.

“Miss, I googled you and found your books online,” she whispered as her eyes got even wider with wonder.

Still shy about students knowing that their math teacher is also a 4-time author, I embarrass easy.

I had no response but my default 3-syllabic one, “Go away,” with a smile on my face that said I have no words for you right now.

As we went our separate ways, I heard her explain her latest discovery to her mate, Mary.

She wasn’t the first to discover my books online and would probably not be the last.

One student even bought one off Amazon and came back to school for me to sign it!!

Maybe I’ll just come ‘clean’ one day and donate copies to the school library.

Or let the news spread organically?

Hmm, what do you think?

What is my preferred mode of travel?

It all depends on where I am going to. I prefer the shortest distance between two points, which as we learnt in secondary school, was and still is a straight line.

I don’t understand why anyone would want to stay very long in a moving machine instead of getting to their final destination as quickly as possible so that they can enjoy that place for longer. Do you?

Has a Book Changed my Life?

Of course! You probably already know the answer to this question. If you’ve read any of my posts this month or even in the last year. At least, you can have a good guess at the book that has helped me make sense of this life.

How am I brave? 2nd January

This should have been on the date shown. But since I’m trying to catch up with the Bloganuary challenge, bear with me.

Now unto answering that challenge prompt. How am I brave? To be honest, my immediate thought was, I don’t know. How am I brave? What does bravery even mean?

What brings me joy in life.

I told you I wasn’t going to get creative with my titles. WordPress, the boss blogging website thinks the above is a good blog prompt, then it must be sufficient to make at least, a decent blog title.

Here are a few things that bring me joy in life. In no particular order. Or maybe in the order in which they came to mind. Which may just be an order of importance or current value. Who knows?

• Reading and studying the Bible with no deadlines to go do other things. So, my favourite time is very early hours of a Saturday or Sunday morning.
• Good food with good people in a good home. I love having people around with a good meal, good games, good laughter and bonus points if no dressing up is needed to turn up!
• Seeing a child flourish in the gift that they have whether that be academic or not. I find it utterly mind blowing when I see them do so well in something that feels like an impossibility to me. It leaves me in complete awe and wonder at the God Who made them with such unique brains.
• Singing at the top of my lungs in a Christian worship event, be that a massive concert or a church service. This can motivate me to exercise more to build my lung capacity for belting out tunes so loudly!
• Seeing a man worship God so freely, emotionally unashamed in expressing his love for God, refusing any masculinity that moderates his adoration for his Maker.

I think these 5 make a good list of the things that bring me joy. Not a lot I know but that’s all I have for you today.

So, tell me. What sort of things bring you joy? Is there something I can add to my list?

Why do I write?

This is my first post for WordPress bloganuary challenge this January. And the prompt is today’s blog post title. I’ll probably follow the same theme for future challenge posts.

So, why do I write. Here are some reasons why. I had no idea how many reasons I was going to give in my first draft. Could be 5 or 10, who knows. Here we go.

1) I write to clear my mind, to remove the need to remember the details. It frees my mind to do other things. I feel like I have given whatever I wrote the level of attention it deserves.

2) I write to get better at conveying my story and information in a clear and succinct way without losing key details. What you do repeatedly is practice for doing better. The more I write, the better and the more I write.

3) I write to process events and happenings. As I write my thoughts, I usually gain greater clarity about a situation or person which is why I try to journal when something somewhat significant happens in my space. New and different perspectives open up to me.

4) I write to release myself from holding secrets. I’ve used storytelling to share a not so pleasant experience a few years ago. And because it involved people who knew about my blog, I told it the way Jesus told parables to convey truth. Without naming names or exacting details.

5) I write to teach, to share lessons and life experiences, to share insights and intel I’ve gleaned doing life while observant. Whenever I notice something or someone or some situation that carries more than the surface meaning, I write to store that knowledge somewhere readily accessible.

6) I write to let others get to know me. I write to share a part of myself with the world. To let others into my space a little. Even though I’ll say I’m still a very private person, at least by today’s standards, it’s always nice to be known, heard, read from and seen.

There are probably more reasons why I write but drafting this at 9.09pm isn’t the ideal time for too much brainstorming lest my brain gets too excited and alert for sleep. So, 6 whys would have to do for now.

Now on to you. Why do you do what you do? Let me know in the comments.

Book Out Now: In the Life of Abraham

Out with the resolutions. In with taking actions.

With so many things shouting for your attention, it’s not your fault for not wanting to study your Bible.

All those movies and series with 5 seasons and 20 episodes each, seem more appealing than reading through a book written so long ago you have no context for its stories.

But what if instead of going in blind, you had a guide to set the context for you, making it relevant to your life today, not thousands of years ago?

If instead of chapter upon chapter, you had only a few verses to enjoy one day at a time, imagine how much more fulfilling you’ll feel for going deeper at your own pace?

Allow me to introduce you to Book 1 of the Bible Study Notes Compilation series, In the Life of Abraham.

It’s been written to help you journey through Abraham’s life in less than 50 days, to inspire your own faith walk and deepen your understanding of Biblical truths.

Ready to jump in? Then go here to download your copy now for FREE but only until January 8th, when it goes back up to N3,500 (£4.99).

Prefer to read on your Kindle? Then head over to Amazon to start reading today for £4.99 or £9.99 (paperback).

New Book Alert!

📣ATTENTION ALL BIBLE JUNKIES!!!

Have you always wondered how you read the same Bible passage as someone else, they get all the letters from A to Z 🤯, but all you can see is A and maybe, B?🙃

Have you been left puzzled by people who get so immersed in studying the Word of God that they can preach a full hour’s sermon on one verse? 🤔But you can barely recite same verse by heart?😥

Does time crawl when you study God’s Word 😬, yet your girlfriend looks so joyous from her 3 hours of Bible study on 3 verses of the 3rd chapter of Jonah?😳

🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁

Introducing Book 1 of the Bible Study Notes Compilation series, written to help your Bible study come alive. This first book focuses on the life of Abraham and how he navigated his faith walk with God.

I decided to do a study on his life after I attended a Word of Faith conference in January and most of the ministers referenced him in some way. Which was only fitting as he is our father of faith!

But as I knew I couldn’t dedicate the hours I’d need daily to do a good job to each chapter, I have broken down everywhere I could find him explicitly mentioned in the Bible into smaller groups of verses. Each section is numbered allowing you to focus on only a portion of life per day for less than 50 days. You also have space to journal your insights and thoughts using the question prompts at the end of each one.

I’ve shared extracts from this Bible study in previous posts, but the book comes with more details, explanation and greater clarity but succinctness. You can see a first draft of Day 42 here.

Watch this space for more info. I can’t wait to share it with you!🎶🥳💃🏽 Only 4 more days to go!