Alexandra Shares Her #100DaysOfGrowth Story

Entry 16 by Alexandra Omogbadegun (Twitter: @AlexandraZion)

I must say that with God’s help, I have grown in so many ways and I am still growing. However, I would really like to share this one that put me through a furnace-test of balance, love and commitment.

To begin with, I thought I was at my wits’ end. I mean, I thought I would go crazy in any minute. You know, I was between a rock and a hard place and if I remember well, I think I cried through every phase of growth including the end when everything turned out well.

Too much introduction?

Let’s get to the story.

I was in my second year in the university, studying English and it was my first semester for that year. In my university, Covenant University, the first semester is called the Alpha Semester (yes, Alpha) and it starts from the beginning of August to the end of November. You know at the beginning of the semester, especially that of a new session, there is so much zeal, your brain is relaxed and fresh from the break and you feel like you’re ready to explore and that you can handle anything? Yes! I felt that way too.

In the first week of lectures, my classes were super and I understood the lectures 98%. But then something happened it was like it just crept in all of a sudden without me even knowing. I found myself right in the middle trying to balance a relationship with God, my academics, my physical appearance, personal time out, keeping up a good relationship with family, friends and acquaintances, being in and committing to a service unit and being a floor chaplain.

Yes, I was…I felt blown out! Like I just wanted to wake up each day and do nothing, but see everything work out fine. Sometimes I picked up my book and it seemed like Greek; I was sad. At some point, I began to think of giving up a number of things just to balance but I found help in God’s Word and I remembered something that kept me going. A good friend of mine and I were talking and I was quite complaining about the work load and how there’s so much to do this semester than there was in the previous semester.  He paused for a while and then said with all sense of seriousness, “David kept the sheep; he got Israel.” I fell silent. Responsibility actually increases; it’s healthy and necessary for growth.

Now to tell you how much this growth process felt on me, exam time was few weeks (maybe three) to go and there seemed to be a lot more to do. I called my sister one of those days and she told me something quite sad over the phone. I was just returning from a long day at the library; I cried. I prayed in tears and danced in praise to God afterwards. Later that day, some of my course mates came to me to explain stuff to them. I was tired, I needed a break from the world but I did it anyways.

Till the semester ended, it was packed but few weeks to the end, I had been well tested and proven in the fire and I had begun to adapt. My relationship with God was smooth, I read and seemed to understand, I did all I could to help others study for exams; I had to still look good and of course, carve out time to eat and relax. I lost a lot of weight, yeah, but I learnt a lot. Up to this day, that process has helped me to see that God is so important, people and relationships matter and I shouldn’t be left out too; so long there is a heart of love and the will to commit, things will play out themselves.

It would interest you to know that when the examination results came out, it was my best ever and the December holiday was amazing too: I gained the lost weight, became better and as I said earlier, I cried again but tears of joy racing down my cheeks this time.

So yes, that’s my growth story.