I am grateful...

This was written in 2005 as a testimony I wanted to send to my pastor. I did not want to be called up so I chickened out. It is a bit long even after my edits!

Here is our Testimony.

On the 23rd of July 2003, I was sitting at my desk at work, when the Holy Spirit said “Go to the Bathroom and say 7 Alleluias, the time of your breakthrough has come” Now, God speaks to me often, but whether I hear is another story. I always say, when I hear from God, there is no escaping. Anyway, I paused, thinking to myself how odd it was. I stood up and went and did as I was told. I was 3 months pregnant at the time and had been having loads of trouble at work since I told them I was pregnant. I had already consulted a lawyer at this time as they seemed to be putting a case together to get rid of me. I later found out that 7 was the number of completion.

A director came to my desk and asked if we could have a meeting to discuss some work which was odd for 4.30 on a Friday. I went to the meeting and was told that I was being dismissed as I was incompetent etc etc. I had worked with them for just under 2 years. We went through the motions and had further meetings and the last thing my boss said was that “While I had a good case and would make a credible witness, he would drag the case till my children were in school” My lawyers were sure we had a great case. My favourite prayer for my employers was Psalm 109 asking God to totally annihilate them! Thank God that I was not answered. I will pick up this later.

We went into hospital on the 1st of December to have our baby and after a few hours with minimal progress, a Doctor came into the room and after examining the heart rate of the baby, he said he was going to operate straight away as it showed the baby had the cord round its neck. The midwife and other doctors were unhappy that he wanted to operate straight away as there were other cases but he remained adamant that it must be done before his shift finished in the next hour. The midwife asked if we were related.(The doctor later visited us in recovery and also came to see us on the ward before we were discharged. We found that he trained under my father in law in UCH) On the 2nd of December 2003, I gave birth to our daughter by emergency CS after 19 hours and she did have the cord round her neck. It was also discovered that due to her position in the womb, she had a problem with her knee as the ligaments were overstretched. Basically, if she kicked out her left leg, the knee did not stop the leg from folding on itself, which thankfully I did not see it. We had all the x-rays of the knee, hip etc. I recalled the word a friend gave me during my pregnancy Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it”. My pastor prayed with this same verse when he came to visit us in hospital. We were given a splint to put over her knee and we were told we would have appointments at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore.

When she was about 8 days old, we noticed that her hands and feet were swollen and went to the GP who sent us straight to hospital. When we got there, they tried to take a blood sample but her limbs were too swollen. We were told to come back the next day for more tests and before we left we were told that swollen limbs was one of the symptoms for Turner’s syndrome which meant Tolulope had only one X chromosome instead of 2 and would not be able have children. We got home, got on the internet and got all the information we could about Turner’s syndrome and prayed against it as anything that had a name had a knee which would bend to the Lordship of God. We returned the next day and they took the blood samples and told us to make an appointment to see a consultant to discuss the results which they would rush through the labs. I then told them that we were not coming in to discuss any results as my daughter had no syndrome and that they should call when the results are through. A few days later we got a call that she did not have Turner’s syndrome and that there was no explanation for her swollen limbs.

However we were told to come back for a heart ultrasound as a heart murmur was picked up. At the ultrasound, we were told that Tolulope was born with a hole in the heart but that they would like to see us in a year’s time to reassess it

Back to the work situation, we went to the Tribunal on March 2 and 3 2004. All 3 directors turned up and told a good story. Actually, they lied quite well. My main witness was unable to testify as she had initially promised, as she was scared of losing her job. Anyway, we lost which I naively believed was impossible as I thought all I had to do was tell the truth. We had huge legal fees to pay but God came through and we paid the bills. I did complain bitterly that we had better use for the money, but a friend told me to thank God that at least we were able to pay it. That was when I realised that I had limited God, I thought my promised breakthrough was to win the case and get a huge payout.

After a few weeks, in April 2004, I started an online business and then a few months later, got a part time job. I get to work with excellent people part time, run my business full time and spend quality time with my family. If we had won at the tribunal, I would have summed that up as my breakthrough. I have since realised that the beginning of the breakthrough was for me to leave my old job but as I was refusing to budge, I had to be pushed but not before God gave me a word that it was well. I have also realised that the richest man is not one who has the most, but one who needs the least.

Incidentally, there is no lasting effect of the knee problem and Tolulope started walking on Christmas day. At the appointment for the update on the hole in the heart, were told that the hole is all but closed up and Tolu won’t be having surgery. I am sure there is no hole there now as the update was over a year ago and they want to see us in 2 years.

So now I choose Joy.