Terrific Tales on Traffic - Episode 3 (In the Garden)

Camp was fantastic!! For the first time in a long time, I was able to let loose and let go; I was very popular, popular enough to get posted to the capital because "popular people gets posted to popular places", or so they said. There wasn't a single activity I didn't participate in, from acting to singing (despite the fact that my voice isn't exactly golden), shooting shots, dodging shots, breaking up relationships, breaking regulations.  It was thrilling not to have any examinations or assignments to complete. It's all over now, mandatory schooling is over!! It is time to live, love, and go wild. 

The NACC Makurdi Family House, which had been crowded with newly posted hot youth corpers approximately a week before, was mostly vacant. Everyone had received their PPA and had returned home to reunite with their families and talk about their camping experiences, much to the delight of their younger siblings and elderly parents and relatives, who would link them to their own experiences Some folks had fell in love in camp, and they are married now. Like how do you people do it? I mean, An Amazing thing - finding love in a hopeless place. 

"Rosemary, Would you mind leading the rosary for Night Prayer?" Brotherly asked. Oh damn, I'm in the spotlight, I hate being in the spotlight, like I'm that shy, preferring to be behind the scenes and ensuring success with my efforts and prayers. But to be honest, I've always been in the spotlight. The Bible says, "a city set on a hill cannot be hidden, God is in that city, it can never be destroyed." Psalm 46:5, my favorite quote. I nodded and began, "

"Oh come to the throne of grace, Oh come to the heart most pure..." In a somber tone, "In the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit..." I kissed my crucifix. I have always been a Marian, wow that rhymes with Marlian. Hahaha!!😆 I've never been a Marlian and will never be, what a crazy fanbase. As a consecrated Marian, everything about Mary makes me happy. I have always been a Crusader, joined Legion of Mary at some point, to be honest, just for their outdoor functions, always an adventure. I joined Blue Army, because it was a quiet society, simple Fatima prayers, reflecting on the three little shepherds now saints of Fatima.  So Yes, I am a consecrated Marian Soldier.

The first joyful mystery, The Annunciation. My rosary beads were quite attractive. Rosaries and eyeglass frames are two things I can spend any amount of money to purchase. The beads were oval in shape, with some drops of the miraculous water of Our Lady of Lourdes at the center. Mater Dei Bookshop has a great selection of sacramentals. I had grown so addicted to that rosary that I couldn't pray without it. I feel that your rosary is like your prescription eyeglasses. I disliked sharing mine, like it was a best kept secret, the one that everyone knows you have but doesn't know what it is.

This time saying the rosary, I meditated, I reflected on mysteries like i was there, I was Elizabeth and Mary had come to my house, I was Joseph and Mary had told me that she was pregnant by the holy spirit, I was the goat in the manger, just wondering precisely why God didn't just appear and kill all these humans who plan to use me for asun next week, I was Anna and Simeon waiting for the promised child, and I was the person holding the microphone for Jesus while he schooled those silly Pharisees. I enjoy silent prayer, which is why I always go to the garden. The litany, and catena were completed; the older corpers were not accustomed to these additional prayers, but heyy, You asked me to lead right,  prayer to saint Michael the archangel then We fly to our patronage, I could hear the delight in their voices as they recited the closing prayer. If you people vex me too much, I will add the Memorare and Prayer for Nigeria in Distress, I thought😈 In the Name of the Father... 

"Can I see you after night devotion?" Gpapa asked, I was afraid of spirit-filled people and Gpapa was one of them. They see visions, make you cry uncontrollably while praying, fall to the ground and speak in tongues, and leave you wondering if it's all real while you keep your eyes closed because you don't want to become a spectacle. I was scared. I approached him and saw that he was drawing on a piece of paper. He beckoned for me to sit, so I did, and he kept drawing. I was terrified because I didn't know what this meeting might be about, what he had seen, whether I was harboring demons and whether I needed deliverance, if something awful was about to happen to me, my parents, or damn.

"Mary," he interrupted my thoughts, "I apologize, I'm not a brilliant artist, but does this look like your mom's shop? he asked as he showed me the design, which had piles of boxes stacked high, like in a warehouse It does, indeed. That's my mom's distributor shop. I answered, slowly nodding my head, "Do you know who you are?" I couldn't answer, my heart was racing, what's happening to my mom. 

My PPA school proprietor has been tormenting me for weeks. He refused to reject me and threatened to make my life in Makurdi terrible, as if serving in the heart of the herders war wasn't frightening enough. I hadn't spoken to Gpapa in three weeks, and I'd avoided him ever since. His words disturbed me in my sleep, "While you were praying, your Angel was with you, he held your hand. God is pleased with you, Rosemary but you are playing small, You are not exploring your power, maybe you are scared to do so. Have you really listened to hear his voice?" His words were piercing and there were those conversations you never want to recall because it calls for deep thoughts. 

Faith is such a mysterious thing. I understand why people give up and dismiss it as futile. So much misunderstanding and misinformation. I know prayer is talking to God and God talking to you, but I focused on talking to God because it's safer to rant about everything and everyone else, then sprinkle a little thank you for the gift of life at the end. What does it feel like to hear from God? Is it what people say, calm and peaceful, or is it that inner voice of reason that always nudges you towards good deeds, or is that my conscience, or is that the holy Spirit, what about the voice that prompts you to do evil? Is that the devil?, How can God and the devil coexist inside of me? I have been a president of bloc rosary, Chapel Prefect, Genera NFCS bloc rosary Secretary, How am exactly have I been playing small again?

I was just back from the zonal coordinator's office, cried like a baby while he shouted at me, stained my camp crush white with so much tears that day... He was loss for words... I had cried myself to sleep, After the compulsory morning mass the next day, I noticed a trail of people disappearing into the parish priest's quarters. I followed. Amebo, this father sef!, Let me go and see... they entered a small house, Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, Oh the blessed sacrament, I have visited the chapel countlessly in the past. Before any major event, Dad would say go and tell Jesus in the blessed sacrament.

I loved to read there too, so quiet! That's how I became chapel prefect, too much staying in the chapel. Everybody from secondary school still calls me "Chapel". I stepped in, ready to rant as usual. I ranted, I told him how wicked the principal and zonal coordinator were, how I have done medical report and how wicked the world is, the woman that duped my mom, how she was a member of CWO, how I am quite upset that I didn't make first class, how upsetting my life is, how obscure the future was and boy I cried, I ranted, lamented and cried , fell asleep and woke up in the garden, 

I could smell freshly mowed grass, queen of the night flower nectar, the sound of the wind, the smell of stagnant but clean water and the cool breeze after the midnight rain and He spoke, Rosemary, you have no idea who you are. If you do, you will understand that your tears are too valuable to be taken for granted. Courage Princess, It is I, Jesus. You may believe I am not nearby, but I have always been present. I anticipated you to come for a long time, you have been so upset and thought you could handle it. You have been approaching this the wrong way; lying will not get you what you want. 

"I am not lying", i retorted, "I do have skin reaction, the house they gave me is in the middle of nowhere in Apih.." Lying would get you nowhere, I know the truth, you cant lie to me. I was lying, The PPA place was good but I just didn't like it there. I believed I should work somewhere where the kids are considerably smaller than me and aren't asking me out. In a well-structured school, not one where you had to speak pidgin to teach and read out test problems to primary 6 pupils. It was the final straw for me. 

Yes, Lord, I dislike this school. Go ahead and tell the zonal coordinator that, don't cry, mean every word you say, don't reveal details, and stand firm, and I'll take care of the rest. I stood up and opened the door to go, and then he said as he always do now, "I'm crazy about you!! I love you." There were butterflies in my stomach, the first day I felt Dauntless!! I felt indomitable, dressed in silence, rushed out straight to the secretariat, stepped into the zonal coordinators office, 

"Good morning Sir, I am here to change my PPA, I don't like that place and You have to give me another PPA." He looked at my placid, expressionless face for a long time as if expecting me to start crying and begging him once again but no I am not that girl anymore, you all have seen enough of my tears. He placed a phone call, "I am sending Rosemary to you, please reject her, I don't want to know you just have to reject her." 

He faced me, "Do you have another place in mind" 

"Yes I do" 

"What's the name of the place?" 

"GracePath Schools" I and my camp crush had strolled there, a week ago, the head teacher felt nice although he was looked like he wanted to eat me up. 

"Take this letter, get the head teacher to sign it, do fast i am going to the camp for stream 2 reception by noon" And with a speed of light, I was done with the rejection and acceptance and back at the door of the chapel. My mind was blown, God spoke to me and this time I heard him, something changed about me, something new, something awesome, something that birthed the new person you all call Dauntless today.

It was a new super power discovery, a newfound secret, and so it continued everyday, "Where's lastborn, check chapel, if the chapel is closed, check grotto" There was no pretense, no time, there was just calmness and assurance, and just him and I, discussing about everything and nothing with my guardian angel, laughing and being in love hopelessly. We'll read the scriptures and he explains it to me, We would meditate on the mysteries of the rosary, 20 decades, 40 decades, Stations of the cross, Divine Mercy prayers. Sometimes I feel his wounds, Sometimes I feel his anguish, I even say along with him, Father, if its your will, let this cup pass me by, but not my will Lord, but yours be done. Sometimes I fall asleep, he wakes me up, sometimes I slip back to the old ways and hurt him and come crying back after being burnt by breakups and bad situations, but he doesn't send me away, I always feel loved in the garden, the gardener's daughter, and he is pruning me into who I really am, his very own child. No matter what life throws at me, So far there is a garden nearby, I know we'll figure it out, staying Dauntless regardless!!

Today is Maundy Thursday, Stay a little while in the garden with him today, It's an experience of a lifetime!!

Written by Rosemary Ugwuogo aka Dauntless