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Lessons of the situation

By Chukwuneta Oby
15 December 2018   |   4:00 am
I must have been woken by the ringing of my phone. I looked at the time…4:25am. Cussing under my breath… I reached for the phone.

I must have been woken by the ringing of my phone. I looked at the time…4:25am. Cussing under my breath… I reached for the phone. Not to answer but to switch off my phone.
I only wanted to sleep.

I went to bed exhausted and had sworn not to get out of bed before 7:00am. But a curious glance at the phone screen stopped me in my tracks. I sat up. It was my next-door neighbour.

There are people that you can’t afford to ignore for whatever reason. If they ever bother you… it must be SERIOUS. I picked the call. She wanted me to take her to the clinic. The husband was out of town.
She was pregnant.

And it seemed our “little one” has had enough of “belly accommodation.”
…by the way, why do the pitter-patter of tiny feet often COME OUT at odd times?

She told me that she hadn’t slept since 1:00 am and had to hold herself from calling me earlier. I silently blessed God for that her decision to grant me a few more hours of sleep.

It was a disoriented me that put on a kaftan as I headed next door. I was only concerned about the state of the road…security wise. I had never found myself out of the house by that time of the day.

I contemplated asking one of the security guys at the estate gate to accompany us. But on seeing the STRENGTH of the woman beside me, my fear took a backseat.

We set out to the clinic and got there about 15 minutes later. I waited for the day to break properly before going back home. It was on my way back home that the thoughts came flooding. The lessons of the situation, for me…

That lady had enough people to call. For example, her mum and siblings who don’t live very far. And even her colleagues that live in the estate, too. It is, indeed, a blessing to have someone that you can reach out to (and receive a positive response from) in your hour of need.

But, it’s a greater blessing to be that someone whom another can think of, calls or runs to…at such moments.
Only someone who has FAITH in your person looks your way in his/her hour of need. The times are also calling for us to BE…that, which we expect of others. Perhaps, in so doing…we can point others to the “greater blessing.”

While waiting for the doctor on duty to see her, a nurse was directed to take the readings of her vital signs. The nurse, a petite chatty lady, wasted no time in telling us that they had been on their feet since the last 24 hours.

According to her, they performed three surgeries over the night…one being an ectopic pregnancy. She also told us that she was just helping out…as she had officially signed off for the day.

I said to her: “So, you are actually going home now to SLEEP.’’ From her, “sleep for where? I still have to get my three kids ready for school and then drop them off at school, tidy the house a bit and fix their lunch-before sleeping. Because, as soon as I am up…I am heading back to work-for a night shift.’’

Hearing her reel off her schedule for the day already felt STRESSFUL, to me. And I wondered (aloud) why the husband couldn’t help out with a few chores. Even my neighbour that was in discomfort was engrossed in the gist- by this time.

According to the nurse, her husband never helps out at home. And the few times she engaged domestic assistants, the man began to have an affair with the first one…whom she fired, on finding out what was going on.

The second domestic assistant…the husband kicked out. She would later realize that the girl refused to “play ball” with him. Now, she makes do with the services of a woman (from her church) in minding the kids after school.

As soon as the vital readings were done, the nurse got busy elsewhere. But her words never left my mind. Even my neighbour that had been in some discomfort didn’t stop staring at the nurse for a long time.

The disposition of that nurse is a serious CRY FOR HELP…that she herself isn’t even aware of. An “unsupportive spouse” is the worst thing that can happen to anybody in marriage.

Oftentimes, people CRY OUT FOR HELP just the same way as this nurse. When you see random strangers and just want to talk, it may sound like a normal gist but that lady was actually “unburdening.”

And it happens to a lot of us.

When the heart is full…it seeks an outlet (wherever/however) to unburden!

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