Everything was going quite well until Daddy received the call (LoL), of course, I can laugh about it now with my my siblings, but it wasn't funny back then. Daddy was a Deacon in the church, and we knew we had rules we needed to obey, like getting to church on time, being able to recite memory verses, and being good children.
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That wasn't tough at all, on Sundays after church, we would stopped over at the famous Mr Bigg's restaurant to have lunch, or to the amusement park to have a good time, and those were days we eagerly looked forward to every week.
Things however changed when Daddy received the call and became a pastor, there came a compulsory and urgent need to become a role model to other members of the church even as a kid. We stopped going out for the regular Sunday fun because Daddy now had to attend to loads of church members after church.
Building a new church from scratch wasn't an easy one, personal savings had to go into it, we had to join for evangelism during the weekends too, and I have to mention how compulsory it was now for us to attend vigils even when we had to go to school early in the morning.
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Routines changed and all we now thought about was church and school, anything aside these two things were irrelevant. We started to focus on the heavenly race full square, we just wanted to be children, make our mistakes and feel loved but those things were taken away from us.
Now that I am an adult, my friends would sometimes ask if I watched certain cartoons as a child, and I would respond with No, and this is because we were only allowed to watch Christian movies and not cartoons. I mean, which child does not watch cartoons if not my siblings and I, it was a tough one.
Since our church was also one that preaches against fashion and anything related, it meant our skirts had to be long and big, and big shirts too. Wearing those fitted jeans as a little girl was also taken away from me, and I wish I got to wear them.
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There was a particular suit my Dad made for my sister and I when we were still in primary school, it was made in order to set an example as to how other church members ought to dress to participate in the heavenly race. Would you believe that until I got into university that suit was still my size, so imagine how big and long it was back then (smiles).
I wish I enjoyed my childhood and was allowed to grow as a little child instead of being made to believe in an extreme religious space. The family is in a better place now, we know better, and we are now free to do whatever we want.
This great lesson we have all taken too, never to deprive our kids of the opportunity to be children, every child has the right to play, laugh, fall, make mistakes, and grow. We do not necessarily have to force them into becoming an overnight adult.
Hi, I am Tobi, a writer, speaker, relationship blogger, and lover of good music. I love making friends and learning from people. If you want to hear me speak about relationships and general life issues, you can find my YouTube channel where you can watch any episode for free, please do not forget to subscribe, friends. I sincerely appreciate every love I get from here, Kindly do well to keep them coming.