WEDNESDAY

It was 4:30pm on a Wednesday and the young man was still at the office; he was the record keeper of a mini organization and he loved his job. He suddenly remembered that he had a church program to attend that evening; it would commence at around 5:30pm. He looked at his wrist watch; it was already 4:40pm. 

​He sighed; he took off his reading glasses and put it on the desk. He sighed again and wiped his face.  He didn’t just like Wednesdays at all. As much as he loved his job, he also loved God. But the problem was that he usually closed work at around 5:15pm and it was a whole lot of stress going from office to the house and then to church.

​By 4:50pm he took permission from his boss to sign out early; he quickly rushed home which was a 15mins walk from the office to pick up his bible. He hadn’t eaten since morning; he was hungry. The young manplanned to take some cereals before leaving for service. It was already 5:05pm. He opened the cupboard in the kitchen and  discovered that no cereal was left; every can was empty. His eyes caught some sachets of milk and ovaltinelying beside the empty containers. “I’ll quickly make hot chocolate” he said to himself. He put on the stove and began boiling water with a little pot.

​He went into the room and brought out his bible. The young man went back to the sitting room; he took off his glasses and put it beside his bible which he dropped on the centre table. He decided to sit for a while. Bassey began grumbling; the Cooking Stove was an old one; he knew that the water, no matter how little it was, would boil slowly. He checked the time; it was 5:10pm. He was so tired; he didn’t know when he dozed off. Ten minutes later, he was suddenly jerked into consciousness by his phone. It was Pastor Philip calling. “Have you forgotten that you’re joining me to the pulpit today?” The old man asked Bassey with a raised voice. Bassey was so disappointed in himself for not remembering that he was assigned to coordinate service with the pastor. Pastor Philip was a strict and straightforward personality. He could be a bit lenient with other things, except TIME. He always got angry when people misused or turned up for important events late. He always preached that time was precious. And of course he was a good example of one who judiciously spent it; for he always had a drafted time table and had already known the next thing he would do immediately after service that evening.

​Bassey looked at the wall clock, it read 5:25pm; it would take about 10mins by foot to arrive the worship center. “Please Pastor forgive me, I’m already on my way” he said.

Picking up his bible, he hurriedly left. He began running. He managed to button up his shirt, tighten his belt and also run at the same time. He didn’t want Pastor Philip to see him as an unserious member. He didn’t want to waste the pastor’s precious time.

​He got to the worship center at 5:31pm; Pastor Philip was already outside waiting. “You’re late Brother Bassey, but you’re forgiven”. They both went in. It was time for the scripture reading and bassey stood up and moved forward. He rested his bible on the lectern and dipped his hands in his pocket to bring out his glasses. It wasn’t in his pocket. Oh! What had he done? He tried to recall where he had left his glasses. The audience had started staring at him in a confused manner. Suddenly, it clicked; he left it ON THE CENTRE TABLE. Unfortunately, the young man couldn’t read without his glasses. He went back and whispered to the pastor in low tunes. “Brother Bassey you have to learn how to be coordinated and plan your things well”. The pastor said angrily in a low tune  and continued “well, everything happens for the best, who knows God has a purpose for letting this happen.” The pastor stood and addressed the congregation while Bassey left hurriedly.“We’ll sing and pray till brother bassey comes back” he said.

​Bassey arrived his door step; he opened the door, the sitting room was filled with smoke; he couldn’t even see through the room. It made him cough, he stepped outside; he was confused,what could be burning in his house? He shouted for help.

Suddenly it clicked. He had forgotten that he boiled water to make tea, he had hurriedly left for church when the pastor called.

 

BEFORE HE WENT TO CHURCH:

​The water had started steaming when he fell asleep. As he awoke (due to the phone call) he had quickly picked up his bible and left. The hot water had already been well heated at that moment. As soon as he left, the water in the pot started evaporating till the pot became empty. It began to overheat and produce flames. Since the pot and the stove were beside the curtain covering the kitchen window, the room caught fire in no distant time. And started heading for the sitting room when Bassey arrived.

 

WHEN HE CAME BACK FROM CHURCH:

​While he was scared and shouted for help, he dialed the pastor’s line explaining to the old man what had happened. The neighbors set into action and helped put out the fire. “Go thank your God, Mr. Bassey, He really saved you today by calling you back” one of the neighbors said.

When Pastor Philip arrived Bassey’s house, he was on his knees together with other church members and shouting “Praise God, Praise God”

 

That night, Bassey knelt down and prayed to God; he thanked Him for using the glasses to bring him back home just in time before further damage would have been done. Bassey didn’t know whether to weep or laugh. He sat and stared at the ceiling. His mind went back to why he left the house in a hurry. “Pastor Philip” he muttered. 

​He picked up his glasses; he looked at it, and spoke to it like it was a human. “Thank you for bringing me back” the young man almost shed tears of joy. What would he have done if he lost the whole house? He thought. He walked to the kitchen, he looked around; he touched the walls which had been darkened by the fire incident. He had lost everything in the kitchen. He called his boss at his workplace to inform him about what happened. 

He would have to replace the utensils and the rubber cans and plates which had been destroyed. But he decided not to repaint the kitchen walls; he would use them to remember this incident. His phone rang again; it was Pastor Philip. “You’re going with me again to the pulpit next Wednesday Brother Bassey.”