Sometimes I get forgetful, and I become proud in my achievements and supposed competence. In those times, I have to ‘remind’ myself to be grateful/ But there are other times, that I know that I know that I know that there is absolutely no way I did whatever it was by myself. The writing of my dissertation was one of such times.

The past year has been a special one, with so much growth and so many discoveries (about myself, people and the world at large). Of course, the growth and learning is closely linked to the fact that I undertook a master’s programme in the past year. I did four courses and four papers – each of which was a unique hurdle. The came the dissertation – what was supposed to be the ‘crowing glory’ of the whole year. And it was a mess.

Generally with the other papers, I would say I sort of had my act together. But with the dissertation, from day one, I was always just trying to keep up. To be honest, I don’t even get why. My approach to the whole thing was so scattered. It actually got to a point where I considered telling my supervisor I wasn’t going to do it anymore; that they should just give me a diploma instead of the full master’s degree.

Getting a topic was a struggle. Expanding and focusing on that topic was another struggle. Writing was a struggle. It was a battle. Three weeks to submission, I had 3,000 of 15,00 words. I didn’t know how it was going to happen.

And here’s where the Holy Spirit made all the difference. I don’t know where the words came from but they came. I was reading new books two days to the deadline (I highly recommended that you complete all our reading at least a month before your deadline), new ideas, new subtopics… At the end I had to start thinking of things to cut out to keep it within the limit (I may still have been slightly over 😉 ). And people say miracles don’t happen? Na lie. There’s no way this ‘thank You’ post was not happening. No way. Oh and guess what? My dissertation had higher marks than anything else I had done in the year!

So, my sincerest gratitude goes to my dearest Heavenly Father, who constantly blows my mind with his grace and mercy, to Jesus who willingly shared His mind with me (1 Cor 2:16), and to the Holy Spirit who is nothing but inspiration. In the words of my acknowledgment:

Finally, and most importantly, , my appreciation goes to my Heavenly Father who gave me the inspiration, strength, and grace to carry this through. I appreciate Him for granting me His Spirit who was with me from the conception, through the execution, and to completion.

Why don’t you take out time to give thanks for something today?

Oh, and you can check out the music post I did about this.

Also, my deepest thanks go to Didi Uwem-Akpan, Toyin Oremade, Seun ‘Paul’ Opabisi, Oluwaseun Kukoyi, Mr&Mrs Oni, Jude Anogwih, Gerry Adler, Kewa Oni, Bunmi Alugbin (not in any particular order).

xoxo